Thrilling Romance of War. TIIK KTOItV OK A I TTTKR TIIAT HA\KD A 1 AOI.DIKII*H M KK. CharUttoti, H. C„ Cmirkr. 4 It was written by the light of burning home* anr. Por ter then a chaplain in the Confederate army, with his wife and ch ldren were i-übjec'ed to nil the pwrds which beset the doomed city. They were staying at ihe house of Ir. Reynold , but in order . that they might be - ifer, accompanied by Ir. R-yiiobls's party they sought shelter in u-tother house nearer to the w head quarter* of (ien. Sherman. Alter the la Les and children had la-en stowed •way in *. h-ir new quarters I>r. Reynolds declared that he would go hack *r.d ee his house burned down, and a* he ti l I f>r. Porter came out on the javi-tnent they were accosted by iwo Federal officers, one of them a young man of favorable appearance who said, "I ad vise you not to go on the streets." Br. Reynolds declined to take his advice, ►aying that he would go, and started off attended by the young officer, who said 1 thst if he would go he should not go | without an escort. In about three hours and a half the anxious watchers' were relieved by the return of the officer, Vwho introduced himse.f * Lieut. John | A. McQueen, of the 15th Illinois cavalry, modestly saying, "we have saved the PI house, and if you will tske the ladies back it will help us very much in pre serving the property." When Pr. Reynold* and his gallant e*cort reached his house they found it filled with soldiers who had broken open all the trunks and closets and covered the floor with rosin preparatory to the applica tion of the torch. With pistol in hand McQueen drove the m-n out and station ed a strong gusrd around the premise and on the roof of the house, and established A CHAIN or Si EURO cos with buckets as a fire brigade between the well and the house. And there the gallsnt Illinois cavalier remained from Friday night until Monday afternoon. <>n Monday, after .Sherman/ ariuy hid all gone, I>r. Porter went to Lieut. Mc- Queen and told him that if h did not follow his army he would capture him, aa it would be un-sfe for him to fall into ww the hand* of the Southern soldiers after the burning of the city. McQueen T replied that his only reason for remain ing was his fears lent his friend should Le annoyed by hummers; but finally lo wa* prevailed upon to leave. "When he got on his horse," said Ir. Porter, "I don't know what put it into my head, but 1 a-ked Mr*. Porter if die did not hare some little piece of jewelry that I might give it to our faithful protector as a token of our gratitude to him. My wife only bad a gold pencil, which -In glsdly offered to part with, but Lieut. McQueen refused to receive it. saying ; "Mr. Porter, I'm very much obliged, but I csn't take that peneil; I couldn't persuade any one that I h id not stolen it." Ah, he ws* a splendid fellow ! I th• it Man into tbn houo and wrote this a ' tetter: A Hisroaic i arras, f'ot t SAIA, B.C.,February I*, 1866. LIRITGR*. WAIH IT AM no* -/><•/ litnernlt—.Should Lieut. McQueen, 15;h Illinois cavalry, one ol General Howard's escort, U. 8. I , ever fall Jp into voir hands or any of your com- W juand. 1-t me entreat you to show him kindness in your power. In the night of the I7'h, I testify that * ut for htm. my fatuity and Ir. Ret. M'd ' -,t ' f,*e<* *etf. rel indeed II" stuck to us all the night nn I all the dsv. He wus gr -nt p rt of ill > night on tin shed nnd labored with all hi* niigh' to Mive l>r. PMi-hl's house,which by tin* good Providence of God, by his aid was saved. I hog you, by all the kind re inembrances of the pnst. for inv sake, us well a* for hini who ha* n the midst of the horrors of that night proved himself a man and a Christian, return to him in his extremity all the kindness ho showed to u* in ours. I am General, yours faithfully, A. TOOMLR PUKTKK. "On Ihe second psgo of the letter, a* you will see here, I wrote a* follows .