The National tribune., 1901-12-12

You have? We'll, the sight Of it Is
certn'y good fer sore eyes"
Can l reach Lees Mil before darky'
l asked.
well, 1 reckin you kin, eff you walk
fast enough" she said; anyhow, you kin
git to the camp on this side"
well, good day, ma am; l wish you
WE'LL" said 1.
"Good-by, Mister" she said.
l had already opened the gate when |
heard her come to the door: she raised
her voice little. and said: -,
When you git to the big road, you Ii
be in a mile O. the mill"
So long as | was in sight Of the house
kept in the road, but. as soon as l got
through the clearing, | struck oil TO the
'cht through the woods. / was seeking
some hiding place where | could eat and
sleep.
When. early in the morning, had seen
the pickets retire from the post near
Warwick | had thought that the rebels
were all withdrawing to their main INES
this thought had received some corropora-
ton from the firing heard in my rear later
i'll the day; | had believed the Union
troops advancing behind me; but after
ward l had seen other rebels at the
woman's house, and | now doubted what
had before believed: Besides II was
clear from the woman's words that there
was n rebel post this side of Lees MIL,
and / was yet i'll danger.
The woods were dense. Soon | saw be
fore me a large road running west, the
big road of which the woman had spoken,
no doubt. / crept mp to it, and seeing no
one in either direction, ran across IT, anu
into the woods beyond. l went for hait
n mile or more, in n southwest course,
ard found spot where ! Thought | could
spend the night in safety. For fear OF
being detected | dug n hole with my knife
III the earth, and piled the loose earth
around the hole; then | lighted fre OF
dry sticks at the bottom. Night mad not
yet come, but it was very gloomy IN TINS
dense thickct surrounded by WOODS;
had little fear that any reflection or smoke
would bctray me, for the thicket was I'M
pCnctrable to the view of anyone VINO
should not come within two rods.
hroiled NV bacon and toasted my bread,
and though l Jared very well, yet after
eating ! wanted water and chose TO re-
main thirsty rather than in the darkness
to search for spring or stream Ill the
woods.
| ouenched the fire with the loose
earth; | raked up leaves with my hands
and made a bed | had no covering, but
the night was not cold, threatening ram,
and the thicket sheltered me from the
wind. =,
some time in the night / woke to find
that | had dreamed of lying in noun,
tain brook with my mouth up stream and
the water running through my whole
body. My mouth was parchcd. must
have water at any risk.
| set out in | know not what dIrecaon
| had pnt the remains of my supper INTO
my coat pocket, for my Judgment told me
that in all likelihood l could never return
to the spot | was leaving.
Before | had been walking 10 minutes,
T tLn+ I SInplntplV lost. | went
through thickcts and briers, over logs and
gulIics, round and round, | suspect, for
hour in and hour out. until just before
day ] saw the reflection of hre through
the woods, and at the same time almost
fell into a small pool. 1t was the refiec-
ton of the light by the pool which at once
showed me the water and saved me from
finding it with n sense other than sight.
| drank and drank again; then l won
dered what the fire meant. Although 1t
seemed far off, | was afraid of 1t; likely
enough it was some rebel campfire; l
had no idea whittier l had wandered.
turned my back on the light, and walked
until | could see it no more; then |
stretched myself under a tree, but could
not sleep. Day was coming.
After while it began to rain, and |
had a most uncomfortable time of it. 1t
required considerable effort of will on my
part to determine to move, for L did not
know which way to start. L set out,
however, and had gone short distance,
when | noticed the green moss at the
root of q large tree, and | remembered
that | had read in stories of Indians and
hunters that such moss always grows on
the north side of the trees. So l then
turned westward. for l knew that | had
crossed no road in my wanderings of the
night, and | also knew that the main
road from Warwick Court House to Lees
Mill was at the west. a little at my left
| saw a great tree with slOplnS trunk,
and | went to it for shelter; it was rain
ing harder. when l reached the tree L
saw n read Just beyond. | sat under the
tree, the inclined trunk giving me shelter
from the rain and hiding me from the
rCad While eating the remains of my
supper, | heard the tramp of horses, and
looking out cautiously, saw a company of
rebel cavalry going northward at trot.
At the same time | could distinctly hear
skirmish firing behind me, nOt half Il
mile of, seemingly. The rain still fell
and | held my place.
All at once | saw two men i'll the road,
they were Union sOldiers-infantry-
SkirmisherS.
Before | could speak to them 1 was
aware of the fact that an advancing line
of our skirmishers was on either side of
me.
Hello, hcre!'' cried one of them; 'who
are yOu:'
Keep your place in line, Private
Lewis" said an officer, coming up. III
attend to that man."
'Privates Jones and George, halt
Skirmishers. fill intervals to the right!'
Two men came to the Lieutenant.
"Who are you, sir!' asked the Lieu
tenant.
Private Berwick, 18th Mass" said l.
"Do you know anything Of the enemy?
Speak quick"
'They are this side of Lees Mill, Lieu
tenant, but l got lost in the night, and
don't even know where | am now.
About 90 of their cavalry went by 1O
minutes ago"
The line went on in the rain.
The Lieutenant placed me in charge of
the two men, ordering them to take me
at once to the rear, and to report to Gen.
Davidson. | have never learned the name
of that Lieutenant; he had some good
qualities.
Meanwhile sharp skirmish was going
on i'll front, and our line did not seem to
advance. A section of artillery dashed
by. l began to understand that, if | had
gone on few hundred yards, | should
have run upon the enemy in force.
i was brought before Gen. Davidson.
He was on horse, at the head of his bri-
gade. He asked me my name.
Jones Berwick, General" said l.
"What is your business"
81 am private, sir, in the 1lth Mass
He smiled at this; then he asked me,
still smiling, Where is your regimentT
1T is i'll camp below Washington, Cen
\ had q