Telegram-herald., 1890-06-15


MosBY's USpEReRoUSD RETREAT.
wildly about as II in the dementia OF an
ill-star-cd dream, some sicl, and some
dying. and nothing over them but the !
roof OF tho armament But all oi them |
we're hungry. all were cold, al were
homeless.
And yet thcrc was pride in ell that
misery. and none moved about so
quietly, so resolutely, SO dehantlY un-
der that lesden sky as those delicate
high-born Southern ladies. Tho North
ern soldiers did all they could for them.
They lent them their tents. They
started cook houses. They spread cots
and mattresses on tho ground tor them
TO sleep on. They brought them
the best fare they could on which
they themselves had 10 subsist, but al
best It was poor enough. Raw pork,
hard tack and hominy on tin plates.
That was the bill Of fare. The only
courses on that broad tablo At that
banquet Of doom were the water
courses Of the rain. Al last these
people were all given a free pass on the
Baltimore and Ohio railroad 10 go as
far as they chose East or West and a
few dollars in money and three days
rations in q havcrsack for each. Slowly
that vast sad strange crowd thinncd
out and faded away. But the scenes
and the sayings beggar description.
One elegant lady on being handed her
pass and begged to 60 as she moved
toward the train with her little child
clasped in her arms. said: Go? Where
shall 90? l may go to the end OF the
road, but what then? l have no homo,
no friends. Ny home was in the val
ley Ny people are all gone"
But ont Of the embers Of the burnt
valley there was to come forth, and that
by rude accident, romance that
should rival the legend Of the gnomes.
The valley has been burned. The man
ors have been swept away. The planta-
tions have beon desolated The dwell
ers in that lonely vale have been ruth
lessly and remOrselessly driven forth
from their ravaged homes. But Mosby
has not been found. His cavalry had
not capitulated. His hiding place had
not been tracked In short, whether he
Heights, or beneath the dusby gorge of
the Louray. or in the canes Of the Shen-
andoah, or in a tunnel under the head OF
the river. was still just as strange and
as strong a mystery IS a the beginning
Of the war. One thing was certain. He
was somewhere. Where was ae? All
sorts OF hObgOblins took shape among
the soldiers and bewitched the angry
I air. One man had seen him at night
swimming his horse across the river.
Another waving his CHASTITY flag on
towering cliff. Still another vanishing
suddenly into thin air at a picket shot
or d bugle puff. All these superstitious
stories amounted 20 nothing.
A short distance UP tho valley there
stood planters house. r. stood alone.
/ l. was built OF wood. was Of generous
/ size and large enough 20 Accommodate
many persons. 1t stood on the edge OF
large plantation. In the midst Of large
. grounds. covered with dense shrubberv
+ through which wound paths. This house
was for the most part concealed from
+ the Wow q person approaching it by
large old trees and th!ck foliage. Il was
a lonely spot II stood about two hun
dred feet from tho bank of thc Shenan-
doah river and buta short distance from
the river road. and commanded from its
upper rooms wido and lovely view OK
the water az {. went bv.
One day not long after the burning
of the valley small inspecting squad
OF cavalry mon Of the Union army rode
by the cha-rcd ruins OF this lonely
house. The trees were burnt stumps
The spot Was heap Of ashes that the
wind had fingered. Ono of this
mounted squad happening 20 ride across
pat Of the sshy debris was suddenly
hated bv singular accident and
obliged 20 dismount On aIirhtinr on
she ground ho discovered That tho hind
ler- 81 his horse had sunk through a
{ half chsrrod t-s0-iooT covered with
ashes Calling % his comrades be
finally succeeded vith their assistance
in evtri-atiuz his horse from tho trap
through which he had bro e7. when to
his arazeuert he found A wooden stair
case ndinF down into a su5terrsnea1
opening
I- vas such ar u1us1al s-d r-hoa-7-
cf ar-a1Ten nent In that southern ocr--
t-T. ard brea,he5 wirh co cold ard su~-
acsuvs suspicion upoa tbe E-fIe
eroup. that theT concluded. sf-er exam
~ tho aperture clo4rI7. 81 ses~r
Taxing one thetr mascb-boros thov
strucz liVht anf proceeded ~ err ore
rhe mysterious ~sHlts that f-ovres a.
then heiow the t-sp rhi-h thrv tas
Arz4 rfrt-z