Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1902-07-24
~ JOHN HABBERTON,

side of the stream, but Brainard re
minded us that the deer would do us
no good unless we could cross the
stream to get him.
SO on we tramped. 1t was as good
as an excursion. We continued to be
reminded of old times at home. In one
place were the remains of a toy boat
such as each of us had Whitfield from
sticks in other days. Then we came
upon path which cattle and pigs had
made in tramping to the river to drink.
A little farther along was little dock,
such as northern farmers with water
fronts generally have. All of these dis
coveries had no suggestion of war
about them, and we all agreed with
Brainard when he said:
Il feel as if | weren't down south at
all"
Suddenly my heart bounded with joy,
and | shouted "Hurrahr' for through
screen of bushes | saw the side of
boat 1t was only Il skiff, made of
about four boards, but hadn't just such
n boat often been as good as | wanted
stant and murmured a chorus of de-
light The oars We're in it instead of
being hidden a little way off, as they
would have been had the owner been n
northerner, and it seemed in as good
order as if recently used.
"The captain ought to make you n
sergeant for this, Frost" said one of
the boys.
Flat bottomed skiffs make up in
weight what they lack in grace, so we
! laid our carbincs in heap and began
to lift and drag. The boat was fully
/ 80 feet from the waters edge, so we
| had Il great lot of tugging and shout
! ing of Now "All togetherw Again"
etc, before we reached the water. At
/ last however. we got it where single
shove would place it afloat; then we
Strengthened our backs and took anoth-
er admiring look, while one of the boys
became ecStatic enough to spring in,
seat himself. snatch the oars and go
through the motions of rowing.
"Don't fergit to take yer guns with
ye," said Il voice which none or US
] TeCOSlllLtu. w = lODhCu dIOullh
ly, and there, kneeling right by our
carbines, were three Johnnies, each
with his own gun at the position of
aim. And two of those three awful
guns were double barreled!
This was something that none of us
had looked forward to. With one ac-
/ cord, however, we began to look for
ward to Libby prison.
Don't ye know it's sin to steal
( skifts?" asked one of the Johnnies, still
keeping his piece ut the aim. never
saw so unpleasant looking n weapon
in my life two great, yawning, dismal
holes that ended in utter darkness and
! behind them two hammers within an
! inch or two of which glttcred bright
red percussion caps. | never again
wanted to contemplate any kind Of a
! gun from that point of view. And how
| eyerlastingly- seemed at least thou
sand hourS-that fellow held his gun in
that one positioni
"Wc were not stealing the skiff," said
! Brainard after the silence had become
almost maddcning; eve were merely
appropriating it, according to the Gus
| toms of war as recognized in all coun-
! tries"
! 'Properatin', eh?" replied the man,
relaxing his aim, though his comrades
neglected to follow his praiseworthy
example. "Wcll, 'cordn' to the Gus
toms of nations Wen 'properate you.
! Come up herc-one ut a time"
| Nobody moved.
"D'you hyah me" shouted the John
ny.
Eyes, sir" said | politely as step
| ped forward.
Gimme yer belt" said he. l obeyed,
and he bound my arms behind my back