Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1892-09-13

w -
"Ovah yon. and he pointed In the d.
rcction of Chattanooga.
"Oh. yaas, said Lin. evidently much
relieved. then adding. "wa'al, Hen. Fl
You unsll lie down and not open yer liI~
till daylight I'll kin yo' breakfast, chr
For answer. Hugh McS.il's Hen laid
his pack on the ground and his head on
the pack, and tsgan snoring ~ scon
that I was sur. he was either playing
one of the tricks % which we had ~ ~.
Gently hal = sample. or that he was
eager 90 ge, into our good graocs by prs-
tending to comply instantly with Lins
r,quc>t.
After this I lay down. and must
have slep, for at leas, thrcc hour, for
when awok. IL wa. broid iayl light aud
the men were rubbing down th. horcs'
hacks with bunche- of dry gras-. pre-
para,ory 10 S'.ldling M.
Whether Hugh McNeil'- Hen wen, "a
sleep instantly after lying down think
very doubtful. bu, when got M and
went over to look at him there could h.
no mistaking the fact - his bcing n.
dead asleep as one u the tabled seven
of Ephesus.
A. we w,r, about to partakc ~ the
ocok-i ration. We hal brought with us.
Lin Mcorc woke M th. ''nst'ral, who At
once .prang to his feet. AMI Ia ;he great
AmAlsmsn, 20 tho~e who hal not heard
him the night before. be- clapp-i both
arms to his sides aud lsgan to crow ~
much like . cock that u only required
turning the hack on him Ia L. entirely
deceived. One ~ the scuuts describ-si
the deception perfectly when he aid:
III was 90 hsar that crowing In the
dark Ia never stop sarchin till found
q henruu~t. AMI my stomach would L.
sot for fried chicken n.tt day"
We shar,,i with him our cooked "a.
tions, but dill no, give him MI be- wanted
"a eat. ldoubt II We should have bal
any left hal W. done ~. lie seemed Ia
reaiiIe that wa. the leader % the little
party. for a. -con a. he saw tha, there
was no NOR. food that morning hs
o,-ned his ragged knaI~sck-i, was full
u bts % cloth and bright picccs ofquartr
crys,al-and frum q r-ce-. ae drew out
q newspaper and handed !, % ms. II
was copy % the Chattanooga Rebel oi
the previous day. and this told me that
Hugh McN.il's Hen had either hccn in
the Confederate camp acrcs- the nver
the day b-fore or hal met some one
who hal coine from there.
Icould no, conceal my delight at get.
ting this paper. for II not only gave In
it, local news clew to the forces then
In AMI about Chattanooga, but 10 also
contained an account 10 the movement
10 Bragg. army, which was lcing trans.
ferrc,l by rail to Mobile. from which
point II was ?, L. forwarded to Chatta.
nooga. Commenting on this roundabout
movement ~ the main army of ih. Con.
fe,lerai.. In the west. the editor aid.
This means that Bragg will transfer
the fighting frum no thern MississipIi.
Alabama AMI T.nncsse. to the hanks VI
the Ohio before the summer l. over. "
And the editor was ~ entirely correct
that Bragg wuuld have b-cn quite justi.
fiei In hanging him without further eyi.
dence.
Ifoliel the paper anil was putting u
carefully away In an inside prket.
when Hugh McNeil's Hen b-gan making
signs Of disapprOval. Iii. face hccaine
liyid. and he mutterci AMI made dive
10 recover the payer. A he did he
threw hack the mattel hair frvm his
forehead AMI saw for an instant pur-
PIE. crescent shaped scar running from
temple 10 temple about . half inch be.
low the hair. and concluded that this
was the rea-on for the poor fellows de-
mcntia.
"Iiold M. Henr' cried Lin Mcorc. and
be laid hi hand restrainingly on the
idiots arm. 1.-THE oap'nll LAY You for
that"
Acting on the hint ] offered Hen q
dollar. but he refused IL: then ] recalled
tha, hal In my saddlehag- barlow
knife, which I had used for cleaning out
my horses hcofs; this gave him, and
he received II with . whole covey Of
lob white calls.
In direct line we were not q mile
from the enemy's camI- across the Ten.
nessee; indeed. while ! was glancing
over the paper. could see rising above
the tresr 10 the southeast the smoke of
the little steamer which the Confctierates
used as ferryboat. The position was
delicate. and tt was necessary Ia act
quickly. Tho men were distributed to
examine the Tiver below the bend and
above the town. with orders to meet for
the return at noon In the same place.
Lin Moors accompanied me to n point
which he promised would give me q
god chance to note the extent of the
western and river defcnses ~ the little
city. To my great discomfort Hugh
McNeil's Hen kept close to our heels,
whiting the splintered gunstock with
the Barlow knife.
Thar aint no dainjah from Hen.'
hid Lin Moore In response 10 my ques.
ton. III ~ lie he was 20 see blood hitd
drive him plum wild with fear. Come
up har, Hen" The guide halted till
Hen. still intent ON testing his knife,
stood before him. "Just look thar,
cap'n. now wat do you uns think that
isy' lie pushed mp the matted hair
from the idiots forehead and discover.
ei the purple crescent ] had noticed be-
fore.
THAT was . terrible wound when
first made I said. "and ] presume it
1. the cause Of the poor fellows present
condition"
"waal. yaas," drawled the guide, n
he let the hair fall aud we resumed our
tramp up the hill. the summit Of which
was not five hundred yards from tbs
river, and within rife reach Of the near.
est Confederate camp. "But that wound
wasn't made on Hens head, but on his
fathers. II you uns ever see Hugh Nc
Neil-and hits mos likely yo' will. u 20
be we uns git into Marion county. TO he
lives In the hills nigh 10 Jasper-notics
his forehead, and YOU see the skull kind
er caved In In . circle like that scar on
Hens. Hit all happened bout foah
months afo' Hen Was lawn. Hugh-hs
was q powahfsl drinkin msa I'm thin
days-got into fight with blacksmith
down TO Jasper. and the blacksmith
fotched him clip On the head with Z
twenty pound sledge hammer and his
laid him out. Sue Mcneil heard her
husband was dead and she come down
- e,~.l lo~to~