Audubon County journal., March 14, 1912, Image 3

About Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993

Image provided by: State Historical Society of Iowa

                
IKE LOVE STORY OF
A GRAY JACKET
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CHAPTER XXXVtl.
The Furling of the Flags.
The close of the long and bitter
struggle had come to those who
had cast their fortunes with the
South it seemed almost as the end of
the world. I had thought to write of
those last sad days, to picture them
In all their contrasting light and
shadow, but now I cannot. There
are thoughts too deep for human ut
terance, memories too sacred for the
pen. I rejoice that I was a part of
it that to the lowering of the last
tattered battle-flag I remained con
stant to the best traditions of my
house. I cannot sit here now, beneath
th9 protecting shadow of a flag for
which my son fought and died, and
write that I regret the ending, for
years of peace have taught us of the
South lessons no less valuable than
did the war yet do I rejoice today
that, having once donned the gray, I
wore it until the last shotted gun
Toiced its grim message to the North
It ia hardly more than a dream now,
sometimes vague and shadowy, again
distinct with living figures and his
toric scenes. I require but to close
my eyes to behold once more those
slender lines of ragged, weary, hun
gry men, to whom fighting had be
come synonymous with life. I pass
again through the fiery rain of those
last fierce battles, when in despera
tion we sought to check the un
numbered blue legions that fairly
crushed us beneath their weight.
I saw it all I held a part in it all.
Upon that April day which witnessed
the turning of the last sad page in
this tragedy, I stood without the Mc
Lean house, ankle deep in the tram
pled mud of the yard, surrounded by
a group of Federal officers. Within
was my commander, the old gray
hero of Virginia, together with the
great silent soldier of the North.
Pew about me spoke as we waited
in restless agony. No one addressed
me, and I think there must have been
a look in my face which held them
dumb.
I know not how long I waited,
standing beside my horse, with head
half bowed upon his neck, seeing the
vfigures
about, me as in a dream. At
"last the door was flung open, and
those within came forth. He was in
advance of them all. In that pale,
•stern, kindly face, and within the
depths of those sorrowful gray eyes,
I read instantly the truth—the Army
of Northern Virginia was no more.
Yet with what calm dignity did this
defeated chieftain pass down that
blue lane, his head erect, his eyes
undimmed—as dauntless in that awful
hour of surrender as when he rode
before hiB cheering legions of fighting
men. Only as he came to where I
stood, and caught the look of suffer
ing upon my face, did he once falter,
and then I noted no more than the
slight twitching of his lips beneath
the short gray beard.
"Captain Wayne," he said, with all
bis old-time courtesy, "I shall have
to trouble you to ride to General
Hills' division and request him to
cease firing at once."
I turned reluctantly away from him,
knowing full well in my heart I was
bearing my last order, and rode at a
hard trot down the road between long
lines of waiting Federal infantry. I
scarcely so much as saw them, for my
head was bent low over the saddle
pommel, and my eyes were blurred
with tears.
The sun lay hot and golden over
the dusty roads and fenceless flglds.
The air was vocal with blare of trum
pets and roll of drums, while every
where the eye rested upon blue lines
and long columns of marching troops.
I formed one of a little gray squad
moving slowly southward—a mere
fragment of the fighting men of the
Confederacy, making their way home
ward as best they might. As the
Why cough?
Stop
Stop coughing! Coughing
rasps and tears. Stop it!
Coughing prepares the throat
and lungs for more trouble.
Stop it! There is nothing so
bad for a cough as coughing.
Stop it 1 AVer's Cherry Pec
toral is a medicine for coughs
and colds, a regular doctor's
medicine. Sold for seventy
years. Use it'. Ask your doc
tor if this is not good advice.
Unless there is daily action of the bow
els, poisonous products are absorbed,
causing headache, biliousness, nausea,
dyspepsia. We wish you would ask youf
doctor about correcting your constipation
by taking laxative doses of Aver's Pills.'
Hade by the J. O. ATBB CO.. Lowall, HUB.
.sWVB:*
Eflv* Lf,
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roads forked I left them, Tor here our
paths diverged, and it chanced I was
the only one whose hope lay west
ward.
