Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1912-01-18
CHAPTER x.
A Woman,s Tenderness

A Woman's Tenderness
Youth is never largely given to re, !
Election, which is the gift of years.;
and although my life had in a measure1
rendered me more thoughtful than l.
might have proven under ordinary
conditions, yet it is to be frankly con-
fessed. by one deslrous of writing
merely the truth, that l generally
acted more upon impulse than reason.
AS ! ltood forth in the sunlight OF
that lonely mountain road, my hands
securely bound behind my back, the
end of the rope held by one Of my
captors, while his fellow leaned lazily
upon his gun and watched us.
thought somewhat deeply over the sit
uation and those peculiar circum-
stances leading up to 1t.
Under other conditions ] might have
felt tempted to enter into onver
ron with my guards, who. as | nov
perceived, were far from being the
rough banditti had at first imagined.
Judging from their faces and language
they were intelligent enough young
fellows, such as | had often found in
the ranks of the Federal army. But
! realized they could aid me little,
if any, in the one thing I most de-
sired to know. and eve if they could,
a sense of d~elicacy would have caused
me to hesitate in asking those per-
sonal questions that burned upon my
lips. My deep and abiding respect for
this woman whom ] had SO strangely
met, and with whom | had attained
some degree of intimacy, would never
permit of my discussing her, even in.
directly, with private soldiers behind
the back of their officer. Every sense
of honor revolted at such a thought
Not through any curiosity of mine
however justified by the depth of my
own feeling, should she be made the
subject of idle gossip about the camp
fire.
For, In truth, at this time, unhappy
as my own situation undeniably was,-
and as a soldier | realized all its
dapgers,-I gave it but little considera-
ton. Usually quick of wit, fertile in
expedients, ever ready to take ad.
vantage of each opportunity, | had
taken stock of all my surroundings,
yet discovered nowhere the slightest
opening for escape. The vigilance of
the guard, as well as the thorough
manner in which | was bound, rend.
cred any such attempt the merest
madness. Realizing this, with the
fatalism Of a veteran | resigned myself
in all patience to what must be.
Then it was that other thoughts
came surging upon me in a series OF
interrogatories, which no knowledge
possessed could possibly answer. VIII
was this proud. womanly who
called herself Edith Brennan? She
had been at some pains to inform me
that she was married, yet there was
that about her-her bearing, her man
~ner-which | could not In the leasr
reconcile with that thought. Her ex
IRENE youthfulness made me feel 1
improbable, and the impression re
manned with me that she intended t.
make some explanation of her words
when the coming of Bungay inter
rupted US. How they mightN be ex
planned ! could not imagine; | merel,
struggled against accepting what
longed to believe untrue. And thi
man? this Federal major, bearing tn
anne name, whom she called Frank
who was he? What manner of rela
tionship existed between them? L
their meeting and short i~ntercours
had noted several things which toll
me much-that she feared, respected
valued him, and that he was not onl
swayed by, but intensely jealous {
any rival in, her gooG opinion W
their unexpected meeting was scarcel
that Of husband and wife. Was b
the n she sought in her night rid
from one Federal camp to another
n SO, was he brother. friend, or hu
band? What was the bond of unio
existing between these two? Ever
word spoken made me fear the la
must be the true solution.
Such were some OF the queries
silently struggled with, and they wei
rendered more acute by that deepe
ing interest which now confessed
myself ] was feeling toward her wi
inspired them. 1t may be fashionab
nowadays to nee at love, yet certa
it Is, the rare personality Of th
Edith Brennan had reached and |
~fluenced me in those few hours \
had been thrown together as that
no other woman had ever done, Pc
siblE this was SO because the loi
years IN camp and field had kept n
isolated from all cultured and refin'
womanhood. This may. indeed. ha'
caused rle to be peculiarly ~susceptib
"a the beauty and purity OF this on
facts, and leave philosophy to Other
MY life has ever been one Of action,
know not: ] am content to 81
intense feeling and there in the TO
that dag. standing bareheaded In I
sun. I was clearly conscious of b
one chaugeless fact, that ! loved Edi
~G,fenran with every throb Of :
neart. and thar there was enmity, ,
fer and unfdrglying. between me- A
4 man Within who bore her nan
Whatever ha might be 10 her