The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1880-09-02

But no A freshet on the Chowan
river, or raid by Foster, or something,
or nothing, has smashed the telegraph
wire for that night. And before that
dispatch ever reached Wilmington the
navy agent was in the offing in the Sea
Maid.
But perhaps the duplicate got
through2" No, breathless reader, the
duplicate did not get through. The du-
plicate was taken by Faucon in the
Ino. 1 saw it last week in DR..
Lieber's hands in Washington. Well.
all I know is that, if the duplicate had
got through, the Confederate Govern
ment would have had in March achance
at 1921 muskcts, which, as it was,
never left Belgium. So much for my
treading into that blessed piece Of wire
on the shelf of the cedar closet, up
stairs. -
What was the bit of wire?"
Well, it was not telegraph wire. If it
had been, it would have broken when it
was not wanted to. Don't you know
what it was? Go up in your own cedar
closets, and step about in the dark, and
see what brings up about your ankles.
Julia, poor child, cried her eyes out
about it. When got well enough to
get up, and as soon as I could talk and
plan with her, she brought down seven
of these old things-Belmontes, simplex
elliptics and horrors without q pame-
and she made pile of them in The bed
room, and asked me, in the most peni-
tent way, what she should do with them.
"You can't burn them," she said;
F" fire won't touch them. If you bury
them in the garden they come up at the
second raking. Ii you give them to the
servants they say 'Thank-e, missus,
and throw them in the back passage.
If you give them to the poor, they
throw them into the street in front, and
do not say 'Thank-e. Sarah sent sew
enteen over to the sword factory, and
the foreman swore at the boy and told
him he would fog him within an inch
of his life if he brought any more of his
sauce there; and so-and SO" sobbeS
the poor child, ~ just rolled up these
wretched things, and put them in the
cedar closet, hoping, you know, that
some day the Government would want
something, and would advertise for them.
You know what good thing L made out
of the bottle corks."
In fact, she had sold our bottle corks
for S4, 216 of the first issue. We after
ward bought two umbrellas and cork
screw with the money.
Well, 1 did not scold Julia. 1t was
certainly no fault of hers that l was
walking on the lower shelf of her cedar
closet. told her to make parcel of
the things, and the first time we went to
ride / hove the whole shapeless heap
into the river, without saying mass for
them.
But let no man think, or no woman,
that this was the end of the troubles
As [ look back on that winter, and on
the spring of 1865, it seems to me only
the beginning. [ got out on crutches ut
last | had the office transferred to my
house, so that Lafarge and Hepburn
could work there at night and commlnl-
cate with me when [ could not go out ;
but mornings 1 hobbled up to the de-
partment, and sat with the chief, and
took his orders. All me !! shall | soon
forget that damp winter morning, when
we all had such hope at the office? One
or two of the army fellows looked IN at
the window as they ran past, and we
knew that they felt well; and, though l
would not ask Old Wick-as we nick
named the chief-what was in the wind,
| knew the time had come, and that the
lion meant to break the net this time.
made an excuse to 60 home earlier than
usual rode down to the house Ill the
Majors ambulance, L remember, and
hopped in to surprise Julia with the
good news, only to find that the whole
house was in quiet uproar. which shows
that something bad has happened OF
sudden.
"What is it, Chloe?' said /, as the
old wench rushed by me with bucket
of water.
"Poor Mr., George, 1 'fraid he's dead,
sah."
And there he really was, dear, hand
some, bright George Schaff-the delight
of all the incest girls of Richmond; he
Law there on Aunt Eunice's bed on the
ground floor, where they had brought
him in. He was not dead, and he dld
not die. He is making cotton in Texas
now But he looked mighty near like
it then. The deep cut in his head was
the worst ever had seen, and the blow
confused everything. When McGregoI
got round he said it was not hopeless
but we were turned out of the room, and,
with one thing and another, he got the
boy out of the swoon, and it proved his
head was not broken.
No, but poor George swears to this
day it was better it had been, if it could
only have been broken in the right way
and on the right field. For that even
ing we heard that everything had gone
wrong in the surprise. There we hae
been waiting for one of those early fogs
and at last the fog had come. And Juba
Early had that morning pushed ou
every man he had that could stand, ant
they lay hid for three mortal hours
within don't know how near the pickle
line at Fort Powhatan, only waiting to
the shot which John Streight's part.
was to fire at Wilson's wharf, as soon a
,, somebody on our left center advanced
! in force on the enemy's line above Tur
key island, stretching across to Nanse
mond. I am not in the War Depart
ment, and I forget whether he was Il
: advance en- barbette or by echelon of in
fantry. But he was to advance some
how, and he knew how: and when h
advanced, as you see, that other mai
lower down was to rush in, and as soOl
) as Early heard him he was to surpris
. Powhatan, you see; and then, if yo1
t have understood me, Grant and Butle
a and the whole rig of them would hav
' been cut off from their supplies, woul'
Q have had to fight battle for which the,
r we're not prepared, with their right mad
4 into n new left. and their old left unex
Q pectedly advanced at an oblique angl
!, from their center and would not tina
+ have been the end Of them? -
a Well. that never happened. And tn