The Cedarville Herald, Volume 12, Numbers 1-26

A Precious One th e Old S a in t Brought—A P r e tt y T ypew rite r. ' ALERIE CLAX- TON, that’s my name, and 1 live “uptown” -r-l’m no t going to say where, and you won’t find it .in the directory, h e- cauSe 1 l i v e vWth my mar­ ried aunt, ‘and s i d e s —but I mustn’t be in too great a hurry. Whether ! am pret­ ty qr not, is a matter of opinion. I, of course, do not incline to thinking my- • self quite a horror, for my.mirror tells me, when I consult i t—which is quite as often as other girls—that I have bright eyes and white teeth, and a dim­ ple in each cheek, and a figure tha t always,seqms to fit my dresses. I am by no means rich, i t is true, but no girl can consider herself,poor Who possesses a good typewriter and skill to use it. .Both these qualifications belong to me. > and for nearly a year I have held a Igood position in Mr. John Postle- ’ thwaitc's office, and from nine to fom: • every day I gaily rattle the keys of my typewriter. Mr. Postlethwaite is a rich produce broker, and, though he is not a t all old, \ never looked npon him as a young man—he Is so grave and silent. Al­ though I saw him every morning, he never said more than “Good day,' Miss • Claxton,” and I declare 1 could not have told you whether he was fair or dark, fo ri seldom ventured to raise my eyes to.his. All through the d a y ! sat in my comer, curtained off from the other clerks, and far too busy to tako any- notice of them, or of any one else, except—ali! here is a tremendous ex­ ception, for I had a constant visitor, my sweetheart! I should mention tha t Sir. Postlethwaite was a widower. That, perhaps, was partly the cause of his seriousness, for 1 have heard that bis wife was young and beautiful, and *t*At> SfMAPPBAftSD. that he loved her dearly. They had been married but a few years when she died, leaving him a baby **»•<* *«** eld. That baby was now five, and every day, except In the summer when lie was away a t Long Island dn Ids father's farm, little Jack would come ift the carriage and fetch Mr. Pofttle- thwaite away. The very first day I took possession «f £siy curtained corner, just an the <jocl: was on the stroke of four, the b.vcikst little head to the world pei p ir1, around my desk, and a pair of hi;*, eyes, blue as Heaven, h-okod up, toughing, Into mine. Them the head disappeared, and 1 saw no ‘r.i ,iy u} those sweet eyes until the ii\\i Cihnnoon. Then, bowefer, the i !!;*> toga?, with *11 ih* confidence is:'.*suable, walked tosMe the rttrtain, s?.l revealed dm A a l i i d M u * l^Wwwwiuely clad in black velvct, with long golden curls falling over his deep laoe collar. I fell to love -with him on top spot, and ! sm Jbound jo ,say that; the passion was jpbtual, for he sat on toy knee and returaedaray kisses with ipttej-est, dnd when, the following day, jl- .cemented the friendship With air offering qf French eandios, we pledged etoxhai fidelito to the'spirit, if not in the letter. Thefda^ 'was indeed a dUll one to mb that didn o t bring m y little Jack to kiss his sweetheart Yah, The winter passed, and a t Christmas ■ and Now Year’s Jack and I exchanged appropriate gifts—Jack always assur­ ing too earnestly th a t his presents hod been his own Unbiased chOioe, und pur­ chased with his own money from his own money-box. I itotlcedthat as the early February days slipped away Jack became immensely mysterious. His lit­ tle bdsom swelled With some tremend­ ous secret, and sometimes, after gazing a t me for a few seconds,with widening eyes, he would ripple with delicious lit­ tle gusts of laughter from head to foot, After these tiny explosions he would kiss me vehemently, and rush away as though , afraid to trust his.secret any longer to my presence. _J I can not pretend to say that I had no inkling of coming events,; and, sure enough, when I arrived in },the office on St. Valentine’s morning, there on my desk lay a package, sealed almost all over with red sealing wax, and With the stamps and address huddled into one corner, as though Of very secondary account. I opened it as eagerly, .1 de­ clare, as any girl to Hew York that day who hoped to find her valentine hand- some?’than that of her bosom friend. There was a beautiful little hand-point­ ed sachet, tied with 'a big bow of white satin ribbon, and—herein lay the cause of Jack’s mysterious rapture—-a letter! partly printed, partly written in won­ derful hieroglyphics, hut all his own writing and composition: ‘Mere darltn val. 1luv u so mush do wato tilt lamamunBo wo can bo