WHAT BOOKS 10 READ
DO NOT DEPEND UPON ACCIDENT
TO GET THEM.
The Luxury of a Library—Read Your
Favorite Books Many Times—The
Bible as a Literary Work—The
Book Lover Per Se Cares Little
for Bindings—lf You Wish to Be
Keen-Edged, Read the Newspapers
—Newspapers Give Us Things to
Talk About—They Make Our Boys
and Girls Politically Intelligent.
BV MARGARET E SANGSTER.
(Copyright, I'JOS, by Joseph li. Bowles.)
Plenty of people never buy books.
They would think it extravagant to do
so. They buy mowing machines and
patent reapers, steam yachts and au
tomobiles, and their wives spend
money for rugs and divans and new
paper and paint, for satins and laces,
gloves, fans and all the pomps and
vanities, but for books.
They depend on accident. School
premiums, and holiday presents, have
fitted out many a home library. In
a country house, rich in adornment,
standing in the midst of gardens and
parks, I have seen a meager stock of
hooks, all belonging to the flotsam
and jetsam of yesterday; not to
an immortal yesterday, either, but
the ephemeral and the useless, to the
books that ought to be sent to the
rubbish-heap.
"Where do you get your reading
matter?" I asked the kousemistress,
wondering much at the strange and
miscellaneous character of the ac
cumulations.
"Oh, John buys a novel now and
then on the railway, and visitors often
leave books they are done with. We
don't invest in books. They are heavy
things if one moves, and hard to
pack, and nobody ever reads a book
the second time. You can't turn
books into cash, as you can diamonds
and horses."
There spoke the spirit of the toiler
who had grown to wealth from pover
ty and to whom culture was unknown.
You couldn't turn books into cash,
and you wouldn't read them a second
time. The ideal of utility did not
make a library a desirable asset.
But one does read books the second
time, and the third, and the fourth, if
•one is a book-lover. If one sets the
right valuation on books, one would
rather have them in the house than
any other plenishing. Mahogany
tables and chairs are very well if
you can afford them, and fine china
is very dear to the housekeeper's
heart, but a pine board and a bench
will answer for necessities, if the
family prefer literature to other lux
uries.
In the simplest of homes, where the
yearly income to bring up a half-dozen
boys and girls fell under a thousand
dollars, there was plain fare on a plain
table; there were bare floors, and in
summer the children ran bare
footed, but there was an abundance
of material to read. New books were
added every quarter to the volumes
already 011 the shelves, and those vol
umes included history, poetry, biogra
phy and essays; travel, too, and scien
tific research. From that home the
.sons and daughters have gone to take
high places in the world; one a pro
fessor, another an editor, another a
lawyer, another a surgeon. Their
trend for life was given in the sweet
humanities of their home, and though
poor, they were gently bred.
*****
What Books to Choose.
If somebody gave me carte blanche
to select his books, and he had none
to begin with, I should revel in the
■enterprise. I take it for granted that
at the basis of English culture is the
English Bible. If you speak English,
you know that the richest vocabulary,
the finest treasury of style, and the
highest system of ethics in the world
are in that familiar book. No American
home should be without it, and no
American father and mother should
venture to train children in ignorance
of its profound anil beautiful pages.
Hut what books shall you choose for
daily reading outside the Bible? Do
you like to read people's lives, to tread
again in the footprints others have
left in the sands of time? Then read
the lives of Gen. Gordon, "Chinese
Gordon;" of Ilaveloek. of Lord Law
• rence, of Sydney Smith, of Queen
Elizabeth, of John Knox, of Mary,
Queen of Scots; of George Washing
ton, Abraham Lincoln, t'lysses S.
Grant, Frances Willard, Edward
Hume-Jones; of anybody who was
heroic or sturdy or virtuous here, and
who loft a good example for imitation.
On your shelves have the works of
George Bitot, of Robert Louis Steven
son, of Thomas Carlyle, of George
Meredith, of Balzac, of Guizot, of
Shakespeare, and of Sir Walter Scott.
Put aside a little money every week
and buy one book.
Regarded from tin* standpoint of
dollars and cents, books are not dear.
Two dollars buys an ordiuary book;
you can in no other way «et so much
lasting profit front two dollars. Of
course if you want editions do luxe
and sumptuous bindings and fine
handmade paper, yon will jiay the
price, but the boololover per se cares
more fur the reading part than for
tin: dret, The meat in the nut i 8
more to him than the polished shell.
• * * *
Read the Newspaper.
