Pittston Gazette

              'if."*[ Oldest *ewsuaiDej in the ftvomiiig Valle\ PITTSTON, LUZERNE CO., PA., FRIDAY, MAY I, 1891. A Weekly Local and Family Journal ly pronounced because each ot tncm has a soldier-laddie for an ideal hero. Now, who is this Major Hopkins, whose name so often appears in your letters, and who is evidently so valuable a friend to you? I ask because I oncc knew a gentleman of that name, who I heard the other day was serving in Tennessee. If his first name is John ask him if he remembers Mary Carter, for we were fast friends in my younger days, and though he may have forgotten mo I retain a very pleasant remembrance of him and should be glad to hea*' more about him. And now, my dear boy, I have some strange and startling news to tell you concerning James Lawson, about whom you arc so persistently silent in your letters. Do you remember that uncommonly pretty girl, Jane Murchison, who was for nearly a year in my service and w'*:D afterwards lived with the Richardsons? Well, nearly twelve months ago he secretly married her, and on enlisting left her perfectly destitute—her and her little; baby-boy—and if it had not been for Mrs. Burrows and myself they really must have gone to the poor-house. You must see this man and insist on his remitting them money. But I have something even more startling to announce to you concerning him. Last week a stranger came to the village who declares that he is the person who so many years ago left the infant Lawson on the farmer's door-step when he was on his way out West to seek his fortune. lie was crossing the country in an emigrant wagon, and, as his wife had died on the journey, when he reached Meltonburg the temptation to get rid of the child was so strong that he could not resist it. He says that he has been very prosperous and that ho is most anxious to regain "his lost boy. I have had an interview with him and found him a simple and apparently good-hearted man. I hope to interest him in James' wife and child-. Give my kind regards to Captain Henderson, if you see him, and tell him that every female heart in Meltonburg except Grace's is beating for his return. The news of your promotion has just arrived, which would be grand indeed if I did not fear it would lead you into further danger. Does a Major go before or behind his regiment in battle? Grace and I hold different opinions on this important question. Do satisfy our doubts." roll, and not one drop of rain. But now the clouds burst and the deluge w-m upon them, not in fierce splashes, but in sheets of water, that, crushed to the earth all living things they reached. But tne rear siao 01 the building had no windows, and save the cracks the men had found in the boards, no loopholes through which a muskct-barrel could be thrust. Here Frank anticipated his worst danger, nor was he deceived.of mountains and woods; and the words Dalton, Resaca, Dallas and Lost and Kencsaw mountains had been written in letters- of blood on the page of history.01—ana to ai at ihe hands ola com- In ways unknown to mortals, I regret Tilt- Tuirrr of Ilabel Speaks. mittee, of which t was spokesman) the presentation of a sword, on which vv us engraved a list of the battles in which lie had—or ought to have—taken part. As the Advertiser said, '*it was a high old tinie, and the welkin with the plaudits of thousands, when the youthful hero, in few but appropriate words, gracefully acknowledged the tribute to his bravery."r in an party, "go 1 cam.' on from Chicago by the express last night to learn my fate." "Have jou heard what has become o* Charlie Fulton?" he asked, when as Jack said, the couple had been "turned off," and they had leisure for personal reminiscences. HE CRAWLED THROUGH. The memory of that grand and haughty hour, When the symmetric insolence of my tower Awed the pale heaven that braves my anger yet. She n'.-ver helped him by a word, but he saw that she was much agitated. Mr. Bojjs I)iil It In Two Miuates and a Half. And when f.he fury of the tornado was spent It seemed quite natural to Frank that the half-dozen figures of Johnston had retired behind the intrenchm(5Ets of Atlanta, when Davis, dissatisfied with his Fabian policy, had deposed him, and put Hood in his place. "I am a plain, blu it man, unskilled in the art of eloquence to plead my suit, but I loved you before we married, and I love you now. I know that I am asking a great sacrifice of you—you with all the beauty of your youth retained, and I, so old and battered—but I would lake you as my wife. My lore Mr. and Mrs. Hugo Boggs were involved in a heated discussion aa to the width of a pane of glass broken out of the south window of their kitchen. No stone of mine now crumbling can forget My iKilm clad pomp in those sweet days of "Oh, yes, he is married and gone into cattle-raising with Will Jefferson." "Married! Not to Miss Lascelles, surely?" power. "Major, they are gathering brush at the back and firing the building!" a private cried. When my colossal summit made stars cower And shrink before my awful silhouette. '^'' ' '' t I 4 { *  Sherman advanced on the Georgian city, whpn Ilood attacked the Union army three times with tremendous energy, but was repulsed with great slaughter. Sher:an|i thereupon re-enacted his favorite flank movement, filled his wagons with fifteen days' rations, dexterously shifted his whole army on his opponents' line of supplies, and compelled the evacuation of the city. Hut the victory was dearly bought; for Sherman's Lieutenant, the gallant M'c- Phernon - who, with the brave Logan, had chiefly sustained the front of the battle, was killed in action. "That pane of glass," said Mr. Boggs resolutely, "i3 big enough to throw ■ cow through by the horns; it is twenty inches wide by twenty-one." Alas, it was too true. Even as the man spoko a stifling cloud of smoke filled the place, more dense, perhaps, because the wood was wet from the storm and refused to burn freely. As ill-luck would havo it, too, the light night breeze came from this very quarter. It was a desperate strait. Without were raging those bloodthirsty fiends, who, unlike the chivalrous Southern soldiers, seldom gave an enemy quarter; within the air each instant became more and more unbreathable. A horse, too, maddened by the smell of fire, had broken loose, and they were obliged to shoot him to prevent his trampling on the wounded. "No; she's breaking hearts in Paris, with a splendid chance of marrying a Duke. They had her picture in the London Graphic a few weeks ago." "And Charlie?" Oh! despicable, puny