The National tribune., 1900-01-11
Entrance into the stockade at Andersonville.

tuOuBfl-DOWl, WaSn-baSin ana Stool al al
one lick" he said. Got away with it while
! was asleep. Durn thief, anyway. But
let him have it for awhile. He can't hide
it, and III just carry it for me, till | want it,
when I'll take it away. from him. l need
my hands free for awhile, anyway. may
see something else that want worse'n the
sugar-trough."
| When they were gathered on the ground
by the side of the track, Shorty saw his
trough on the head of tall Irishman a
little ways distant, and walked up to him
and said:
Here, that's ~ trough you're maxim a
hat of. You stole it from me last night"
"G'way wild ye," said the Irishman scorn-
fully. "Tain't nothing av the koind.
It's me own. Oh picked it up back there
| beyant Marietty, an've had 1t all the tonne.
G'w'off now, an get a trough aV Yer own,
| if yer want wan. Don't be thryIn' to claim
| other payple's property, or OIll Tx up yer
Oogly face fer yeZ, 50 Oh Will.
III see you later about that, said Shorty p,
walking back to his place with the other
| boys, who We're aStoniShed at the caimnesS
with which he took the barefaced robbery
| But Shorty had other ideas in mind.
Les move up toward the center Of the
line" said he to 81. Il want to shake this
crowd at the left. I'm afraid they amt
honest"
ST, knowing that his partner had some
motive, did as suggested, without asking
any questions.
Capt. Smoots was in a condition Of purple
hysteria over getting his guards arrayed
in proper shape, and securing all the prs
| oners for whom he was accountable. Hls
company was in poor condition for early
morning duty. The shock-headed boys
were mostly asleep on the tops OF the ears,
and it was the sleep OF youthful stupldltE;
which little short of an earthquake could
break. The old men were coughing.
sneezng, rubbing their aching bones, and
lifting uptheir voices in quayering lamentS.
Fer the Lawd's sake, men, do wake up
an git down an make Il string around thc
kyahs," pleaded Capt. SmootS, his unayai1-
ing anger at leagth breaking down into
whining anxiety. "Git down, quick. You
mustn't let one o these hyah Yanks git
| away. Deed You mustn't. He'll go
ragin' and ravenin' over the country, like
a plum wild hyena from a circus, burnin'
| houses, and stealin' chickens and nlggehs
and hosses, an abusn' women, and de-
stroyin' the country. Don't let one Of them
git away no more'h you would lynx.
Git down, men. for, your lives"
His frame Of mind was not improved by
the admonitiols yelled at him from Col.
Tate, who, hayiDg drunk UP all the whisky
to be found the night before, was now in a
corresponding, temper.
"!Sile Smoot5, you Coweta County bufTa-
To-" he yelled. swhat air yo' doin' thar with
that Constablf,s posse that yo' call COM
pany? Air yV hoiGfn' a vandoo. or gwlne
| ter work the roads? l.Git that thar company
o your'n inter some sort o line, even II yo.
| have ter back sem itlsp aSin rail fence ter
do hit. An do hit pouty quick, too. We
can't wait forever on them spawned ole
steers ter git the rheumatism out o their
'ints. HUSTLE around thar lively, | tell
| yO'." "
"Bill Tate" shouted back the ex.Justice,
| "yo' Jest keep yo' mouth Shet, an tend ter
| yo' business, an I'll tend ter mine. Yo'
don't know no more about military norI do,
| yo' ole niggeh-trader,- if yo' wuZ at the
| firm on Fort Sumter. Yo' look out fer
| them other companies. They're wlss
| behind nor | am. I'll have mine out afore
them. Yo' can't cuss me around as if !
w,z yo' niggeh. | won't stand hit I'm
better born, respectabler man than yo'
| ever dared be, in spite o the airs yo're
putin on"
Then the Captain turned his anger on
his own company.
"For the Lords sake, Ans Williams,
don't move them splay-feet o yo'rn, as if
| they done tuck root every time yo' set em
down. Nat Greene, don't tell me yo're nigh
dead with the rheumatics on sch brilin'
hot day as this. 'Tain't in reason. Pete
Wilierby, wake up. thar. Yo' han't got
but one eye, and don't need half as much
sleep as airy other man. Move yer stumps,
and git over thar. jim Hawks, yo' brat,
open them gooseberry eyes o yo'rn, and
shct that thar cave-hole in yer face. Ii
yo' don't, the flies ii blow yer innards.
Git over thar. Git over thar, afore all
these Yankees git away from yo', and
| lest nacherally ruin an malleroo the whole
country"
1t required nearly an hour Of vociferation
! and perspiration to get the prisoners all off
the train AMI fairly started toward the
| prison. mile away.
ST studied crcrytlfing around with the
| .. ;,t no inf.
Andersonville, of which they had heard
80 much. The country from Macon south
| had been a dreary sandy plain, growing
less inviting the farther they came. Oc-
casional shallow streams cut the plain,
meandernG slgggishly y. through wide wide
and briars. Whatever scanty richness
had been in the land had washed down
into these marshes, which looked like the
natural homes of venomous snakes and all
manner of unclean things. The timber
struck ST as the strangest of all. He had
| never seen but small stretches of such lean
and hungry soil as now seemed of inter
minahIe extent. and these stretches Were
| Hcll-covcred with Scrub-oak i'll the North,
and with cellars in Kentucky and TenneS-
| see. and where there We're no trees there
were bushes and briers. But here, as far
as the eve could reach IN any direction,
were gigantic, long-leayen pines, straight
and slender as columns, without a branch
| or knot for 60 or - feet. and then termina-
| ting in a sparse crown of scraggly limbs.
| The trees stood 80 feet apart. and in the
| intervening space was nothing but a Scanty
| Yiry grass thiuly covering the yellow
sand. There was no shrubbery, no under
| brush. no kindly little copses, as seen in
other forests; no flowers or lush grass in
| the openings No coyertS or wild fruits
| for birds or Wild animals. No nut trees
for frsking squirrels No fragrant bios
SONS for the hees. No plums, cherries.
grapes, nor luscious berries on plant vine,
or shrub. The stunted, ragged tops Of
tine tall trees gave no more shade than a
| hayrick; the parched, sterile sand as little
| nIItriment for succulent heritage as a spent
ash-heap Miserable and shiftless as had
seemed the farms and farmers in Ken
lucky and Tennessee, they were thrifty and
comfortable compared tothe esqualid shacks.
the starved fields. the hunger-smtten,
Ishambling men and women and NANCY
| animals of the Georgia pinebarrens. The
men in the mountains were the descendants
| of parents who had at least energy and
ability enough TO fight Indians and hunt
wild beasts. The south Georgia crackers
were the progeny of the paupers and out
casts transported from England, and
| then driven of the plantations when il was
found that the negroes were more valuable
| lfield-workers. They had squatted any
where and everywhere, and brought forth
their kind like the beasts of the field, but
lacked the enterprise of the wolves and
| the foxes, to migrate whittier they could
make a better living.
| An extensive clearing had been made
around the ramshackle little station at
Andersonville, on the railroad built to