Blue and Gray Weekly, No. 31

This issue of Blue and Gray Weekly, a periodical featuring Civil War stories, contains "Against Great Odds: The Boys in Blue Repulsed" by Lieutenant Harry Lee. The narrative follows Captain Jack Clark of the Union's Fairdale Blues, who is captured by guerrilla chief Bill Jepson near Vicksburg in autumn 1862 and sentenced to hanging. An Indian maiden named Wahteena, whom Clark once saved from drowning, intervenes by delivering a written order from General Forrest demanding Clark's release. Jepson reluctantly complies. Wahteena escorts Clark by canoe down a creek to the Yazoo River, where they encounter his first lieutenant, Hal Martin, approaching in a skiff. Wahteena confesses romantic feelings; Clark gently declines, offering instead a friendship ring. The Indian girl, heartbroken but stoic, departs silently as Clark prepares to rejoin his comrades.