Mower County transcript., 1901-08-28

stitching and then carefully bahdaged
the wound. : W.. + &t
There" be said, If you move that
arm within 48 hours you'll be in dan
ger Of your life. Keep quiet, and you'll
come out all right 4. 7, SS3 S.:..
II must go on at once, DOCTOR
"You'll go part way as a corpse If
you do" e@ss.#' =, .:-':~ = ''--:.;
The old lady declared that l should
not stir cut 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 as if 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"
'"Thank you, doctor. There seems to
be a great deal of commotion about a
very small mattet. 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 stand with silver bell
on it was placed beside me that might
ring for anything 1 wanted. All being
satisfactorily arranged. the doctor or
dered everybody out of the room and
then departed himself. -
| What singular transition! Half an
hour before I 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 we're awakening, birds
singing-all revived by the rays Of the
! vernal sum-.
II permitted my horse to drop into a
walk. A, pleasant languor stole over
me, replacing bitter mental tnrbu-
lence which had been ever present with
me for months. Perhaps it was the
genial warmth, the balmy air; perhaps
an absence of war scenes with which
l had long been familiar; perhaps both.
At any rate, Ilwatched the sun glisten
on the dewdrops, felt it's rays warm my
shoulders, and listened to the singing
of the birds with a Consciousness that,
after all, sometimes it is pleasant to
live. y.>o.~..
Then came an unaccountable sinking.
1t may have been something in the
restfulness, the security I had felt, in
congruous with pestilent war; just as
amid the luxurious foliage Of the trop-
les one feels that behind every leaf and
flower turks invisible fever. Suddenly
the shots rang out; then came my reply
to the girl standing beside me looking
at the dead bushwhacker; then my
entry into the house, and now I was
lying on comfortable lounge an OBJ
ject of tender solicitude on the part Of
people who, from being strangers, had
suddenly become very dear friends.
But suppose they knew me-that
was renegade. a traitor to the south.
There was no name harsh enough
among Confederates for those of their
own people who were not with them,
and all who were not with them were
against them, and doubtless these new
found friends were all Confederate
sympathizers. The bushwhacker could
tell no tales. Twas thankful for that,
for he had known me well. The
thought of him took me back to that
| night Of horrors. I was again at the
head Of those Tennessee Unionists en-
deavoring to lead them to a haven Of
safety. We were near the Cumberland
gap. One more day and we should be
at Camp Dick, Robinson, where we
should find Federal troops. Then the
attack. BY the. flashing of guns
could see their faces, and here and
there recognize a neighbor-men beside
whom T. had lived for years, and whom
civil war had converted into fiends.
One by one I saw my friends shot
down. There was one dearer to me
than all besides. Through the dark
ness, guided by the flashes and the
sound of my voice, she darted to me,
and found refuge in my arms. r
Then that sudden dash Of Confeder-
dl0 NdfdAys I.4SAI ~lAC ASuAC - ACAu
quiver and slip through my arms. Fl
moaned and kissed the White lips; then,
like lightning, the wild beast jumped
within me. looked up to see who had
done this last, this crowning atrocity.
A Confed derate officer sat on his horse
staring at me, in his hand a smoking
pistol. "a sudd den collapse. and | knew
+ thar was hit This is all l remem-
beredE Of the massacre. #@ Ess ,5&.s
How I gloated in my revenge! The
homes Of men who had committed
those murders were burning, ana had
1applied the torch. Their barns. grain
every thing they possessed passed away
1 I'm black spark spangled clouds, which
shot upward as ~ e to carry vengeance
4 to the#yery heavens. IN These men had
4 made my life { . waste; 4 had: made
theirs a he'll. Il. Il;
There was one sI had not vet pun
4sished. one whose punishment I longed
#% #% for more than al the rest the Confed7
u crate officer with the smoking pistol.