The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1897-07-08

with the gallOws' doom pending over US, my
heart and hope almost sank within me.
But man is . singular compound, after all.
No despair is so black but that hope will
quickly alternate if We allow the mind free
scope. A merciful God has % created u.s.
He has implanted large hope in the human
breast. Man hopes, in this uncertain life, to
the last, and when bereft OF all hope with
which he clings to this world, he still hopes
for blessed immortality beyond. / have
seen this forcibly illustrated with one of my
beloved Comrades professed disbeliever,
yet brave man-standing on the brink of
the dark shore of eternity, and of whom l
shall speak hereafter in my narrative. Poor
fellow! though he had often denied it, when
his last hour had come-when all worldly
hope was gone-he, too, had hope Of immor-
tally.
CURIOSITY AS TO YANKEES.
As We went whirling past bridges and
parts of the road where we had, over a
month before, wrought so much mischief,
many were the quiet, jocular remarks made
by some of our party. 1t seemed to have
been known in advance that the Yankee
train-thieves and spies were going through
to Atlanta. At any rate, at nearly every
peer in on through the windows. North
ern people can scarcely believe how much
curiosity the Southern people had to see
Yankee, more especially Yankee soldier.
The old soldiers will all remember this we'll.
Some Of the Southerners actually seemed to
feel superstitious belief about the Yankees.
They imagined them to be some dreadful
ogres or incarnate devils, who would steal a
"nigger" as quick as hawk would a
chicken; who would burn houses, ravish
women and steal gold watches, but wouldn't
fight.
The fact of our coming into their midst
and stealing a train had rather enhanced
this belief, and we were, from appearances,
regarded by these people as the very incar-
nation of Yankee vandalism. Soldiers, citi-
zens and women, all, seemed possessed of
this itching curiosity to see a veritable Yam
kee; but ] have no doubt that many of
them saw more Yankees than they cared to
before the end of the rebellion. What ap-
peared to me cowardly and out of place on
the part of soldiers and men in citizens
dress was their habit of plying US with in
sulting epithets and tauntingly reminding
us that our necks were sure of the halter.
We answered tsem, not surer than theirs
that Gen. Mitchell had a bad crowd with
him, and that they would get heartily sick
of rope performances before tho game was
ended.
Groups of ladies would come to the win
dows and gaze at us with absolute trembling,
as if we were ferocous wild beasts. Some
of these would EXPRESS compassion for our
having to be loaded with heavy chains while
there was q strong military guard over us
at the same time. We could overhear some
of them talking. One would say, Why,
some of them are smart civil-looking fell
lows. 1t is q shame to treat them SO. What
if old Mitchell should get some of our men?"
AS general thing, most Of our crowd said
little, except when asked civil questions,
which We as civilly answered. At Big
Shanty, where We stole the train, there was
. big crowd-more soldiers than citizens
They were pretty fierce, and would have
done us violence but for the guards.
Our destination seemed to be Atlanta, or
some place beyond, where jail-room and
q place of safety could be found. When we
arrived at Atlanta the train stopped for some
time, and the longer we were there the
larger the crowd became. They swarmed
in hundreds about the car we were in to get
a glimpse of us. This, it will be remem-
bered, was in 1862, and before Sherman and
his bummers had made the citizens of At
lanta so familiar with he appearance Of Fed
eral soldiers.
The company of rebel guards who had as
in charge were deployed about the car to
Part of the great throng exhibited DISPOSE