The National tribune., 1899-06-01
the ground. There was no sign of
LOST IN THE WOODS.

| Thinking that we had wandered
to the right of 1t, we turned to the
left. but had not gone far when we
sank to our knees in a swamp, and
farther progress in that direction
was stayed by d thick undcrbrush.
Sowe turned back, but with no better
success: the mire and brush seemed
to be on every side. A dozen times
we started, but after a short tramp
would be halted by the underbrush.
Knowing that we were completely
bewildered and as liable to 90 wrong
as right, | ordered halt, and waited
for the clouds to break away, the
rain having ceased falling The
clouds were breaking a little, when
one of the men exclaimed: "Dcre's
one OBJ de regiments cook-fres."
We saw a Pickering light, appar-
emily a hundred yards of. Know
ing that some of the companies had
built brush shelters over their fires
to prevent showers from extinguish-
ing them; | thought it possible that
we might be in the vicinity of our
division camp, and this light some
smoldering cmber of a campfire
With the light for our beacon, we
started briskly towards it; but it APP
peared to recede as we approached.
After going a short distance it
seemed no nearer than before, and
farther advance was stopped by our
old enemies, the brush and mire.
AS we halted. the light rose several
feet from the ground; for second
glowed a sickly blue, then vanished
We had been following the iguis
fdtnuS, or "will-o'-the-wisp"
A groan of superstitious horror
ran through the ranks
"Oh, de good Lordy hab massey!
Dat am de ,Jack-o-lantern hisse'fi
No good >nebber come nobody arter
chasing one OBJ dem lightsP ejacu-
lated terror-stricken negro.
A stampede seemed imminent.
Knowing it would result in the loss
ofmany men, ordered the Sergeants
to shoot anyone who attempted to
run. I'VE are not going to have any
Stonewall Jackson ghost business
here" | said
The mention of the "ghos' start
ed a laugh from some of them, and
that laugh did more to restore their
courage than all the arguments that
any one could have advanced.
There was no alternative but to
wait for daylight. Our situation
was serious. Before daylight the
Union troops would be Iomiles away,
and the roads leading towards them
might be filled with the Confederate
forces who defeated Gen. Wilson s
command Our greatest danger
lay in encountering some of the row.
ing regiments of the enemy's cav
airy, who were always scouting in
the rear of our army, and to whom
my little band of 90 would be but a
mcuthful t ~ --,. o.. ..,.- ...
Death or capture would be the fate
of most of us should we encounter
one of these expeditions | well
knew that, in case of capture, my
white skin would not save me from
being hung to one of the live-oak |
trees which abounded in this coun-
try. Even if we reached the regi-
ment all right again, | dreaded the
censure of the Colonel almost as
much as an encounter with the
enemy.
Two men were detailed to watch,
and the rest lay down and attempted
to sleep. The woods were full OF
di NAL noises. One of the great
horned owls of Virginia perched Oh
a branch above us and began his
urIe earthly cry, "Who-o-who-o-o!:
followed by strangling sound and
ensling in a maniac laugh that was
fearful to hear. Dirt was thrown Il
drive him away, but it only mads
hila snap his bill like a rattle:
Whippoorwills, chuck-wills-widowss
tree toads and locusts all seemed to
co.nbine to make a grand nocturnal
Concert h
Slowly the hours passed till day,
light. A hearty breakfast was
eaten, knapsacks and blanket rolls
sni,gly packed, and the arms care
fully inspected and recapped. The
road was found not so rods from
where the division camp had been.
No sound of artillery or musketry
reached our ears, and we hoped the
roads might yet be clear. With a
Sergeant and two men ahead as
skirmishers, and a like party in rear.
we started. We reached the road
that led to the Prince George Court
house Road, and then stopped to
deliberate. If the enemy were NOV
ing in that vicinity the broad Court
house Road would be the one which
they would occupy. A man climbed
tree, but could see nothing. The
rain had soaked the ground so that