{"product_id":"2940013484221","title":"THE YOUNG LIEUTENANT","description":"CHAPTER I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCAPTAIN DE BANYAN AND OTHERS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I beg your pardon, sir; but I see, by the number on your cap, that we\u003cbr\u003ebelong to the same regiment,\" said an officer with two bars on his\u003cbr\u003eshoulder-straps, as he halted in the aisle of the railroad-car, near\u003cbr\u003ewhere Lieutenant Thomas Somers was seated. \"May I be permitted to inquire\u003cbr\u003ewhom I have the honor of addressing?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Lieutenant Somers, of the ----th Massachusetts,\" replied the young\u003cbr\u003egentleman addressed, as he politely touched his cap in return for the\u003cbr\u003esalutation of the other.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Ah! is it possible? I am rejoiced to meet you. I have heard of you\u003cbr\u003ebefore. Allow me to add in the most delicate manner, that you are a good\u003cbr\u003efellow, a first-rate soldier, and as brave an officer as ever sported a\u003cbr\u003epair of shoulder-straps. Permit me to offer you my hand; and allow me to\u003cbr\u003eadd, that it is a hand which was never sullied by a dishonorable act.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I am happy to make your acquaintance,\" replied Lieutenant Somers, as he\u003cbr\u003eaccepted the offered hand. \"Won't you take a seat, Captain----\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Captain de Banyan, at your service,\" continued the officer, as he seated\u003cbr\u003ehimself by the side of the young lieutenant, who was completely\u003cbr\u003ebewildered by the elegant and courtly speech of his new-found friend.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf Lieutenant Somers needs any further introduction to the reader, we may\u003cbr\u003ebriefly add, that he was a native of Pinchbrook, a town near Boston, in\u003cbr\u003ethe State of Massachusetts. He was now entering his eighteenth year, and\u003cbr\u003ehad enlisted in the great army of the Union as a private, with an earnest\u003cbr\u003eand patriotic desire to serve his imperiled country in her death-grapple\u003cbr\u003ewith treason and traitors. He had won his warrant as a sergeant by\u003cbr\u003ebravery and address, and had subsequently been commissioned as a second\u003cbr\u003elieutenant for good conduct on the bloody field of Williamsburg, where he\u003cbr\u003ehad been wounded. The injury he had received, and the exhaustion\u003cbr\u003econsequent upon hard marching and the excitement of a terrible battle,\u003cbr\u003ehad procured for him a furlough of thirty days. He had spent this brief\u003cbr\u003eperiod at home; and now, invigorated by rest and the care of loving\u003cbr\u003efriends, he was returning to the army to participate in that stupendous\u003cbr\u003ecampaign which culminated in the seven-days' battles before Richmond.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInspired by the hope of honorable distinction, still more by the\u003cbr\u003epatriotic desire to serve the noblest cause for which the soldier ever\u003cbr\u003edrew a sword, he was hastening to the post of danger and duty. As the\u003cbr\u003etrain hurried him by smiling fields, and through cities and villages\u003cbr\u003ewhose prosperity was mysteriously interlinked with the hallowed mission\u003cbr\u003ewhich called him from the bosom of home and friends, his thoughts were\u003cbr\u003ethose which would naturally animate the soul of a young patriot, as he\u003cbr\u003ejourneyed to the battle-fields of a nation's ruin or salvation. He\u003cbr\u003ethought of the bloody scenes before him, of the blessed home behind him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOnly the day before, he had made his parting visit to Lilian Ashford, who\u003cbr\u003eknit his \"fighting socks,\" as he had called them since the eventful day\u003cbr\u003ewhen he had found her letter and her picture in them. Of course, he could\u003cbr\u003enot help thinking of her; and, as he had a thin stratum of sentiment in\u003cbr\u003ehis composition, it is more than probable that the beautiful young lady\u003cbr\u003emonopolized more than her fair share of his thoughts; but I am sure it\u003cbr\u003ewas not at all to the detriment of the affection he owed his mother and\u003cbr\u003ethe other dear ones, who were shrined in the sanctuary of his heart.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47145748300016,"sku":"2940013484221","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013484221_p0.jpg?v=1763592956","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013484221","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}