The National tribune., 1903-07-23

the lightning rod with my right, and, both
appearing firm, pulled myself up on the
stonework, threw my left foot over the
railing, and what had appeared impossi-
bic was accomplished. had begun the
ascent in great excitement, but as l pro-
gressed rapidly my nerves became steady.
and l now stood above every earthly OBJ
ject, flushed with the pride Of a great
success.
Around and below me lay lovely Raleigh,
embowered in a forest of murmuring
shade. Through riffs in the leafy clouds,
increasing moonlight. Away on my right
smoldered the ruins of the burning build
ing. Farther to the southwest loomed up
a huge asylum, where dwelt the unfor-
tunates of peace, made doubly unfortunate
by war. I swept with my eyes the full
circle of the horizon and scanned as close
ly as possible every field and wood, as the
moon, just past its full, beamed fuller and
clearer upon them. But could see no
aught of war, save the occasional outbreak
of an army mule and the football of a
single sentinel on the pavement below.
l knew that somewhere behind those
quiet fields to the north and west. at some
distance beyond those glowering forests, to
me unknown, crouched the grim hero of
Bull Run and Fair Oaks, and that his Or
ders were to concentrate every available
force and drive back Sherman" And ]
knew he would do it if mortal could. I
remembered that only % days before he
had pounced on one of our columns and
how all that momentous Sunday and late
into the night we heard the roar of his
guns, while we were at Kinston, so miles
| away. This we afterward knew as the
battle of Bentonville. l had no reason to
believe he would show our column any
less attention should the opportunity Offer
| decided to go down to the room where
my men were sleeping, rouse them and
move my station to the top at once.
A DANGEROUS EXPERIMENT.
Before descending, however, desired to
explore more carefully the inside of the
circle, where my station must be located,
IN order to bring up on my return anything
needed for the convenience of the station.
So put my foot over the railing and leap
ed gently to what l supposed to be the
solid top of the dome. l heard a sudden
crash, and the top of the dome gave way
beneath my feet. l had actually jumped
into the circular glass skylight which
lighted the top of the great rotunda.
1t is wise provision of nature that
the human eye will close quicker than
powder will flash, and that the human
hand will seek means of safety without
from the stonewOrk l had my left hand on
the railing. The next instant l found my
self graspins at railing and stonework and
heard the broken glass of the skylight
ring sharply on the stone floor of the
rotunda, 100 feet below me- The next
day l found that my reckless descent had
been interferred with materially by dark
wire netting, which had suffered, first, to
prevent my seeing the window sash and
Tn talt
weight until could lay hold of something
more solid. l did not, however, stop then
to take any more observations, but pulled
myself back to the stonework, drew a
long breath, and slid down the lightning
rod from my lofty perch to the stone be-
low. Here / took an account of stock.
found myself about as before the ascent.
plus a,terrible fright, a lacerated wrist,
and. on the Gext day, lame shoulder.
Having failed to establish my station
on the dome, l had to content myself with
adhering to the spirit of my orders as
nearly as possible. / therefore instructed
the lookout to walk around the dome every
quarter Of IN hour, and to wake me if
anything unusual happened. then lay
down on the roof to sleep.
BY daylight the next morning Higgins
(the ingenious man Of my detachment) had
made n raid on diiapidated fence for
boards. He tied the horses halters to-
gether for rope, and before breakfast
We had platform over the broken sky
light. Then we drew up our "signal kit
and tied our station flag to the lightning
rod, as notice to the world that we were
ready for business.
WATCHING THE CONCENTRATION OF sHER-
MANS ARMIES.
And we were not minute too soon, for
while regulating the focus of my glass the
lookout pointed me to n little flag wav-
ing at lively rate. "11-5" I shouted, and
the fagman waved in q twinkling my nod
Of recognition. And who do you think