sunk ter ther groun' an' I heard some one yell, 'Save him!' but not a man of us dared to face that storm of shot, but stuck to ther palm trunks, till just then I seed Jake Hodge come tearin' through ther palms an' mesquite brush an' dasb out in the clearin' with his Krag-Jorgesen on his left arm. He grabbed up young Hamilton on his right as if he'd been a baby, an' was turnin' to run back, when it seemed as if ther whole dadburned Spanish army war taken a shot at him. He staggered, an' I saw young Hamilton fall from his grasp. Then I closed my eyes, an' my heart came up in my throat, for I couldn't bear to see my old chum go down. Then all ter once the wildest, sky- splittin' cheerin'est cheer that mortal ears ever heard rent ther air, an' I opened my eyes to see Jake rushin' back with Hamil- ton on his left arm. Jake's poor right, when he'd dropped him, had been shat- tered by a Mauser bullet, but ther brave deed warn't no use, for young Hamilton was dead.
"Then came ther final charge, an' we druv ther Spaniards back upon their works. That, pardner, war whar Jake won his stripes ez first sargent.
"Pardner, it war a real relief one morn, when in those trenches filled with mud an' slime, that we heard, after a scatterin' fire, ther sharp, quick order to take ther San Juan hill by storm. At it we went with a yell. Half way up I saw a fiyin' figure, with his arm in a sling, come tearin' arter us. 'Twar Jake, gaunt an' pale, but bound ter have a hand in that ar scrimmage, havin' escaped from ther hospital for that purpose. The rush war fearful, but the leaden hail storm that ther Spaniards poured upon us made our part of ther line waver an' I believe we would have fallen back, but just then Jake tore through from ther rear to ther front, an' yelled out, 'Come on boys!' an' come they did as they saw Jake leap up on ther redoubt.
"Ez you know, pard, ther fort was taken with a dash, but arter it war all over, poor Jake war found outside ther redoubt, bleedin' like a stuck yearlin' from ther mouth, havin' been shot in ther right lung. Ther company surgeon said he war ez good ez dead, but we toted him with lovin' care to ther field hospital.
"How'd Gretchen git thar? Why, pard- ner, she war already thar. You see even if her dad war a Dutchman, he'd brought her up to be a good American, an' you can bet yer sweet life she war a true blue leetle American, too, with a big A. For as soon as ther war had broken out she had jined ther Red Cross Society an' went ter ther front to nuss ther wounded.
"Jake war a long time gittin' well, but most of us thought he war playin' 'possum, cause Gretchen war his nuss.
"When ther rigiment war mustered out, I came back here to ther range country, but Gretchen — who is now Mrs. Leftenant Hodge — an' Jake, settled down back In Missoury, where he's studyin' law, ther meanest thing he ever done. Gretchen is very proud of Jake's record as a rough rider, an', now that he's proven hisself, she often tells, with a quizz in her eye, of ther wonderful fight he put up standin' off road agents in her defense."
IN STARLIGHT.
Upon the river, where sometime the showers
Of summer moonlight make a path across,
A single star shines thro' the lonely hours.
And brings a subtle sense of pain and loss;
As, while we tread the narrow path of
duty,
The memory of a joy that fled away
Comes back to us, and darkens with its beauty
The dull, unchanging ways we walk today.