Silently, thoughtfully I trudged on
for an hour through the thick red
dust. My horse, sorely wounded in
our last skirmish, limped painfully be
hind me, his bridle-rein flung care
lessly over my arm. Out yonder,
"I Felt Convinced That If My Bullet
Reached Major Brennan It Would
Injure You."
where the sun pointed the way with
streams of fire, I was to take up life
anew. Life! What was there left to
me in that word? A deserted, despoil
ed farm alone awaited my coming
hardly a remembered lace, scarcely a
future hope. The glitter of a passing
troop of cavalry drew my mind for an
instant to Edith Brennan, but I
crushed the thought. Even were she
free, what had I now to place at her
proud feet,—I, a penniless, defeated,
homeless man? At a cross-roads a
Federal picket halted me, ind I arous
ej sufficiently to hand him the paper
wnich entitled me to safe passage
through the lines. He handed me
back the paper and motioned me to
pass on. I had gone a hundred yards
or more when I became aware that
he was calling after me.
"Hey, there, you gray-back!" he
shouted, "hold on a bit!"
As I came to a pause and glanced
back, wondering if there could be any
thing wrong with my parole, he swung
his cap and pointed.
"That officer coming yonder wants
to speak with you."
Across the open field at my right,
hidden until then by a slight rise of
ground, a mounted cavalryman was
riding rapidly toward me. For the
moment his lowered head prevented
recognition, but as he cleared the
ditch and came up smiling, I saw it
was Caton.
"By Jove, Wayne, but this is
lucky!" he exclaimed, springing to
the ground beside me. "I've actually
been praying for a week past that I
might see you. Holmes, of your serv
ice, told me you had pulled through,
but everything is in such confusion
that to hunt for you would have been
the proverbial quest after a needle
in a haystack. You have been
paroled then?"
"Yes, I'm completely out of it at
last," I answered, feeling to the full
the deep sympathy expressed by his
face. "It was a bitter pill, but one
which had to be taken."
"I know it, old fellow," and his
hand-grasp on mine tightened warm
ly. "If you have been beaten there
is no disgrace in it, for no other na
tion in this world could ever have
accomplished it. But this was a case
of Greek meeting Greek, and we had
the money, the resources, and the
men. But, Wayne, I tell you, I do
not believe there is today a spark of
bitterness in the heart of a fighting
Federal soldier."
"I know, Caton," I said—and the
words came hard—"your fighting men
respect us, even as we do them. It
has been a sheer game of which could
stand the most punishment, and the
weaker had to go down. I know all
that, but, nevertheless, it is a terrible
ending to so much of hope, suffering,
and sacrifice."
"Yes," he admitted soberly, "you
have given your all. But those who
survive have a wonderful work be
fore them. They must lay anew the
foundations they are to be the re
builders of states. You were going
home?"
I smiled bitterly at this designation
of my journey's end.
"Yes, if you can so name a few
weed-grown fields and a vacant negro
cabin. I certainly shall have to lay
the foundation anew most literally."
"Will you not let me aid you?" he
questioned eagerly. "I possess some
means, and surely our friendship is
sufficiently established to warrant me
In making the offer. You will not re
fuse?"
"I must," I answered firmly. "Yet
I do not value the offer the less.
FOLEY KIDNEY PILLS
VOR RHEUMATISM KIDNEYS
AMD BLABDCH
Sometime I may even remind yon of
It, but now I prefer to dig, as the
others must. I shall be the stronger
for it, and shall thus sooner forget the
total wreck."
For a few moments we walked on
together in silence, each leading his
horse.
"Wayne," he asked at length, glan
cing furtively at me, as if to mark
the effect of his words, "did you know
that Mrs. Brennan was again with
us?"
"I was not even aware she had boen
away."
"Oh, yes she returned North Imme
diately after your last parting, and
came back only last week. So many
wives and relatives of the officers
have come down of late, knowing the
war to be practically at an end, that
our camp has become like a huge pic
nic pavilion. It is quite the fashion
able fad just now to visit the front.
