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ATLANTA. GA.. TUESDAY MORNING MARCII 15, 1887
PRICE FIVE CENTS
DO YODWANT $100?
We cell attention to oar plan for distributing
a box fall of presents to oar Mends, described on
the last column of page six.of this week’s Issas.
We want every subscriber to share In these
presents.
The plan Is simple. Yon send ns a new sub*
Icribcr. Your name is at once written on stag
and put In oar box of presents. On April 1,
tile box Is shaken and the tag! mixed up, and a
Deaunittco draws out a tag. The name on that
tag gets tho $100 present. The second tag the
$50—and so on till all the presents are taken.
Of course every person who sends a subscriber
will not get a present, bnt every one will
bate ah equal chance. Tho lady who tends
one subscriber may get the $100, Soiubodt
fltnucLY will. Why not you! Bemei
your name goes in once for every subscriber
you send, and onee for your own subscription.
If you tend live subscribers at one dollar each
you get one of our superb pictures free. For
fire subscribers at $1.00 each, by adding $1.25, a
Watch and chain. For ten subscribers at $1.00
each, and at one time, a watch and chain free.
In each cate your name goes In our present box
for every name you tend.
Now we urge every subscriber to be repre
sented In our present box, and to send rw ran
waves BAXLYSO as toavold the rath at the end
•T vAHcn. Our CnatsTVAS, Nxw Yea* and
Fkesxkt Boxes were so popular that we have
-decided to have one for March. At this la the
last one wo will have, we urge all our subscri
bers to get up a club to as to be represented In
this. There Is not one of oun 93,000 subscri
bers who cannot get ono subscriber—that one
subscriber may get yon $100. The box It closed
March 31tt,promptly. No names will go Into
the box except those tent In during the mouth
of March.
TWO BRASS BUTTONS.
A Story of tho Christian Commission,
BjH.A Foltz.
In tho sunny corner of my study standi a
Quaint, old-fashioned cabinet. While rummag
ing aimlessly through its cedar recesses
long ago I cumo upon a lot of rellca from tho
battle-rield of Gettysburg. There vu a hand-
fill or bullets batterod into curious ahapes, a
grapesbot and the rusted fragment of a shell
cut from tho stump of a tree on the crest of
Culp’S Hill. Taking up a musty piece of leath
er shaped liko a crescent I poked my finger
through a ragged hole In the center. It was the
"visor cut from tbecap ot a Pennsylvania volun
teer, and tho ragged holo was torn by tho rlfio
• ball that pierced his brain. And down In the
ccrr.er of a lowor drawer my oyoo foil uptn a
scaled envelope. I brushed away tho dust and
read upon Its tlmo-:!alncd surface tho inicrlp-
Atom 5
Donald Goxdow,
Twxnty-xmhth Geoboia,
C S. A., July 13,1803—July 13,1871.
1 broke the eesl—rcvorently.not carelessly—
and there fell into my hands two brsm buttons.
They wero tarnished end spotted with verdigris,
for they had been eight yean under ground
More they reaohed my cabinet. But still bright
on the blackened background ahono the raised
ahlcld end the letters C. &A, the initials of an
empty name, tho heraldry of e loot cause. No
commonplace rellca, these. The bnttonaJud a
Story.
In the spring of 18831 ins the young pastor
of a new bnt rapidly growing mission In New
York city. Scarcely e day that bronght its
dried budget of battle new. but brought be-
light be
reavement to some one who had the right to
look to me for comfort and protection. Yet I
longed with the longing of yonth for work that
was nearer the front. At lest the opportunity
came. On the nlgbtof the 30th of Jane, 1883,
my church voted me a month’s vacation.
Twenty-four hours later I had determined how
and where I would spend it, for the telegraph
had thrilled the nnlae of tho north with the
ominous newe of the Drat day’s fight at Get
tysburg.
The first relief train that left the Otty of
Brotherly Love for the field where brother*
had met in deadly bate bore a hundred Good
Samaritans all bent upon tho same errand and
-each, like myself, wearing upon his breast tho
silver scroll hedge of the United States Chris-
(Iip Commission.
On the sultriest of July’s sultry dsn I en
tered the little town of Gettysburg and found
tho borcogn transformed Into ono great hospit
al. Every building or considerable propor
tion!—courthouse, church end score—wee on
improvised hospital ward crowded toraffoca-
•tlon with mei Iin every stage of mortal agony.
Even the public square la the centre of the
-village was filled with mangled forma. Then
they lay, poor fellows, thslr heads pillowed on
the suu-bakod ground, unsheltered from the
burning heat of midsummer, suffering, groan
ing, dying. Thero were not eurgeons enough
to ears for half of those who sorely needed
their skill. There were not homes enough to
shelter half of tbo* who were dying for leek
•of the commonest comforts. Confusion reigned
everywhere. In the garish rad brick ware
house fronting the square on the west, where
in the Christian Commission had established
headquarters, I presented my credentials and
mi aulgcea to doty in i poxtion of tho field
IxocplUl of tho oecond corps.
