Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1916-06-02

For your mother. VIII, II | dared think
| of her tcould think of her. should
say. never Knew anTthin- hat love.
was not 81 griet slri' avn When
| heard of her death as | tipnght !
should have been have loved her
better and been more at peace since
then.
Your father never let me know Of
her death: heard OF it from casual
| friend SO instead OF Il possible recon-
ciliation between your father and me,
thing which | would have almost
welcomed then over her grave. think
hated him more. They say love can
only turn to hatred. never to friend
ship, and so that chance passed.
1t Is midnight now.
Well, the next thing must tell you
is that the man In my regiment whom
| I killed was-as they said at the court
martial today-an enemy Of mine.
His name was Williams and he was
until recently employed in our firm In
a comparatively subordinate position.
| He was Il troublesome. self opnlDnat-
! ed man. of no great value to- the busi-
ness, and not long ago he was gotten
rid Of. largely at my instjgation and
| thoroughly as he deserved.
However. he belonged to the militia.
and when the war broke out he was
given commission in this regiment.
| ] volunteered for service. and l. too.
| was put into this regiment as private,
| and thus it came about that he so soon
found himself in Il position to take his
revenge upon me. and welt did he do
| 1t, the blackguard. That's immaterial
now, but it is necessary that yon
should understand that the whole regi
ment knew these facts, and knew. too.
that although l had supported his bull
| lying for long time without q MUIR
mur it was not unlikely that should
try to get even with him If had an
opportunity.
Our regiment was almost in the
yesterday at the storming Of the big
redoubt, and we had had the brunt of
| the fighting all day. The enemy had
thrown up some very strong earth
works in front Of the main defenses,
and our artillery, aided by the in
fantry, had had lot Of work to do
| In demolishing them and driving the
enemy from them.
We had stormed the earthworks
twice already and had lost at least
| third Of our officers and men. had
two minor wounds only.
The captain Of my company, Frank
lin, was killed In the second assault,
| and Williams took his place in com.
mand.
Then the big assault was ordered on
weak point in their main defenses
where our heavy artillery had made
breach, aud we were hurled at It. regi-
ment upon regiment.
There was q surge and roar Of
| fighting. One was conscious of nothing
but explosions and shouts and screams,
blood everywhere and men struggling
and men fallen. At last l was on the
! slope at the foot of the breach, stun
| bling over bodies and fighting my way
blindly, half choked by smoke and
dust.
And then suddenly saw your "a
ther.
cannot explain what happened
within me at that moment. was half
mad and dazed from wound in the
head and perhaps half child again
l cannot explain, but l saw him as
though he were the only man before
me. Despite all the years since had
last seen him and the state he was in,
with blood and CRIME on his face and
in his grizzled hair, | saw him as
though we were at home together in
the old days.
1t was as though vision flashed on
| me and made me unconscious of the
CHASTITY holocaust around us. Perhaps
your mother was near.
But it was only to be an instant. He
saw me also. and whether the same
feelings were in him l do not know,
but he stood as II turned to stone with
his gaze full on me.
The next instant some one in front
Of me and to my right, could not see
who it was, dashed forward and buried
a sword half its length in his chest.
! can see Georges face now. His
jaw dropped, but his eyes remained
fixed on me till he fell.
Then went quite mad, think. l
felt choked, and things swan before
me. l killed that man. do not actual
ly remember how. but men behind me
saw it.
He was Williams, Of course, the man
who killed your father and for whom
l am to be shot in an hour or two.
am tired and will stop. have said
everything. l think.
But am not sorry. believe abso-
lutely in the hereafter, and think
that shall find Helen and George in
very little time now.
Goodby. my boy, and God bless you!
Sphere.
Memorial Day Like All Souls Day.
Memorial day is in truth nothing