Mrs. Brennan accompanied the wife
of one of the division commanders
from her state—Connecticut, you
know."
There was much I longed to ask
regarding her, but I would not venture
to fan his suspicions. In hope that I
might turn his thought I asked, "And
you are you yet married?"
He laughed good-humoredly. "No,
that happy day will not occur until
after we are mustered out. Miss
Minor is far too loyal a Virginian ever
to become my wife while I continue
to wear this uniform. By the way,
Mrs. Brennan was asking Celia only
yesterday if she had heard anything
of you since the surrender."
"She is at Appomattox, then?"
"No, at the headquarters of the
Sixth Corps, only a few miles north
from here."
"And the Major?"
Caton glanced at me, a peculiar
look in his face, but answered simply:
"Naturally I have had small inti
macy with him after what occurred
at Mountain View, but he is still re
tained upon General Sheridan's staff.
At Mrs. Brennan's request we break
fasted together yesterday morning, but
I believe he is at the other end of the
lines today."
We sat down upon a bank, and for
the time I forgot disaster while list
ening to his story of love and his
plans for the future. His one thought
of Celia and the Northern home so
soon now to be made ready for her
coming. The sun sank lower into the
western sky, causing Caton to draw
down his fatigue cap until its glazed
visor almost completely hid his eyes.
With buoyant enthusiasm he talked
on, each word drawing me closer to
him in bonds of friendship. But the
time of parting came, and after we
had promised to correspond with each
other, I had stood and watched while
he rode rapidly back down the road
we had traversed together. At the
summit of the hill lie turned and
waved his cap, then disappeared,
leaving me alone, with Edith's face
more clearly than ever a torture to
my memory of defeat—her face, fair,
smiling, alluring, yet the face of an
other man's wife.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
My Lady of the North.
I walked the next mile thought
fully, pondering over those vague
hopes and plans with which Caton's
optimism had inspired me. Suddenly
there sounded behind me the thud of
hoofs, while I heard a merry peal of
laughter, accompanied by gay ex
change of words. I drew aside, lead
ing my horse into a small thicket be
side the road to permit the cavalcade
to pass. It was a group of perhaps a
dozen—three or four Federal officers,
the remainder ladies, whose bright
dresses and smiling faces made a
most winsome sight. They glanced
curiously aside at me as they galloped
past. But none paused, and I merely
glanced at them with vague interest,
my thoughts elsewhere. Suddenly a
horse semed to draw back from out of
the center of the fast disappearing
party.
I had led my limping horse out into
the road once more to resume my
journey, paying scarcely the slightest
attention to what was taking place,
for my head was again throbbing to
the hot pulse of the sun. The party
of strangers rode slowly away Into
the enveloping dust cloud, and I had
forgotten them, when a low, sweet
yoice spoke close beside me: "Cap
tain Wayne, I know you cannot have
forgotten mo.'
She was leaning down from the
saddle, and as I glanced eagerly up
into her dear eyes they were swim
ming with tears.
"Forgotten! Never for one mo
ment," I exclaimed "yet I failed to
perceive your presence until you
spoke."
"You appeared deeply burled In
thought as we rode by, but I could not
leave you without a word when I
knew you must feel so bad. Oh, but
you, Captain Wayne, you have youth
and love to Inspire you—for your
mother yet lives. Truly it makes my
heart throb to think of the upbuilding
which awaits you men of the South.
It is through such as you—soldiers
trained by stern duty—that these
desolated states are destined to rise
above the ashes of war into a great
ness never before equaled. I feel
that now, in this supreme hour of sac
rifice, the men and women of the
South are to exhibit before the world
a courage greater than that of the
battlefield. It is to be the marvel of
the nation, and the thought and pride
of it should make you strong."
"It may indeed be so I can but be
lieve it, as the prophecy comes from
your lips. I might even find courage
to do my part in this redemption were
you ever at hand to inspire."
I She laughed gently. "I am not a
I Virginian, Captain Wayne, bat a most
&
loyal daughter or the North "yet If
I so inspire you by my mere words,,
surely it is not so far to my home'
but you might Journey there to listen
to my further words of wisdom."