As night came on darkness threw e kindly
mantle over JtheJ repulsive sights, bat the hor
ror of the situation was hardly Ian acute. The
only illumination of the place came from the
widely yellow glow of an army lantern. A
square box-llko contrivance hung from a Joist,
with an oil lamp in the middle and four cracked
- ’ m soiled that the doll yellow
tgled through them. The men
of anil nubia to fi’-CCD—tOSSCtl
raved in wild delirium. The
weather-beaten born resounded with a horrid
chores of curses, Imprecations and groans that
wounded doubly awful at dead of night, and
the old army lanterns’ glimmering light
wrought weird, fantastic shadows among tho
cobwebbed rafters of the roof.
remm- Tl
It was la this chamber of horror* and on the
“Take him in her* boys. 1 ' Then the lantern
Hashed momentarily on the grim relics on the
■oneoa’a table seer the doorway, there wee a
iEStog of feet apon the threshold end two
men entered end deposited e stretcher apon
the finer. Behind them came* third, who were
his Kft aim In a sling rudely Impravl.d from
a cartridge belt end a handkerchief. The two
who was* able-bodied claMvd a sped by remov
ing tho body of a poor fellow who bed Jam
breathed hta last. Tbs corpse was taken out
side to be burled la tho morning, sad then
Donald was lifted tenderly from the atraWw
end glaced In the spot where the dead man
In the flickering light of the lantern I ssw
his face, handsome, though pole and haggard
uob suffering. It was the face of s young men
—he was barely *0—end every feature was an
Index of manliness graced with the highest
culture and refinement.
Lieutenant Gordon was—to nso In i!s best
sense a phrase that ha* aomettimes been abused
—a southern gentlemen. Between him and his
folthfol comrade, Tom Spaulding, tho wounded
■ ’ ’ **-• “ > voice had dt-
jer whore to ley
their harden, there existed that peculiar type
of affection that la not uncommon betweon
men of widely opposite attainments. Gordon
wee the ran of e moderately wealthy manufac
turer of Columbus, Ga. He had graduated from
college with distinction, and when the war
broke out, though he had Jut completed hta
course in a theological seminary, he enlisted
with the member* of the Columbus Light
Guard In the 28th Georgia. Spaulding, who
was a sergeant In the same company, was a
big-hearted fellow of noble impataes, but not e
man of brilliant parts. It wai a schoolboy
friendship begun In the schools of ColombUs
end never outgrown by either, though the one
had far outstripped the other la scholarship
and social rank. The lieutenant was wounded
dangerously, A grape shot, oho of tho drops ir
the iron storm hurled from Hancock’s guns, bad
•truck aud shattered hta right lag fust abort
thoknee. The sergeant's wounded arm, pain
ful but not aerlona, did not prevent the many
acta of ministering kindness that proved hu
loyal devotion to hta comrade. Early in the
day following that first wretched night ln,the
barn hospital Donald Gordon’* shi
wss amputated; but ha never rallied from the
•hock. He eank steadily day by day end when
tho down of July 12 lighted up the gloomy
corners of the old barn It was plain that before
another sunrise came the etrugglo would be
over.- Gordon knew the end ares near end
awaited it srith patient orange. Tom Spauld
ing, kneeling bcsldo him,preesod hta hand and
asked gently what he could do to cheer him.
From force of military habit the subaltern bed
addressed hta friend as ’-Lieutenant. 1
‘•Drop the lieutenant, Tom.” aatd Gordon,
with a faint smile; “we’re both off doty now.
y rafters of the barn it was clear that
the soldier’s mind wss clouded slightly by the
raging fever that bad racked hta body for for
ty-eight hours.
“Don, old fellow, do yen want anything!’ 1
whispered Spanldlng.
“Yeo,” he fisltertd. “Tom, I—I want to bo
dressed," and then, with a straggle to make hta
meaning dear, he went on faintly: “Tom, yon
know 1’vo lived Uko n gentleman. I know It’s
hqfd to do much here, but I think I’d fool hot
ter tf you could wash my feet ami cool my
hands.’’ Thon, aftor a pauso, ’ *
“And, Tom, can’t you dress me In .
1—I don't feci clean. You know, old follow,
I’vo livo liked a gentleman, and—well, 1 want,
to- to dlo liko a gentleman.”
Tenderly aa icon could, wo f pongc.l tho f:
vrred body with tepid water and ,1 reared tbo
dying sohlior insonio neat linen taken from the
hospital stores, Hta faco expressed the grati
tude he was too weak to speak, but as ho sank
bark upon tho blankot that served as a rudo
pillow ho noticed the two llttlo cameo studs
that still remained screwed into the soiled shirt
front.
“Pat In the (tads, too,” he said. “Mother
F ive mo thoao. Let mo keep them until—until
go home again.’’ We did aa ho bade us, and
then, apparently satisfied, he aenk- into e qnlet
•leep. Toward evening he routed again.
" ■" as still beside him, but my dntlee
had celled me etaewhere. HU sleep
the two lay aide by side. It
entrusted to Tom Spaulding hta last menage*.
Whet paseeQ between the men *t that time I
do not know,end If Ididtheaacredconfidence
of that last half hoar ehonld remain Inviolate.