hordes of men! When I lic l l sky and space witiiin my reach, What souls had ye thus to be overcome? Wliy did your coward hands desert mo when Jehovah in J is wrath had blent all speech? Could ye t ot uorl;, C.h, fixils.' thm oh yt u trt ilumh! Hut they let him go at last. Even the little boys, who had shouted themselves hoarse, had seasa to leave him, when he opened the garden gate and turned up the avenue of walnuts to his home "Mother!" "My boy!" I draw the curtain over the tender scene and leave them to their bliss. for Frank, too, should plead with you in my favor." "And I know," Mrs. Boggs retorted, "that it isn't a bit over one foot wide, and hardlv that." "Married Doc Saunders' daughter, a sweetly pretty little girl with a fortune she inherited from her uncle." —Francis S. Sal t us. "And, yet, it is for Frank's sake, .Tack, that I must say no to your request. Nay, do not think mo hard and ungrateful for the honor you have done me. You do not know how much the refusal costs me." So, instead of adjusting their quarrel by measuring the casement, they argued until Mr. Boggs offered to buy Mrs. B. the best silk dress in town if he failed to crawl through the empty casement within three minutes. "And you. Jack?" 'Dropped Dead." "Oh, I'm the one man of all our crowd who has had the courage to nail his colors and refuse to yield to the fair enemy. Now, Master Frank, have you drawn a prize or a blank in love's lottery—but, if the latter, poor beggar, you would not dare to Bay so, so what is the good of asking?" All royal -strength* in life, until the end. Will bear themselves still royally. Degrees Of dyiu;: they know not; the muddy lees ThCDy will not drink: no man shall see them bend And Grace came, tco, blushing and trembling, and oh! so glad, that Frank took her in his arms and stroked her hair and rained kisses upon her uplifted face, just as tho«igh he had a right to do it and she was his afiiar.ced bride, not at all in the subdued, yet :ifreetionate manner in which lie greeted coii'.in Kate. Why, the two receptions would not bear comparison; and was she not a happy giri? But she was happier when that night the youtig soldier told her the old, old tale of love, whk-h in her cars sounded as sweet and fresh as though aeons of ages ago, it had not called the blush to the damask check of woman. D Jack! She him. asshe used to dn, by the old familiar name. He was too good a soldier to retire before such an ill-defended position as this. "You'll just get stuck fast, Hugo, and HI have to call in the neighbors to sAw you out," wailed his wife; "see if you don't." Or slacken in the ttorm; no man can lend To them. Those foeble souls, who crouch on knees Sherman now longed to sweep through the Atlantic States, but Hood's army, though driven away, was hovering near'him, and rendered such a movement impossible; when the glad tidings was brought to the Federal camp, that the Southern General was setting out to invade Tennessee. That fail, and cling to shadows of lost case. Death tortures. Uut as kings to kings may t "Then if the only obstacle to my suit is your son's possible objection, may I—" "Nonsense, woman; I'll be through before you can wink." scud, lie challenges tbc strong "Shall we make an assault, Major?" Charlio asked, as cool as though he was on parade. "I have drawn a prize so rich and rare, Jack, that I have no words to tell you f its value." Such death as this O'ertakes treat lore; a Icsjer love wili inks Such stroke; may dwindle painfully away. And fade, and simply cease to breathe, some She interrupted him, with the same look on her face that he had seen there nearly five-and- twenty years ago, when he had asked the same question. Just at this point little Willy, who was sobbing as the result of a recent cellar interview with his father,' crept quietly" out the house. "How can we?" Besant groaned, for the thought of his gallant men perishing like rats in a trap cut him to tho quick. "That narrow door, the only egress, would only permit us to rush out in a line so thin that the boys would be slaughtered like sheep in a pen." Jack smiled, tie had heard young married men say the sonic sort of thing before. IT WAS A CURIOUS DUEL. day; Rut great loves, to the last, have pulses red; Ail great loves that have over died dropped dead. men he knew were enemies, who had been crouching by his side, should glide away into the forest without a parting shot. "If Hood will only go there," Sherman declared, "I will give him rations for the journey." "No, once and for all, dear friend, it can not be. Relieve me I have not made up my mind to refuse the love of a man of your worth and true nobility of character, without hours of painful thought. You must take my answer as stripped himself of coat and vest, and from a perch on a soap box began to wriggle through the window. He was right about the size of the c "And you are going into politics, I hear?" he asked. —Helen Hunt. And Ilood went: and Sherman started on that grandly picturesque expedition, "The March to the Sea." "Yes, in a small way." It was a difficult task to make their way over the fallen trees to the spot where they had left their horses, but they reached it at last, to find the snorting, trembling beasts unharmed, save one that lay struck dead by lightning. "Pshaw! Besant, do not talk like that: why, man, you could not do things in a small way if you tried." A cricket fed on an insect Too sm.'.ll for eye to see, A field mo'jsc captured the cricket And hushed his minstrelsy. The Vniversal Strife. "But wo should die fighting, and not be choked to death by this infernal atmosnhere." ing, and everything went on nicel' . ;i he undertook to rest himself by uig hi3 hands on the cellar door, w..