The National tribune., 1900-06-21

.Es AND ALL AGES WITH EVERY EYE
TO THE WIDEST"
| A ripple-like movement passed over
Gid Mackalls face. and his limbs
II really believe Gid's coming to-" ex-
claimed Pete, running over to him, with
piece of the fragrant ham of the pig in
his hand. which be inadvertently brought
near Gid's nose as he stopped down to
examine him.
| -"Who-said-any-t y-thing-about-roa
-pigF gasped Gid, slowly opening his
| eyes.
Both he and Monty aroused sufficiently
to partake of q share of the food.
| It's useless to think Of goin' on to-
night" said Si, sadly. after they had I'm
ished eating, and he had told of the near
crazy to get on, but we can't march. and
that's all there is of it. We must stay
here at least until tomorrow, and cooper
ourselves up. Do, boys, rest all you kin,
and get yourselves in shape to move"
| But neither he nor Shorty could take
his own advice. The nearness to the
| Union lines excited them far more than
anything which had occurred since they
| had left prison. They tried to set the
boys the example of lying still and rest
| ing, but in vain. The moment they would
| lie down and close their eyes, the very
| deathlike stiffness of the place would
make them fancy they heard in the dis
| tance the roar of cannon and the patter
of musketry, and they would spring up,
and strain their eyes toward the north,
| to confirm their ears. The little films of
white vapor that lay lazily along the
northern horizon they were sure were
clouds rising from a battery in action,
and ST reminded Shorty how much they
resembled the smoke from our cannon on
| the mountain side-in the advance upon
Chattanooga, just before Chickamauga.
Far to the north, and standing out in
| bold relief above the waves of mountains,
lowered a lofty dome of naked granite,
which they knew must be Stone Noun
tain. that loomed up before them when
with Sherman's army advancing upon At
lanta. This added to their excitement,
and Shorty even waxed to that pitch that
he could distinctly make out Old Glory
| fioati g from one of the shoulders of the
mountain.
DO lay down and rest. Shorty" ex-
postulated 81. You'll wear yourself plum
out, and break down just when you need
your strength most. 'Taint right. You'll
| need all your strength to help pull the
| boys through. You go lay down, and I'll
go and shin up that tall tulip tree
there, and take good survey O. the coun-
try,
ou lue dEittHltHl yOu VIII tutu
You're the one that ought to be restin'.
You're doin' more hard work than l am,
and you're not near i'll as good shape to
| stand it. Now, remember, you're not to
let me sleep more'n two hours"
From the top of the stately tulip tree.
which rose fully 80 feet above the
ground, 81 had a splendid view of the
Surrounding country. He could make out
camps in the open ground, and see thin
columns of smoke rising from where 9TH
ers We're located in the woods, and was
sure that some banks of red earth far
away to the left were breastworks and
forts. Some of those tinges of color here
and there in the hazy horizon were GER
tainly flags. Were they Union or rebel?
He would give years of his life to know.
He drank it all in, and the sight intoxi-
! Gated him so that he forgot the passage
of time SO that the afternoon was more
than half gone, when he heard Shorty
calling from the base of the tree:
Here, 81, come down and lay down,
git some rest, and let me come up there.
What do you see?'
Il think our army's layin' right over
there at the foot of Stone Mountain"
said 81, almost breathless with interest and
excitement, as he slid down the trunk, and
stood beside his partner. There's lots o
camps over there, and l thought several
times could make out our flag, and see
blue uniforms"
"NNel, go and lay down, and let me go
up and watch awhile. i kin see further'n
you, anyway" answered Shorty, with Wis
ible excitement Monty and Gid seem
much pearter'n they did at noon, and all
the boys are livelier. R1ebbe if we make
them rest and nurse themselves we kin
start out o. here tomorrow night"
Again 81 tried to lie down and go to
sleep, for he felt mortally tired from his
long perch in the tree. But the moment
he closed his eyes his ears rang with the
murmur CO distant cannonading and mus
kerry. Then he felt that he must arise,
look the boys over, and see what he could
do to make them fit to travel. Those
who could walk he took down to the
spring for another thorough bath, and he
acted on ALI Russe!rs idea Of making
poultices for their hurts of white oak
bark. He gave Monty and Gid good
washing, and was grateful to find signs of
marked improvement.
Then he busted himself breaking down
brush to make them beds for the night,
only allowing them to help moderately, in
order to reserve their strength for other
demands upon it.
Shorty did not come down till after
dark. He had waited to see the camp
fires twinkling among the trees, and so
confirm his daylight observations of the
location Of the camps. He was more ex-
cited than 81 had been, for he was sure
that he had distinguished several Union
flags in the distance, and had recognized
headquarters banner by its shape, on
one of the spurs of Stone Mountain.
ST and he went down to the road to
look for Uncle Ephraim and Aunt Miner
va Ann.
They could see no one on the road, nor
hear any sound and 81 gave as good an
imitation as he could of O cat-bird's call.