ent to Pockville. He had no difficulty in
finding Peter Stump, and was soon in possession of information which
filled him with renewed life and joy. Stump recognized the miniature as
that of his messmate, John (or Jack) Logan. Stump remembered the other
John Logan, and said that in features and sometimes in expression the
two Logans were much alike, but that in complexion and disposition they
were utterly dissimilar. Jack Logan was of dark and sallow complexion,
had curly black hair, and was about six feet, one inch in height. He
was reserved, quiet, sober in his habits, and peaceably inclined. The
other John had a ruddy complexion, hair a shade lighter than his
cousin's, and a temper so fiery and quarrelsome that he was forever in
some broil with his comrades. He was a hard drinker, too, and a
gambler. He was nearly two inches taller than Jack Logan, and was the
tallest man in the regiment. Jack Logan, up to the beginning of the
war, had always lived in Kenelworth, but the other John Logan, although
born in Kenelworth, had lived a wandering life. Other facts which Stump
revealed explained the message in Jack Logan's last letter to Mary.
Stump and Logan had been close friends, and the former had learned from
his friend the reason of the hasty marriage. Mary Hollis, at the time,
was living with her cousins, two old maidens, who were ardent British
sympathizers, and, therefore, did their utmost to prejudice the young
girl against her lover, until he, fearing that if his sweetheart
remained under the influence of her Tory relatives, she would finally
be estranged from him, persuaded her to marry him at once. It was just
after the battles of Trenton and Princeton, and Logan, elated by these
two victories for the American cause, was inclined, like many other
hopeful young patriots, to believe that the war would soon be over. So,
although he knew that for the present he must be separated from his
bride much of the time, and that he was but poorly able to provide for
her, rashly persuaded her to marry him. As the months went by, and the
Continental army, instead of achieving fresh victories, was suffering
loss and increasing hardship, Logan grew more and more remorseful and
unhappy about his young wife and infant son. The night before the
battle of Monmouth, he seemed to have a premonition of his fate on the
morrow, and was more than ever troubled over the future for his wife
and babe. He wrote his wife, asking forgiveness for h