*ch, under ordinary circumstances, was situated directly beneath this window, about two feet down. In this extraordinary cafe the doer had been carefully folded back by parties unknown. Ilood moved rapidly devastating the country he passed through; and critical old gentleman a thousand miles away, reading their morning papers, growled over Thomas' delay, and declared, that if they were in command of the Federal troops they would order affairs on a very different plan; and their convictions were sustained, when news came that thfe "Rock of Chicltamauga" was being shut up at Nashville, just as he and Rosecrans had been at Chattanooga. Wh£, these venerable stay-at-homes said such conduct was simply outrageous. Oh, if they could only hold the reins! Eren Grant caught the contagion of this popular discontent, and actually set out to take charge of his troops in person, wlien the North was electrified with the report that Thomas in two days' blqody battle had driven the Confederates out of their entrenchments into headlong flight, and dissolved them into a rabble of demoralized fugitives! And when on Sunday Mr Brentwood preached to a crowdcd congregation a memorial sermon, in which, after a touching tribute to the Meltonburg boys who had died in action, he reminded his hearers of the debt of gratitude they owed the brave survivors of that final." "A flag ol truce and surrender is all I see for it, Charlie," was the doleful answer. "There is one chance in a thousand they might respect it." "Then, good-bye, Mary!" he said, for they had now reached the garden-gate, and without another word he left her. Jack's prophecy proved true. Riches and honor have been heaped upon Frank in his civil career; but no dignity he has ever attained, no public favor he has ever won, no ambition ho has ever crowned with success, has given him one tithe of the thrilling delight he felt the day they made him COLONEL OF THE FOURTH. A gray shrike pounced on the field mous# And fiuiu; him on a thorn. And a hawk came down on the cruel shrike From over the waving corn. "Push on, men," Frank cried. "Let us get out of this infernal wood before the last glimmer of daylight fails us." Half an hour later, Frank came in. "Is dinner ready? Where is Colonel Hopkins, mother?" were his first questions."Then, let me bear it. Quick, or I shall stifle." And a fox sprang out on the red tailed hawk From under a fallen tree. For bird and beast, by flood and field. Of every decree Boggs reached out wildly for it and missed. His 250 pounds had started earthward, however, and nothing could head him off. Luckily the sharpshooters were practiced horsemen, for the debris of the storm made their ride too much like a steeple-chase to be practicable to men whose scats in their saddles were not firm. As it was, Lieutenant Ferguson got an ugly fall which broke his collar-bone, and Frank's charger blundered over the trunk of a tree, landing its rider in the mud, with no other damage, however, than a torn coat and some very strong language, which Rev. Lubin's ma would not have approved of had she been near to hear it. There was no alternative, awful struggle, you should have seen the widow's eyes blaze with triumph. She did not lcok down in trembling confusion, nor did her boy hide his face or sicken with shame at the words of the preacher, j "You'll tell the old man I did my duty to the last," Fulton said, as he grasped Frank's hand. Now, though the pretty widow had bathed her eyes and used all the little arts of the toilet, with which women are so adept in concealing the traces of their emotions, there yet lingered in Mrs. Besant's face a tell-tale sign of sorrow that caught her son's attention in a moment. ' Prey one upon the ot her. Twas thus ordained to be; My rifle Laid old Reynard low. And death—death looked at me. —Ernest McGaffey. "Bet you two to one dad wins, moth' erf shouted little Willie from a seat on the line fence. "I am as little likely to see your father again as you are," was the sad reply. And Frank's sympathies were with the tninvvtv-r too, when he added: "We arc a proud pcbpl: this day, exultant in victory, almost for the moment forgetting our tears for the loved ones who have fallen on the battle-field; but there is one thing we have not thought of. While we pour out heartfelt gratitude to the heroes who have maintained the metonomy of this mighty Nation, whose noble deeds shall inspire the poets of unborn generations, can we not spare from the overflow of our elation some sympathy for those who fought for a cause they believed to be just, and who now have to add to the desolation of blighted homes and ruined prospccts the bitterness of defeat? We can afford to ba generous. Perhaps it is old age that brings on me the spirit of prophecy, but I can see the time when we shall record with pride the courage and devotion of the people of the South, whose marvelous endurance has no parallel in history, and say exultantly, 'And these men were Americans;' when the gallantry of Lee and Jackson will be remembered without robbing the crowns of Grant, Sherman and Sheridan of a single laurel-leaf." "Stop him, Willie, stopliimt" shrieked Mr?. Boggs. Quick as a flash the door is opened and Fulton advances with a white handkerchief waving in the air. The Hasty Word. I hastily opened my lips. Ami uttered a word of disdain Thnt wounded a friend, and forever estranged A heart I would die to regain; But the bird once at liberty who can enthrall? And the word that's once spoken, oh, who can recall. "Mother," he said, putting his arm around her waist, "there is something wrong. Wherfi has the Colonel gone?" "Not much; Think I'm goin't' interfere in a square race? Go it, dad; youVe a winner!" Do those rough hordes stay their hands at the fluttering symbol of peace? Not so; with a yell of derision they "Bump! bump! smash!" Mr. Boggs was through. " "I am afraid he has left us—perhaps he is at the hotel—there is no train .North till this evening," was the incoherent answer, while the lady's cheeks blushed furiously. They reached the rendezvous at last. Fulton and his men were already straggling up as they arrived, and Frank noticed with pain that the ambulance wagon bore its load of misery. "O-o-o-h! I'm sure Hugo's killed," sobbed Mrs. Boggs. —Virginia B. Harrison. "Two minutes 'n thirty-two seconds," said little Willie, thrusting his birthday watch into his hip pocket.