Unlest you are willing to become
hopelessly a baek number, to know
nothing whatever about tin- current of
• •vents, to be rusty and dull wilted in
Mi ad of keen ednetf and clover, you
will not neglect tl«e new-paper.
It Iw. be. oni« u poteutial force In
our modi.. u ctviluwliuu. NVueUtea
telegraphy, the latest forward stride
in applied science, has brought the
ends of the earth close and tied the
ribbons in a bow-knot. We talk over
Korea and Manchuria, thv> probable
and the possible outcome of great
wars, the course of diplomacy, the
great struggles of Titanic nations
at our breakfast tables.
Not to read the newspaper Is to
have no opinions, to be ill-informed,
to be boorish. Men who are really
broad-minded read several papers.
They want to hear both sides. Com
plaint is often made that the newspa
pers tell too much: that they do not
respect privacy; that they are un
scrupulous in the search for news.
But the news of the day interests
every one, and the newspapers make
us all one big family, with kindly feel
ings for our kith and kin. They flash
a searchlight on crime; they awaken
sympathy for distress; they give us
things to talk about.
In choosing reading for the home,
take in, as our British cousins say,
as many good newspapers as you can.
Our boys and girls have a first-hand
privilege to be well-taught in politics.
How shall they be politically intelli
gent, or decently patriotic, if they are
forced to read borrowed newspapers,
or go without that essential of mental
culture?
Wear old hats and patched boots If
you must, walk and save car fares,
do without dessert after meals, but
subscribe for good newspapers, read
them thoroughly and discuss them in
the family circle. So shall you lay
foundation stones for wise building
and future success.
CASUALTY ROLL OF PEACE.
The Modern Man's Chances of In
jury or Death by Ac
cident.
The ordinary citizen who works for
his bread and has a family to sup
port takes it for granted that, when
his time arrives, he will die in his
bed. Why not, indeed, when the ac
cidents of existence have been re
duced to a minimum by the expedients
of a humane and ingenious civiliza
tion? People do not perish nowa
days, or get hurt, by many of the
chances which formerly threatened the
safety, and even the survival, of the
individual. Each person is safe
guarded by the entire community,
which is organized to defend its 11 .11-
bers against harm of every imaginable
kind.
Nevertheless, and in spite of this flat
tering view of the advantages of our
modern civilization, says Pearson's
Magazine, a study of the facts in the
case shows that the actual state of
affairs is far less satisfactory. This,
to begin with, is the mechanical age,
and with modern improvements have
arrived hundreds of hitherto-unknown
contrivances for killing and maiming.
The railroads of this country alone
kill 3,200 employes every year, and se
riously injure 40,000 more. Machinery
claims more victims annually than fell
in any battle of our civil war. The
civilization of which we are so proud
may be in some respects humane, but
it is undeniably murderous.
How surprising it seems to learn
that each year one man out of every
seven meets with a disabling acci
dent! Women are not nearly so much
exposed to mischances, for obvious
reasons, and not more than one out
of every 12 persons of the gentler sex
suffers a like misfortune in a twelve
month. But it appears that, if you
are an everyday citizen of voting age,
you have only six chances out of
seven of getting through the coming
year without being disabled in one
way or another. You have one chanca
in 2,200 of being killed during that pe
riod.
Nearly one-half of all disabling ac
cidents happen incidentally in busi
ness occupations. Hence, it is well
worth while to take this question into
consideration when picking out a vo
cation. The safest of all employments,
oddly enough, seems to be that of
the commercial traveler —a fact proved
by the circumstance that he is re
garded by all insurance companies as
the best possible risk, standing at the
top of the "select" class. Indeed, from
an insurance standpoint he is so far
perferable to anybody else that he
may be said almost to constitute a
; class by himself. He is twice as
! good a risk as a clergyman.
His Father Was an Athlete.
Dr. Dudley, of Abington, tells this
story of his man David and his house
keeper. who had great confidence in all
! that David said and did.
I One day David was in the barn, do
: ing something which caused a visitor
Ito say: "You're quite an athlete, aren't
j you?"
I "Well, yes." replied David; where
| upon the housekeeper, who stood near,
j said: "Why, 1 thought you told 1110
1 that you was Scotch."
"Well," said David, "my mother was
! Scotch, but my father was athlete."—
Uuston Herald.
Invitation from Home.
This is a cordial invitation from
i the "home folks" in Georgia to the
! absent one in Texas:
' l>. at William: This Is lo let you
know what yon are invited home to
spend Thank-vnivin' an' Christmas.
