Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1891-11-12

tnat .passeI or doggone mounds KEN "a
MS house inore'n two years agoand toted
Jack Long. his son-in-law, off to de wah.
he didn't bring on the warand he wasn't
going to fight unless they came To tote
him off; then he would show his hand,
and he motioned to the long hunting rife
and powder horn above the dresser
Bell understood the old man perfectly.
Ineir vernacular was nearly the same,
and they We're soon agreeing on every
point, Bell had been conscripted like
Mr.. billiards. son, and | had been con
scrlpted and fairly dragged away from
my old mother, whose only support
was. Now we had s'lit out, and we were
trying to make our way home to our
friends in the mountains, for we were
determined TO take no further part III
what had come to be "a rich man uuar'l
and pore mans fight" Bell really had
a genius for stock fiction of this kind.
and ne was SO intensely earnest and pic
turesquely profane in his narrations that
often found myself believing them
felt very sure that, if we had told this
old man the truth he would have be-
friended US, particularly as we were able
to pay, but having begun with one story
it was necessary to stick to it.
With the old mans help the woman
soon had dinner Of corn bread. bacon
and milk ready. and we complimented
the cooking By display of appetite that
seemed to alarm the group III children
looking on. Bell paid in advance. and,
when Mr.. billiard suggested that we rest
till next day and said that he would cob
/ bic our boots for us, we readily agreed.
He made us up bed in the adjoining
section Of the cabin, and. as Bell felt ab-
solutely sure that we could trust the old
man, lay down with my clothes Of and
the feeling that next to the food that
satisfies burning hunger, there is moth
ing quite like A bed that bauishes ia
tigue
i reckon you mout AS well have some
breakfast; then if 50 be you'd like u 10
on and sleep some more. you ken do 80.
for it's still a-rainin. This is some
thing like the salutatiOn with which Mr.
billiard woke us up the next morning.
and without which, | am very sure. we
should have rounded out our tweuty-four
hours of what Bill called downright
sold old sleepin"
The breakfast was much like the din
ner of the day before, except that our
bacon was boiled with some sort of
greens that TO me was very palatable.
MIR billiard told us that he was going to
Allendale that day, and be advised us to
hang around till the following morning.
saying that in the meantime be would
consult with some friends who could be
trusted and see if 4 plan could not be hit
on that would further our venture ana
prevent our leading the wretched vagrant
existence Of the present
Feeling the necessity of having papers
about us that would look and read like
furlonghs. commissioned Mr.. billiard to
buy me some pens. ink and paper, for he
had no such articles about his house, and
also to get me If possible some kind Of
citizens coat Bell gave him the money
and then returned to bed. while went
off to the woods with the children.
These little ones knew nothing about
books. sud vSaEe entirely ignerant os the
fairy stories Oh which the children Vi
civilization are brought up They had
an idea that Yankees were fierce, cruel
animals from which they would run on
sight, for they had killed their father.
Their ideas or religion were vague and
would horrify an orthodox Sunday
school They firmly believed III ghosts,
and Min. the girl, assured NE. with
much sincerity in her voice and awe in
her big gray eyes. that one night. when
she was searching for a lost COW il the
harrican, she saw two ghosts and
they looked just like Yankees Or dev- u
lis. F" She was very sure that in the heart
Of the swamp there lived a rabbit "a
heap sight bigger'n hoss an lie don't
never come ont, 'cept when some ones
gwine to die. Ef it's a old pusson be
crawls kinder slow, an IF it's young
one he skips round powahful lively, an
wouldn't think nothin Of jumpin clar
ovah de harrican.r
Min further informed me that she was
goin to git married when she was
nigh bout sixteen, ef so be the Yankees
don't kill off all the men, And she
seemed quite comforted when | told her
that | had no wife. and that ! might
come down to see her again when | got
my best clothes and She was nigh bout
sixteen Since that time have played
with the children Of the Navaloes. Utes
ana Mojaves in their own villages. and
found them quite as enlightened as these
interesting little white savages Of the
South Carolina pine lands
Late in the afternoon Mr.. Dillard re-
turned, bringing writing materials ana
also butternut coat. which. in addition
to being several sizes too large, fad seen
service before That night two men
who looked enough like Mr. billiard to
be his twin brothers, came to the house.
and we found them like our host very
much down on the Yankees. and still
more bitterly opposed to the war and
the men who brought it on They had
vague stories about great battles in
Georgia and Virginia. and d man over
at Allendale had told Mr.. billiard that
Lincoln was killed This information
was thought to be reliable, as the man
who told it had seen it with his own
eyes" in Columbia paper
One of these men was decidedly orig
inal in his way. and he gave us an idea
which we subsequently carried out 10
our great advantage lie seemed to
have a particular hatred for the men
who had been exempted from army duty
because Of their negroes.
''Ef SO be, he said. as near as | can
recall II was a maxim 70 the Blue
Ridge, wouldn't go neah no large
towns like 'Gusta, fo' them's chuck full
OF fellers playin sojers ia stick TO the
country. I'd find out what plantations
had the best bosses or mules. IN AZ pre-
fer to ride rather than to walk. lid do as
most soiers do, an that is take critteT
when wanted one. OF course IT
wouldn't be wise to hang on to the same
critters. but change off every chlnce
This man was regarded by his friends
as Il great traveller. He had been down
the river to Savannah. and he had also
made u trip in his younger days way
out to Pickens." which was the extreme
northwestern corner Of the state We
talked far into the night, and The nsxi
morning Bell and myself. in excellent
health and spirits. bade farewell to Mr.
billiard and his interesting family
We had rude map Of the roads lead
ing to Aiken. and we were assured By
Mr. billiard and his friends that il we
Ha ..Im4