The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-03-24
CHAPTER I.
SEVERAL SIGNALS.

SEVERAL SIGNALS.
General Sherman was In the full
swing Of his colossal picnic, consisting
of the promenade Of 1000 Union vet
Grams from Atlanta through the core
of the Southern Confederacy,, 300 milei
eastward to the Atlantic coast, wher
Lieutenant Ledyard Oakman Of thu
- Massachusetts cavalry, accom-
panied by the scout Sam Borland, reineG
aside and started off on q little cam
paign Of his own.
They were far over in eastern Geor
gia, near the South Carolina line
through which the mighty army was t.
sweep, facing northward to unite with
the legions Of Grant, and stamp out the
last embers of resistance And what a
wonderful march that was, the vast
host advancing in four columns, with a
cloud of skirmishers and cavalry in
front to veil its route, and foraging on
the country through which the army
passed.
The autumn was drawing to close,
and in the north the frost Of the com
ing winter was in the air, while the
soldiers in the Virginia camps drew
around their blazing fires at night and
as they talked Of the great war and
wondered how soon it would end, wrap
ped their cvercoats closer around their
shivering forms. Eut nature sways a
gentler hand and her breath has soft
fragrance Of its own in the states farther
south. The mornings were crisp and
bracing, but something Of the summer
fervor fingered in the sunshine, and the
hundreds of campfres that twinkled at
night were needed less for warmth than
for the cooking of food and the pleasure
of comradeship.
1t was on the afternoon Of one Of
those perfect autumn days that Lieu
tenant Oakman drew rein at the edge
of q piece Of wood fronting on the
broad, sloping cotton fields which had
yielded up their meager harvest but
brief while before, though here and
there the snowy flecks on the stunted
brown bushes showed where the deft
fingers had failed to garner the after
math
The lieutenant and his scout had
parted company couple of hours pre-
vious, and the attractive countenance
of the young officer betrayed his mental
concern. His black, blooded mare, that
had carried him safely through the
flame of more than one fierce conflict,
stood motionless, with the reins lying
loose on her neck, while her rider looked
and wondered and fretted. The most
that she ventured to do was to thrust
forward her silken nose and, with the
aid of the flexible upper lip with which
her species is provided, draw in some
of the neighboring twigs and MUNICH
them despite the interference of the
steel bit.
The food was neither tempting nor
Perhaps Fanny indulged to
this gentle extent the better to pass
away the time while her rider rumi-
mated, but master and beast had long
been accustomed to "hard tack"
The attention of Lieutenant Oakman
was divided between a point on the
fringe of the curving wood fourth Of
a mile away and the old mansion Of
The plantation, which was less than
half the distance named. It was a typ
ical planters home, low of stature,
broad, roomy and whitewashed, sur.
by a wealth Of shade trees, d.
vided near the middle by rooted pas
sage, with wide porch extending in
'front.', numerous outbuildings and the
.ow of cabins near by where the slaves
we're comfortably quartered until most
If them were brushed into the current
that came with the "day Of Jubilee"
md floated them into the promised land
If freedom.
The officer turned the small spyglass
suspended from his neck by a string
,oward the point of wood which, it has
,een said, attracted his attention. The
'esult was satisfactory. Sam Borland
vas there. standing beside the trunk Of
| huge cottonwood, his horse so far in
he timber as to be invisible. Evidently
le was on the alert, for scarcely had
)akman located him when he took off |
lis cap and swung it. The lieutenant !
out his handkerchief and with
single wave replied. That was sutfi- ,
lent. They understood each other, and
he officer turned his head part way
ound without shifting his position in !
he saddle and fixed his gaze upon the
or rather upon SO much of it
IS the shading branches permitted him !
o see.
The result of this scrutiny was disap
pointing. The cavalryman perhaps was
ooking for some person Or signal, but
allied to catch the first sign Of either.
When he grew weary of the work, he
owered his binocular.
II wonder whether there's living
reature in that house." he muttered.
1t looks as if it were an empty shell
r huge coffin. This is the first time
hat red war has crossed the thresholds -
f these southern homes Until now not
he boom of cannon nor the crack Of
hostile nusket has startled the women
nd children, but the terror is upon
hem at last. :"
A feeling of pity and wonder came to
he gallant officer. His thoughts took
he same trend they had taken scores Of
lines before, and not only with him,
ut with muItitudes of those who wore
he blue and the gray.
"Why are we fighting each otherf
Why is the earth wetted with the warm
lood Of the bravest, the noblest and
he most gifted of men2 In tho years to
ome, when the Union is restored in all
is strength and grandeur and the vet
rams Of both sides sit down to talk ever
Id times, their wonderment will be
Why they tried with such indispensable
ravery to take each others lives 1t
asses my comprehension"
He was silent q moment, and then
dded in an awed undertone, at is the
and of God and his ways are past
nding out"
But it is perilous thing for soldier