I only know that sundry little trinkets, among
them a ring, the gift or hta father, and a me
dallion locket enclosing a portrait of the wo
man who hoped to be hta wife, passed from the
hands ot the dying lien tenet to those of the
sergeant who still Tioped to eee friends snd
boms again. Shortly before midnight I joined
them and remained until the end. I asked the
jronng officer if there was ought I could do for
"Nothing,pastor,’’ ho answered. (Itwise
ftney of hu to cell me paator.) “Nothing; Tom
has taken all the messages I want to send. He
will see to everything. Yon’ve been kind,
pester. I thank you." He hesitated a moment
and then added: “Yta, only one thing: do the
beat you can to giro me a Christian burial.”
Then, turning from mo to hta comrade, he fal
tered: “And you, Tom, when you can—when
tho war la over—take ma hack to mother aud
Hattie.” Then the weary eyelids drooped, the
soldier fell Into a painless stupor and Just as
the sickly glewof theold army tentorn began to
lie in the coming dawn of another sultry day
onald Gordon died.
The son was beating dawn upon the trench
in the stubble field with the fierce splendor of
neon when we carried the body out for burial.
All that waa possible had been don* to give the
deed lieutenant the Christian bnrial ha craved.
Tho waited form was wrapped closely in *
blanket and about tho soldtor'e hied end thee I
tied hta military locket, fastening the ileeras
around hia neck. Then tho llttlo funeral party
started from the barn toward tho trenches. Two
of tho mourners, a confederate prisoner end
myself, carried the body, on* at either end of
the etrctchor on which the wounded eoldler had
entered the hern a week before. The third,
Tom Bpanldlng, walked silently beside it with
downcast bead. We bed not Ikr to go. Follow
ing the well-beaten path through the btrnyard
end sc:oss a matte bridge that spanned s small
rivnlet, we entered the stubble field end tramp
ed on.a hundred yards perhaps, to the open end
of the second of the two psreUol trenches.
There we did what little we cenld -to make a
Christian burial. From the tide* ot e pilr ot
cracker boxes, framed over end around the body
as It lay in the trench, ws improvised the best
substitute for ecoffin that the exigencies of war
would permit. Then from
short burial service. 8
with uncovered heed,
a from memory I spoke *
Spanldlng knelt betid* me
I, end,srith a terse butaol-
he lay In the shallow trench, slept
srho died for the same lost eaose: next to him
the herculean frame of John Briggs; a Florida
soldier, who gave np the strnggla only twenty
minutes alter the lieutenant died and was
hurled an hour before him. On hta left, le the
sun* serried ranks of the fallen, w* had laid,
befeie I left the wretched barn forever, 200
more of the army of Northern Virginia.
Through all the later heart of that fanenl
day Tom Spaulding set, knife in hand, patient
ly carving letters ft the lid of abox that I had
nailed to the threshold of tho barn so that he
might work npoo it with hta on* uncrippled
wlt£ t nemo written on them huriodly won’t
Itvnd the wesiher long. Thta will do bettor, I
think,” So the next dty we drove the board
deep Into tho ground at the head of the spot
where Donald Gordon lay and left It there, an
humblo monument to mark a soldier's grave.
Three werka longer I tolled on amid the
Ghastly scenes of the barn hospital, and when
4t list I kissed my wife end babtoe at home
•fain I had a little battle of my own to fight;
six wetk’s tussle with malignant typhoid
the medallion and the portrait never retol
those dear onee In Columbus, end they heerd
not * of how Don Gordon died. Poor, faithful
Tom Spqnldlng’s fate, we* even more terrible
then hi* comrade’s. Ho recovered from hta
wound, was exchanged eoon after, rejoined the
army Northern Virginia, end area shot dead In
the disaitrooi attack *t Mine Ban. Had I
known tbit at tbs time my story might not bo
worth tho telling, for I might have done, ft
part at lrsst whet Dontld Gordon left to him
to do. But I did not know it. Andso foreight
yetrt Donald Gordon slept beneatk the field of
Gettysburg, while hta comndo't body ley I
know not where. I only know thpt totaowhore
ft the battle searred south, on Ah* field where
be fell, or ft eome soldier's-cemetery, per-
’» body llea,aufttlgulfi-
unnumbered army of
the unknown di
o £reat
Onoplearsnt evening in July, eight Years
the battle of Gettysburg, th
iking her
after the battle of Getl
steamer Oriole wss ....
northward over the waters of Mol
ifongar
ht^trlp
over e religious convention end gladBH
again on my way home,! had sought th* hunt I
cane deck and dropped Into a comfortable con-
vis easy chetrto rest. I had long since cowed
to harrow my aonl with recoUeetlofip of those
awfrl deys in the old barn hospital. I don't
know why It Is, therefore, that on that partic
ular night my thought! persistently reverted
to that fttnaral scene by the trenches In the
litnhble field and Tom Spaulding’* headboard
with It* simple epitaph. Perhaps it wae only
I the coincidence of time, coupled with tho senso
of being beneath southern sklea that recalled
the memory of tho southern soldier.
Abandoned to my own matings, I at there
watching tho wondrous play of phosphorescent
light in the steamer's wake and quite ancon-
scion* of the presence of tho portly, middle-
aged gentlemen .who at opposite ms on the
star board jsldc, and was the only othcroecupant
of that pert of tho deck, Hta abortive efforts to
strike a match and a mildly Impatient excla
mation of hta failure reminded mo that I had n
neighbor ft distress. I was about to rlso and
offer him a light when ho came toward mo.