—New York World. TUe Grand Old Passion. And this battle, so far as any great military movements were concerned, finished the war in the West. "Gone to the hotel! been quarreling?" Have you and he The twain were one in their heart's desire, CHAPTER XVII. # JAMES LAWSON ONCE AG AT*. Aii Ethical Point. As true to love as the son; To lovo each other beyond the river When Rosecrans was in conmand at Nashville nearly a year ago he had determined to establish in the Fourth, and indeed in several other infantry regiments, a corps (Telite of mounted men, armed with Henry rifles, and collected from the different companies for their marksmanship and steadiness in action; but, although the men were supplied with the rifles chiefly at their own expense, the authorities at Washington had refused to give them horses and the admirable project had fallen through. Now Colonel Hopkins had never been satisfied with this arbitrary judgment, and asked General Thomas to approve of his trying the experiment at his own expense, and an assent being readily accorded, a little band of ten "mounted sharpshooters" formed an effective arm of the regiment's usefulness. "One man killed and four wounded," Charlie reported, briefly. "No." Whenever their work was done. Beautiful love, the glory of life. Grant's advance on Richmond, Sherman's march to sea, Thomas' destruction of an army, were complements of cach other—each necessities of the others-and combined, were the forces that broke the back of the Confederacy. "Not quarreling but not agreeing, perhaps? Now, darling mam"—very coaxingly—"you and I are a little more than mother and son, for we have been boon companions ever since I can remember, then is it not a little late in the day for one of us to have a secret which the other can not share?" An Expected Guest. On angel's wings comes down; Rejoice, rejoice, for the grand old passion That makes the world go round. "Heaven knows. They are in force, though, at least two hundred strong. If it had not been for that precious storm breaking on us they would have wiped us out without a doubt. But, have you heard nothing of Gregory, Major?" "And what of the enemy?" Mrs. McLnck—My darter Sally  there was a gentleman wanted totoee me, so I come right down 'thout stoppin' to fix up,'cause I s'pose y'r carriage is waitin'; but I just want to say, furstoff, thet the report in the morning papers about us falling heir to a fortune was published 'thout my consent; and the fact is, we hain't got the money yet; and we can't accept any invites to balls an' parties an' receptions an' things for a month yet at least. You're Mr. Astorbilt, ain't you? Or—beggin' y'r pardon— mebby y'r Mister McGalluster?" —James B. Wiggin. Five dates now stand out lurid in the completion of that long calendar of carnage. IKE COLONEL A fond pressure of the hand was his reply. "Nothing whatever, Charlie. I am afraid he must have retreated to escape the tornado. It came his way, you know, and he would see it long before we did." On April the Oth Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox court-house. Gn the 20th of the same month Johnston yielded to Sherman. "Have you no secret, then?" "Not one you ought to know." ' F THE FOURTH. On the 10th of May Jefferson Davis was captured at Irwinsville, in Southern Georgia. "Nor one I ought not to know, I am sure. Forgive me if I seem abrupt, darling mother, but has Colonel Hopkins asked you to be his wife?" "Then all I can say is that we are in Queer street, for as soon as those beastly brigands have got their breath they'll be down on us like the wolves on the fold." THE UAJOB HELD A CAN OF WATEB TO Stranger (a man who nnderstands'his business)—Um! I see—I see how it is, madam. You wish a little time to—to mourn the death of the wealthy relative; of course, of course. I—er—really didn't suppose yon were quite ready $o attend the—er—brilliant social functions, but I just dropped in for a friendly chat; and, by the here is something I brought with me—something which all the ladies of the Four Hundred are using, and it occurred to me that you would like to buy one or more, so I—er —brought 'em along. Here they are, madam—our new patent Ebony-iron Last-Forever Frying Pan, only fifty A TOBY OF TH£ LATE WAB. HIS LIPS. On the 14tli of May all Confederate troops east of the Mississippi laid down their arms. Though the people generally were not ripe for the expression of such liberal criticism, the soldier element of the congregation nodded approbation. The countenances of Miss Ruth and a few others, however, manifested determined signs of disapproval and Rev. Lubin afterwards remarked that his ma considered Mr. Brentwood's sentiments hardly decent. "Yes, Frank." The answer was in a tone scarce above a whisper. "And you said?" "I said 'No,' Frank." rush upon him, and even as Frank gazes in indignation, he sees a rope flung round the neck of his unhappy friend. BT B»RS*BID BIG-BY "Like enough, Charlie. Well, we can but do our best, and I don't doubt but that we shall be able to give a fair account of ourselves." On the 26th of May all west of the "Father of Waters" followed their example, and the Confederacy, with its high hopes and great ambitions, was t* thing of the past. Then, in the words of B. F. Taylor, the poet-soldier*. "The moment arrived. Strong and steady the order rang out: •Number one, fire! Number two, fire! Number three, fire!' It seemed to me like the tolling of the clock of destiny. And, when at 'Number six, fire!' the roar throbbed out with the flash, you should have seen the dead line, that had been lying behind the works all day, came to resurrection in the twinkling of an eye, and leap like a blade from its scabbard!" "Because you did not love him?" One summer's day Major Besant found himself in command of two companies —Fulton's and Gregory's—supported by the corps cf elite, on a march through a rugged country in pursuit of a band of guerrillas whose attacks on detachments on foraging and other expeditions had been peculiarly annoying. His guide was a stalwart young negro, who professed to be familiar with the mountain fastnesses, among whose recesses these irregular combatants made their haunts. The afternoon was well advanced when they reached a spot where the road branched in three (directions—one to the right, one to the and one immediately across a dense wood—and as the guide declared thai these three paths concentered again into one main thoroughfare some fiva miles further on, and that the forest was a very likely covert in which to find the human game they were hunting, Frank resolved to divide his force into three parties; so h« dispatched Charlie and his men on the right, Gregory and his on the left, while he rode with the sharpshooters on the middle road. With a cry of rage he turns to his men: "Prepare to charge—Fix bayonets!" in tones of maddened fury. "That is not a fair question. Yon realjy must content yourself with your own love adventures, Frank, without interfering with the indiscretions of your elders." "Does this thing that imagines itself a road lead anywhere, I wonder?" Charlie mused. "Say, where's your guide, Maior?" La Fiancee—I am sorry to hear papa is speculating so heavily. The thundering beat of horses' hoofs upon the turf—nearer and nearer—and a squadron of Union cavalry dashes like a whirlwind on the astounded besiegers, riding them down and trampling them to death like dust beneath their feet. Not a dozen of the hapless wretches reached the woods to tell the tale of their misfortunes. But