1 We art mightily In debt an' have flva
or six mortgages 10 pay off. an' you
1 ar< Invited 10 i-onie. an' bring all you
ran with you an I \s>'ll glv> you u
! couple of good dinners," Atlanta Con
stitution
Deduction.
l.lt'rv l.snitlKan 1 P'H'IIIIK) lie was
an intelligent uu' hard storking man,
downgrade (Uaasou (}«•«! Hi- must
• ha 1 hud one o dew dual i*t t sou tlliies.
I —fuck.
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1905.
A Christmas
Genius
—T~JQ A. BOGGS, JR., the
"•L, scion of an aristocratic
house, stood on one
/frpgSL leg. about which he
twined the other. At
*1 r same time he twisted
j his small body into
graceful curves.
"Say, pop," he in
quired, indifferently,
while still in that atti
tude, "give me some
Christmas money, will
you? I got to have
some, you know."
His father, the senior Boggs. looked
at him severely. "How much d'ye
want?" he inquired.
" 'Bout ten dollars," responded the
youth.
"What!" yelled the old man. "ten
dollars? A boy like you? Never! Here,
take this and run along. That's all
you can have."
He handed out a silver dollar.
Boggs, junior, bit it to see if it was
good, expectorated upon it slightly for
luck, and secreted it somewhere in liis
clothes. Then, with a vicious kick at
the legs of the table he made his exit.
Five minutes later he stood in Coop,
er's Alley interviewing a bosom friend
of his, whose euphonious name was
Mickey Flynn.
Mickey Flynn was clothed in rags
from head to foot, he was the real
thing in the rag line. "Say, sport,"
began Mr. Boggs genially. "I'm doin'
a turn, understand. 1 want yer clothes.
How'll you trade?"
Mickey surveyed the clothes worn by
the youthful Boggs with a critical air,
and his face broadened into a smile.
"Gee! Quince!" he returned. "I'll
trade. Yours is as good as new. Sure!
Here goes!"
It was a cold, bleak day. Half an
hour later a ragged, shivering urchin
stood alone, with staring eyes and gap
ing mouth, drinking in all the glory
of new sleds as they were effectivelj
displayed in the windows of a depart'
raent store.
"Gee, it's rotten cold!" exclaimed
this youngster to himself. "Wondei
how long 1 got to keep this up?"
Not long, for at. that moment a car
riage drawn by a pair of richly capari
soned horses drew up at the curb. At.
the window of the carriage appeared
the face of a woman of wealth. The
footman jumped down, and in response
to her signal approached the boy. The
boy. holding his rags together, fol
lowed the footman to the carriage.
He looked with wistful, soulful eyes
in the eyes of the woman.
"Gee!" he thought to himself as he
looked at her. For he knew her. She
was Mrs. John Y. Pierson, a friend of
his mother's and a woman well known
for her charitable deeds. But she did
not know him. She was saying some
thing about Santa Clans.
"Yes'm," he found himself replying
for he was a bit rattled; "yes'm, I've
heard of him. In foreign countries,"
he added, as though quoting from a
book, "he's called sometimes St. Nicho
las and sometimes Kriss Krlngle. He's
the patron saint of children."
And then he stopped, for he had
overreached himself. "Why—why," in
quired the woman, "do you goto
school?"
"Well, ma'am," he returned, curing
his unfortunate slip, "I do when 1 have
clothes to wear and —and when I've
had something to eat. I don't know
as I can now. though, fer the man wot
owns our room is going to put us out
they's only my sister and myself," ho
added, to round the thing out. The
woman looked at the angelic face and
the ragged clothes, and then her heart
overflowed—and her purse also, which
is more to the purpose.
"I can't be bothered going around to
his home —a dirty place, likely. 111
just give the money to the boy him
self." she thought to herself. "I guess
I can trust him." If she had said this
aloud, Boggs Junior would have as
sured her that she could. As it was.
he took the money, thrust it deep in
his pocket, touched his hat. and strode
shivering, toward—home? Oh, no.
merely toward a large shop around the
corner. Once there, he examined the
bill which the woman had given him.
It was a ten-dollar one.
And so Boggs Junior went from st ire
to store, always the same poor, shiv
ering, angelic specimen of humanity,
a perfect Christmas carol, an Idyll In
rags, so speak. But there was one
thing be was careful about. He kept
a wary eye on the police.
Christmas morning at Ihe Boggses
AH the family and several relatives
congregated about a huge tree in thn
library.
