The National tribune., 1882-09-02
TRIBUNE: WASHINGTON c., SEPTEMBER

pine box. The old white man, very old he
was, bent and palsied, with white venerable
hair, stood before us in q stopping attitude,
with the vacant smile of decrepitude about
his lips, and a half chucllle, half murmur,
while the blood trickled down his long white
locks and upon his bowed shoulders, from
gaping wound in his temple. The old lady,
a quiet, motherly body, in black dress and
old-fashioned cap, held his arm with one
hand, while with the other she continually
applied her handkerchief to his wounded
head in a vain attempt to staunch the blood.
The old negro man, with a grizzled poll and
wrinkled face that made him look nearly as
old as his master, though by no means so
much wreck in body nor in mind, stood
close by the feeble patriarch, folding his
hands with an humble gesture, and looking
into our faces with deprecatOry eyes, as if he
were conscious of having done wrong, but
besought US to deal leniently with his fault
| The old negro woman, on the other hand,
squat brawny old woman. who had evi
IDENTIFY slung many pot and ruled her
looked at us with an air of such fierce indig-
nation and anger that her very head-hand
lerchief, twisted into a Haytien turban
seemed to cock itself defantly at u.s. She
put her arms allimbo, and gazed at the cap
tain with "Humph!"
The captain looked at me, and l looked
back again at the captain. Our capture did
not promise us much either of glory or
profit. Burst open that box" said the cap
tain at last, and see what's in it."
The old gentleman chuckled "Tommy's
in there-my poor little Tommy" The
old lady half sprang forward, the old negro
raised his hand beseechingly-but in min
ute the men had knocked off the lid Of
the box, and there lying dead and stark
before us, we saw the body of a very
handsome young man, clad in the confed-
crate uniform. At sight Of this, the old man
gazed and muttered to himself in a confused
sort of way-the old negro held his hard
hand to his eyes, while the old lady, drop
ping the bloody cloth from her hands, flung
herself upon her knees alongside the box,
and, with a fury of passionate kisses upon
the cold lips of the corpse, gave utterance
to one long low cry of agony long pent up
MY SON. oh, my son! would to God
that / had died for thee, o Absalom, my
SOM" We turned our heads away, affected
beyond measure by such an outburst of
grief, while the old negress gave vent to her
feelings in a fiery outpouring of indignant
rebuke.
"You makes war on de dead as well as on
de livin', you onchristian people as you is
You Gums down hyar you do, an kills our
young men, de pride oh our houses an
famlys, and den you won't even let us bury
our dead in peace! hope de debbil i'll git
ye ALI"
1t was scene to make the heart ache.
The poor unconscious father the dead son,
the agonized, stricken mother, the faithful,
sympathizing servants, all grouped together
in their distress, and we, to capture and
wound them. a can't stand this, Nisbet,"
whispered the captain; "see that they are
well provided for, and let me know if they
want anything" And so saying, ne escaped
into his private cabin, leaving me in charge
of his prize
Theirs was a simple but touching story OF
love stronger than death. The son, con-
federate captain, had been killed in battle,
and the old lady, assisted by her two re-
manning servants, had undertaken this ex-
pedition in order to bury his body in the old
family burying ground where she herself
could plant the flowers and attend the
grave. She had gone herself because not
able to hire a crew and boat that she could
trust, and she had taken the old man alon3,
because there was nobody to give him in
charge to, and he could not be trusted by
himself.
Next morning, after having done all we
could to atone for our i'll treatment, we sent
the whole party ashore at their farm, and
escorted them to the house by the captain
express orders, the sailors carrying the body,
for which we had provided more hand.
some and respectable coffin. The old lady
was very grateful, and quite forgave u.s.
but Dinah did not, | know.
And that is the only prize 1 ever was
ashamed of having taken in all the war,
concluded Nisbet.