The Monticellonian., 1895-08-09

looked about, and my blood stopped beating, for there stood mother-my mother, as if come forth from her grave In the Ohio reserve; the same gray locks, the same benign face, the same stoop, and it seemed to me the same garments she used to wear at home. I sat cold and terrified until she spoke, and then I saw this was a living woman.
 "So slipped from the saddle and took off my hat, all tremble When she spoke it was as If my mother had returned to me, the voice and bearing were so like.
 70, sr,' she said, clasping her hands together, don't let Hoods army come across. They are our soldiers; but they are starving, and I have noth- ing more to give them. And in that wing room lies the only boy I have left from this dreadful war, sick from typhoid fever and at deaths door. All depends now on quiet and good care. If another hungry army comes stamping through the grounds the very noise will kill him. am so thankful you have kept your men away. And 0, sir. do not let Hoods army come over, or my boy, my only boy, will die In the uproar.'
 1T went right to her and took her hand in both of mine. I'll do any thing in the world for you. They shall not cross said. Then heard the trampling hoofs and the major and his comrades came tearing in. They had heard the tidings. 1 galloped down the driveway to meet them. 'Hushl no noise. Come backp I said, and led them to the road. Hood Is upon us, forty thousand strong What shall we dol? cried Maj. Upham. Do? Hold the fort and keep Hood backP that went round the world and gave me so much fame. Nobody knew the real reason that had changed me in minute and made me so brave; for it was bold thing to do. The ford was d quarter of mile long and rather shallow, and we had nothing but belt of woods to shield us. The fortu- nate feature was that Hoods artillery horses gave out from long marching, and he could not bring up his cannon promptly, or he might have shelled us out When his advance guard came in sight we had our light battery in po sition to sweep the river, and had good sheltered place for every man with plenty of ammunition at his side. It was toward the close of the war, and we were armed with repeating rifles. My six hundred men made as much noise as five thousand ordinary troops would do, and that helped greatly.
 "Across the river was a high noun tain. It's shadow gave the ford name, for up stream and down stream the water lay bright and shining in the sun, while here it ran swift and black. The advance guard plunged in, three thousand of them, and tried to force passage. We moved them down in terrible numbers Then they detailed sharpshooters to climb the trees and the mountain and try to dislodge us, but we were too we'll protected. Next they sent their cavalry upstream, who swan the stream and charged us two thousand five hundred strong. We am pushed them with our battery, and drove them back with fearful loss My blood was up now and 1 was every where up stream and down stream, sending out scouts and ssirmishers, and directing the fire of our troops. On my rounds got bullet in the thigh which finally put me on the invalid list.
 "A bout one o'clock next morning Hood got his artillery up and shelled us. He set the woods afire in many places, destroyed the baggage wagons and most of our horses, and killed many of our men. But we stuck to the position, and still were able to sweep the river with our bullets.
 "A nne o'clock the enemy sudden ly disappeared, and we found they had made pontoon bridge eight miles be- low and crossed. They would have annihilated us had they turned back, for we were too worn and demoralized to escape; but instead they swept on south, too late to do us any harm there. We had delayed them until the intended raid was failure.
 And that's the secret behind my great reputation, Ben. It was not so much that I was resolute and fearless, as that I tried to please the woman who looked so like mother.
 And it goes back of that even, to the time when l ran away from home with Joe Cory and even Hod Durkee- the morning mother told me to saw up the maple boughs and l said: I won'tp the first and last time l ever spoke so to her in my life. l did not go to school at all. Had streak of sin that day, and it all came of Hod Durkee, who had been urging me to run off to sea. But when Joe and HOd and l turned on top of the hill and took our last view of the church spire, and the shops, the cemetery where father lay, and the shining creek beyond, and when Joe said, after we had gone on bit: We'll never see that sight any moren and thought of mother alone on the place with the cows to tend and the wood to cut and the calves to feed and the lantern to fill and the butter to make, all alone with her own hands, said: I'm going backP and never stopped running till l knelt and put my face in her lap. l never forgot the gentle talk she gave me, and l never swerved from the good resolutions made then-not so long as she lived; never, till we buried her in the old churchvard, with q bunch of daisies in her poor hands, just like theseI
 And it goes back of that even, to the time when l was little fellow and
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