"Where's Qulncy?" they all asked
They were soon answered, for Immedi
ately there burst into the room a verj*
small boy grappling with a huge pyra
mill of paper bundles, which he
dropped upon the floor.
"Here, pop." he began, handing that
gentleman one of the packages. "tblt
Is for you, and this for mom. and here's
something for th cook arid here's
mid so on. ad Infinitum. In o'h r
words, he wa th" h< ro and I eaet'ai o"
of the oc« islon.
"Why where did you get the monev
'or all the*«» things'*' they gasped
llotn-s Junior 'iiul il Worked for If '
be replied.
"You must have worked hard " the*
suggested. "Naw." he returne I, "l»
wasn't ha id work at all And"he con*
tinned, "it'd have bff.i hit rt■ •!• > if , !
had tin overcoat somewhere* In my ln
tM Om »•"' i' WM WM for fail "•
Thl i was as im bi as the family evei
got to an explanation.
FAMOUS TREE'S OFFSPRING
Third Generation of William Finn's
Treaty Elm Still Standing iu
Philadelphia.
Philadelphia.—ln the grounds of the
Pennsylvania hospital, at Eighth and
Pine streets, stands an old elm tree
which towers high and spreads its
branches far, yet which suggests ihe
inevitable decay and passing away
which is the fate of all mundane
things. Great disapointment was felt
recently when a slip planted from
this tree languished end died, and at
tempts are to be made to grow an
other, because the tree has a history
THIRD GENERATION OF PENN'S
TREATY ELM.
which is described on a brass plate
fastened upon its trunk. This plate
reads:
"THE TREATY ELM.
"This tree is a direct representative
of the great elm of Kensington, un
der which, it is said, William Penn,
the proprietor of Pennsylvania, made
his perpetual treaty of amity with the
Indians. When the treaty elm was
destroyed by a storm, March 3, 1810,
a scion was transplanted to these
grounds, a cutting of which was plant
ed at this spot in 1841 by Charles Rob
erts, a manager, and William Matin,
steward." m
From this it will be seen that the
tree bearing the tablet is the third
generation of the treaty elm. Histo
rians are not now fully agreed as to
Just what the treaty itself was, but,
while it may have been the conspicu
ous and sensational affair that early
painters and writers have pictured it,
there is still no doubt of its impor
tance or that its fame caused much
favorable comment throughout the
world upon the honesty and faithful
ness of the man who made it. The
treaty, made in 1683, and the written
text of which—if there were any—has
never been discovered, is now believed
to have been simply a purchase of land
from the red men, accompanied by
certain agreements, as to territory and
friendly trade, which were never vio
lated during Penn's life.
WILL VISIT AMERICA.
Ex - Queen Margherita of Italy to
Tour Country from New York to
San Francisco in an Auto.
Rome.—lt is learned that Dowager
Queen Margherita of Italy is going
to America next year. She will travel
incognito and make a tour in an au
tomobile from New York to San Fran
cisco, whence she will take a steamer
for Japan.
Dowager Queen Margherita has been
suffering from unassuageable grief
since the death of King Humbert, five
years ago. The queen in her youth
EX-QI •EE NM A RGHERITA.
(Widow of King Humbert of Italy, Who I»
Coming to America.)
was considered the most beautiful
princess in all Europe. She is the
daughter of the late Prince Ferdinando
of Savoy, duke of Genoa, and she
was married to Humbert, then the
prince of Piedmont, on April 22, 18H8.
Dusing her reign she was idolized by
the people of Italy.
The former queen knows French,
German, English, Spanish. Italian, of
course, and Latin thoroughly. She
knows Greek well, and is familiar with
the literature of all ages.
The queen rises early and retires
late. She manages with six hours'
sleep, and thrives on it. Her work of
charities, patronage, organization and
society keeps her constantly busy. Sho
Is not at all domestic. She likes driv
ing and out-of door life generally, but
has not much optMirtunlty for in
dulgence In these tastes. She likes
Germany ami the Germans, and is a
varm friend of Willli.iu and his wife.
Not Enough M -at for Army.
If Girmany were to mobilize her
4i my to-morrow, tlu« Umseldorf chain
!•■ r of commerce statei that there
woul | nut be a soffleieiit quantity of
meat in the country to Jtcd tho ttituy
lu iftti held.
THE GIANT FLED.
An Incident of the Civil War Which
Created a Good Deal of Sur
prise and Amusement.
