Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-05-17

ana ror me scdrtfng tears 1 AW neither n'ocrs
around. nor sun, nor twinkling 80. Brush
ine them away, I was aware Of Bully Pottery
etsidine at my stirrup and munching at
biscuit hs had found in the rebels camp.
We, the descent being gentle, broke into
run, IN hops 10 catch up with Col. John Dig
by's dragons, that already were far across
the next vale. Ths slope around us was piled
with dead and dying, whereof four out Of
every Ave were rebels; and cruelty they
curssd - a. we passed them by. Night was
coming On apace; and hero already we werc
IN desp shadow, but could SEQ the yellow sun
on The hills beyond. We crossed q stream at
the foot, and were climbing again. Behind
~ the cheering yet continued, though fainter;
and fainter grow the cries and shouting in
'front.' Soon we turned into q lane over a
steep hedge, under the which two or three
stout rebels were covering. A we came
tumbling almost atop Of them they ran yell
ing, and We let them 60 In peace.
The lane gradually led Us to westward, out
Of the main line Of the rout and past ham,
let where every door was shut and all silent.
And ct last q slice Of the sea fronted US, be-
tween two steeply shelving hills. On the
crest Of the road, before It plunged down to-
wards the coast. was wagon lying against
the heige, with the horses gone; and beside
II, stretched across the road, an old woman.
Stopping, wa found her dead, with a sword
thrust through the loft breast; and inside
the wagon a young man lying, with his jaw
spectacle happened here, 20 far from the bat
tie field, was more than We could guess.
Iwas moving away, when Billy, that was
kneeling In the road, chanced, to cast his eyes
up towards the sea, and, dropping the dead
womans hand, scrambled on his feet and
stood looking, with puzzled face.
Following his gaze, saw n small sloop,
moving under shortened canvas, about two
miles from the land. She made pleasant
sight, with the last rays Of sunlight flaming
on her tails; but for Billys perturbation l
could not account, 50 turned an inquiring
glance to him.
''Suthin' the wind out yonder," was his
answer. whats sloop doing on that ratch
20 close In by the pointi DO DANCED! but
there she goes again." rs the little vessel
swung of a point or two farther from the
breeze that was breathing softly up channel.
'Time to sup. lad, for the both Of us" he broke
Of, shortly.
Indeed, was faint with hunger by this
time, yet had no stomach to eat thus close to
the dead. 80, turning into gate on our left
hand, we crossed two or three fields, and sat
down to sup of Billys biscuits, tho mare
standing quietly beside us and cropping the
short grass.
The field where we now found ourselves
ran out along the top of a small promontory
and ended, without fence OF any sort at the
cliffs edge. As sat, looking southwark, l
could only observe the sloop by tJohing my
head, but Billy, who squatted over against
me, hardly took his eyes off her and between
this and his meal was too busy TO speak n
word. For me, had enough to do thinking
over the late fght; rnd, being near worn out,
had half mind to spend the night there on
the hard turf; for, though the sun was now
down and the landscape gray, vet the air was
exceeding warm: and albeit. as | have said,
there breatbesi N lipbt breeze now and then.
twas hardly cool enough To drv the sweat off
ma. 40 I stretched myself ont, and found il
very nleasant To lie still. nor when Billy
stood up and sauntered off towards the far
end of the beadland. did I stir more than to
turn INV head and lnzilv watch him
He was gone half an hour Mt the least and
the skv by this time was SO dark that l had
lost sipbt Of him. when. rising on nv elbow
10 IooS around / noted n cnrious red glow
at a nont where the turf broke of. not three
hundred wards behind me. and thin smoke
curlinp nm IN IL. as IL seemed. from the very
face Of the cliff below In n minute or 5,
tho s,poLa ceesed almost but tba shine
apsinst the skv continued steady. fbough not
verv strony "Rillv has III n fro u I prassed
and was nrenarinu To 90 and look when
.nied a biact form crawling towards me. and
presantlv On w ,twns Rillv himself
Com,nu close he baltcd mt n a,oer IN his
lin and bockoned then bepnn To lead the
wsv hact no no had come
Thought uthese ara oueer doings.n hut
,oft Molly 70 browse and crent ofter him on
hands and knees He turned his head once to
mako sure 7 was following and then scram-
lied ON quicker but softly towards the point
where the red glow was shining.
1 Once more he nullei mas / indeed about
twelve PAGES, distance from the edre--and
after considering for n second. began to move
again. only now he worked a little to the
right And soon I saw the intention of this,
for inst here the cliffs lin was cleft by a fls-
'sure-yery like that In Scaw fell which we
were used to call the Lords Rake, only mar
Irower-that ran back into the field and
lsbelyed out gently at the top SO that a man
lmight easily scramble some way down it,
Though how far could not then tell. And
Itwas from this fissure that the glow came
| Along tho right lin of this Billy led me,
Iskirtinp Il by a couple OF wards and wripcIina
lon his belly like a blndworm. Crawling
|closer now ifor twas hard to see him against
1.-The black turn, I stopped beside him and
|strove to quiet the violence Of my breathing
Then, after a minutes pause, together we
|pulled ourselves to the edge and peered over.
The descent of the gully was broken, some
Ieight feet below us, by small ledge sloping
loutwards about six feet (as l guess), and
screened by branches of the wild tamarsl
lat the back, in an angle of the solid rock,
Il
Ifull Of burning charcoal; and over this man
lin the rebels uniform was STOPPING
He had small paper parcel in his left
hand, and was blowing at the charcoal with
| 1all his might. Holding my breath, heard
| him clearly, but could SEQ nothing of his face