JAMES WINNE. 



he went to the fire-proof vault and spent half an hour 

 examining from "original sources" every document per- 

 taining to the Seventh Regiment. Returning he report- 

 ed that he had gone through all these, and that it was 

 now impossible that I should have found it there. 



" Ah, but I did," and he smiled again, saying that it 

 was so easy for a man to be mistaken, and that a man 

 sometimes forgot things that happened less than fifteen 

 years ago. He was both amused and interested in my 

 confidence, which was not in the least shaken. 



"I found it in print," I said, the thought coming to 

 me for the first time. " It was in the adjutant-general's 

 report." He smiled again and went to another room 

 and brought me the report of that official for that year, 

 and I examined it carefully, and there was nothing 

 there regarding F. W. S. He smiled again, and all of 

 his associates smiled with him. 



" What do you say now?" said he. " Give it up? " 



' ' Not at all. I certainly found it here. There was 

 another book, — large pages, like an atlas, with columns 

 on it." At this he laughed outright, saying, "He 

 means that old report," and one of the men searched for 

 a dilapidated, coverless book, and as soon as it was 

 opened, I said, " You will find it there. There it is, 

 'Discharged July 10, '61,'" and they all gathered 

 around the book to read the entry. 



Now I had not thought of that for fifteen years. It 

 was wholly incidental. I have been moderately busy 

 with other things. When my attention was called to 

 the memorandum, I could recall nothing of it. There 

 was nothing in the locality to help me, as the room has 

 been wholly made over ; but it came to me like the 

 dawning of the morning, and I was as certain of my 

 grounds from step to step as I am in crossing the room, 

 and their assurances that the thing was impossible fell 

 upon deaf ears. 



225 



