Page:History of Delaware County (1856).djvu/371

DELAWARE COUNTY. 847 rain. Under the kind care and attention of Mrs. L., her hus- band and his soldiers recovered speedily. Here let me remark, that the soldiers loved Mrs. L. as their own life, and to use the words of one : "I never loved my mother with a greater intensity than I do this woman. There was not one of the army but would have sacrificed his own life to preserve hers. Delaware county was clothed in mourning for the loss of the slain. Of four hundred and thirty soldiers, who left their happy homes to sustain their country's honor, only twenty- eight survived to accompany their brave Colonel and Lady on their return home. III. " Leave me not, leave me not, Say not adieu ; Have I not been to thee Tender and true ?" Two years passed away, — the clarion of war is no more heard — peace and plenty is smiling on happy America. Instead of the soldier in uniform, we behold the busy multitude at work in their shops and fields. They are enjoying the liberty for which they fought so bravely. At this time Colonel L. received an appointment as Indian Agent, to the North-west Territory. He must now leave his wife and child for the first time, and struggle on in the wilds of the distant West, with no one to cheer him in his hours of loneliness. Vainly Mrs. L. urged her husband to allow her to accompany him, but there were hardships to en- counter, that he wished his wife not to meet. The hour of separation draws near, and tender was the scene of parting. A tear stole down the manly face of the husband, as he re- pressed the heaving sigh that was swelling his heart with deep emotion, for he wished not to break up the fountains of