Semi-weekly Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1897-1901, 1901-08-02

arm within As hours you'll be In dan
ger Of your life. Keep quiet, and you'll
come out all right"
81 must go on at once, DOCTOR
You'll go part way as corpse If
you do"
The old lady declared that l should
not stir out Of the house till the doctor
gave the word, the old gentleman bade
me welcome as long as needed TO stay,
the young lady who had brought me
there said nothing. while the boy look
ed rs II to lose subject so fruitful of
interest would break his heart.
"Ill send young associate of mine,'
said the doctor. IF the wound opens.
you must have attention at once"
.'Thsnk you, doctor. There seems to
be a great deal of commotion about
very small matter. l don't care to put
SO many people to so much trouble"
No one paid any attention to my pro-
test, all busying themselves to make
me comfortable. Pillows were laid be-
meath my head. a silk quilt was thrown
over me, and a stand with silver bell
On it was placed beside me that might
ring for anything | wanted. All being
satisfactorily arranged, the doctor or
dered eyerysody out of the room ana
then departed himself.
What singular transition! Half IN
hour before | had left Huntsville
beautiful Huntsville, nesting among
the hills that slope away from the
Cumberland plateau-and was working
my way northward toward Fayette-
vile, Tenn. The plants in the yards
beside the road were putting forth
their buds, the leaves on the trees were
opening, insects were awakening, birds
sincing-all revived by the rays of the
vernal sun.
| permitted my horse to drop into
walk. A pleasant languor stole over
me. replacing bitter mental turbu-
lence which had been ever present with
me for months. Perhaps 1t was the
genial warmth, the balmy air; perhaps
an absence of war scenes with when
had long been familiar; perhaps both.
At any rate. l watched the sun glisten
on the dewdrops. felt its rays warm nv
shoulders, ard listened to the singing
of the birds with consciousness that.
after all. sometimes it is pleasant to
live.
Then came an unaccountable sinking
1t nav have been something in the
restfulness. the security | had felt in
congruous with pestilent war; just as
amid the luxurious foliage OF the trop-
les one feels that behind every leaf ana
flower turks invisible fever. Suddenly
the shots rang out; then came my reply
70 the girl standing beside me looking
Mt the dead bushwhacker; then my
entry into the house, and now | was
living on n comfortable lounge an OBJ
iect of tender solcitude on the part or
people who. from being strangers, had
suddenly become very dear friends.
But suppose they knew me-that
was a renegade. traitor to the SOUTH
There was no name harsh enough
among Confederates for those OF their
own people who were not with thein'
and all wGo were not with them were
against them, and doubtless these new
found friends We're all Confederate
svmnathizers. The bushwhacher could
tell no tales. l was thankful FOR that
for he had known me well. The
thought of him took me back to that
night Of horrors. l was again at the
head of those Tennessee Union.sts en-
deavoring to lead them to haven or
safety. We were near the Cumberland
gap. One more day and we should De
at Camp Dick Robinson, where we
should find Federal troops. Then the
attack. BY the flashing OF guns
could see their faces. and here ana
there recognize a neighbor-men beside
whom l had lived for years. and whom
civil war had converted into hends.
One by one I saw my friends shot
down. There was one dcarer to me
than all besides. Through the dark
ness. guided by the flashes ana the
sound of my voice, she darted to me,
and found refuge in my arms.
Then that sudden dash of Confeder.
ate cavalry. l felt the figure hein
culver and slip through my arms. l
moaned and kissed the white lips; then,
like lightning, the wild beast jumped
within me. looked up to see VINO had
done this last. this browning atrocity'
A Confederate officer sat on bis horse
staring at me, in his hand smoking
pistol. A sudden collapse, and knew
that | was hit This is all l rsInem-
hpred of the massacre.
How l gloated in my revenge! nc
homes of men who had committed
those murders were burning. and had
applied the torch. Their barns. grain
everything theypossessed-passedaway
in black spark spangled clouds, which
shot upward as if to carry vengeance
to the very heavens. These men mao
made my life a waste; had made
theirs he'll.
| There was one l had not yet pun
! ished. one whose punishment l longed
! for more than all the rest-the Confed
crate officer with the smoking pls'oi
! I sought for him without success linen
I tried to forget him. but whenever
remembered that beloved figure fee
| ing 10 me for protection, that tremor
/ that sinking away before the blight oil
death. / would start again on my long
/ hunt. / joined the army, thinking tn''