The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1911-01-12
NAN WITH A WOODEN LEG.
One of the Best Civil War Stories
Ever Told.

Old Cropone, as he was called,
walked on a crutch after he lost a
leg in the Civil War. One day he
was at the Macaroni Club in Boston
and was prevailed upon to tell the
story of the missing member. He be-
gan by relating that there was a
bunch of Union men, some of whom
had lost a leg in the same battle and
one had lost both. They were re-
moved to a Southern mansion soon
after the battle.
"One day." he went on, word was
brought that woman had crossed
through the lines and would visit us
that day. It is wonderful how a wo-
mans visit will spruce up low ebb
courage in a sick man. There we lay
watching the door, and at last she
appeared. She carried on her arm a
basket filled with little packages
which she distributed to the cots as
she came along, meanwhile talking
to each invalid. She wasn't what you
would call pretty woman-in fact,
she would be called plain-but the
influence of the hour and her pres
ence made her appear to me angelic.
l could hardly wait for her to reach
NV bed and hear her low spoken
words of comfort. Her progress was
very slow, and the poor fellows kept
her talking to them as long as they
could. 1 got to wondering what it
was that she gave each of them as
she left the cots and from the size
of the package guessed that it might
be tobacco.
"At last she came to me. 1
thanked her in advance for her kind
ness and told her in my plain words
how cheering her presence made us
feel-that if we took new lease on
life we owed it to her visit.
''one held her finger up to me in
warning and said she had orders to
do all the talking and not to tire us
out. Then she began:
Sometimes trials are given us
for a purpose Who can tell? 1t
may be that the wise Creator wishes
to soften our hearts and cleanse us
&c Az, -;p. uordcbirc oono nnnn
sickness, blindness and lameness
and they all mean chastisement of
the carnal spirit. You are all on the
road to recovery, and when you once
more reach your loved ones at home
it will not be any easy matter to re-
sist the pleasures that have been de-
MED you so long. I want you to
promise me something before I leave
your camp. If you do it will quite
repay me for the risk and trouble I
have undergone to be with you now.'
81 was ready to promise anything,
sight unseen. Who could resist a
woman in tears with sob in her
throat, especially under such condi-
tions? But she interrupted me
again:
"'You cannot promise my request
until you know what I am going to
ask you and not until you have fully
understood it's significance. shall
leave this little token with you and
return in an hour. Then you will
know. A pledge to me is sacred and
should never be given unless with the
intention of keeping it,
''She left the room solemnly, and l
fell to my package with all due haste.
It was tied with a blue ribbon, and
the first sentence on its printed page
struck me with amazement. was
hit in a vulnerable spot. The sin she
was asking me to blot out was one I
loved dearly, yet 1 knew before she
returned to that room that I should
give her my pledge"
The old mans crutch fell to the
floor with a crash.
"What was she after?" we yelled in
chorus.
"Her crusade was against the
Evils of Waltzing.' I promised her
then and there that I would never
dance again. That was 13 years ago,
and I have kept my word. John
Mason, in Associated Sunday Maga-
zine.