The Van Buren press., 1893-10-14


BY council of war. whether officer or
privates ought to occupy the front
rank. The privates were sure that the
officer should The officer WAS equally
positive that he should not
As each party at once set about put
ting his theory on this point into prac-
tice, the company was soon back at the
persimmon tree which stood on the
crest OF the hill Here we had an open
space at our front. and. what seemed
| lust then still more important. an open
one in our rear, with a line OF retreat
downhilL
We were not as brave as we had been,
but here we made a pause, deter
mined to end the war one way or
the other. and that pretty soon-that
is, 50 far rs we were concerned ouf
hearts thundered like trip-hammers in
our ears. Our views OF military duty
as we'll as of military glory underwear,
| Q serious change
The rustling of leaves and swapping
of twigs swept nearer and nearer. The
edge of the wood was reached The
outmost fringe Of bushes was now
a-qaiver. A.t 49,
have a confused recollection of >
roar. a rush of wildly flying earth and
leaves, and still more wildly flying he'll
NETS and cutaway coats Then found
myself astride persimmon limb safe
distance from the ground, which was
held by raving bull. The animal was
dividing his attention between my tree
and the three others that held the re
mainder OF the battalion
ssAim. Fire. shouted as soon as ]
took in the situation.
No response came I repeated the
command still louder and more per-
empsorily. and continued 10 do SO until.
having at some risk wriggled myself
around on the limb Sd as to face the
battalion. found that the reason whF
ny soldiers did not FIRE Was that they
had nothing 10 FIRE.
The arnaDeat Of the battalion Was in
the hznax or rateer under the feet, Of
the hall lr~B-bei tor ny sword only
[ to fni Il also missing.
The hzl fssak ms sssad under the
tree. The 1fierncsa xir~fched cat into
an ir.ermins tss sxFsase Of time NF
p<rSinDur E,rz1eh became intensely
uneonfcr-ak1e- tgs still the bali kept
watch fog uS BIZ and hr thunder
storm arose and 1sde matters much
| worse
Accompanied By bAiniinz flashes Of
lightning that seemed TO play arOaDd
| our very heads. and desfeninS thunter-
peals, the rain fell in snch tozrentA that
we could scarcely breathe As the
horsehair helmets had been abandoned
with our arms, the rain poured into our
gaping collars till we were soaked
through and through
Twilight arose from the woods like
black mist and began to envefop Us
The rain slackened, but the bull. in
stead of departing. Law down among the
trees, springing to his feet believing
fearfully if any one of US made an at
tempt to get down.
| was becoming SO chilled and stiff.
and my hands were SO beRumbed with
clutching the tree, that several times l
was on the point Of losing my hold and
falling to the ground From the some
what unsoldierly sounds of distress
that came from the other trees In
ferred that the rest of the battalion
were in no better plight than l.
Just as night was swallowing up the
world, / made out dim, decrepit ng-
ure hobbling along on the other side OF
the fence
..Whut dat up dem trees." demanded
a voice
Its me- sang out with one accord
four hoarse and whining voices
My goodness alibe. chillun. whut
yer mean turnin' tree-frawg dis time o.
night?- came the response.
20. Uncle Natr' / called out Drive
away that bull, He won't let US come
down. Ichattered
Good old Nat Dibby, free negro
whom we all knew very well. ha d hap
pened to come past He made rush
at the bull. and drove him away. and
one by one we half-slid. half-fell out Of
the trees. helped down by Uncle Nat
Wondered greatly how he happened
to be here-so far away, and when he
told us that lis cabin was only Z mile
away. l could not believe it.
But it was to his cabin that he took
Us. and after we had been RECALLED on
ash-cake and buttermilk. the battalion.
captain and all, were tucked away in
the only bed in the house. while the old
man and his wife, Aunt Patsy. slept on
the floor. f'ts = N~4a
Betimes the next morning the bat
talon began their retrograde move
ment At the head marched Uncle Nat,
bearing our weapons in his arms Aunt
Patsy had spent most OF the night in
drying our rcgimentals but they were
50 rumpled and bedraggled by the cam
paign of the day before that all the
pomp and circumstance of war was
gone. leaving US to cut pitiful figures
indeed.
Ne mind. honeys," argued the old
man, as we trudged at his heels. Il
thinks you's done mons'ous smart fer
lil scrops o. chillun lax you, does.
You's done toted desc hyere guns all
day 'dout shootin' anybody or yerse'fs,
elder. you's clomb trees lax squir'ls an
frek to de limbs LAX tree frawgs- Go
home an eat few mo- ash cakes an
you'll lay you'll be gin'nls, ev'y one un
yer. by en- by.'
When we came within sight of home
we found the widest commotion. Peo-
pie thronged the place. Searching
parties were being formed. Mounted
messengers were dashing off along every
road and byway-
We trembled with fear at the thought
of meeting our mothers We had ex-