Willmar tribune., 1913-07-23

"i1te any,. ~ was even .uuCerCd1u 10
what state he belonged, and II he had
home, relatives or friends he never
made any allusion to them. War was
war, not picnic. he said. Once a
soldier, it was ."all off, with other ties.
His one object was to win military
distinction, meaning rapid promotion
for conspicuous gallantry. :...z
Precisely the opposite of this fierce
and somber obsession was the char
acter Of Ralph Hunt-frank. gentle,
confiding, childlike in some qualities
as we'll as in some weaknesses But
ne loved Bedloe, and his own ambi-
tions, as the tide of blighted life
slowly but surely ebbed, merged into
one grand desire to do something for
the strong, high spirited, dashing COM
rade who had contributed so much, to
cheer the horrible gloom Of prison ex-
istence. :: A..
The opportunity came in an odd and
unexpected way. Hunts kind southern
friends had the happy. thought to re-
place his dilapidated uniform with a
new suit of clothes-citizen's clothes,
of course, and Of the good homely ma
terial known as ''butternut." As a.
matter of fact, tie whole Confederate
army, especially after the first year Of
the war, was sprinkled with butternut
of various shades. The uniforms"
were anything but uniform. A gray
coat, a gray pair of trousers, or a gray
hat, suffced to mark the followers Of
Lee and Jackson, and some soldiers
went through all the campaigns clad
in their home garb as farmers or
mountaineers. A supreme service was
devised for Ralph Hunts new suit the
very day it arrived. =~
"You are the man to get away with
it, Frank" insisted the owner of the
clothes. 'The opportunity is wasted
on me-" e. - ::
"Ralph is right" declared Captain
Cox, "You can make as good use Of
your liberty as any officer here, Lieu.
tenant BedlOe. No, don't think of me.
have something else in view for my
self"
So it came about that one morning
when Captain Warner had been replac-
ed by subordinate named Turner as
acting commissary and the guard for
the Potomac room had been newly
changed, gawky youth inSbutternuts
Drank had contrived to shave off his
beard and mustache) slipped out be-
hind the officer who had perfunctorily
counted the prisoners and in a twin
king was mixed up with the free south
erners who lounged about the place on
one pretext or another. though he was
still on the wrong side of the railing
that constituted the dead line. Here
Turner was stationed, sitting ut a desk
just within the pale. :
"Hello. cap-do they keep you busy p
drawled the youth in butternuts,
matching his clothes with the assumed
accent of North Carolina tarheel.
"Who the devil are you?" demanded
the official. glancing up from his rec
ords. land what are you doing here?'
Pm from Moth Ca'liny, and ! fol-
lowed the gyard in SOS as to git a look
at them ere Yankee prisoners. I'm
goin' to the front tomorrow an 1
thought before went I'd like to see
what these Yanks looked like" sz.
Go to the front and be cursed, and
there you'll see. more. Yanks than you
want to. Now. get out Of here and stay
out" ~.. - .: s5 ~. M ~
:: All right. cap, you needn't be so
sassy abaout it." retorted the supposed
tarheel as he lurched out through the
wicket and made for the door, where,
rolling quid Of tobacco in his cheek,
he. winked> at the armed guard and
passed out. y = 81. ~s~ ~
Here was where Lieutenant Frank
Bedloe, daredevil, demonstrated his old
self again. Instead Of disappearing
With all possible celerity. as any man
OF ordinary nerve would have done,
once escaped from Libby prison, he
deliberately crossed the street to the
vacant lot opposite and stood there a
minute or two with his hands in his
pockets, gazing up at the. barred front
windows Of the big brick building to
see II any of his late comrades in cap
dvity had ventured across the dead
line to catch a glimpse Of his actual
departure for Goods country"
a few pale faces could be dimly dis
cerned within. To these Frank waved
a parting salute, murmuring, .tGoodby:
| hope Well meet again somewhere
else"
&
Then he slouched of in the direction
OF the Rockets. down the bend Of the
James river 4: ~. $4s..