The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1888-02-09
CHAPTER xx11t.


with those who had fallen The hope we |
had 50 long cherished was overturned at
blow. In Knoxville we had urged that all /
should be tried together, or that the SEN
tence Of one should stand for all There /
was no reason for giving any preference TO
one over another, and no indication that |
such preference was 20 be given. But |
even II we had not believed that only
few days OF hours OF prison life lay be- |
tween us and the scahold, the parting |
from our loved friends, whose voices were |
yet lingering In our ears while they them |
selves had passed beyond the gates Of |
death, was enough to break the stoutest |
heart. There were tears then in eyes that |
would not have quivered in the presence !
Of any danger.
But could not shed tear. A cloud of |
burning heat rushed to my head, and !
fever seemed to scorch through every
vein. For hours scarcely could realize |
where i WAS or the loss that had been suE- |
Tered. Every glanes around the room,
revealing the vacant places Of friends, |
would bring our SORROW freshly upon US
again. Grief for our comrades and appre-
hension for ourselves were inseparably
blended. The guddenness OF the shock by
which we were separated seemed to reveal
q spirit that forbade us to hope, while 1t
was terrible aggravation of the pain Of
parting. Thus the afternoon hours slowly
words. No one ventured as yet to speak
of hope.
The first distraction in this terrible hour
we owed to our friendly jailer. He asked
US IL we would like TO be all put in one
room.
We were eager for this privilege, and he
brought over the eight who were in the
front room and placed them with us. We
were now fourteen, Including Capt Fry,
Of East Tennessee fame, who was placed
with US. There would have been much
to talk about in our separate experiences
in Knoxville and Chattanooga at any
other time, but now the thought of the
lost swallowed up everything else.
At length some voice uggested-rather
family at first, for only few hours be-
fore 1t would have met keen ridicule-
that it would be well for us to pray. The
thought was warmly welcomed. Not the
slightest objection was offered by any one,
and we at once all knelt. One member
of the party has lately told me that while
he knelt with the rest, and was careful to
say nothing to discourage us, yet he never
led in prayer, or said anything to indicate
that he had changed his life purpose. I
did not notice the exception at the time,
a. every head was bowed and every face
covered. Capt. Fry was first requested
to lead us, which was peculiarly appro-
pirate, as he had always maintained
consistent religious life, and now seemed
20 feel our great sorrow as IL it were his
own. He prayed with deep earnestness,
strong sobs mingling with his fervent Pc
titions. Then others led and we con-
tinued until all but the one already al
luded to had prayed in turn; then those
who had prayed before began again.
There seemed to be some help in simply
telling our trouble. On my own part,
do not think that there was a great deal
Of faith, at least so far as temporal deliv-
erance was concerned, but there came q
calmness and a passing away Of bitter
ness that was restful to our tired hearts.
We besought God mainly that he would
prepare us for the fate that seemed
inevitable, and that as he had led
rs into great trials, he would in some
manner sustain US there. We kept on
praying with but short intervals till the
sun went down. AS twilight deepened
into darkness-the emblem of our own
lves-so our petitions grew more solemn.
God seemed nearer than ever before. In
the darkness it appeared easier to behold
the heavenly light. We began to ask fol
deliverance in this world as well as in the
hour OF death, and to have a hope, very
faint and trembling, that 1t might be grant
| ed. Then little by little we began to profess
our purpose to live religious lives while
| we were spared, whether the time was
long or short. ! do not know that there
was anything clear and definite in the
| way OF conversion or sudden change on
| the part Of any; but when IL is remem-
| bered that in the forenoon we had amused
| ourselves by ali kind Of games, that pro-
fame words and jests were not uncommon,
| and that we would have been ashamed to
| speak Of prayer or of religion in any way
/ except as q mere theory, It will be seen
that there Yves NO slight alteration in us
| already. From that hour date the birth
| Of an immortal hope and a new purpose
in life. And in this experience am not
solitary.
1t Is an interesting fact, which the ra-
| tionalist may explain as he viii, that from
the time Of that long prison prayer meet
| ing-from carly afternoon to midnight
the fortunes of our party began to i'm
| prove. There were fearful trials still be-
fore US, not much inferior to any that we
had passed; we long held our lives by the
frailest thread; yet t II the close of the
war, though many persisted around Us,
death did not claim another victim from
our midst. We committed ourselves to
4 the Lord, not expecting deliverance in
this world; and in his boundless mercy
he bestowed upon us all we asked, and far
more than we had dared to hope
Few things In our whole prison expert
ence were more fearful than awakening
the next morning The chill light Of 9
new dAy-the dispelling Of dreams that
may have been very pleasant, and have
brought home wildly before us-always
made the morning hour the most dreary
| of the day. Bat on this occasion we
looked around and saw the places Of our
friends vacant, and all the great sorrow
Of our bereavement again rolled over Us
like the incoming Of the sea.
But We wished to do something. A
small Bible was borrowed from Mr.. Tur
ner when he came to bring our scanty
| yhn ak oyys
} with him to see that he gave us no undue
indulgence, did not object-Rnd then We
had reading, singing and prayer-nearlJ
every one praying 30 that It might rather
! be called . morning prayer meeting thar
'famf1y worship" though the latter wa
the title used. We now resolved to con
t1nus this practice as long as our prison
From this time forward we had relig
iouS exercises morning and evening, ant
| found them q great consolation and sup
: port. They began and closed the dA.
! Alright, and thus added sweetness to all it
{ hours, supplying q subject or thought no
bearing directly upon our own gloom
4 prospects, and thus enabling us 70 main
: tain better mental health. We Away
7 sung hymn or two on these occasions
Indeed there was nearly as much singin
= a. 1t Chattanooga, but Of Q far cifteren
); and more inspiring character. Instead c
y | "NeCtlo 0AOEo, |CArE1eE love- anu sue
3 harmless sentimentality, we sang ''Roc
: Of Ages" "Jesus, Lover of Ny Soul,
/. and others Of . pronounced spiritual cas-
{ This greatly astonished the guards The
r were given strict q arge to watch .
Q closely, with the statement that we WEI
o the most desperate characters In the who
& United States; then to hear US sing Meti
8 odist hymns, and to know that we Ia
. prayers, morning and evening, WA col
d tradictton they found it hard to reconcile
. Soon the story OF the heroic death Of OF
d comrades and ouS own religious bearin
was nolsed about Atlanta, and no doui
n there were many expressions which gay
u some ground for the bitter complaint
r t'SymPetkyi made afterward by the pr
1t VoSs marshal in his report. But we care
4. comparatively little for this, Of which, i
n deed, We then knew nothing. We b
- never expected TO receive much help fro
n the people outside, and would not ha'
10 dared, for fear Of treachery, to accept 1t
Of e0ered. But we wished to find tn
c. peace in believing that we had heard
i IVA. hat Y