The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1902-06-13
Captain p. A. mitchell,
Author OF "Chattanooea.s s.Chick amaug~.s Etc.
y Harper q Brothers.

"Tn send young associate OF mine."
said the doctor. IN 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 matter. i don't care to put so
many people to so much trouble"
No one paid any attention 10 my pro-
test all busying themselves to make me
comfortable. Pillows were laid beneath
my head. a silk quilt was thrown over me,
and a stand with a silver bell on II was
placed beside me that I might ring for
anything I wanted. All being satisfactor-
4 lily arranged. the doctor ordered every
| body out OF the room and then departed
| himself.
What singular transitioni Half an
| hour before l had left Huntsville-beauti-
| fu Huntsville. nesting among the hills
that slope away from the Cumberland pla-
| teau-and was working my way north
| ward toward Fayetteville, Tenn. The
| plants I'm the yards beside the road were
putting forth their buds the leaves on
the trees were opening. insects were
awakening. birds snging-all revived by
the rays OF the vernal sun.
1 permitted my horse to drop into
walk. A pleasant languor stole over me,
replacing bitter mental turbulence
| which had been ever present with me for
months. Perhaps II was the genial
warmth. the balmy air; perhaps an ABB
long been familiar; perhaps both. At any
rate. ] watched the sun glisten on the
dewdrops, felt its rays warm my should
ers. and listened 10 the singing Qf the
birds with consciousness that after all,
some times IL Is pleasant TO live.
Then came an unaccountable sinking.
Ii may have been something In the
restfulness, the security 1 had felt in
congruous with pestilent war: just as
amid the luxurious foliage OF the tropics
one feels that behind every leaf and
flower turks invisible fever. Suddenly the
shots rang out: then came my reply
10 the girl standing beside me looking
at the dead bushwhacker; then my entry
into the house, and now I was lying on
a comfortable lounge an object 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. traitor 70 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 sympa-
thizers. The bushwhacker could tell no
tales. / was thankful for that for he had
known me well. The thought of him took
me back TO that night OF horrors. I was
Unionists endeavorins TO lead them 10 a
haven Of safety. We were near the Cum
berland gap. One more day and We
should he at Camp Dick Robinson, where
we should find Federal troops. Then
the attack. BY the flashing of guns i
could see their faces. and here and there
recognize a neighbor4-men beside whom /
had lived for years, and whom civil war
had converted into fends. One by one
/ saw my friends shot down. There was
one dearer TO me than all besides.
Through the darkness. guided by the
flashes and the sound of my voice, she
darted TO me, and found refuge in my
arms.
Then that sudden dash of Confederate
cavalry. / felt the figure i held culver
and slip through my arms. l moaned
and kissed the white lips: then, like
lightning the wild beast jumped within
me / looked up 10 see who had done this
last. this crowning atrocity A Confed-
crate officer sat on his horse staring at
me. in his hand smoking pistol. A
sudden collapse. and knew that l was
hit. This is all / remember OF the mas
sacre.
How I gloated in my revenge The
homes OF men who had committed those
murders were burning. and had applied
the torch. Their barns, grain--everything
they possessed-passed away in black
spark spangled clouds, which shot upward
as II 10 carry vengeance 10 the very heav-
ems These men had made my life a
waste: had made theirs hell.
There was one had not yet punished.
one whose punishment / longed for more
than all the rest-the Confederate officer
with the smoking pistol l sought for
him without success. Then I tried TO
forget him, but whenever 1 remembered
that beloved figure fleeing 10 me for pro-
lection that tremor, that sinking away
before the blight OF death, l would start
again on my long hunt / joined, the
army, thinking that wars greater, horrors
might for time enable me to forget my
feud. All went well till | heard of him.
lie was at Huntsville. / burned 10 reach
him. Our general was casting covetous
eyes on northern Alabama. l begged him
TO let me go down and bring back re-
port OF the country. the railroads, It's
rolling stock machine shops bridges,
everything-a knowledge of which would
assist In Its capture
But this low cur who had tried TO kill
me-he was at the massacre. With my
own hand ! had applied fire TO his mis-
cradle hut. How had he known that l
was I'm Alabama? Had he heard OF me
| during my stay at Huntsville? IL had
been brief. for as soon as l reached the
| town I learned that my enemy was not
| tnere anu oisdppplpNtus my idNt
northward. Or had the bushwhacker met
| me by chance? / did not know. l do
| not know now. or one thing / was GER
| tain-he was one OF my old enemies. and
| they would hunt me like hare.
| lay for hours unwillingly turning over
| these war horrors as II they were n wheel
| on which I was obliged TO tread No one
| came into the room. and / called no one.
| Doubtless they wished me TO be quiet. I
was weak and tired--tired In mind. tired
| I'm body, tired OF existence. II could
only find him. the world might vanish for
| all me
| I fell into troubled slumber. and when
| awoke | saw standing In the doorway
| n girl Of eight or nine years--a frail. blue
| eyed little thing. with her hair cut square
| about her neck and held by a SEMI
circular comb. She was gazing at
me intently, as children In fairy tales
stand on tiptoe and look at the sleeping
| ogre who is intending 10 eat them for
| supper.
Come In" said. encouragingly.
| She shrank back Bet. though she
| seemed TO dread me. she could not keep
away from me Without for "a moment