Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1893-03-13
INSIDE THE LINES.


snosquit pes, yet there was long line of
fort1fications, and an enflade of pickets
guarded the little town from which all
the men had gone away.
If beauty of location had been mill
tary requisite, the fort was certainly
well planted. The earthworlzs ran near
the edge of high bluff. which rose al
most perpendicularly from the strip Of
land bordering the brown river at it's
foot On the other side Louisiana
stretched away to the horizon line, level
and green as garden, and in the dis
lance a bit OF lake often caught some of
the blueness of the sky and shone the
gem of all this fair setting.
The boy who was lying on the edge of
the bluff had no eyes for the distant
view. Through an opening in the trees
clinging to the sides of the hill he was
gazing at the antics of party of boys
far below him. Close under the bluff
lay white, many pillared house, and
stretching before and behind it were
smooth spaces of lawn, long lines of
clipped hedges and avenues of mag
nolias. Something in its sheltered posi-
ton between the river and the bank had
saved from destruction this estate,
whose possessors had given it the fitting
name of the Garden. 1t seemed like a
vision of paradise to the eyes of the
homesick boy who was gazing down
into the enemy's country.
From the door of a rough house with
in the embankment two officers watched
the boy. The elder, Colonel Denning,
was the commanding officer of the fort.
Il am afraid | made a mistake when
brought my son down here" said the
colonel. ''He is almost desperate with
loneliness. | was afraid of it, but it
seemed too hard to leave him there
after mis- mother died"
Il think you did right to bring him,
colonel said the younger man. ''It's
good, quiet, healthy place, and after
while he will make friends with the
men and be happier
81 hope he WILL" said the colonel.
81 feel sure of it," rejoined the other
"Just now he longs for the society of
boys, but he is fighting against the in
ev1table. He has not philosophy enough
to endure nor experience enough to I'M
derstand the feeling these people have
for everything inside these walls. Moth
ing could tempt one of these town boys
to have any intercourse with him, and
their scOrn is rather hard to bear. I'm
going to send George the Second to
NJ take him out on the river. He is an
amusing little beggar, and will not
make such a bad companion for VIII
when he gets used to his color and his
! ways"
A few minutes later two boys were
swinging themselves down the face of
the bluff. Wills companion was slim,
timber jointed little black boy, whose
movements suggested a jumping jack,
and his bearing showed the pride he felt
as Wills guide.
Holding now by tough root, now by
the smooth stem of a blackjack vine,
digging their heels into the soft soil and
slipping perilously forward, they pres
emily struck into well worn cowpath,
which led by easy stages to the foot of
the hill.
Beyond the road which led to the
Garden lay huge stranded logs, through
which they picked their way out upon a
sandy strip of beach. where an ancient
Bkiff was tied to a raft. There was a
title water n the boat and huge
gourd was at hand as a means of de-
tense against further leaking Two
clur1sy oars furnished employment for
both boys, and once launched their
strength was tried by the current, which
i came swirling around the promontory
bf rctting bark which served as break
water.
Eut sturdy boyish muscles were at
work. and the old boat was pushed
slowly up the shore, keeping in with
he eddy, and nosing her way through
anchored snags of driftwood and up
nto more open water away from the
hore.
Drawing a long breath, Will parsed
Tor a minute and said: Lets go over
20 the island we see from the fort-the
Tow head, mean. Where is it, anyhow?
I'm completely turned around"
''Hit's right ovah yander where you
lee de cottonwoods an de san bar" said
George. dis yer is de corral. Heap er
Eullud folks lives yer. but hits drappin
% de water mighty fas'. Dat beach tree
swishin up an down in dat bend useter
grow in Unc' Jake's yard"
On the shore of the bend George point
d out the grim sight of an old burying
ground, upon whose precincts the cur
ent of the Mississippi was rapidly en-
roaching. Will shuddered, and, with
uick intuition, George turned the boats
bead away from the bend and pointed
cross the current to the Towhead, which
vas now below them.
When the island first pushed its white,
andy head through the water some cot
onwood seed had landed there from an
Try voyage, and the young trees that
Drang from them formed the nucleus of