Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1891-02-07
LOST In THE SWAMP,
BY H. II. LEWIS.


"Halt thar"
At the startling command, delivered
In a voice harsh and psremptory,
stopped and peered uneasily into the
semi obscurity ahead.
"Throw up yer hands, an mighty
quick, tool"
The ominous click of rife furnished
the exclamation point, and at the sound
my arms elevated themselves almost in
voluntarily.
A man clad in tattered suit of butter
nut stepped out from behind clump Of
draggled bushes and limped toward me,
holding cooked rifle pointing directly
at my head.
Seen by the dim light fltering down
through the thick overgrowth he ap-
peared commonplace camp follower,
some straggler from the adjacent forces
who had, like myself, lost his way, but
as he drew nearer noticed that he
seemed laboring under some strong emo
ton. It was evident by the peculiar
movement of his body, convulsive heave
of the chest, and deep respiration, like
that of feeble person after great physi-
cal exertion.
Stranger, hev yer seen my Martha
round herel My Martha, an OF woman
with gray hair an wrinkled facet Tell
me or I'll plug YEP
His voice ended in a scream that
echoed through the woods like wild
beasts howl and curdled the very blood
in my veins.
Stepping hastily back from the too
close proximity of that rife 1 hurriedly
replied:
mo, my good fellow, no, 1 haven't
met living soul since lost myself in
this cursed swamp. What is the matter2"
The evidently half crazed wretch hest
tsted for moment, then grasping me by
the arm, said fiercely: 81 believe We
know, ye hell spawnl Tell me what
yer done with my pore OIL woman, or
ZIP Then letting his voice sink to
whispering sob, ooh marster, eff yen
just give her back to me; we've been
nigh thirty years together, bern me-
thirty long an happy years-an' she
would never rest easy eff wuz gone
even over night. We uns never had no
children, an the love at EN- wuz added
to my share, On marster, won't We
obleege poor OF man that Jest wants
to go down the hill in peace with Martha
an bother no 'un2n
He fell at my feet and grovelled in
the mud, shaking with an intensity of
grief.
Here was a quandary indeed, and
caused by my own caTelessness, too. It
was the day before the memorable LIST
of June, 1862. Company B, First New
York Light Artillery, of which l was a
distinguished private, had been en-
camped for two weeks on the Chicka-
hominy about five miles from Grapevine
Bridge.
Caseys division had crossed early that
morning, and along in the afternoon we
heard the sound of heavy firing in the
direction of Fairoaks.
About five O'Clock staff officer gal
loped up with orders for US to break
camp Immediately and proceed to Savage
station. While en- route through the
swamp suddenly remembered having
left couple Of chickens hidden near the
old camp, which had confiscated while
out on a foragiug expedition the night
before. Anything in the shape of edibles
was worth its weight in gold in those
days, and without more ado I dropped
slyly to the rear and started back, think
ing it would be an easy matter to catch
up with the company before they got
very far ahead.
After securing the fowls l set out
again, but, missing my way, became en-
tangled in the swamp. The more
tried to extricate myself the deeper got
and at last giving up in despair, sat down
on an old rotten log to think it over.
Seeing that a nights lodging in a
miasmatic bog would be my lot if
didn't bestir myself, arose and again
commenced feeling my way through the
mass of noisome weeds and miry clay
that threatened to engulf me at every
step.
Just as l had joyously discovered
clearing of the underground ahead and
could catch faint glimpses of a patch of
gray sky was summarily halted in the
manner described above.
The lunatic, for such he undoubtedly
was, soon sprang to his feet. and could
see that his violent mood was again
coming on. I bitterly regretted not hav-
ing seized him while off guard and run
the chances of measuring strength, but
he at that nomen{ searna5 40 h-airo~ -