“Thank yon,sir,” ho said,pleasantly,as lio drew
tho flsst puff from Ills mild Key-Wost. “laoom
to liavo lost my old-time knack of striking tiro
inabreezo.” Thon, as ha glanced at my f-too
for tho first time, ho smiled and extended
his bund in greeting.
’’Why, doctor, glad to seo you. I didn't
kunwyou Terre aboard. Pilr,ion me for intro-
duc:ng myself. Yen don't koow roe. bat I
heard your addicts lust evening in Mobile.” Aa
ho s]H.ko ho woo fumbling in htawallotand,
producing a card, ho handed it to mo and
bowed slightly. Then, comprehending that It
was too dark to road it, ho added: "My namo
is Charles F. Winthrop, air, of C'olumbns-Co-
lumbar, Ga.” Wo oat down together and
chatted awhile of tho lito convention and Us
doings, and then whon tho conversation seem,
cd likely to flag I did what a chanco aoualnt-
nnco always dora who has little to guide him
aavo tho nemo of tho town one hnlto from. I
sought to nemo tome mutual friend. I might
I have named a Christian minister of Columbus I
whom I know quite well; but aomohow the in
stant the middle-aged gentleman aid “of Co-
I Iambus—Columbus, Ga.,” I had Jseen again in
I memory that pine headboard, with Its oarved
Inscription, “Lieutenant Don Gordon, 23th
Georgia, O. & A.” And so I limply foUowod
my first Impulse when I sold:
“Do you happen to know a family In yonr
town named Gordon; had a son, a splendid
young fellow, killed in the srart”
“Gordon! Caleb Gordon! Why, yee, I know
the old gentleman well, sir, A neighbor of
mine. In fret, end a member of th* seme
church.” Mr. Winthrop TO affable. He was
evidently pleased that my mental grappling
Ifore mutual friend bad been to fortunate In I
Its very first venture, end bis face wee beam
ing with gratification as he added: “You know
Caleb Gordon, then! Flue old gentlemen, sir;
true aa steel and gentle as a woman; generous,
generous to a fault.”
■go," I aid quietly, end with t touch of
ad nets, “I don’t know th* father, hot I knew
“Don, was it! Yee, yes, poor Don! That
was a sad blow to th* old gentleman, and Isn't
it strange, sir, with *11 tho money end time
Celeb Gordon has spent to get at the facts,
that he never learned the first word of how
poor Don died, or where he was buried. That
•ctmstobe the saddest part of It; sir; don’t
yon think sol Lcetl Simply lost to them end
not a ant knows the lkcti! Many such cases I
daring th* war, no doubt, all through the—
ltowlnthrop stopped and looked up In my
irop stop;
face. I had dropped my
Th* half desultory Interest I had shown In tho
conversation wss gone and I wu looking ea
gerly Into hta eyes, my voice shaking with rap-
irrssed emotion as I laid: “Stop a moment,
lid you my Donald Gordon'! body was never
recovered!”
“Neverreeovered! Why, air, there’s not a
clue—but whet'
at rui
tell you
my eagernea “It is bccaua—because I can re
cover that body; ibr I buried It with my own
mdi.”
It wss now Mr. Winthrop'* tom to be rar-
r free tncrednlonsly *
prised; end he studied my tec
moment atanoat as though he
mistrusted me. I
plained to me bow Caleb Gordon bad only
icard that hta son had fallen at Gettysburg,
how he bad vainly exhansted every possible
means of learning further details, and Still
clung to th* fond hope of eome day recovering
the body,
An hour later Hr Winthrop and mysef part
ed. I never aw him again. He took the
train for Columbus, end I continued my jour
ney north. I am * telrly good traveler, and I
had a “middle-lower” berth hot I did not
sleep well. I was restless, and whan at last I
fell into a troubled alnmber my dreams were
haunted by th* horrors of the field hospital at
Gettysburg, smiths ramble of the cere seemed
to my fevered brain th* groans of dying men.
IV?
On the third day after my return to Phils-
dtlpbta the servant brought to my study n card
healing the name of Caleb Gordon. He bal
come from Columbus to recover the tort body
ef hta eon. Theold gentleman vu Impatient,
Mger to lav* for th* field at one*. 1 to
aniloui to help him end hopeful ef M
I canceled eome engagements, postponed others
end ft forty-eight hours was again on th* way
to Gettysburg with Donald Gordontotititgtomd
side me. During tLo first'
be bad drawn from me
•fusion's death and burial, every UUle Ini
cident I could remember of hta last hours of
u’a tether be-
life. After that the tether relapsed Into silent
brooding, but as I watched hta tees I knew
that the hope of eight yeera—tho dearest hope
of on oldman's life most be realised or blighted
by the outcome of that strange journey.
