The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1898-04-10

+ban hers. A little girl in HliliSy
sroai, vrifb her shoes clutched IN hef
hands sped past the old negress. II
vas Nell Tarleton, trembling no loiiS q,
hut wild with eagerness- to save hs'
baby brother
"Coma back. honey! Fo' de Lava
COLI. come backn gasped Aunt Dfu-
eolIa as she snatched unaValihsly a.
tbe small figure which rusheu SO sW ~
Iv bv. But Nell only shook ner hedu
and ran the faster Further and further
10, She lost sight of Nell altogether.
tn, che threw up her hands and sank
| despairingly upon log.
pat ends it ALL" she sobbed; boy
on, gal bofe gone now. Whatll Marse
TabIaton say when he comes back I:
An poor Miss Bound TO XII
her daid. when she hear dat Nell
gone, too
ON through the woods ran Neither
mothers agonized face ever peIore her'
and the determination to save Hllie
HaI strong within her. A jagged stone
cur her bare foot, but couid not slay
her even for an instant. NOW she sd"
tba roofs of her fathers house illumln-
ated by the spreading hre' ana no"
again the shells went whistllng over
| her head. Rabbits and squirrels sour
riad madly past her, escaping from the
advancing troops She heard the sound
lof MANY footsteps and the sharp bang
ing of the Federal rifles. On the rising
! ground before the house black fgures
hurried TO and fro-the van OF Butter
! army. But she did not stop what
| were the enemy to her when Hal was
| missing wounded by chance puilel
| perhaps and dying in the helds.
With a roar the house caught hre'
and a showers Of sparks scared INTO the
air and among the trees. a pu ,'st
pinged not a foot away from Nell, put
| she heard it not.
Hal, Brother Hal" was the song
her heart sang, and she heard 1t not
A branch shorn off from it's parent
| tree. crashed down upon the heroic
child and bore her to garth. She crawl
| ed from beneath it, her shoulder bruis-
| ed and torn. and when sharp pains in
| her ankle that told of a serious strain.
| She could run no longer, but limping
was still possible, SO onward she
limped.
At last the lawn was reached. and
Nell felt a heavy hand descend upon
her aching shoulder
Hold hard, there" cried voice.
What in heavens name are you doing
here?"
The child looked up into rough,
bearded face. begrimed with powder
yet not unkindly.
The baby" she whispered hoarsely;
I've come back for baby Hal"
The bearded man let the sword fall
which he carried fall back into its
sheath.
"Oh. you've come back for the baby?
Come back through the shells ana bull
let's. Ell? My girl, you're regular
Joan of Arc"
no, sir; I'm a Confederate And
please, won't you help me to find
The big soldier caught Nell up in
his arms.
why, your poor little foot's cut" he
cried; and your shoulders bleeding
too. This is awful"
Don't mind my shoulder, Mr. Yam
kee Let me find baby"
The Federal officer put his spare hand
to his mouth. by way of a speaking
trumpet, and shouted in stentorian
tones: Has any-man-found-a-
baby"
From The right came an answering
hail. and soldier came running out of
the darkness.
I'VE found a colored girl and a baby
over there, sir" he said. THE girl had
been knocked down by some burning
timbers from the barn"
Two minutes later Baby Hal was
cooling, as if nothing had happened,
upon Nelly's lacerated shoulder. Poor
Phoebe, badly though not dangerously
hurt, told how in flying blindly from
the Federals she had been struck and
disabled by falling beam.
And as the story spread among the
Federal soldiers they gathered around
Nell, cheering her so loudly that Aunt
Drusilla, sitting disconsolately upon