Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1885-12-24

iuHutndu plcdsuic.
On September is, the Federal army
drew up on the left bank of the An
tietam. This battlefield, to which the
North and South both point with pride,
has the advantage Of simplicity. A par
allelogram with the yellow Potomac for
its south and west sides, and the slug
gish Antietam on the oAst A single
town, Sharpsburgh, at the centre. Par
allel to the Antietam t.sapike, which
almost bisects the figure. and then bends
toward Hagerstown on the northwest,
and Harper's Ferry on the southeast.
From the Antietam the ground rises to a
wooded crest, and slopes away toward
the Potomac. The Confederate line ran
along tho turnpike, its right resting on
the Potomac, and its left some distance
above Sharpsburgh, bent back and rest
ing upon the same river. McClel-
lan's aim was to turn Lees flank. On the
afternoon Of September 16, Hooker's
corps had crossed the Antietam to warn
Lee of the coming attack.
On that day, Nighthawk, despite the
prayers of his partner, wandered away
from business. He was now sober, but
seemed to promise himself the pleasure
of bloody debauch.
There is height on the west of the
turnpike, north of the Confederate line,
that commands the ground held by their
left wing. On this height, which had
escaped the eyes of the commanders on
both sides, Nighthawk, who had a
soldiers eye, found himself at dawn on
the morning of the nth. He soon riv-
eted his eye on mass of troops moving
toward the woods 1t was Hooker's
eighteen thousand falling upon Jackson's
four.
AS Nighthawk gazed, look Of fiend-
ish exultation distorted his face. He
showed no sympathy for either side.
Hooker and Jackson's corps smote to-
gether like two barrels of dynamite.
Nighthawk smiled grimly, and muttered: :
sWhen the ship is wrecked. the shark is
filed"
Hour after hour he stood watching
the changing fortunes of the fight.
Hooker's corps soon melted away.
Mansfeld's was sent to its support, fol-
lowed by Summers. 1t was clear that
the whole Confederate army was concen-
/ trating on its left.
Before noon Hooker and Mansfield's
corps had been paralyzed. Sedg sick's
division of Summers corps had been
swept away by these troops drawn from
Lees right. But the enemy had suffered
severely. Jackson's command had been
almost annihilated, and by nightfaH the
1 Confederate left was forced back by
Franklin. near Sharpsburgh.
/ As the sun set on the closing battle, q
look that would have made werewolf
( blush, passed over the face of the Night
hawk, who smiled and muttered:
81 am going to fish in sea of blood" ("
4 At the word, he nastened down the
height toward the knotty points of the
battle field. As he left his watch tower,
4 two crows sailed away from the ragged
/ top of neighboring pine tree, and
sawed the air with their harsh notes.
Nighthawk hastened over fields fur
rowed by strange plows. He passed
through red corn and whear, heavy with
beads of blood. What sober change
from the freshness Of the morning
Only the murmur of the yet untainted
wind mingled its soft cadences with the
4 groans of the dying and the silent, un-
changing stars looked down in wonder
on the swift harvest of the sword.
! Nighthawk. as he moved on, was not
idle. Whenever tie dress of dead
soldier showed that he was an officer. he
stopped and with rapid hands robbed
the corpse of watch, ring or purse.
When he had collected dozen valua-
bles, he hid them in some spot easy to
be found, and continued his infamous
work. The grizzly shadow Of glory,
this phantom of greed, hovered over
heaps of slain like a familiar of the
night.
A little after midnight the Ghoul had
reached spot near sDunker's Church, .
west Of the turnpike, which marked the
last success of the Federal troops.
He was moving boldly but warily, for
his profession, though common, was not
favored, when he caught sight of man
whose actions argued that his business
was the same.
The Ghoul moved toward the new
conner, and asked him how he was far
ing. The stranger looked in the Ghours
face with vacant expression of love;
it was clear that he was out of his senses.
81 am General Blake" he replied. Il
am searching for my brother
A strange chord seemed to vibrate
deep in the ghoul's herrt 81, too,p he
muttered, tam searching for my broth
err As Nighthawk spoke the general
had turned up the faces Of two men who
lay little distance apart from a group
Of slain. Nighthawk, whose eye had
followed the poor aliens movements, had
no sooner caught sight Of one Of these
faces than he sprang toward it.
There was something strange about
the positions Of the two dead men. The
younger one held letter firmly clinched
in bis left hand, and it looked as though
the older man had been killed by the