We etopped In the borough of Gettysburg
only tong enough to enlist too services of two
helpers—one of them Dr. Kneel anil, an elderly
physician, who had made a study of the bnrhu
trenches and had thereby been instrumental in
recovering many bodies; tho -other, the Doc
tor's negro driver, who wss e
epsdo and e long, narrow box.
together down the old Baltimore pike. Tho
toe tie was a perfect pictnreof peace and thrifty
industry. I never realised before whets won
derful difference an insignificant an element
as the presence or abeenco of a tot of erasy
fences makes In tho ensemble of a toudseep*.
Until we had forded Rock Creek at the ame
shallow ford and spproeehed the old term-
house, It seemed to me almost like * strange
country we were traversing. But there at last
was the ame shambling poreh where I first
taw the long Unes of wounded and dying men
end the ame vlne-clsd trellis that sheltered
them from the cracl hat. Thecrimson holly
hocks in tho dooryard wero blooming in ell
thslr splrndor—jnst as they bloomed eight
yesis before. It was on the 13th of July, eight
yean to * day since Donald Gordon died. It
waa tliv same place, and yet It mi not the
rtme place. My first bitter disappointment
came when I learned that thero waa not s tool
In that house wjio could help ns aocompUsh
onr purpose, for the Wcrti term had passed
bain bite vanished too. Tho absence of
the hem confused me, but I walked after the
Doctor as he followed the direction Indicated
by Ills memoranda. It waa not hard to locate
where tho stubble-field bed ban, for It was a
apaclooa tract vf many acre*, but to locate the
piecteo line ef the trenches was a ter more deli
cate task. The itnbble-fleld, moreover, wu a
Istobblo-field no longer. It waa waving high
srith corn. The Doctor paused in the labyrinth
of little comhllb. “According to my notion,"
he aid, “thetrenohes ran right slang here,
about thirty feet from the present fenco line,"
“I think you are wrong," 1 returned. “We've
not gene far enough.”
“Well, we can soon test that," he answered.
Then at htadireotlon the negro struckhtaapade
Into the l(i] between tiro hills of corn. Aa he
dag down beneath the raperflelal stratum itwai
plain to a practiced eye that the iub-aoll had
never been disturbed. I could seo that the
Dtctor sras discouraged by bis failure, though
not | ready surprised at it. Upon some pretext
bo culled mo apart from Calob Gordon, who
had been an eager spectator of the toil, and
then he said to me In whispers: “This thing,
I ftnr, Is hopeless. It was a foolish thing far
tbo gentleman to como a thousand miles ou an
orrni-.d Uko this. You mo yourself It's liko
hunting a needle Ina haystack, and ifwoatrlko
tho lino and find a body, howcau wo know it's
the right ouc! It’s bard, vory hard, but
really, 1 third- you'd better try to discourage
lilm nod let br.u down oasy, so to sneak. A
mi ,body fu a wilderness of coni stalks. The
.thing is alpio-t Impossible." *
“Discourage hlinv” I answered. “I cannot
do that. I haven't tho courage.”
“Then I must,” said tho Doctor, and In splto
of my exhortations not to give upso soin,he
called to Calob Gordon and tohl him what he
had jnst told mo. The old man's faco grew
pale, hut tho lines of hta month wero firmly
drawn. This was hta resolute ronly:
Doctor,
“Iam note wealthy men, uocujr, nun
have money enough to bny this farm. My wife
knows I am lieroto-day. If Igohome without
what I came for It will break her heart. De
fine I admit that this task Is hopeless I will
buy this plaeo aud dig It over Inch by inch
until I find Ihobody of ray son.’’
Tho doctor flushod at tho tether'e answer,
bnt I aw that if we wero to succeed it must be
>y reliance npen myself rather than upon my
collciguo.
“Walt here for me,” I aid, end I started
again toward tho fkrmhooao. Aa I emerged
from tho labyrinth of com snd looked toward
theeloverfieldbeyondlt,I noticed something
significant that had'escaped onr observation,
Acroa the even surface of the clover field ran
ell and well-definc
the surface of tho
clover waa waving els
In e rich dark-green, In sharp contrast
th* sparse snd ragged growth etaewhere.
Those were tho Una of th* trenches.
If I could produce tbnso llna into the corn
field snd then determine the point wherelthey
ended I might yet succeed, with each eld as
the mattsr-of-teetyonng tenner was able to
giro, I located si nearly aa possible the sit* of
the old ham, keeping *11 thp while in my
mind’s eye the rotative position of thoa billowy
linn ft the clover field beyond. Then I b in-
bat I
hospital end paced slowly like one walking in
a trance. Once more I tru trudging *t the end
of a stretcher srith the body of e dead Midler.
My mind obliterated eight years end I was
•gain carrying the body of Donald Gordon out
for burial In the blase of the midday sun. I
only
took, hut from the moment I creased th*
perched stone* ft th* bed of th* brook I begin
counting my atop*. Facing slowly forward
srith my hud bent tosrard the ground I hardly
knew I had struck Into the cornfield again
until 1 had sealed th* fence end sras Impatiently
brushing aside the taasilsd stalks that cum-
.. —■' '— I know
annneon-
Mgjitir
ter J had gone, bnt I folt that It sue Joata* far
a<t had gone sight vara ago that morning,
and, when my friends came harrying toward
me In respona to my ahont, It sru In a tone of
confidence that I laid:
“The body of Dontld Gordon 11m within ten
peers of where I now stead.’’
