Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1895-06-23

/ 5OuuuS Ndlut-
.Tncle sam" exclaimed the little
! girl. they're right in front Of u.s.!
'Yaas. Missy Eunice; so dey is. We
best to be gwine back jes as fas' as we
| can. Dis yer no place for US" and he
wheeled around for a retreat. But the
instant he did so, facing the range OF
| low hills, previously at his back, their
| echoing made the cannonading seem 10
I come from them. He grew confused
and stood still. "Fo' de Lawd" he ex-
claimed. "Dey done busted out da,
100. Dey's all roun' US. Amt no
whar' we en- go. Oh, Lawd! femme
| out dis scrape. an I neber mo- mix up
wifi sech fOlishness long es l lib"
"Oh. SAM can't we hide some
where?"
Laws. missy dunno. I'd glib a
mule TO be TO hundred miles FIN dis
place" His teeth were chattering with
fright.
Soon with the thunders Of the heavy
guns which opened the engagement
were mingled explosive sounds of an
other nature. sharper. not so loud, but
more numerOus-the voices Of field bat
teries at work. Sam did not know
what they were. but his ear was keen
enough to detect the new notes, and
any change was to him fresh cause for
alarm.
Could they have seen beyond the low
hill and dense forest in their immedl-
ate front, they would have beheld the
battle Of Hatch's Run. fought or April
I. 1868. one Of the most important
movements in the advance upon Pc
tersburg. They were hardly more than
a quarter of a mile from where one of
the fiercest conflicts of the day was at
that moment raging.
"Da's no use tryin' runin' way, Mis-
sv Eunice." said Sam. LAX de army
OBJ de Lawd en- de sperich'l hymn, dey' s
done surrounded us. You's too tired to
run; Use too weak in the knees to cyal\
YOU; sides, wha'd we run eff we could?
LAX as not we run right in 'mongst de
ret hot balls an bloody men a-sockin'
bay'nets into eb'rybody. Bes' l en- do
is hide you low down tween dem two
big rocks, what de bulletsll bounce
of'n: kibah you up wifi bresh, so de
killers won't know you's da. Den | go
fin Mass Frank, an come back TO you
when dis foOlshness am ober."
The child, having no better sugges-
ton to offer and trusting him implic-
lily, was submissive, and as he had
proposed so in a few moments was
done. He made in deep recess be-
tween two huge rocks a soft bed of pine
needles, and when she was safely
slowed away in it, he covered her well
with brush so that only by sharp scru-
tiny could her presence have been de-
tected if she kept quiet, as he enjoined
her to. AS he stood painting from his
hurried work and trying to decide
which way he should go, that decision
was suddenly made for him. While he
had been hiding his little charge the
tide OF battle had rolled in his direc-
ton. The Confederates, forced back
across the little valley by an advanc Of
the federal lines, were driven up the
slope of the little hill which had hith-
erto sheltered Sam from the actual
presence of the fight, and, though they
fought we'll TO hold their ground, were
gradually forced to move farther and
farter back. The two batteries of field
pieces were hurting cOnical shells
among them in addition to the leaden
hail from the rifles of a brigade OF in
fantry. When they passed the brow Of
the hill and started retrogading down
its southern slope panic spread among
them, retreat became rout. Sam was
already far in advance of the, most fleet
footed among them, his years forgot
ten. devouring time and space with a
gait that would, in comparison, have
made a scared rabbit seem slow. He
had been started by a conical she'll
that, dropping in its fight, passed close
over his head with the unearthly
scream of its kind, which, to his eX-
cited imagination, seemed the voice of
a devil yelling ''Wha' is yu? VIVA is
yu?" and, striking "a rock only little
way before him, exploded, shrieking,
Il sees you, l sees yu." He no longer
ran; he flew.
The tumult of conflict, imprecations,
Wells clash of weapons, rattle Of small
arms ad cries of pain or fear swept
down the slope in the rear Of the
swifter fugitives, closer and closer to
where the child lay hidden.
ii.
Dusk had fallen.A group Of tired, dis
heartened, bedraggled, tattered, pow
.der-begrimed men, some in gray uni
forms, others in ordinary dresser It's
remnants-gathered about small fire
in a nook of the hillsThey were few
of the scattered Confederates whom &C
cident and common sympathy had
brought together. The changing for
tunes of fight and flight had stranded
them hardly two miles from where they
were posted before the battle, and they
vaguely suspected that the federal lines
were not far from them. Yet they
made their fire, threw their arms and
Announcements on the ground nearby,
and set themselves TO making some
parched corn coffee, too weary and dis
pirited to care whether they were dis
covered or not. After a nights rest,
they had concluded would be time
enough to hunt up what might be left
OF their several commands. Some OF
them had in their haversacks slender
rations of corn bread, which they
shared with their less fortunate COM
panions. A few had small wounds,
which others helped them TO bind up.
Then all laid down and were soon
sound asleep, except one, bright,
handsome young fellow, hardly more
than a boy. who had volunteered to
keen the first watch A long time he
sat. with his arms folded around one
knee appraised upon the other, peering
into the embers. lost in reveries which,
from the eXprassion ton his frank cOun-