what is that? There were no more bivouacs by the camp-fires now, up weary marches, no gory scenes of battle, no more" hunger and thirst in beleaguered cities for the Fighting Fourth, for the regiment was on its way to Columbus to be mustered out of scrviee. Its beloved Colonel had suddenly and mysteriously resigned, and had preceded them some weeks before, leaving the delightful task of conducting the jubilant fellows home to Frank Besant, who had in vain sought the reason of his superior's desertion of his men at so interesting a moment, but had attributed it to some important business calls, for he knew that Hopkins was a man of large property, and consequently would be glad to get back to his affairs. But that was a question that Frank could not answer, for thfe last he had seen of him was when he was howling in an agony of fear behind a rock while the storm was sweeping over them. She tried hard to get up a light laugh, but it was a failure. Lo Fiance—By jove! It is almost criminal for a man to speculate with money that ought to be saved for his son-in-law.—Life. The pastor's sister, too, had another subject which caused discomfort. "I declare," she said to Grace, going home from church, "that Mary Besant does not look twenty-five years old today—guess it's that bonnet she had from Dayton does it." "Mother, you must answer me!" "What shall I say?" "The truth." "He's here all right, sir," interposed a sergeant who had heard the inquiry; "his old mulo scrambled along after us somehow; but I'm afraid you won't get much out of him, as that little shower shook him up considerable." "Now, suppose I had told him 'Yes;* what would you have said?" He Thought H© Knew Everybody. Talking about swagger, too much of this commodity has lately brought to grief a certain member of a well known third rate London club. This gentleman is one who, so far from admi' li cents, or three for a dollar.—New York Weekly. The order has been to take the riflepits at the foot of the hill, but the Fighting Fourth and all those glorious heroes with them forget to stop and rally, and sweep with shouts of victory up the steep ascent. All falls before them. Grant catches the inspiration, and orders a charge along the whole line; and dashing with broken ranks across rocks and chasms, following the bullet-torn flags that lead them, they still go onward Seedless of the tempest hurled upon them. The battle is won. That night the Union camp-fires glistened along the heights about Chattanooga, and Bragg's men were hurrying, under cover of darkness, southward. tint Grace knew that her friend's radiant looks were duo to a heart full of the sunshine of thankfulness, so she demurely replied: "That you were a lucky woman and I a happy man. Ah, mother, you do not know the real worth ol the man you've turned away." "Mark Ilenderson! By all that's glorious!" Frank cried, as he grasped the hand of that sturdy warrior when the rush of the charge was over. The Shad Sei SHAD |  The guide could not tell them much. Only that about three miles further on there was a deserted tobacco factory, and that, if orders could reach him, Captain Gregory might make a detour two miles north and get there without recrossing the wood. "Mrs. Besant always looks younger than her years, but to-day she is particularly bright and pretty. Perhaps the contrast of this morning with the day when last she sat in church with Frank, may have something to do with her cheerfulness." "Oh, Frank!" that any member of the upper ten could by any accident be unknown to him, is always ready to boast of close and intimate friendship with every one happening to have either rank or position. His failing is notorious; and three numorists' determined to give him a lesson. Accordingly, in the club billiard room, one of their number, Mr. C , casually said: "Frank Besant! Hurrah, I've paid you back the debt I owed at last." "I say," he continued, hotly, "you don't know what a gentle, lovable, pure, brave, honorable man he is—the noblest fellow I ever met, except my father." "You have, indeed, with interest." "I little thought when I met that fellow of yours pounding along the road, that it was for you he sought such urgent help from my gallant troopers." "I know it, Frank!" the widow sighed, with such conviction that light dawned on her son's doubts. Frank jumped to a conclusion at once. Turning to his sharpshooters he said: It was not till they were well into Ohio and a dispatch from his friend reached him at a roadside station that the real object of Hopkins' mission was revealed to him. "Oh! yes, I remember when she made 6uch a fool of herself. Well, p'r'aps you arc right, for, indeed, it is natural she should feol good over her boy's splendid luck. It is not every widow's son that goes to the war who comes back a Colonel." "And, where cm earth did you spring from?" "Are you going to Lady L 's tonight?""I want a man to ride to Captain Gregory—it is a dangerous trip—who volunteers?" "Ah! you do love him, after all?" "Well, perhaps—really, Frank—you are odious to-day—but I will confess that I think the Colonel—" "Oh, we were on our way down South to join Sherman's force under Killpatrick. We've had a rambling time of it of late—but, we must not stand here talking. Let us first get your wounded out of this burning rattfe-trap." "No," replied the victim. "Her ladyship will never forgive me; but the fact is, I am fagged oat, and good people are scarce." For a time nothiag distracted their attention, but suddenly the Major's ear caught the sound of a cry that might have been made by some forest bird or beast, but which, under the circumstances, was, to say the least, suspicious. It came from the right, the direction that Fulton and his company had taken. "Your commission was signed to-day, my boy. Though your hours of com- For Sherman's brave fellows, who seven days before had marched two hundred miles on two days' rations, without a change of clothing, tent or second blanket to any man from commander to private, even now there was no rest, for Grant ordered them, bleeding and barefoot as they were, to march over terrible roads ninety miles, to the TeXef of Burnside, when they drove Longstreet's equally ragged and hungry host in confusion after Bragg's retreating thousands. \ "And all this for love of fatherland!" Frank sighed, as from an eminence he had watched the devoted line of patriots winding their way doim the valley in the distance. Thomas and his men re occupied Chattanooga, and supplies began to pour into the place, much to the gratification