marid. tw ill boas qulok as t can, u no t am quite big now 1luv u wld all my hart, u ar ml only darUn, ure.luvin Jack.” I Now, I am very fond of children, and never having had brother or sister, or niece or nephew, or little one brought close to me by any tie, my whole heart went out to my baby lover, and any one who chooses' may think me a fool when I own tha t a tear—Tscarcely know if it was a sweet or bitter o n e - fell on that little smeared and blotted scrawl. The next minute, however, I laughed heartily, and, although I had already sent Jack a pretty valentine, 1 resolved to write him an answer to hia letter, and, to make it more legible to him, I used my typewriter. This 1 b whatT said: "M y D arling : I will wait for you until yon aroqulteamMvaud you shall always be my only sweetheart. Who could help loving such a dear petf Certainly not your own V al ." This Iaddressed to M il J ohn PosxLrrnwAiTK, J r ., Madison Avonue. I .ran out and mailed it myself, and then waited all day in expectation of Jack’s visit in the -afternoon to ratify our contract. By some chance ho never came. I- saw it was no use stopping When Mr. Postlethwaite passed out of the office without waiting for the car­ riage, and as I went home I bought a box of candied fruit, so that when he came the next day we might havo a feast to celebrate the occasion. The damo evening about eight I was in our little parlor, playing dreamy melodies for my own delectation in the dark, when a ring came a t tho bell and a minute after the' colored damsel who rules our household opened the door with: “A goinman to sec you, Miss Valerie.’ t sprang to my feet, turned up the a and found myself face to face with r. Postlethwaite. To say tha t I was rprised would give no idea of my slings. I could just command voice ongh to offer him a seat, which he cepled, and, as I sank into a chair, I iticed that be had a type-written note his hand -one which seemed fa- lllar to me. I raised my eyes to his id found them bent on me with a rious but not ungentle expression, ;d, without knowing why, the blood se to my cheeks in hot blushes. “I ought to apologize for disturbing in a t this honr, Mias Claxton,” he said he bad a pleasant voice, and H unded much leas grave than usual. Jut i am afraid I have intercepted a tter that was not Intended for me. I i John Postlethwaite, Junior—say ther lives in the same house with ms.” Lsaw it all now: bnt, good Heavens! uld not the man understand? Why ed be come to ask met Ills baby uld have explained, “Really," I stammered, scarcely lowing w h a tl said. “ I didn’t know- ihouid have thought—" “Oh, don’t apologize," he replied, and $eyes laughed, though he still kept «countenance. "Nothing catt be ssld relieve my disappointment. Fcsr a mnenfc I Indulged in a wild hope that was a valentine for me; but I quite rierstand that I can hot expect to rai my non. However, though neither 4 nor he seeffihd to cobsWkr my aon- nt neoeesary, 1 thought I would ju st 11up and express my entire Approval Jack’s ehoiee.” We looked a t each other, and both oghed heartily. Who would have ought that the grava Hr. Postl* waHe could laugh so merrily? Then I-drew his chair a little nearer. “Miss Claxton," he said, “I know yon rrest deal better tbs* you know- me. tttvta&Lfedy<H*oftwi wltfcti you lit* i suApected H, sad besides, my boy’, nsfaat ‘theme ia Children aw ma observer*, aad ha ooulda’t ba so fond of you wRhout foodreaaoa*. Now suppose we laid our beads together, 4on’t you thlpk we.mlghfc davise a plan by which poorJaoik wouldn’t be kept waiting so long?—" -*“Mr, Postlethwaite-4-" I Interrupted; attempting, to rise; bu t he restrained me by placing Ills hand gently, but firmly, upon mine. ‘ ' “Miss Claxton," he said, earnestly, “months ago I began tolovo you for my boy's spke. .1 soon learned to loro yon for my own sake.,^ Don't suppose that I ’wish to startle you into an answer; bUt tell me that there is no one deader than Jack to .rival, me, and, if it is so, let mo have a chance to win you for ■myself.?’'