Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1898-07-02
SAVED THE BABY.


Tarleton from her bed that summer
evening when General Butler, at the
head of the Federal troops, swooped
down upon City Point, Va, and block
ed the road to Petersburg.
Nell Tarleton dwelt with her mother
and baby brother in their old fashioned
home on the James river. The father of
the family was away on the Potomac,
fighting the battles of the Confederacy,
and only few faithful negroes remain
ed to guard Mrs. Tarleton and her chill
dren.
AS Nell sprang from her bed she
heard the rattle of musketry up the
river. A shell tore, screaming, over the
house, followed by another and another
Then there burst forth from the stables
a lurid glare, and she heard her moth
er's distracted voice shrieking that the
negro quarters We're afire.
Nell's fingers trembled violently, but
she managed to don her frock and shoes
before old Aunt Drusilla came lumber
ing up the stairs and drove the child,
shoes in hand, from the room.
"Doan min yo' shoes till yo' gifts
out O. tiah," exclaimed Aunt Drusilla
resolutely, and so, Larefooted and half
clad, Nell hurried through the confu.
sion of the hall and into the lawn be-
fore the house.
There she found her mother hysteric-
al and helpless, and there, too, was the
baby, snugly wrapped up and carried
by his nurse, the mulatto Phoebe.
Some valuables hastily put together lay
i'll bundles on the grass-plainly reveal
ed i'll the ruddy light from the blazing
huts. Nobody seemed to know what to
do till Aunt Drusilla swept upon the
scene. Then movement took the place
of inaction.
"Heah, yo' fool niggahsr' cried the
old colored woman. "What for yo' star
i'll en- doin muffin? Want de Yankees to
cotch yo', huh? Grab dem bundles an
run for de woods. An yo', too, Miss
-, an yo', honey. Run, l tell yo'.
Phoebe, min dat ar chile, or l warm
yo'. Ever body's got to run.
And everybody ran-even fat Aunt
Drusilla herself. Down the dewy lawn,
with the Federal bullets whistling
among the tree tops hard by, ana the
flames spreading to the barns and sta
bles, they fled. For in the night attack
no one was safe. Neither north nor
south warred against women and chill
dren, but under cover of darkness the
gravest danger threatened all within
the area of attack.
At last they reached the dense woods,
and the sound of firing came but faint
ly to their ears, though the glow of the
distant fire still showed its grim refec-
tion upon the sky line.
''Dis far 'nough," grunted Aunt Dru-
silla, who, despite her age and corpu-
lence, had kept well in front of the
race. "We can rest now. Put dem bun
dies down, yo' boys, an, O my Lawd !
Whar's PhRbe:'
Poor Mrs. Tarleton turned at the old
woman's frightened cry-turned to see
that the young mulatto was indeed
missing, together with her precious
charge, the baby The unfortunate
woman's brain reeled at this last terri
BILE calamity, and she fell fainting upon
the path.
kneeling by her side and chatting her
hands, Aunt Drusilla cried frantically
search the woods.
go back Gle way we come,' she
shouted. "Ph9be mus be captured or
shot. Go back an fetch young marse
fore de Yankees git him.
But the negroes hung their heads
sheepishly.
"We'se 'fraid, Aunt Drusilla. Deed
we'se dretful 'fraid," they moaned.
Wrathfully the old woman rose to
her feet
"An yo' call yo selves men!" she ex-
claimed. "Yo's muffin but pack O.
cowardly possums. I'll go back NAH
self. Yassur! Ole Aunt Drusilla ain t
scared O. Yankee guns when young
Marse Halls lef' behin'."
True to her word, the stout hearted
Drusilla turned in the direction of the
burning outbuildings and shuttied down
the pathway as fast as she could go.
But another pair of feet were lighter
than hers. A little girl in "a flimsy frock,
with her shoes clutched in her hands,
sped past the old negress. 1t was Nell
Tartleton, trembling no longer, but wild
with eagerness to save her baby brother.
"Come back, honey! Fo' de Lawd's
sake, come back" gasped Aunt Drusil-
la, 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 be-
hind dropped poor Drusilla, until at
least she lost sight of Nell all together.
Then she threw up her hands and sank
despairingly upon log.
''Dat ends it all" she sobbed. "Boy
an gal bofe gone now. What'll Marse
Tahleton say when he comes back? An
poor miss Boun' to kill her daid when
she hear dat Nell's gone too"
On through the woods ran Nell-her
mothers agonized face ever before her
and the determination to save little Hal
strong within her. A Jagged stone cut
her bare foot, but could not stay her
even for an instant Now she saw the
roofs of her fathers house illuminated
by the spreading fire, and now again
the shells went whistling over her head.
Rabbits and squirrels skurrieG madly
past her, escaping from the adv mcing
troops. She heard the sound OF many
footsteps and the sharp banging of the
Federal rifles. On the rising ground be-
fore the house black figures hurried to
Al. ID