of the men, who of late had almost realized the solution of the problem of how little food was necessary to sustain human life; but Frank Besant hailed with more intense delight than any amount of good living could give him, a batch of letters from Meltonburg. With, what joy he retired to his quarters. Every right hand was raised and every tongue cried; "I, sir!" "Spare your blushes, mamsie!" Frank cried, gleefully, "for I am off to bring him back." And before she could interpose he was gone. "Luck! Frank's luck, auntie! Do you dare to call the reward of heroic deeds luck?" "Quite right. I'll make your apologies," said Mr. C . "I will choose the man with the best horse," the Major said, well pleased with the result. But they found that by tearing away the smoldering boards the building might yet be habitable, and it did not take them long to accomplish this little work, to the gratification of the poor fellows, who dreaded moving worse than any thing. Not only did they make their own helpless ones as comfortable as circumstances would permit, but they tenderly cared for all of the poor bleeding guerrillas, whose wounds were not fatal. As the men were moving one of these latter, his slouched hat fell back, and disclosed to the astounded Major the drawn features of James Lawson. None recognized him but Frank, whose compassion was stronger than his indignation, so when they had laid him on the floor and gone for another ghastly burden, he knelt down by the sufferer's side and whispered: I do, child. So you needn't snap my head off. Look at poor James Lawson, who entered the army the same day he did, and never rose beyond the rank of private. But who is that distinguished - looking man shaking hands with the Besants? Just come by train I shouldn't wonder, breaking the Sabbath; but he's a fine, handsome man for all that. Hurry, up, Grace, and we'll get introduced." Mrs. Besant was in a pretty state of dismay at her son's impetuosity. She Aghast at this unlooked for proposition, but unable now to retreat from the position he had taken up, the only rejoinder of Mr. J was a feeble: To hear those gallant fellows expatiate on the merits of their mounts you would have thought that Uncle Sam had equipped them all with thoroughbreds, but Frank had a good eye for a nag and quickly selected a strong, wellribbed black mare that took his fancy. "Dismount your men and let them follow me, Ferguson," Frank ordered the officer of the sharpshooters, as ho threw himself from his horse and dashed up the wooded incline. "Thanks; I wish you would." Half an hour later, just as the trio were about to leave the club, unhappy Mr. J drew Mr. C aside, and after some beating alDout the bush was at last obliged to confess that he did not know Lady L , and begged Mr. C  not to mention his name to her. Waiter—I expect you to pay in advance.Guest—What do you mean, sir! Waiter—No offense, sir, whatever, but the last gentleman who ate shad here got a bono in his throat and died without paying, and the boss took it out of my wages.—Texas Siftings. "It was nothing but a hawk or wildcat," Ferguson cried, as he gained his side. "That's mine, sir!" cried a young soldier, as joyfully as though he'd won a lottery prize. But as he spoke a rifle-bullet whistled by his head and buried itself in the trunk of a hemlock. Frank first fed the lad and his horse, and then started him on his dangerous ride, giving him instructions to tell Captain Gregory, if he could find him, to make his way to the factory, whither without delay, he too, started with his little force. But as the stranger joined the Besant part Frank and his cousin fell back to the Miss Brentwoods, leaving Mrs. Besant to proceed to Walnut House with their new companion. "All right," S3id his triumphant tormentor, "I won't; you may depend upon that, for I don't happen to know her myself."—London Tit-Bits. The March of Improvement. ft "Quick, boys, to the trees!" Frank shouted, as he set the example by placing himself behind a massive oak. It was a curious duel which followed, where neither combatant could see the other. Every time a leaf on the hill moveda-buLlct sped from the rifle of one/ of the sharpshooters to the spot, every time that the smallest piece of a soldier's unifonn displayed itself beyond the wooden barrier, it was the target for a half score of shots. Now and then, in a spirit of bravado, some man would stick his cap out at the end of his gun-barrel, and in an instant it was riddled with bullets. "Who is your friend in the silk hat, Frank?" Miss Ruth asked, in her abrupt way, when they had shaken hands. A New Version. "Not a bad place to make a stand in," he said, as he rode up to the big, square, empty wooden building, whose few narrow windows seemed mere slits in its weather-beaten sides. "Oh, come into the garden, Mand!" The soft notes came swelling through the forsythia bushes, and the yellow bells shook as if chiming in unison with the mellow voice that uttered them. "Oh; come into the garden, Maud!" A figure appeared at the window and the door softly opened. Then there was another figure, and another voice set the forsythia blossoms jolting in visible and pitiable discord. "Maud, von get right back into the house, and don't you be catching yonr death of cold in any garden. Tell Dick Sappins he can come into tlio house and see you if he wants to, only he's got to leave his banjo on the porch." —Washington Post. "Colonel Hopkins, of Ours, Miss Brentwood." "YOUR COMMISSION WAS SIGNED TO-DAY." "Lawson, can I do any thing for you?" mand are few, it will be no little boast for your children and your children's children to say you once were Colonel of the Fighting Fourth." "Oh! what do you mean by 'Ours?'" "Why, of our regiment. It is a way we have of speaking." "If they don't burn the shanty over and, denying himself to all comers, settled to the delightful task of reading them. There were two from Mr. Brentwood, full of good advice; one from Miss Ruth, short and chirpy, and our heads," Fulton added, with a shrug of the shoulders. "Who is it?" was the feeble question. "Frank Besant—do you not know "Are there two Colonels to a regi- "AHt MOTHER, YOU DO NOT KNOW THE The paper dropped from the young man's hand. His C3'es swam with tears. Colonel of the Fighting Fourth! Great mcnt?" REAL WORTH OF THE MAN." There was moreover the additional protection of a strong board-fence running round it, which Frank eyed with satisfaction. The guards were set, the men flung themselves with arms beside them on the floor, to snatch what little