"I have not forgotten the permis
sion already granted me, and it is a
temptation not easily cast aside. You
return North soon?"
"Within a week."
I hardly knew what prompted me
to voice my next question—Fate, per
haps, weary of being so long mocked
—for I felt small Interest in her prob-.
able answer.
"Do you expect your husband's re
lease from duty by that time?"
She gave a quick start of surprise,'
drawing in her breath as though sud
denly choked. Then the rich color
overspread her face. "My husband?"
she ejaculated in voice barely audi
ble, "my husband? Surely you can-'
not mean Major Brennan?"
"But I certainly do," I said, won-'
dering what might be wrong. "Whom'
else could I mean?"
"And you thought that?" she asked
incredulously. "Why, how could you?"'
"How should I have thought other
wise?" I exclaimed, my eyes eagerly
searching her downcast face. "Why,
Caton told me it was so the nig'.it I
was before Sheridan he confirmed it
again in conversation less than an
hour ago. Colgate, my Lieutenant,:
who met you in a Baltimore hospital,
referred to him the same way. If I
have been deceived through all these
months, surely everything and every
body conspired to that end—you bore
the same name you told me plainly
you were married you wore a wed
ding-ring you resided while r.t camp
in his quarters you called each oth
er Frank and Edith. From first to
last not one word has been spoken
by any one to cause me to doubt that
you were his wife."
"I recall starting to explain all this
to you once," she said, striving vainly
to appear at ease. "It was when we
were interrupted by the sudden com
ing upon us of Mr. and Mrs. Bungay.
Yet I supposed you knew, that, you
would have learned the facts from
others. The last time we were to
gether I told you I did not wholly un
derstand you. It is no wonder, when
you thought that of me."
"I am going to tell you my story,
Captain Wayne. It is not a pleasant
task under these circumstances, yet
one I owe you as well as myself. This
may prove our last meeting, and we
must not part under the shadow of a
mistake, however innocently it may
have originated. I am the only child
of Edwin Adam3, a manufacturer, of
Stonington, Connecticut. My father
was also for several terms a member
of Congress from that State. As the
death of my mother occurred when I
was but five years old, all my father's
love was lavished upon me. and I
"Hey, There, You Gray-Back
1" He
Shouted.
grew up surrounded by every advan
tage which abundant means and high
soolal position could supply. During
all those earlier years my playmate
and most intimate companion was
Charles Brennan, a younger brother of
the Major, and the son of Judge David
Brennan of the State Supreme Court.
As we grew older his friendship for
me ripened int# love, a feeling which I
found it impossible to return. I liked
him greatly, valued him most highly,
continued his constant compaiKon,
yet experienced no desire for closer
relationship. My position was ren
dered the more difficult as It had long
been the dream of the heads of both
houses that our two families, with
their contingent estates, should be
thus united, and constant urging tried
my decision severely. Nor would
CharleB Brennan give up hope. When
he was twenty and I barely seventeen
a most serious accident occurred—a
runaway—in which Charles heroically
preserved my life, but himself re
ceived injuries, from which death in
a short time was inevitable. In those
last lingering days of suffering, but
one hope, one ambition, seemed to
possess his mind—the desire to make
me his wife, and leave me the fortune
which was his through the will of his
mother. I cannot explain to you, Cap
tain Wayne, the struggle I passed
through, seeking to do what was right
and best but finally, moved by my
sympathy, eager to soothe his final
hours of suffering, and urged by my
father, I consented to gratify his wish,
and we were united in marriage while
he was on his deathbed. Two days
later he passed away."
8he paused, her voice faltering, her
eyes moist with unshed tears. Scarce
knowing it, my hand sought hers,
where it rested against the saddle.
"His brother," she paused slowly,
"now Major Brennan, but at that time
a prosperous banker in Hartford, a
man nearly double the age of Charles,,
was named as adminiptrator of the
estate, to retain Its management until
I should attain the age of twenty-one.