- "To any C. 8. soldier into whose hands this may fall from 'he Rev. A. Toomer Porter, rector of the church of the Holy Communion, <.lolunibiu, So. Ca.' "Then after folding the letter I wrote upon the back of it this superscription : 'To Lieut Gen. Wade Hampton, <'. S. Army, or to any one into whose hands I.t. J. McQueen may fall.' WOUNDED AND CAPTURED. "I took this letter out to our friend and said : 'Now, McQueen, put this in your breast-pocket, and if the einer geney arises, use it. I am pretty well known in the Southern army, and if you should fall into the hands of our troops, it may be of some service to you.' Well, McQueen left us, followed by 'ur blessings. It was about a month be -re we could get out of Cob-• We had receiver! no word from any of our friends, and did not know where they were or hJW they had fared. Finally I secured | a carriage and conveyed my family to Newberry where we took the cars. When 1 got to llodget dejsot I met one of the Aikens, who told me that hit brother Hugh had l#een killed in a skirmish ten days after the burning of (Jolumcia, and that in thesaineskirmi-b, a young man named McQueen bad been wounded, and that his life hsd l-een spared by our troop* when be was captured on account of the letter 1 hail written, which hedrew outof his |>ockct and showed to them. I went on to Anderson with mv family, and the next morning returned to Newberry. From that place I walked to ('oluTid-i>. and there I got an old mule and aw goo, and with tire other person* went to Camden, win-re I had In iril tln-re were a number of soldiers in the hospital. A* soon a- I ri- - led Camden 1 went direct ly to the hospital, and after going through several wards, opened a door and started into another apartim-nt of the building. A* I opened the door, I - iw a soldier ■ lad in blue rise Up from hi* pallet in thecornerof the room, and a* be rose threw up his ban-Is and ex claimed : 'Thank Gok ! Home! Spring iiig over the bed* of several of the wounded Confederate soldiers I caught the jrnor follow in my arms, and with our head* upon each other's necks from very excess of emotion we wept. It was a curious pcctac'e for the men in the ho*pital to see a Confederate chaj lain aod a Yankee lieutenant in each other's arms. r.niMO THant'r.n Tit* l.tsß*. "McQueen gave nie an account ofhis movements s.nce we had sa d good by in Columbia. While on ascoutiug psrty, and forty mile* to the right of Kb r. man's r-ght wing, McQueen and h party bad a skirmish with some of But ler's cavalry. In th; skirmish, wh ch occurred in Irlington county, two Confederate and two Federal soldier* had been killed, and two soldier* had been wounded on each side. McQueen had b-en wounded au-1 brought to tl •• hospital in t'atnden, and here I found him overjoyed at the good Providence thai had sent me to him. I went up to Bishop Paris'* house anil told the story of McQueen's service* while in Colum bia, and that he was now in the hospital in Camden. The good bishop was de lighted to heni this. He, ma, hsd hi eri the object of the wounded soldier's kindly care When the Yankee tr.-ip pawed through Camden, McQueen bad placed a guard around the bishop's In use, and be bad not lost even so much us a chicken, and the ssme kindness had la-en extended to the Reynoldses and the PeSsussures. The good bishop gsve McQueen his apostolic f-eneilietion its I made ready to get hitn out of hi* trouble. I went to the quartermaster who gave me an old lame mule, Mr*. Bc.Sauure lent me a buggy, and Mr, W. C. Courtney gave inea suit of citizen's clothes for my charge, and Mrs. PeSuussure ntado up a lot of biscuits and provision! to last u*ou our journey, for I had determined to take McQueen to the front where I might secure hi* •afe passage across the lines. I put Mc Queen in tho buggy, and walking along |wide of him, 1 carried him to ''heater. Here I met General A. It. Colquitt, now Senator Colquitt, of Georgia, who gave tae a safe pssspoit wit! McQueen. All along our route from Camden to - Chester and beyond I was afraid to let it be known who McQueen was, so deep ly in--en*i- I were tbe people at the out rsges they hsd suffered, and so adopting a liitle strategy, I made him ap|tear to tie deaf and dumb whenever we stop pod unlil I hsd told hi* story and tested the t-mpcrof my audience When I | found out that there was no danger, McQueen suddenly reebven-1 hi* power of speech and f-esotc ai vo'uble as any nf us. When I gut among our noldcm I did