., i . “What will Jack say?” I murmured, with a smile I could not repress.. “Will yon tuke his verdict?” be cried, eagerly. “He is outside in the carriage, waiting most impatiently to ho allowed to see his Val. You see I didn’t venture to ’come without providing myself with a champion," He hurried out, and a minute after­ ward returned with Jack in a state of intense, excitement, who, being depos­ ited on my lap, smothered me with kisses, and demanded an instant reply to his letter. . “Jack,” said his father, before I could answer, “how would you like to “ WELL YOU ALWAYS' KISS MS IN THE M0BXING?" have ‘Val’ a t once, without waiting to grow up into a man?" “What! now/” cried the boy, opening wide his big blue eyes. “Take her back in the carriage?” “Well—no—I ’m afraid we could hardly hope, for that,” laughed his father. “Well— whent" demanded Jack. *‘I think you and Valerie had better settle that between you,” was the politic reply. “I am.contcnt to leave it to yon." “Well, then, to-morrow,” said Jack, decidedly. “I don’t seem to have much voice In the matter,” I cried. “Mr. Postlethwaite —you said you wouldn’t hurry mo —1haven’t had time to think yet wheth­ er I care enough for you to marry yon a t all." . Jock looked from one to the other of us, and a dawn of Indignant comprehen­ sion quivered over his bright, little face. “You’s not going to marry papa,” lie said, fixing h is ' eyes on me finally. “You’s going to marry «i«—I asked you first!" I made a little bow to Mr. Postle­ thwaite. m “You have your answer, sir," I said. He Rat down—this time on the sofa beside me—and took Jack on his lap. “My little son,” he said, •coaxingly, “if Valerie waits until yon are a man yon will only see her in the office, and then when yon are a little bigger and go to college, yon won’t see her a t all,, for months a t a time. But if you per­ suade her to many mo she will be your veiy own mamma, and yon will have her all day long all to yourself while I am down-town. She will wake yon in the morning with a kiss and sing yon to sleep a t night. Don't yon think that's better than waiting?” Jack put his little fat forefinger in his pouting mouth and looked steadily a t me. but declined to compromise him­ self by any remark. “Persuade him, Valerie," arid his father, entreatlngly, to me. “Not I!” I exclaimed. “Settle it be­ tween ydu.” Suddenly Jack transferred himself to my lap. “Will job always kiss me In the morning when I wake?” he said. I looked out of the corner of my eye a t his father, and b it my lip, without answering/ “Will yon, Val—Awr Val?" pleaded Jack. How could I refuse to say “Ye*?” “And sing m e .to sleep, nights?" he persisted. Again 1 bras constrained to say “Yes." [Us sweet eyes brightened, and ho threw his chubby arms around tnyneck. “Dear, darling Val I" he cried, kissing f ie vigorously. “You may marry papa; ut you musfi’t ever like him • bettcr’n me. You may kiss Val now, papa," he added, magnanimously. “And if yon enn't be married now, we must come to-morrow and fetch you away." Then, as it occurred to him that he felt sleepy, he dropped hie head on my shoulder; and demanded, with baby im­ periousness, to be sung to sleep forth­ with. I placed him gently In his father's arms, ahd kissed the fealf-elosed eyes. “He’s mine, now," I said, looking fohn Postlethwaite for the first time cull in the face. “But I’tt lend him to von someti»rii.”--B. Ada Fisher, in Drake's Magazine. THE BATTLE FIELD. A MIDNIGHT BATTUE. Capture or the Water-Whch In Ossabaw BoiHut Coorsla. . . . Thefe were many daring' and desper­ ate encounters between' the JOniori -and Confederate vessels along the, coast and In the inland‘Waters that got-a mere mention in tho papers of the day, while’ every little “hush light” of,the army was heralded fts k -great battle o t Im­ portant skirmish to bring-into promi­ nence the name of a Colonel or General, One of the most daring and success­ ful midnight attacks on our, blockade vessels was tho boarding and capture of the gunboat Water-Witch, in’Ossabavt* sound, Georgia, one of the several water ways leading up to Savannah. The Wa- tcr-Witch was a small side-wheel steam­ er employed in the surveying of rivers, bnt was improvised at the beginning of the war into a blockading vessel. She had been doing good service on that station, being of light draft it could run in and catch the light crafts that were enguged in contraband trade. She had been so long on the station that her offi­ cers and men had become careless and relaxed their vigUance and did not take the precautions enjoined on them by the Admiral. On the morning of June 3, ’64, follow­ ing what had been a “dirty night,” which, in sailor parlance means a disa­ greeable night, the little ship was run­ ning lazily with the tide with her half asleep and drowsy crew stowed away in comfortable out of the way places. There was not a sound to disturb .the dreaming officer of the deck, who paced tho deck with his monotonous tread while thinking perhaps. of the. hot cup of coffee he’d have when M b . watch was relieved. The night was so dark that it seemed oppressive, and was only relieved by the occasional flashes of lightning that a t intervals il­ luminated the density of the blackness for a short distance from the ship’s Bide. I t was during one of these flashes that the cathead caught sight of a launch not thirty yards away, filled with armed men. He challenged the rapidly ad­ vancing boat and was politely told.togo to -—■, and like the black cats ba the boy’s alley, the river seemed a.:ve with them. Armed boats were seen a t every turn. There were seven- boats filled with picked men,‘well armed and dis­ ciplined. Not a word was spoken after the challenge, but they dashed on to board the Water-Witch. An acting master’! mate was in charge of tho deck, lie sprung tho rattle, calling all hands to quarters and ordered the Watch to repel boarders; but too late; the boats’ crews came on and up over her sides with a yell, boarding the ship on both sides. The officers of the Water-Witch came on deck in undress uniform, and several under “bare poles” with aide arms hastily buckled on and barefooted. The crew seemed dazed, but soon rallied und began one of the most desperate hand to hand conflicts seen during tho war, fighting like devils, and the enemy doing their level host with all the advantages of a surprise on their side. Each, man fought for himself. Captain PendegraBt, while sighting a. gun, was knocked senseless and left for dead. Master Ruck, a jblly, good-na­ tured soul, eat right and left, and the rebs -ourteously gave him cutlass room ’aftei several had been “decked” with his good right arm. Coast 1'ilot B. K. Murphy, a Southern-born but a Union pilot, and who took service under the old flag, was badly wounded and left as food for the gentle sharks, The con­ flict lasted for about twenty minutes, the Confederates gaining every mo­ ment, our boys doing their best; but, fate was against them, the boarders carried tho day and the prize was theirs, hut at considerable cost. Lieutenant F, II. Petct, of the Confederate States navy,'a hold, brave and daring yonng officer, led the boarding party, and had eight of his men killed,twomortally and twenty badly wounded. The colored men of the Water-Witch fought savage­ ly and pnt to shame some of our white men who failed to come to time. The Surprise was a complete one, and the projector of the scheme to capture the ship deserved credit for A most suc­ cessful attack. The Water-Witch had inflicted much damage on them and now it was their turn, cA contraband named Peter. McIntosh and two engineers were driven up out of the engine-room and Sent forward. Peter quietly dropped overboard and swam a mile and a half till he reached Ossabaw Island, where lie concealed himself until daylight, when he iraa discovered by the U. B. Ship Fernan­ iline, which was passing a t the time, by signal. A boat was sent and he was taken on board and reported to the astonished captain the capture of the Water-Witch. ■After the boarding party had secured the prisoners the Water-Witch was got­ ten under way and steamed up the Ver­ non river. A new difficulty how pre­ sented itself. Their colored pilot hav­ ing been killed, Pilot Murphy, though badly wounded, under the persuasive eloquence of a cocked revolver under his starboard ear in the hands of a de­ termined rebel was compelled to pilot the captured ship until she was under the guns of Battery Buelia. On her paseag* sh- ran on a sand p it and Murphy came near paying the penalty, and only his wounded condition saved him. « The officer* and crew of the prize *hlp were railroaded to Savannah, and there confined. Ottr boys reported good treatment, the Confederates sharing the A Sgme fpod as they themselves reocived, which was hot of the best. «Th<) escape of the contraband, and hia .timely" warning,, saved thC Capture of Several of our smaller, vessels. The Water-Witch could have dewyed’fKem from their, station*, SSPOOiaRy the ?*U' ing vessels and Buck them, they being unprepared’ to r Sft attack from One of dur Own vesjwls in the hands of fhe evenly, McIntosh was tlie only' man who escaped from the captured ship. F Tho Fernnndina gave the alarm: by signaling each station as she passed on her way to efirry the news to Admiral Dahlgren a t Port Royplv The Wissa- hickon guarding the station a t Warsaw Sound got under way, steamed around to the station of the Water-Wit^h to prevent her running out to ae$ and .await orders which came to make every effort to capture or destroy the captured vessel, which we did, but without -suc- ceSs. The Water-Witch being of light draught wub run inland so far that our guns would not reach, and being guard­ ed by Battery Thunderbolt and Battery Buelia we did not feel as though we wanted her.—American Tribune. KILLING MEN IN BATTLE. Unpleasant Sensation* Experienced by an ■ Army Officer, “When a man goes into a battle it. is presumably with the intention of doing some killing,” said an ex-army officer. “And ye t I never knew a soldier yet who liked to feel that he had himself with his own hands actually slain an individual foe. There is an intoxica­ tion in the melee of conflict, but noman likes to feel that his own pistol shot or bayonet thrust has taken away the life of a fellow being. “Perhaps I should except from this general statement the typical sharp­ shooter, who cultivates an instinct.of warfare that approaches the murderous. I have never been able to see how a man could deliberately take up a sta­ tion in a tree top or rifle pit and mark down for death, one after another, indi­ viduals whose lives were wholly a t tho mercy o f his scientific aim. Of course war is always savagery, but there is an element of certainty in the sharpshoot­ ing business that, to my notion, ap­ proaches very near to murder. “ I vividly recall to mind one experi­ ence of my own while with a skirmish party a t the second battle of Bull Run. The fight had just begun and a rebel scout upproached without knowing it very close to a clump of trees behind which my little detachment was con­ cealed. Catching sight of ns suddenly he wheeled his horse like a flash and was off. On the spur of the moment I fired my pistol rigty at, him and a sec­ ond later he wheeled in his saddle and fell out of It. The fight swept over in our direction and I saw no more for tho time being of my victim; but, though 1 was in the thick of the fray for most of the time for the next few hours, 1could not get out of my mind the horror of the idea that I had killed tha t man. Not only had 1 taken away his life, but very likely had 1 made his wife a widow and his children fatherless. That night when we went into camp I had this op­ pressive feeling still on my mind,when, U) my great delight, 1 saw the man that 1 had killed, evidently a prisoner, sit­ ting on the stump of a tree with his arm in a sling, “ ‘My dear fellow,’ I exclaimed with* much cordiality, approaching him, ‘I trust you are not seriously hurt.’ “ ‘Naw,’ replied the Confedehite dry­ ly, ‘When you fired a t me my horse shied and broke my arm against a tree. Your bullet didn’t h it me a t alL’ “I do assure you 1 never was more re­ lieved in all my life, “But the most painful experience that I met with during the war was a t Chan- celorsville. I found one of our men, when the fire was pretty hot, skulking behind a big log, “ ‘This'll never do, man!’ I shouted In his ear. ‘Get up there and take your place in the line.’ “I took him by the scruff of the neck —for he was seized with a panic—and shoved him forward. As I did so, with my hand on hift collar, a. chance bullet struck him on the forehead and he fell dead without a cry, “The shock that incident gaje me I have never entirely recovered from, I felt that I had killed that man. The fact that I was in a position of equal danger with himself did not effect my moraLimpres­ sion as to the occurrence, I t seemed as if I had- deliberately forced him Into the path of the bullet, and tha t I was responsible for hie death, Booh, in o n sense, was true, and yet, of conrso, I was not in any ju st way responsible. But I-shall never get over the haunting recollection.”—Washington Star. SMALL SHOTV R hode I sland has appropriated 1125,* 000 fqg a State Soldiers’ Home. I t will he located a t Bristol. L yon * R ost , N o . 0, Marysville, Has., has erected one of the finest soldiers’ monuments in the West I t cost over Jfl.OOO, and has been placed in a beau­ tiful spot in the city. Cemetery. G exkbal N. 1’. B anks is bnt a shadow of what he was fifteen years ago. His face is thin, and though ho still carries himself with sonic of hia old-time erect- ness his manner is that of a man who lives in the past, His hair and moustache arc snow white. J oh N M ulligan , of Saratoga Conn- ty, New York, is blind, and has become an object of charity. At the breaking out of th$ war he enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifteenth NawYork Volun­ teers and served until 18M. At the time of his enlistment he wm nearly 30years old, and he Is noiv in Ida 107th year. ’’ .................•• i