The old Second Now York regiment
was formed at a time when there was
an urgent appeal made to save the
city of Washington, writes an old sol
dier to the National Tribune. Well do
I remember how I forsook my con
tract to drive the horses of a Shumung
scow to enter the service and serve
under the old flag, and how we left
our beds on the scow to sleep on the
bare floor of the old fair ground shed;
how many of our boys thought good
swine meat, bean soup and half a loaf
of bakers' bread was a small meal;
and afterwards how they would have
rejoiced to have been furnished with
the old fair ground ration. I was with
the regiment about three months,
RAN LIKE A FRIGHTENED DEER.
when I was mustered out because 1
was too young. But I had the honor
to be the first sentinel togo on post
outside the works at Fortress Monroe,
and I wore one shirt for three months,
and was a pretty ragged looking sol
dier. I, too, well remember the poor
show we made flghiing the battle af
Big Bethel. One of the men of Com
pany A was a giant, nearly seven
feet tall. He was a powerful fellow,
and used to pick up us boys and swing
us about and say he would smash the
rebels right and left. But it was later
proven that while his body was big
his bravery was small. He seized a
gate at the entrance to a lane and car
ried It as though it was but a feather.
As the regiment entered a field
through the lane there came a rebel
shell which stunned him. Then ther*
caem another, and the giant turned
and ran away like a frightened deer,
and I don't know thai he was seen
afterwards.
REACHED THE FLAG.
The Soldier Who Escaped from the
Enemy's Lines Never Stopped Uii
til He Grasped Old Glory.
"I heard," said the- doctor to the
Chicago Inter Ocean reporter, "a very
simple, pathetic little story the other
day about a soldier passing through
the lines under fire. Comrade Brad
ish, who related the incident, said
that one of the men of his regiment
who had been captured escaped from
the confederates directly in front
and ran at full speed toward
the lines of his own regiment.
The confederates opened a furi
ous fire on the escaping prisoner,
and no one expected him to come out
of such a rain of bullets alive. But
he came on and on in spite of the bul
lets, and at last leaped over the works
of his own company, to be received
with cheers.
"He did not stop, however, as the
men expected, but ran onto where
the flag was placed, and, dropping ex
hausted. caught the edge of the flag
in his hand and kissed it again and
again. He was so wrought up by his
tremendous experience that he could
not speak, could not reason, but, as
lie said afterward, instinct led him
to the flag, which never seemed to him
so radiant and precious as when he
fixed liis eyes it as he raced with
the enemy's bullets. He had no sense
of comradeship in his distraughtness,
but saw only the flag and went to it.
Other soldiers, overwhelmed in battle,
wounded and da/.ed, have felt, I know,
the same wild desire to reach the flag."
Girl Soldiers.
A military company composed of the
daughters of Boone county farmers has
been organized, with headquarters at
Englewood, 11 miles southeast of Co
lumbia. Mo. The first public drill took
place at a log rolling at Englewood,
where, in the presence of a crowd of
curious visitors from all parts of the
country, the girl soldiers gave a strik
ing exhibition, going through the
inanua' *t! arms like veterans.
Had Worda Erased.
The London News calls ultention to
the fact that wbon the building that is
How Wellington Barracks. Dublin, \%.is
u jail it had the words; "Cease to do
Kvil Learn to do Weil." ehisled over
the gateway. When it tecume a bar
racks the authorities, perhaps i>ali/.iug
Ihe use|es»»ii'!is of MUi h advice 111 some
c.i • had tin) words removed.
Where Flreanua A>e Mi.dr.
V' II 'Htiiau is* as celebrated In Europe
fir the firearms. s.iln r» and knlte*
whl' h he manufacture as the Inhabit
(li. of feJtiiUlkll ToUdo ui e lor tluil UU9-
ed v <1 bit dea.
ABOUT BEINC CAPTURED.
Two Thrilling Incidents of the War
as Related by Eye Witnesses
of Them.
My account of how I was made a
prisoner (said a comrade) will be a
brief one. The affair was exciting
enough; but it began aud ended so
quickly that 1 have hardly got over
the surprise of it yet. 1 was a captain,
on the staff of Gen. Emory, commanding
the Nineteenth army corps. On tha
morning of the 19th of October, 1864,
we were roused up before daylight by
the heavy tiring over on the left. Some
thing was evidently wrong, and we had
our horses saddled at once. We occu
pied, with Sheridan's staff, the stone
house —the "Hite House,"l have sine®
heard it called—in rear of our first di
vision. 1 was dispatched over to the
"pike" to see what the trouble was and
report. I did not reach the "pike" im
mediately; there was a great deal be
tween me and it to prevent, and as for
"reporting," 1 never saw the Nineteenth
corps again till the next spring.