Dr. Kneetand aid I sras surely wrong; the
trenches ley closer to th* fence line.
“IAt the spado test that,’’ I replied, as I mo
tioned to the negro todlg. He dog oat one hill
of corn ten fret from where I staid, struck
down s foot or two beneath tbo surface and
found nothing.
“Come clear to me end try again,” 1 mid.
ne laid another corn stalk beside the fint and
•track In bia spade almost at my fast. We
stood In painful silence watching each spadeful
of earth lewd out beside us. Tea inches below
the surface tbo groued suddenly crumbled ft
•pole and caved Into th* hole.
"That settles it,” exclaimed th* Doctor.
We're on the line of th* trench.” Ht ipptni
only to snap my hand srarmly, be adde-t:
’Now, Bern, |
more sped:
Gordon bent hta silvered bad above th* aegis*
Intent upon bis every motion. In th* third
■rsdefrl of loam Pam turned up something else
—something long end bard with knobs at the
ends.
‘ Stop,” said the Doctor. He spraag for ward,
gnspid the retie end brushed away th* soil
that dung to shnman bon*. He studied It
carefully n moment srith e sort of professional
scat, soliloquizing thoa as be brushed It clean
snd sysd its proportions: “A thigh bone, the
thigh bene of an ueuaoally toll man: see hew
long It to. That man moat have stood over six
fret tf he sras well proportioned.'’ Then hta
keen eye caught another peculiarity. “Ah, see
that," ne added, pointing to a ragged break In
the knob that once made pert ot thehlpjoint.
“This Is a fractured thigh bene. Thta man
was evidently struck by sbnUet Just below the
hip; the shot that killed him very likely.''
“A fractured thigh bone, a toll man struck
by a shot jnst below the hip.” Oh, whet a
nor Id of meaning that diagnosis had for me.
It told me that Caleb Gordon's hope would not
hebllfbltd. “That,” aid I, "ta the thigh bone
of John Ilrlggs, * Florida told lor."
Tbo Doctor smiled inendnlotuly. “And
how on earth do yon know that!"
“I know It,” I replied, “beeiuse JohnBi
a great musentar fellow, who stood etx
four, sras tho ono and only msu who died ft
the barn hospital from a fractured leg who bad
not previously had that leg amputated. Ho
wu struck M high up and the hip waa so u
•bettered that empatationsru Impossible.”
“Well, t must admit that looks plausible,"
said the Doctor, contemplatively, plckiog the
loam out of the ragged fracture with the blade
f you
her when this Briggs died—’’
“Exactly,” I Interrupted. “He and Donald
Gordon died the ame night, end Gordon lira
hta arms about my n
now to ylold to nta
dig ' ‘
wu too oarer
emotion long. Sam sras
where we fonnd the thigh bone of John Briggs. I
Two more corn stalks bed been uprooted, and
the tether of Lieutadant Gordon wae down on
hta knea in the corn field posting Into the
ilcriwntng hole end listening to the (lull grating
of tho negro’* spede. A few minutes of patient
digging and Sam turned np the rotten frag
ments ofia hoard. Than, with careful hands,
we removed one by one the decayed spUntere
of the cracker box from which that rude coffin
was Imprortaod eight yean before, and gradu
ally uncovered tho whole length of tbo body.
Tbo dank, mouldy shreds of tho blanket and
the army jacket that shrouded tho soldier's
form dropped to places as we touched them,
bnt six brass bottom with tha letters a & A.
stamped upon tho shield dropped from the
damp shreds of the jacket, and Caleb Gordon
eirzed them llke.aman who hu fonnd a pro-
dons treasure. Then ono by ono the bona of
Lieutenant Gordon’! body were lifted from
the grave snd told each In ita proper plaoo apon
the ground, until thero wu not a fragment
mtaalnguvethe tower part of the right tog
that was severed by the ampnUtlon.
Caleb Gordon otooped again and took In hta
hands tho skull of hta son. For a moment tha
old man's eyes gazed In the sightless sockets
of hta first-born: hta hands caressed the smooth
frontal hones of the well-rounded forehead,end
then he caroftilly examined tho perfect rows of
teeth still firm and white.
"It 1s he,” he bltered, “I would know my
hoy’a forehead anywhere. Yes, there can be
no doubt. Bee, even tha teeth complete the
evldcnco. Those two gold fillings wore tha
only impel fictions.”
VVbilc tho old man stood lingoring tho skull
snd pointing out, b< tiveon hta sobs, each evi-
denco of identity, the doctor, who had boon
searching iu tho shreds of tho rotted blankot
that (hopped from tho dead man's ribs, made a
(lJEcoiery tbatre moved tho last posslblo shadow
donbt
ItltltUU,
Our task was tlono. Tho Identity wu estab
lished beyond peradventnre. Caleb Gordon’s
hope wu realized. We hid Jnitdlstarbed four
bills of com.
It sras well that wo succeeded when we did.
A few months Ittor the task would have been
hopeless, for sritbln e year the state of Virginia
made sn appropriation end every confederate
body still unclaimed wae disinterred end
burled In the greet Midlers cemetery of Rich.
V.
