The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1898-12-29

"Not mouthful of that stuff" said the
| Surgeon; "but you may eat some of those
crackers you have soaked there Mr.. KIege.
let him eat about half of those crackers
no more"
| Shorty looked as if the whole world had
| lost its charms Hard-tack witho ut
grease's no more taste than chips, " he MUIR
INJURED.
pityingly; s'Ill manage to find you some
thing tlat II be better for You than that
stuff"
The Surgeon had the boys carried over to
the corncrib, and the Deacon went to work to
make it as snug as possible All the old
training of his pioneer days-when literally
with his own hands, and with the rudest
materials, he had built comfortable cabin
in the wilderness OF the Wabash bottoms for
his young wlfe-came back to him He
could not see brick, piece of board q
stick, or bit OF iron, anywhere, without the
Thought that it might be made useful, and
carrying it of. As there were about 40. 900
other men around the little village of
| Chattanooga with similar inclnations, the
Deacon had need of all his sIrewdne>s in
securing coveted materials. but it was rare
that anybody got ahead of him. He re-
arranged and patched the capboards on the
roof until it was perfectly rain-tiglt
chunked up the spaces between the poles
with stones corn-cobs, and pieces of wood
and plastered over the outside with clay,
until the walls were draft proof He hung
up an old blanket tor q door, and hired q
teamster to bring in load of silky tine
beech leaves which, when freshly fallen,
make bed that cannot be surpassed
These, by spreading blankets over them,
make very comfortable couches for ST, Shorty
and himself.
Then the great problem became one of
proper food for the bows. Daily the rations
were growing shorter in Chattanooga, and if
they had been plentiful they were not suited
to the delicate stomachs of those so seriously
i'll. 81 was slowly improving, but the Dea-
con felt that the thing necessary to carry him
over the breakers and land him safely on the
shores of recovery was nourisling food that
he could relish.
He had anxiously sought the entire length
of the camp for something of that kind He
had visited all tine suffers, and canvaSSed the
scanty stocks i'll the few stores i'm Chatta-
nooga. He had bought the sole remaining
can OF tomatoes at price which would have
almost bought the field in which the toma-
toes were raised, and he had turned over the
remnant lots of herring, cheese, ETC., he
found at the suffers. with despair at imagin-
ing any sort OF a way in which they could
be worked up to become appetizing and
assimiative to Sis stomach.
What you and ST needs" he would say
to Shorty, is chickens and fresh 'taters If
You could have q good mess of chicken and
Eaters every day you'd come up like Spring
shOits. declare, I'd give that crick bottom
medder o. mine, which hasn't it's beat on the
Wabash, to have mothers coOpful o. chick
ems here this minute"
But chicken was no more to be had in
Chattano ga than Delmonico banquet The
table Of the Major General commanding the
Army of the Cumberland might have little
more bareback and pork on it than appeared
in the tents of the privates, and be cooked a
little better, but it had nothing but bareback
and pork
The Deacon made excursions into the
country and even ran great risks from the
rebel pickets and bushwhackers in search OF
chickens. But the country had been stripped,
by one side or the other, of everything eat
able, and the people that remained in their
cherries homes were dependent upon what
they could get from the United States Com
missary.
One day he found the Herd Boss in camp.
and poured forth his troubles to him. The
Herd Boss sympathized deeply with him,
and cudgeled his brains for way to help
"Pll tell you what you might do. !" he said
at length, if you care to take the risk.
We're goIn back with some teams to Bridge
port tomorrow mornin'. You might git in
one of the wagons and ride back 1G or Is
miles to little valley that remember that's
there, and which think locks like it haint bin
ioraged. l was thinkin' as we come through
the other day that might git something good
to eat up there, and I'd try it some day
Nobody seems to we noticed it Wit. But it
may be chock full o. rebels for all know,
and a feller git jumped the moment he sets
foot in it.
''i'll take my chances" said the Deacon
" PHI 90 along with you to-morrer mornin'"
The Deacon found that a ride in wagon
was not such an unqualified favoras he might
have thought. The poor, half.fed, overworked
mules went so slowly that the Deacon could
make better time walking and he was too
merciful to allow them to pull him up hill
The result was that, with helping pry the |
stalled wagons out, and work in making the
roads more passabie, the Deacon expended |
more labor than if he had started out to walk |
IN the first place.
L was late in the afternoon when the Herd /
Boss said: