The weekly standard. (Port Gibson, Miss.) 1865-1867, 1866-03-10
chariot and steer? Where dids't
thou go when I did see thee drivin like
Jehu as we didfee for life?,' 81 6ad 4


my trends to know it. Tn now a maj
Of war, Bill, and I am glad Of it. Tvs
done the State sum seryis and sh,
knows it, I've handled gunsyes
guns-weepin of deth. I've slept OF
my arms since I seed you-night after
night hay I slept on my arms. with
hundreds of dedly weepins all around
me. All, Bill, patriotism is a big thing
When you once breaks the ice, great
sluices Of glory as big as your arm win
jest spring up like mushrooms in your
buzzum; and make you feel like throw
in yourself clean away for your coun-
try Let me set down and I'll tell you
all I know, Bill, but as the feller sed in
the theater, "When you in your letters
these unlucky deeds relate, speak OF
me as | am, nothing expatiate nor set
down hot in malice. /"
aJest So" sed I, "exaktly-exaktly
so. Proseed, my hero. II z.
"Well you see, night after you pass
ed.me my steer got away. Hang the
deseevin beastl I hunted smart1y for
him the next morning, but I hunted
more forward than backward Leav-
ing my wagin with a widder woman, I
took it afoot across the country by a
settlement road they called the 'cut
off Devil of a cut off it was to me-
I broke down. insight of a little log
cabling, and never moved a foot further
that day. The old man had chunk
of a nag that worked in slide. Iper-
swaded him to haul me to the eend Of
the cut of, and I know he done it for
fear I'd eat up his smoke house. Every
now and then he'd look at the old
CONAN, and she'd look at the smoke
house and then look at me- But that
sliding bisness were the most orfyllest
travelin that I ever have had Every
time the pony'd look back he'd stop,
and when he'd start agin he'd Civ sucll
jerk that my contents were in danger.
My holt broke on one okkashun goin
down hill full of gullies. I rolled
sum twenty feet into the edge of the
woods, and cotch up agin an old pine
stump that was full of yeller jackets
Three Of the dinged things stung me
before I could rise; but I got throughi
the cut off and fell in with some empty
waggins that was stampedint my way.
s'Gittin5on to- Atlanty, fool Irish
man stopped me right at the edge Of
town and demanded my papers. I
didn't hav no papers Nobody had
ever ax'd mefor papers; buthe woodn't
hear an argument AS Quarles would
say, woudentj jine isshue, but march
ed me to an offs, andI didn't stay there
ten minutes. I wer sent off to Deka-
tur with sum fifty conscripts, who were
all in mournin; exceptin their clothes.
[ never seed such pitiful set in my
life. talked with EN- all, and there
was nary one but had the dyspepsy, or
the swinny, or the rumatics, or the
blind staggers, or the heaves, or the
humps, or sumthin. Well, thar warnt
none of US discharged, for there was
bran new orders callin. for everybody
for thirty days to go to the bitches. AS
| couldn 'twalk that distance I was or
dered to Andersonville to guard the
prisoners. At Makon I met an old
akwaintance, who was powerful big
officer, and hehad me transferred to his
department, and put me in charge OF
his ordinance. There's. where I han
died guns, Bill, and slept on my arms.
Whole boxes of muskets around me,
and I didn't no more mind taking a
a snooze on a gun box than if it had
been bed Of fethery down. It's all in
gittin used to it, Bill all in the use"
aJest so, sed I, ''that's the way IL
see it-ezactly 50, my friend. Proseed,
'Its blamed lucky, Bill, that I didn't
go to Andersonyille., They would hay
had me alongside Of Wirz, either as
Or witness.s or snmthin, and
sum lying Yank would have had a.
swear or two at me about shootin, him
on the dead line. Before this my car
kas would haveibeen eat up by worms
or cut up by doktors and my piRterI
spred all over a whole side.of Harper's
Weekly as a monster of death. sssas
"Wen, Ikep. handling guns and bay
onets, and dangerous weepins, ontil
one dar I got fdrlo to go to Rome
Shermaa was playin base around
about Atlanty, and 50 / had to circum-
ference around by the way Of Selma,
ard the very day I got there, epeflastin
!, last en-, the Wilson raiders got there
lao WASH no more 1ookin for them
n