not ktioiv what they might do to us. Till 11 gill KM Ml OF Till I. Mi "After we left Chester wejourneycil on to Suliabnrt, N. C and theie we found something in the air, an indefinable gomthning that we coul I neither feel nor nee, hut something that seemed to presage calamity. Here we had to atop. There was no telegraph aud nil com in u nirntion had been pretty we'd cut off I was for pushing on to Richmond with the intention of getting fJ. A. Trenholm, tlien n member of the Confederate Cabinet, to send McQueen through the lines home. I turned off aud went down to Sniithville where (Jen. Joseph E. Johnston had established his head quarters. There 1 met Ceil. Hardee, who saw (Jen. Johnston for me. 1 was told by him to take MoQueen to Raleigh. Here we were taken care of by the liev. Dr. Mason, snd the next day 1 went to see Johuston, who told that Hardee hod related the young man's story to him and asked me where he was. He sent one of bis officers and gave McQueen n permit to go through the lines. AT niMMR WITH JOB JoHKSTOKI. "I dined with General Johnston that day and while seated at the table in Ru fus Tucker's house with Johnstone on one side and Hardee on the other, a telegram was handed to Johnston. We had just finished our soup, I think. Gen. Johnston read the dispatch and ; rising from the table left the room and 1 going out on the pi air t called Gen. Harfee. In a few moments Hardee 1 called me out and said : 'Now, remem 1 her, you. Gen. Johnston and myself and the telegraph operator are th<> only persons who know the contents of this telegram.' The telegram was from President Havis from Salisbury, to this eff<-et. Gen. J. E. Johnston : I havenotheard from Gen. I.ee for three days, but from the stray soldiers I gather that he has met with a great disaster. Come to me. A TEI.COKAU RSNS Jt.tr tun*. "The telegram was signed 'Jefferson DAVIS.' Gen. Hardee then said 'John il'in has gone on that train that you hear now.' and 1 never saw John-ton for thre years after that day. I then said to Hardee; 'Well' if this is true it's all over. Any man that is ki ld now is murdered. We will retrent rapidly and surrended at HilUboro,' for there areonly 12,"00 muskets in this army. This is in fact only a rooh, the debris of all our armies. You htd letter leave. A disbanding army is dangerous.' After this interview with Gen. Hardee I went back to Dr. Mason's and bade McQueen good-by, never electing that 1 should see or bear if him again. ' Rufus Tucker asked me to bring a pair of mules and a servant with me South for safekeeping, and I did so. ! came right hack oTer Sherman's track and was nevsr molested for one minute. I drove through io five days to Colum b > and from there 1 went to Anderson. The day after 1 got to Anderson the mules of Tucker were stolen by a com pany of raiders, who rods liitothatplsee. I tried to save the mules, snd told the raider* that the war was over, but they would not believe it and so I lost my mules. • When 1 returne | io t'harh -ton in June i found a letter awaiting my arri val. from Lieut. M< Queen, and also one from Gen. <), O. Howard, saving that if he could be of any service I must call on him. The first service thtt I got from Gm. Howard wvs the ptrdon of George A. Trenholm. WHAT Kisttrr.n rso* Tiir, i.r.rTCR. "Years passed on, and nothing served to disturb the uneventful current of my life until October, lKf>7, I received the idea of establishing the great educa tional institution ofwhich I am ths reo. tor ths Holy Comunion Church Insti lute which grew out of the calamities of the war and is a record nfGod's won derful providence. "On one of my vUils to Washington I met Gen. Sherman, who asked ma if there was nothing that could be done for me in return f<>r what I have done for I.ieUt. McQueen. I replied that the Government did not have money enough to pay me for the risk of my life in serving McQueen ; that I had done it as an act of gratitude and that it was not a thing that could he paid for !n dollars and cents. When Charleston was given up as a military |>ost, however,! visited Washington. I went to see Gen. Sher man and told him that ths time had now corns when he could do something —not