rest they could, and silence settled on the grim old edifice. The prostrate figure shuddered. me?" "No; only one." "Then, you are not a Colonel after all?" Stranger—Is the qneen in? Sentinel (at Buckingham palace)—Wot d'ye want, me good feller? ' "Yes, I know you now. You can give me a drop of water and—let—me— die." declared to herself that she would start for the Brentwoods at once and spend the day with them; that if she did stop at home it would only be because it was her duty to preside at her son's table when he had guests; that she would be barely civil to that horrid Jack Hopkins, who had placed her in such a ridiculous position, and then— she went to her mirror and decked herself with a bit of ribbqn of the color she knew was loved best by that obnoxious gentleman. Heavens! it was enough to turn his braiu! "Yes I am. He resigned in my favor just before we were mustered out." "Oh! he resigned, did he? -What made him so eager to sacrifice himself for your interests?" '' ' A LXTTKB FB0M HOMZ. "We can't go on at this little game all day, boys," Besant said to the men nearest to him. "I've half a mind to char-TP the skulkinsr scoundrels." 'It wonld be oertaln death, bnt we are ready, sir, If you give the word," was Ferguson's reply. Just then a ringing fusillade sounded in the distance, answered by a volley of rifle-shots. Stranger—Got a big thing here—want to show it to her. Set her down, boys. "Winterbottom's Patent Throne and  The Major not only held a can of water to his lips, but bathed his face with the cooling liquid. CHAPTER XIX DOME. SWEET HOME. Whenever a railroad train rolled up to the station at Meltonburg its passen- accustomed to smilingly remark that every man, woman and child in the place was loafing on its platform to gaze at the arrivals and departures. What, then, must they have thought when one bright August morning the express from Columbus dashed up to the little depot with a series of jubilant shrieks that showed that the engineer was in sympathy with some unwonted excitement, and they saw the depot draped in fluttering bunting and alive with hundreds of country folks arrayed in their best, while a local band, with more energy than harmony, brayed the air of "See, the Conquering Hero Nature in changing mood had swept the clouds from the sky, and a young moon silvered the tiny stream that meandered across the little plain that separated them from the woods. "Ah, that is good. Now Frank, before it is too late, let me tell you that I took no part in this dark work tonight. Those men made me come with them—I could not get away." "I am sure I do no not know," Frank laughed, "unless it was to encourage merit." AM Accounted For. "But I do, young man; if he is the person I take him to be, and I'm not quite sure, for 1 haven't seen him for more than twenty years; but if he is, I know quite well why he dropped that pretty plum into your mouth." Clerk (at grocery store)—There's a curious looking, blind, thin and bleached out frog hopping about down cellar. Three weary hours passed and no signs of the enemy. Then the sharp crack of a musket from the outer-picket, and the garrison was on the alert. Like wolves rushing on sheep, the daring crowd of guerrillas dashed to the assault, knowing well that they had nearly three men to every one of the hated Yanks. It was a motley troop, composed of irregulars, with some fifty soldiers who had escaped from Morgan's command, when they had been routed after his raid in Northern Kentucky, and who now had joined their fortunes with these reckless Pree-Lances. "I am glad to'hear that." "Captain Fulton has struck the main body of them," Frank said, guessing at the situation of affairs, which afterwards proved he was right, "and these fellows are bnt the outposts. Captain Gregory must have heard our firing before this, and if there is any way across that rugged hill he wifl soon be with us—then we shall have them front and "But, oh, I've been a bad man—bad to the minister, Miss Ruth, Grace, and all who ever showed mo kindness." There was a double wedding at Meltonburg, and didn't the tongues wag when the gossips learned who the parties to the contracts were? It was all very well and to be expected that Colonel Frank should wed their village beauty, but that Mrs. Besant should have captivated a handsome husband with an enormous fortune, was news that set every old maid's and lone widow's heart fluttering with envy and hope. ~ Proprietor—What have you been doing down cellar? "And your wife and child, Jim? Have you no thought of them? If you should die now—" Clerk—Sorting over those old mapl» sugar bricks for the spring trade. "Would it be indiscreet to ask why, since you arc so well informed?" "Oh! ask your ma. P'r'aps she'll tell you and p'r'aps she won't." Proprietor (much incensed) — Then you've broken one of them, sir, with your infernal carelessness, and that frog has hopped out of it.—Chicago Tribune. "I can not—dare not—will not die! Oh, Frank, for God's sake get me help," the poor wretch moaned. "I am not fit to meet my Maker yet! In pity, get mo help." FOLDING BE^." And with that parting shot Miss Ruth started up a path that led by a near cut to the parsonage and left the young people to themselves. —Puck. rear." A pistol-shot from the man who had been left in charge of the horses warned them that there was danger there, too. Looking Ahead. In the Garden. Come out into the pardon, Maude; "We have only one assistant surgeon with us, and you must take your turn with the others." Comes!" "I am sorry aunt was so rude to you, Frank," Grace began, in lame apology. "Young man," said the stern father, "do you realize that my daughter is in the habit of wearing dresses that cost all the way from $50 to $100?"' Corno out and watch me make it. I've pit two spades, three pecks of seeds. And a rake with which to rake it. And the conquering hero who came to Mcltonburg on that sunny morning was none other than Frank Besant, who was dumfounded at his noisy reception, which was really due to the energy of the editor of the Weekly Advertiser, who had the honest rustics to what he fiffcCrwards described in the columns of his journal as "a redhot burst of enthusiasm." And, when the village president, an aged and estimable hardware merchant, stepped forwartl and 15red an oration at him. which was a little personal at first, but soon drifted into a Fourth of July screed, that Frank thought lie had heard before, the young soldier felt that he would rather endure another Chickamauga than go through the ordeal. Hut he had to