The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1878-07-05

'Silencel said Mr.. Gibbes, with stern but
trembling voice. The tears were in his own
eyes. The little child now missing was
very dear to them all, and, moreover, was
deemed sacred charge, as he was one of
the orphan children of Mr.. Gibbes's sister,
intrusted to him on her death. bed.
The wailing ceased there was silence,
broken only by sobs, and the master ask
ed /.
who is willing to go back for the child2'
No one spoke. Mr. Gibbes turned to his
wife for counsel. AS the two talked in low
tones, Mrs. Gibbes called her husbands at
tention to Mary, who was kneeling with
clasped hands, in prayer, at the foot of the
bed. In moment, the little maid rose and
came TO them, saying, calmly:
Mo, her, must go back after baby
ooh, my child cried the mother, in ago.
N.Y. Il cannot let your
But, mother, | must, pleaded Mary.
God will care for me-,
1t was a fearful responsibility. The guns
yet roared constantly through the darkness
the house might now be in flames it might
be filed with carnage and blood. Mrs. Glib
bes turned to her husband. His face was
buried in his hands. Plainly, she must de-
eide it herself. With streaming eyes, she
looked at Mary.
Come here, my child" she called through
her sobs Mary fell upon her mothers neck.
One long, passionate embrace, in which all
a mothers love and devotion were poured
out, aud the clinging arms were opened
without word. Mary sprang up, kissed
her fathers forehead, aud sped forth on her
dangerous mission of love
The rain had now ceased, but the night
was still dark and full of terrors, for through
the trees she saw the frequent flashes of the
great guns The woods were filled with the
booming echoes, so that cannon seemed to
be on every hand. She flew on with all
speed. Soon she heard the crashing trees
ahead and knew that in a moment she
would be once more face to face with death.
She did not falter. Now she was again in
the fierce whirlwind All around her the
shot howled and shrieked. On every side
branches fell crashing to the earth. A cam
non ball plunged into the ground close be-
side her, cast over her heap of mud, and
threw her down. She sprang up and press
ed on with redoubed vigor. Not even that
ball could make her turn back.
She reached the house. She ran to the
room where the little child usually slept.
The bed was empty Distracted she flew
from chamber to chamber. Suddenly she
remembered that this night he had been
given to another nurse. Up into the third
story she hurried, and, as she pushed open
the door, the little fellow, sitting up in bed,
cooed 20 her and put out his hands.
With the tears raining down her cheeks,
Mary wrapped the babe warmly and started
down the stairs. Out into the darkness once
more onward with her precious burden,
through cannon roar through shot and shell!
Three times she passed through this iron
storm. The balls still swept the forest; the
terrific booming filled the air.
With the child pressed tightly to her
brave young heart, she fled on. She neith-
er stumbled nor fell The shot threw the
dirt in her face, and showered the twigs
down upon her head. But she was not
struck. In safety she reached the hut, and
fell exhausted across the threshold.
And the little boy thus saved by girls
brave devotion, afterward became General
Fenwick, famous in the war of 1912.