f.r rne, hut for thw country. He said that he knew all ths work that I had been doing and that the Govern inent ought to he thankful that it oouid give me possession of the arsenal in Charleston. Gen. Sherman earned htna*elf among the Kepuhliesn members of Congress. When the matter rains up in the Senate Senator Edmund* asked what Gen. Sherman said ? Senator Mutler read whalMhsrinan hod avid. whcieupon Edmund* declared that he had no oh jOeiion and su the resolution was passed granting lb* valuable property fored urvtlionol purposes, ll will be seen fioni what npptrently insignilitint ci renin, stances the grandest result* follow. w\nr. IIAMITUX IIKFORF. THIS n.i.isois FAR HKM. "Lieut. l f - Queen ii'l myself have corresponded with each other nil these years. Whan Senator Hampton want out to Illinois todeliver an address ho fora tha Winnebago Agricultural Society, in 1877, twi-lve yeurs alter the destruction of Columbia, ha stopped in the middle of hit specb to reditu some of the episodes of the war, and men tinned the alory of my letter to Mt Queen When he had finished speaking a young man stepped out of the crowd, and go ing up to Senator Hampton said : 'I cm Lieut, .lolin A. McQueen, and this i> the letter (producing the letter that you have in your liandj that saved my life! The effect of this declaration of the modest Illinois farmer can he im* agined hotter than described. Senator Hampton took the letter and read it before the crowd of ten thousand jwo pie, and it created a tremendous sensa tion. lie wanted to keep the letter, but Lieut. McQueen, of course would not |rt with it for anything in the world. "Last year 1 wa invited to go to hieago, and while there I wnt over to Klgin to visit McQueen. I went to his house and spent the night with biro. 1 He introduced me to his four bright 1 and lively children, telling them that 1 was their grandfather, and naively *ug gested thai I must he their grandfather, I for that if it had not been for me they wouid not have bad him for their father. McQueen's wife is dead. He is bringing up his children in the right way. He is one of the finest men I have ever known. He is a staunch I'reshyterian, and in <>ne of his letters to me he said that Congressman Aiken hail said the l hef Aiken) was oppored to the lease of the Arvnal tonic, because it would he sectarian school, hut that when he thought f the Presbyterian hoy in the a r mof the K, i- opal in ni*t-r he hi -M -1, • lod for u< h sectariani'iu and i-)n ! tli '. we ha 1 m ire of it. • S -veral week ago I iec< iv< I the ii] wing letter from m\ i' l% •> friend eilclosillgthe.rimewh.it biter.e . pitle wnich *s. wnto ii hy me in ' >lun.l > s little more than n iietsen y.-\r- ago. "Klgin. K< hnt irr 17. l-"t "•IK4K FATIIFK POBTRR I 111 IST NOT let this dy pss without sending line !to you. It is now .V .Op.m. At 7. p. m. wiM he m the t'dir.a church, Uod willing, attending a prater meeting. How different the surroundin -s fr.-tn eighteen years ago. What a changeful life this . hat t'isnk * hid for y tet. and thank Hod, that our S ivior is the >amo w-sterdsy, to-day and forever ' ( Hebrews I',. 8. | I n.r'mi that n >w historic letter. If you think proper. ay to the boy* 'hat I la-g lhem to read the letter arid to look I eyond the letter to that mighty Savior, who is shle to keep us 'men of like pa*ton* with oth*rsi in these heart rending seenss, from the haired and brutality ami passion so common in times of wr. Please reraemlwr me kindly to them all and also to the teachers and directors of the institute. I may never he able in vriit yu or give you that financial a. I that I could w sh, hut I can pray for vou and com mit you to the < are of Him who owns the cattl" upon a thousand h lls snd Knows all your nee Is Will not limit the time yon may keep the leper, and I need not tell you how 1 value it. Wiil trust you with it on society and the world Truth is stranger than fiction • • ■ Wilson, MeKarlane A Co., call atten tion to the only reliable Ready Mmsl Paint in ths market. The Pionn-r Pre pared Paint Is not inly superior to any llady Mnd Paint sold but rivals t.ure while' load In its smoothness In working and du'abllity. This |