Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1898-07-21

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| Marse Tore &c :" ---~'' 81 -r77.-'
But the negroes hung their heads
sheepishly.
"We'se fraid, Aunt Drusilla. Deed
we'se drefful 'fraid," they moaned.
Wrathfully the old woman rose Ia
her feet.
can yo' call yo'selves men!" she
exclaimed. "Yo' muffin but pack o
cowardly possums. I'll go back NAH.
self. Yassur! Ole Aunt DrusiIla aim.
scared O. Yankee guns when young
Marse Halls lef' benin"
True to her word, the stout-hearted
Drusilla turned in the direction Of
the burning outbuildings and shut
He'd down the pathway as fast as she
could 60. But another pair of feet
were lighter than hers. A little girl
in a tlimsy frock, with her shoes
clutched in herhands. sped past the
old negress. 1t was Nell Tarleton,
trembling no longer, but wild with
eagerness to save her baby brother.
Come back, honey! Fo' de Lawds
sake, come back" gasped Aunt Dru-
silla, as she snatched unavailingly at
the small figure which rushed so
swiftly by. But Nell only shook her
head and ran the faster. Farther and
farther behind dropped poor Drusilla,
until at last she lost sight Of Nell al
together. Then she threw up her
hands and sank despairingly upon a
log.
dat ends it all, she sobbed "Boy
gal bofe gone now. What'll Marsa
Tab 'lton say when he comes back?
An poor mis-! Boun' to kill her daid,
when she hear dat NelFs gone, too.'
On through the woods ran Neither
mothers agonized face ever before
her, and the determination to save
her little brother Hal strong within
ner. A Jagged stone cut her bare
foot, but could not stay her even for
an instant Now she saw the roofs OF
ler fathers house Illuminated by the
.preading fire, and now and again the
shells went whistling over her head.
rabbits and squirrels scurried madly
past her, escaping from the advance
ing troops. She heard the sound Of
many footsteps and the sharp bang
Ing OF the Federal rifles. On the ris-
Ing ground before the house black
figures hurried to and fro.-the van of
Buffers army. But she did not stop.
What was the enemy to her when Hal
was missing-wounded by a chance
bullet, perhaps, and dying in the
fields?
With a roar the house caught fire,
and a shower of sparks scared into
the air and fell among the trees. A
bullet pinged not foot away from
Nell, but she heard 1t not.
Hal! Brother Hall" was the song
her heart sang, and she needed no
other sound.
A branch, shorn from its parent
tree, crashed down upon the heroic
child and bore her to earth. She
,rawled from beneath II, her shoulder
bruised and torn, and with sharp
pains in her ankle that told of Sc
rlous strain. She could run no long
er, but limping was still possible; SO
onward she limped.
AT last the lawn was reached, and
Nell felt heavy hand descend upon
her aching shoulder.
Hold hard thcre!" cried a voice.
What in heavens name are You do
ing here?"
The child looked up into a rough,
bearded face, begrimed with powder,
yet not unkindly.
THE baby" she whispered hoarse-
"; I've come back for Baby Hail.
The bearded man let the sword
witch he carried fall back into its
sheath.
oh, you've come back for the baby,
Come back through the shells and
Bullets, Ell? My girl, you're a regu.
lar Joan Of Arc!"
NO, sir; I'm Confederate. And,
please won't you help me to find the
babv?"
The big soldier caught Nell up in
bis arms.
why, you're poor little foot's cut"
he cried, "and your shoulders bleed
ing 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 speak,
ing trumpet, and shouted in stento-
rian tones; "Has--any-man-found
baby"
From the right came an answering
hail, and soldier came running out
)f the darkness.
We found 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, just as II nothing had hap
oened, upon Nell's lacerated shoulder.
Poor Phoebe, badly though not dan
yerously hurt, told how In flying
blindly from the Federals, she had
been struck and disabled by a fall
ing beam.