Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1884-03-20
An 0riqinal Storg.
Written for the Yorkville Enquirer.
EIGHTEEN YEARS.

CHAPTER ".
Marked you the glance of that soft eye,
So tender, yet SO sweetly shy;
The mantling blush the pensive sigh?
Why, sure, Che said) this goes to prove
The little maid must be in love.
When Jackey presently returned, accom-
panied by Granny" he found Carroll sit
ting up, having been sufficiently restored by
his sisters ministrations to account to her
briefly for his presence in that spot, and to
thank her for her timely aid. A draught OF
cool sparkling water had greatly revived
him, and he thought, that with help, he
could manage to reach the farmhouse, TO
which the old woman Hospitality invited
him. Supported, therefore, by her on one
side and the boy on the other, ne set on
and with many pauses and intervals OF rest,
at last reached his destination.
Never was sight more welcome than that
little brown house with it's low roof, its vine
covered porch, and garden gay with com,
mon flowers, looking as home-llke ana
peaceful, in its shady nook, as though no
bloody battlefield lay short distance from
its gates Smiling fields stretched to the
rear of the small but neatly kept enclosure,
which had evidently escaped all ravages so
far, bounded on one side by range OF low
hills, on the other by thick wood, with
glimpses in the distance of scattered roofs
Carrolps new friends helped him into the
sitting room, and there he was thankful to
rest in a comfortable armchair, while the
two females busted themselves preparing a
bed for him in an adjoining apartment, TOR
the mistress Of the house declared that ne
must clay down and be nursed, for he looked
mighty bad and wasn'tti to set up let alone
walking"
He had reached this homely refuge none
al hnfl hi loSfn
exhausted his little remaining strength, that
it was only by the most resolute eXertion of
will that he could totter into the small,
beautifully neat chamber, where Granny as
sisted him to divest himself of his heavy
outer clothing and crawl into bed. Fever
had set in, with severe cramps in all his
limbs. The wound in his head throbbed
high, and before night he was in violent
delirium.
Long days of illness followed, during
which he was as carefully watched and wait
ed on as though among his own relatives at
home. Old Mrs Morse, the mistress OF the
farm, was a motherly soul of the true Vlr-
ginia type, brimming with unseltish kind
ness, and animated by patriotic fervor that
made her rejoice to aid any one who had
struggled and suffered in the cause. More
over She had lost a son almost at the very
outset of the war, and it seemed as though
for this reason she felt especially drawn to-
wards the young soldier whom Providence
had thrown under her protection. Asklliful
doctress, she needed no advice in managing
his case strong and active, she was we'll
adapted to the post of a sick-nurse, and was
able, with such assistance as she received
from her grandchildren, to get through all
the additional work attendant upon this Of
flee without neglecting her ordinary duties.
Surely Carrolls good star had been in the
ascendant when his footsteps had been
guided to Blackberry Farm.
AS to the girl Lily, commonly called
"Sis," and her brother Jack, their interest
in the stranger knew no bounds. The lat
ter, although but fourteen years of age,
burned with the desire to Join the army
and thought it hard he should be kept with
the, women,folks at home but now that a a
real wounded soldier had arrived under
their roof he had found new object in life,
and only awaited the patients convalescence
to become his devoted slave.
Carroll had hard fight for his life, but
constitution of iron won the day ut last,
and the danger was tided over. The fever
was conquered, but left in its wake the
feebleness and helplessness of a new born
child, and he lay PROSTATE, unable to turn
his head or lift his hand, the most pitiful
wreck and shadow of his former self.
1t was the strangest thing for him to be
there, in that still chamber which had be-
come his world, and try to connect, piece
by piece, his present life with that which
had preceded his illness. He wondered
sometimes if it could really be himself, con-
trasting the bounding vigor of former health
and strength with this deadly languor and
inability to move; he could recall the stir
and thrill of the last charge in which he had
taken part-the closing scene, as it seemed,
of that past part Of his being-and marvel
led that such redundant, glowing life and
energy could ever have animated his
weak and worthless frame. But he got
through this stage by and by, and entered
still more trying one, in which the first
hints and movement of awakening strength
began to creep through him and disturb
him with restless and still vain longing,
making his enforced inactivity uOubly hard.
Now it was that his attendants began to
find him decidedly cross, but Grandma
Morse, out of the fullness of her experience,
knew better than to resent his wayWardness,
and petted and humored him as she would
have done spoiled child. Once having
taken firm grip upon the existence which
had so nearly slipped out Of his hold, he
began to pull himself together bravely, and
daily gather up new stores of returning
vigor, until finally he reached the period
when he could once more sit up-thOugh
even then he needed an abundant stock OF
patience, to endure the weeks of idleness
still in store for him before he could hope
to be really himself again.
"It's horrible to sit here, doing nothing,
when everybody else is having a good
time routing those rascally Yankees" he
remarked disconsolately one day. His big
chair had been wheeled by the open win
dow, where the sweet smell of the hay was
waited in from the fields, mingled with the
nearer fragrance Of thyme and clover from
the garden beds; the hum of the bees fell
pleasantly on his ear; a soft wind rustled
the trees, and :Wayed the tall hollyhocks,
crimson and white, that grew in a row