Less than a year later my father also
died. The final settlement of big Qg-
tale was likewise entrusted To "Frank
Brennan, and he was made my guard
ian. Quite naturally I became a resi
dent of the Brennan household, upon
the same standing as a daughter, be
ing legally a ward of my husband's
brother. Major Brennan's age, and
his tnoughtful kindness to me, won
my respect, and I gradually came to
look upon him alnost as an elder
brother, turning to him in every time
of trouble for encouragement and
help. It was the necessity of our
business relation which first com
pelled me to come South and join
Major Brennan in camp as he was
unable to obtain leave of absence,
was obliged to make the trip. Not
until that time, Captain Wayne—in
deed, not until after our experience
at Mountain View—did I fully realize
that Major Brennan looked upon me
otherwise than as a guardian upon his
ward. The awakening period pained
me greatly, especially as I was
obliged to disappoint him deeply yet
I seek to retain his friendship, for my
memory of his long kindness must
ever abide. I am sure you will under
stand, and not consider me unwoman
ly in thus making you a confidant."
"I can never be sufficiently grate
ful that you have thus trusted me," I
said with an earnestness that caused
her to lower her questioning e~es. "It
has been a strange misunderstanding
between us, Mrs. Brennan, but your
words have brought a new hope to
one disheartened Confederate soldier.
I must be content with hope, yet I am
rich compared with thousands of oth
ers infinitely rich in comparison with
what I dreamed myself an hour ago."
I held out my hand. "There will come
a day when I shall answer your in
vitation to the North."
"You are on your way home?"
"Yes to take a fresh uold upon life,
trusting that sometime in the early
future I may feel worthy to come to
you."
"Worthy?" she echoed the word, a
touch of scorn in her voice, her eyes
dark with feeling. "Worthy? Captain
Wayne, I sometimes think you the
most unselfish man I ever knew."
Must the sacrifices, then, always be
made by you? Can you not conceive
It possible that I also might like to
yield up something? Is it possible
you deem me a woman to whom
money is a god?"
"No," I said, my heart bounding to
the scarce hidden meaning of her im-i
petuous words, "nor have the sacri
fices always been mine you were'
once my prisoner."
She bent down, her very soul in
her eyes, and rested one white hand
upon my shoulder. For an Instant we
read each other's heart in silence,
then shyly she said, "I am still your
prisoner."
THE END.
Jr
£. 2d r.
DANGER PERIOD
OFWOMANS' LIFE
FROM 45 to 50
Interesting Experience of Two
Women—Their Statements
Worth Reading.
COMMON SENSE
dictates that money should be kept at the
bank and paid out by check instead of
currency. By doing this you avoid mis
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for your payment.
Asheville, N.
C. I suffered for years
with female trouble while going through
the Change of Life. I tried a local phy
sician for a couple of years without any
substantial benefit. Finally after re
peated suggestions to try Lydia E. Pink
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"If you think this letter will contrib-,
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your medicines to afflicted women who
are passing through this trying period,,
it is with great pleasure I consent to its ",
publication." —Mrs. JULIA A. MOORE,
17 East St., Asheville, N. C.
The Case of Mrs. Xirlin.
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dia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound.
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Mill St., Circleville, Ohio.
The Change of Life is one of the most
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At such timeswomen may rely upon Lydia
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Hereford Calves
I am offering some very highly
bred young Hereford cattle weigh
ing from live to seven hundred
pounds each for sale. They will
please you and the prices are right.
Bank your money with this bank.
Whether the amount you handle is small
we welcome it just the same and give the
small account the same careful attention
as we give to the business of the largest"
depositor.
First National Bank
EXIRA IOWA
Sugar Cured Hams and Bacon
Lard in any Quantity.
A specialty of Cold Cooked
Meats for a Quick Meal.
Oysters and Celery in Season.
We Sell Ice. We Buy Hides.
City Meat Market
H. T. KROEGER, Proprietor, Exira, Ia.
F. R. McLaugh'in,
Monniug, la., Rt,5.
Circular and Cross-Cut Saws
gummed at the Ex ra Auto & Ma-?
chine Whs. tf
Children Cry
FOR FLETCHER'S
A S O I A
$
*2
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