One more scene end thta sombre eketob la
finished, This, too, ta a ftncral scone, but not
like tbo othsr-ln the etabble field. At Donald
Gordon’s second burial tho bright annahlno of
the south flashed upon radiant ehafta of mar
ble and polished granite In tbs beanttfrl llttlo
cemetery of Columbus. Tho second sepulture
wu marked by such reverent ministration u
became the memory of e Christian and aneh
martial honors u were due the tense of ■ Mi
dler. The survivors of tho Columbus Light
Guilds wars there to do their pert. Their
muskets spoke the martial requiem over their
comtade'e tomb, end u the smoke of the funer
al vt“ *
Dona!
BETSY HAMILTON.
grave wcoplng tears of min
gled Joy and eonow. The ono, care-worn and
•liver-haired, wu hta mother; tho other, atilt
yonny, a queenly aontbem woman, with hair
•• black u the crepe veil that touched It, wu
ft all but name hta widow. And u they tamed
away at last, the tilver-belred mother entiled
iwNtlv m too ■poke: *
“We ehonld be tbankfrl, Mettle, very thank-
frl,” she said, “for at last wo hare poor Don at
bone inln,”
ThlsTs tho story that came to bin vividly
u I sat by a quaint old secretary and polished
back tobrigbtneatbetwo braes buttons that
Caleb Gordon had given me from hta store of
treasures. It wu not much that I bad done.
Chance—or perhaps I should uj Frovldenee—
yet ul ut
had done far more than I.
I sru conscious of a sweet sense
u rare u it sru exquisite. I did not atop to
analyze the feeling; bnt perhaps It TO because
I bed et last been Instrumental In fulfilling
the last two injunctions of a dying man. Don
ald Gordon had at lait recalved a Christian
burial, and today be slaps beneath a bower of
ma planted by the loving hands ot mother
and Mattie. |
- now women rign.
From the Ben Francisco Chronicle.
Did yon ever aa a woman fish! i non s
mean a tomato fish, but a woman ft tho act of
fishing. If she’s
of pins or* yard „ — 5 —... ,
she’ll load herself np with a rubber end a psfr
of arctice and sn umbrella and
a nick protector. She ta too
delicate tore drop of rain to teach her. Bat
she’ll go eat tn a host on • wot day and let the
rain corns down on her end thewavmduh
ever her, end stand Making tike the hardiest
Mltorman. There were four todtos onee went
fishing. They selected a very rainy day, and
they had ell their waterproof clonks and head
and fret coming. They srare all by them-
wives when they took a boat end went to flab.
It sras In Maine. With tru frmioine
ecu they started off without anything to
tbo fish ft. They had in sit
time until they raeght n pickerel. When
caught the pickerel they didn’t knew whet to
do with it. It TO alive and flopping. They
had it in the bottom of th* boot They won
dered why it didn't lio quiet. At last n happy
and benign thought struck on* of them.
‘ Foot thing! lt’a getting all wet lying la
tbo rain.”
And tha whipped off her waterproof and
snapped it up in It Each of the four caught
n pickerel, and each of tha four wrapped it up
to her waterproof end the rain wet them
flbft aa* Com la Fink Xll* Tkamitlvet la a M#w
Wor$t» d Drtia *pl«o«and Mak* Fraparattaaa
(or tbo Jours ay-Talladafa os m Big Boom
and Ivory bod* Tt$hvg Blob.
Me and Cousin Flnk'e a filin’ to git off t«
Texas. Fean like ita hud work to git .started
—women folks alien hu so much to do. Notr
If we’d tr been men we'd er done bcon thar an'
tack. Wo sru obleego to go to town. Both of
os waa plnm out’n Sunday shoes and couldn’t
trust pap to plek ’em, ksao ho alien gits ’em »
mile too big, and Cousin Pink, sho hadn’t
I bought her airy hat seneo rammer before lut
when she went to Bln-Cler to tho ’aoclatlon,
and I wouldnt er had nalr*n author only
Cotuln Lou-l-sy sho gin ms her lut winter’s
hat. Hit looked u good aa new, and I knowed
no body ont thar wouldn’t know it wu her ola
tin. We hearn that wonted sru agwlno at
fifteen cents a yard, and Cousin Fink alio takes
s green one with a bine Rower, end I taken •
red ono with n jailer flower, ksao if than any
thing I do Uko it* yaller end red.
We wu plum fixed when wo struck np with
Cap Dewberry and Mr. Turnlpicod and they
taken ns to Mr, Towers’ and paid for onr din
ner and gin ns a pniplo neck rlbbln a piece.
They sru np thar e apeckerlatin In land.
Dirt’s done tla in Tklltdcgy town tel error
body thata got a little pleco of ground u big as
onr tater ratch feels plnm rich. A month ago
land that monght er bln bought for n thousand
dollarecantakasely bogotnowfor flvo or six
timet that much. A little atrip of land that n
man paid a hundred and fifty dollars for sold
tother day for fonr thousand.
Tho tosrn’s alive with strangers e steppla
ahont in high braver hats and shiny boots a
mintin' of ther gold headed walkin' sticks 1b
evezy direction a talkin' .boat corner lots end
front feet.