face the music—to hear Rev. Lubin Ferry compare him in dulcet tones with every Biblical hero from David downwards, and declare that his ma thought this a day that the Meltonburgers would forever be proud Colonel Hopkins insisted on Frank's taking the whole of his father's fortune, and moreover built him a handtome residence, far larger and more consequential than the Walnuts; where tie now resides with his growing familychiefly relating to damp socks and recipes for sore throats; three dainty, affectionate ones from Grace, all about nothing, but very prettily worded, and. which I am ashamed to say, the foolish young fellow read and reread till they were frayed at the edges by constant reference; one from his It was now nearing si* o'clock, and though night in that summer season was not due for three long hours, it wan quite dark, for a fearful storm was nanging over the wood. It had been ■fathering the whole afternoon, but qow it was come. Fierce clouds, black and purple, rolled over the heavens, massing in smoke-like density. Then a blinding sheet of flame, followed by a crash of thuader so terrific that the puny reports of the rifles seemed but a mockery of the warring elements. Then a deep, sullen roar that appeared to shake the earth itself. The screams of birds and cries of beasts, and the crash of falling timber were the only sounds heard now besides the artillery of Heaven, for friend and foe alike had crept to the shelter of the neighboring rocks. Tall trees were torn up by the roots and hurled to the earth like leaves in an autumn breeze, and all the while the deafening- thunder never ceased to A shower of bullets from tho barricade of the fence checked their first attack. They had never met the men of the Fighting Fourth before, and hardly anticipated so warm a welcome. So, recovering from their surprise, they formed in better order, and once more essayed to scale the slight obstruction which this time yielded to their fury, and the Union men, with little loss, were driven within the building. Here Frank's sharpshooters did noble work, picking off the leaders of their assailants with deadening accuracy of aim. "But the others are not like I am with a hell of remorse raging in their breasts, with dark secrets on their souls, which—" "Pshaw! my dear, don't let that worry you. We all know and make allowances for Miss Ruth's eccentricities; but I do wish she wouldn't be 60 confoundedly enigmatical." Conao out, and watch with what deft skill A parilener I hire; And help me sit npon the fence To watch tho man perspire. "1 do," replied the young man firmly; "and, sir," he continued, an exultant ring in his voice, "it was only the other night that we took an account of stock, and found that she had enough of them to last three years ahead."—Cloak Review.When I was young and foolish, Maude, I used to do that woik. And showed big blisters on my hand As proudly as a Turk. But the blood choked him and the sentence was never finished. Presently he revived a little. Then Kate Lester interposed. In the outskirts of the village James Lawson's widow and son live in a pretty cottage with his father, who is never tired of talking of his boy Jim, who died « the field of battle, defending the Unfcm flag. He and Miss Ruth often flsJagb their eulogies of the ill-fated yncag"nian's career and say some very sharp things concerning the ingratitude of his country, and Frank" has never dispelled their illusions. Even when Jim's widow, some years later applied for a pension (and got it) he mercifully held his tongue. "If you will accept me as the reader of the riddle," she said with a laugh, that showed two rows of teeth like pearls, "I should say that Miss Brentwood means to insinuate that you found favor in Colonel Hopkins' 03'es because you were your mother's Ron." cousin, written simply with the design, "Are you there, Frank?" he asked in such weak tones that Besant had to stoop to catch the accents. But now, although ray head Is bald. It's twenty times as foxy. And when the ffcatlc springtime comes I garden It by proxy. as it seemed to him, to induce him to '• let Mark Henderson know, if he chanced to meet him, what an uncommonly fine young man she thought him; and four from his mother, long, earnest, loving ones, full of interest from first to last. One of these, of the latest date, especially claimed hia attention and produced many ejaculations of surprise. "Your cousin Kate," she wrote, "has taken pity on my loneliness, and, as her father has married again, has consented to remain with me until your return. Grace and she are bosom friends, whose affectionate sympathies are more keen* "Yes, I am here, Jim; what is it?" In court—"Have you anything to say in your defense, prisoner?" His Error. "TeU Jane I'm sorry I didn't treat her better, and, if the time had only to come over again I would—what was I saying —dark, it's all dark now—and—" ■ —New York Herald. "And why not? They were friends of "Nothing, your honor, except that I made a mistake in the number of the house. I did not at all intend to break into that house."—Fliegende Blatter. Except Noah and Company. long ago." "He can trace his ancestry back to the "Keep cool, men, and don't waste your lead," the young Major cried. "Let every bullet have its billet." He was dead. "Ah, why not?" and the young lady's eyes gleamed with mischief. flood." "Oh, pshaw! That's nothing. Everybody waa iti the swim then."—Life. "I can't make swell speeches like the Major oan," shouted Charlie, "but I can tell you, boys, that if you don't kill them—why, darn it, they'll kill you!" CHAPTER XVIIL rearing the end. Meanwhile the Colonel and the widow were wending their way towards Walnut House, side by side, utterly unconscious of the remarks they had excited. A Capture. "So you married the widow after all, Did she propose to y«ju?" "One night she said 'Will you?'" "Well?" "I wilted."—New York Recorder. Ills New Trouble. Once more to Nashville Glorious news from Atlanta! Mark Henderson, of course, married Kate Lester, and it was on the occasion of this wedding, which was held in Chicago, that Frank met Jack Gregory, who was Mark's best man. A boy whose l.'g was repaired in New York by graftin g some skin from a dog complains now lh.it his shin barks easily. —Boston Commercial Bulletin. A gleam of fire from the narrow windows aftswered the appeal. Sherman and Johnston had been flg**- hig tooth and nail over a hundred miles "I could not wait for your answer to my letter, Mary," he was saying, when they were quite out of ear-shot of the