The morning was foggy, and it was
impossible to see a man at that hour
more than a few rods off, but I could
see the flashes of the muskets of soma
of the regiments of our corps, and I met
fugitives from the Eighth in large num
bers going to the rear. A great noise
of shooting, and a yell that was never
made by any but southern soldiers, was
heard from the left, and 1 saw enough,
besides what these fugitives told me, to
be sure that there was an attack and a
panic in the Eighth. It would have
been well for me if I had been satisfied
with what I had thus far discovered,
and had gone back to headquarters with
the report. I should certainly have
found "headquarters in the saddle," and
they were never so near to me again that
morning. But I wanted to do my whole
duty. I was anxious to see the whole
trouble with my own eyes, that 1 might
make a faithful report, and on I went.
To avoid the streams of fugitives, I
bore well off to the left, intending t n
reach the pike rather below the line of
their hasty retreat. I had not ridden
half way to the pike when I came slap
on four soldiers. The meeting was so
sudden, in the obscurity of the fog, that
they seemed to rise out of the ground.
At a glance I saw that they wore gray,
and that each of them had a musket.
I can see now that if I had acted with
the greatest promptness I might have
wheeled and galloped back uninjured
before a fine aim could have been taken
at me; and then again I might have
been knocked dead off my horse trying
it. I was not quick enough to take the
risk. I pulled up, and their muskets
quickly covered me.
They saluted me as a "Yank," order
ing me to dismount, promising to "let
daylight through" me if I did not, and
conveying their wishes to me in other
explicit language. They had the con
troversy all their own way, and I yielded
without trying to argue the question. I
got down, and was taken to the pike,
and up it toward Fisher's hill, to a place
where many union prisoners had al
ready been collected. The number was
swelled to 1,200 by night, and we were
started up the valley on the long way to
Richmond before Sheridan's cavalry
could overtake us.
That (said another comrade) reminds
me of what happened in plain sight of
our picket line, off on the left, near
Hatcher's Run, before that battle had
been fought.
Our major was in command of that
part of the line. He had come out from
the reserve with a sergeant, and took the
notion togo beyond the line and see
what he could see. It would not have
been a wise thing for a horseman to do.
They were afoot, and it was positively
foolish. But they went—full of big head,
to tell the truth.
The country was clear in front, there
being nothing but some scattering tim
ber to break the view for perhaps 30#
yards. I was one of the pickets, and 1
watched the major and sergeant as they
strolled along out to the front, prob
ably suspecting no danger. We had
seen to a picket line, even in daylight,
and their presence never be suspectett.
What followed I got partly from my
own observation and partly from the
account of the major when he came in.
As he and the sergeant approached a
low stone wall, being r.ot more than 20
feet from it, three musker, were thrust
over it at them ssd a voice shouted:
"Surrender, Yanks, or we'll shoot!"
The sergeant at once threw down his
gun. He was captured, of course, and
sent to the Libby.
Not so the major.
I know the man pretty well, and I
think I can tell what Hashed through
his mind oil that stern hail, and the dis
covery of what was before him.
it probably occurred to him that h®
was where he had no business to be;
that the months of weary captivity be
fore him would be followed by an offi
cial inquiry as to vs hat he was doing out
there, and that some severe punishment,
if not cashiering, awaited his exchange.
He resolved to run for it. He must
have appreciated the fact that tha
rhauces were nine to one against him;
but tlie reasons that 1 have stated made
Plm desperate.
1 saw him whirl and ,-ush for our Hue.
I heard ihe n-ports dV three muskets to
gether. and they were aiuied so low that
one <if ilf- balls plowed the dirt in front
of ine.
1 saw the major's hat fall from hia
head. 1 auppi dii was blown off by
I lie wind, in his (light, but 1 li a rued bet
ter a fi-w months lute*.
\\V opered Bi of course tocovcrhU
retr. at The eoi.ie lerate scouts got tiff
wltli the 'i.i-ui.i as a |ii iuer, we did
uot dare to !«u\e our p..tts to | mwue.
The nii."r was -i »• > »ti thai !lin»(er*4
wln II In- n> iii. "It., tiiik'ny!" hi -aiii,
"thai was a c'>- •> rue."
1 think livtt 'lit I•» I tS.i.s Kit. 'lit
off hl< h ■ !<a«i , ■■ I tin a u t<4.<• tur,
—Auitti'Uae '1 riuui «.