■Now's tho time fur e body theta got a little
money to buy land In Tall.ulegy; tho prloo ta a
t wino np higher and hlghor tel fua thing you
now poor folks cut tetoh a foot of It. They
My some of the men fblka hu dune mode so
much money cflTn thor land seneo It rls that
they cant sleep of nights for think In' about it,
nnd tho women folks toy awake studylu’ how
to spend it.
hathnn Quaddlebum mads e right smart
ofi’n hta land and ta gwlne to put him up a new
home. Ills wifowu a tollin’me and Couila
Fink about it tother day whan we ares in towB
and ’lowed sho wu a gwlne to dlvido the frost
hall from tho beck hall with pot-yen. Hhe
goes in powerful for fashion. Mo and CouaiM
Pink didn’t know what pot-ycre was, but iro
nesor tat on.
Pap he ’lows TaUadegy ta ou stilts and she'* a
steppin' high and fur, lut she’s got ererthlng
to make her go ahead.
Hlta th. bealthleM .od prettiest place iu tha
state. Then's three railroads a runnta’
through It now and three more e cornin'. Two
big rnznsees Is t gwlne to ho built soon and
they will fetch In a hup of new folka. Tha
(leaf and dumb asylum ft thar, and tho legisla
ture has glvo'rni money to build a home for
and good preachers, ana they got a freo school
tho blind folka They got nice mootin' hou
srhoolln for nothin’. They got
itgu and
boxes on the lamp potto. The waterworks to
groat; tho water comos from tbo big town
spring and ta clear u glass andevor body
drinks It. They done found coal In thru mile
of town, end 1 know In rouln this country
cant bo teat for tat pine and good hlok’ry and
oak wood.
These hero mountings Is chock full of Iron,
gold, silver and copper, and pap he 'Iowa the
Iron oro ta tbo beat In the state, kue Its the
brown hematite, and pap knows. He'lows
thst gold it tiiddeo’s mlno Is the yallerest evor
through to the skin, but they kept theta Osh
dry*U the*—
boom dirt tint so cheap. Thoy uy over la
Blimlngbsm Its mighty nigh worth Its wolght
In gold, end Tslladcgy Is on tha high road to
ketch np to her.
Cousin Pink snd mo had a power of fun >
coming homo from tosra thst dsy. Pap and
them went on a head in tho waggln and Ukon
onr things and Cousin Pink she rid longer Mr.
' ‘Tedjehewasa tidin’ of Clndyltobor-
auu.uiuMoLandsboilntno race nsg; I sru
a tidin’ of ola Lace, eho'e blind In ono oyo, but
she gits over ground “nevertholon notwlth-
' lading,’’ u pep uye, end Cep Dewberry ha
,.j| a tidin’ of hta llttlo bobtail mule ha
bought out’n a circus, and long u our critters
could out go thorn, me end him token the
told. Cep he didn’t much smut to go ahead—
courtin’ folka never doe*,—hot old Lnu wont
stay behind. Ho begged me all the way not to
G to Texas, and when Cousin rink rid up I
lowed from tho stay sho looked that aha had
bun court ed. I nuoptd on quick to kcop hoc
from setln! how I looked.
Betsy Hamilton.
THEWATEIt IS RISING.
Mrxrma, March 8.—Tho overflow of th*
Mississippi bis Inundated tho truck of tho
Memphis and Llttlo Bock road from Ilapollold,
opposite thta city, to Madtaon, Ark., a distance
or forty miles, making travel Imjiractlcabtw.,
Llttlo Bock trains now go over tho KsoaasCIty
road to Nettieton, and thence orer tho HolonB
lranch of the Iron Mountain rod to Formt
City, Ark., when they regain their own track.
The weat bank of ths river from Mtaaonrf to
Memphis ta almoatwholly under inter. Loveu
below tho city are still intact. .
Vicumraii, Mlo, Hatch 13—Advices front
Richland end portions of Madison partah re
port tho outlook In that rectioa gloomy. Th.
Epps plantation Is partially rabmergod. and
tho witer 1a siting ft tho Bayou Macon at th.
rate of an Inch In four hours. The
thigh place, on Jonra bayou, is about half cor-
eredwltiiwater, which la rising there at the
rate of ebont three toehe* in twenty-root
hours. The Cunniniham place, on Tones*
river, b all submerged and the water ta rising-
abeuttix inches* day. The Ouquot place,
at lection five, ta also covered srith water. T ne
private leva, built by tbs tote Oolonol Elward
Richardson snd other planter*, which ta about
rix milra tong and four foet doom udjaia-
Unded to protect the eart bank of thobayoa
Mzcoa. hu glrtn sway ft about twenty places
ftive Wytaya Monttotilo place. Alth .ugh a
e neral overflow to not antieftatod, thoro still
much damage dona by tho water coming
through the openlnp to tho Arkanoo
front, also by that coming in
at Diamond |bend, and Reft
Crevane-Tbo nows sras recelrod from Bold
Otvasa tonight to tho effect that tha United
Btatcs Engineer Corps had racceeded ft pro
tecting the ende of the levee, thus arresting a.
further cutting array of the embankment.
Hie Card,
From tha Ttoy Tm*'.* ' .
torrent girl to mistress—'There'! a gentle-
mu at tie door.
,
Tern, Ltthimft,".