Wilmington daily commercial., 1873-09-23
An Episode of the civil wnr

have spoken OF the character of the hostili
ties In that "debatabe land War is a bad thing
Always, but when 1t gets into simple neighbor.
hood, and teaches tine right and duty of killing
ones friends and relatives it becomes a demo-
MAC. Down about Knoxville they practiced a
better method. There it was that the old game
OF ,'Beggar your Neighbor," and they denounced
and 'conhscated" each other indnatTionaIv IL
in the poor hills they could only kin and hrrIP
and rob the stable and smoke-ho We were
SHOWN the scene Of one of these neiphborhond
Vengeances. 1t is a low house at the side Of a
Iavine, down whose steep slope the beech for
est steps perslstently erect, as il distrustinp
RraWtatlon. Thirty COnfederates had gathered
IN thst house at countryside frolic and the
fiddle sang deep in the night. The mountain
sllis are very pretty, having dark opalescent
eyes, with touch of gold in them at a side
glance, slight, rather too fragile figures and the
lands. " A'oh
The moon went down, and the music Of the
lanes, it the hhulle OF feet on the puncheon floor
aled away into that deep murmurou4 chant. the
hymn OF Nature in the forest. The falling wate~
sleeplh8 10 the dam or toiling all day at the mill
surSles like the tinkling of castanets. Every
tins ah9 mite lear is harp-string; every tiny
blade OF grass flutes its singly inaudible treble
the rustllng leaves, chirping cricket. piping ba
FachlAh, the tuneful hum OF insects that sleen
Dy day and wake by night, mingle and fnw IN
tue general harmony OF sound. The reeds and
weeds and trunks Of trees, like the great AMI
lesser pipes OF an organ, thunder low bass Tha
hieiancholy moot OF the owl and the mellow com
plant OF the whippoorwill Join in the solernn
uapason OF the forest, filling the solitudes with
grand, stately Marches There are mo son,da of
nature or art so true in harmony as this ceesa-
less murmur OF the American woods So accord
ant il 1t with the solemn majesty OF form and
color that the observer fails to separate and dis
VI sn 1t as an Isolated part in the grand order
VI nature he has felt an indeecribable awe in
the presence OF serene night and unbonnTe ed
shadow, but to divide and distinguish its consti
tueht causes wero as vain ar in the contour and
of rock, soil, and river 0''0o
over the little farmhouse in the rayine in tba
iau OF 1868 there fell with the sinking moon
Ti 1nese solemn dlrges OF the great dark wools
Inc stars Enlightened their crowns till Via Lacie0
silohe highway of silver dust or as the shadow
OF mat prImeval river rolling across the bIna
champaign of heaven. The deptba Of ranose
that fellow the enjoyment of the young irripated
shei[ Lhps' hliing the sensuous nerves and arter-
los WIN delicious nafcotism-a deem nuiat
healthful sleep, lulled by the chant OF Tie serens
mother-forest '1' seteue
Hush! light step like blown leaf: the loose
wooden latch rises at the touch of familiar
handi FAMILIAR feet that have trodden every incb
OF that poor log floor, lead the way; and then all
at once, IKE bundle Of Chinese crackers inter
mingled with shreks and groans and deem va
helheht curses, the rapid reports of pistols FIJI
tie cIAhDefs. The beds, the floors, the walls
the doors are spashed with blood and Tie
chambers are numbered with dead and DIVING
men in dreadful agony. Happy those who
passed quietly from the sweet sleep of Nature
to the deeper sleep of DEATH OF thirty Young
men 10 the flush Of youth, not one escaped
Six Federal scouts had threaded their way since
sunset from the Federal lines to do this horrible
work. Oh, Captain Jack, swart warrior of the
Modocs; must we hang you for defending your
lava-bed home in your own treacherous native
way, when we, to preserve an arbitrary political
relation, murder sleeping men in their beds p
rom from "A STRANGE LAND AND A PECULIAR Poo
PIE, IN L,PptncoHs Magazine for October.