The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1904-06-18
IN THE TREE.

~ way on under sunny SKY was
squalid hut on hillside. Ther'
were orange trees around the hui
and in the distance were Ions
stretches of vineyards, where mer
and women once sang as they work
ed.
Now the women were working
alone save for the presence of a few
half grown youths and crippled old
men.
i And the women did not sing as
| they worked. They wept sometimes
but more often they looked silently
and wonderingly off into the west,
| where the sky line was broken by
| the crumbling bastions of a ruined
lcastle.
X Off beyond the castle was the sea
not what. Strange lands where men
and youths went to come back no
more.
This was the picture that came
to the mind of the man in the tree.
But one cannot sit with a cramp-
ed leg and dream of distant things
for long. So the man in the tree
moved and the picture under the
sunny sky gave place to another,
which was more immediate and more
distinct
Spreading out before hm and url-
| derneath was a wooded valley with
a hill beyond. Down into this val
ley a hundred yards to the right
dipped trail.
| Yesterday it had been mere mule
path half closed by underbrush, but
now it was clearly defined. The
bushes had been broken off, bent
over and pushed aside, while the
tramp of many feet had ground to
powder the weeds and grass.
At a distance of perhaps half a
mile beyond and below him the trail
traversed an open space. AS he
looked at this opening in the screen
of green he saw figures crossing it
They stood out sharp and distinct
in the bright sunlight, They were
men with guns. Few of them wore
coats. Many of them were bare
from the waist up. Their faces were
dark, almost black at that distance.
but their chests were white. What
fine targets they made, those white
chests!
The man in the tree picked up the
slim barreled rifle which had been
resting across his bent knees. He
raised the sight slide and squinted
through it until he could see the
steel pick at the end of the barrel
outlined against the white flesh in
the sunlighted gap of the trail.
A little tongue of flame darted
from the muzzle of the rifle. One
of the figures in the green frame
stumbled and fell.
I Iy and patted the stock of his rifle.
Still the men with guns streamed
along the trail. Aha! They are
running. They will soon begin tc
run the other way. Just wait until
the trenches get the range. A white
back makes as fine a target as q
white chest.
But hour after hour passed and
the human current did not ebb.
Were they hours or only minutes
What was happening up on the hill
side? The man in the tree turned
to see.
Far UP behind him on the crest
was square hut, with a thatched
roof. 1t looked like a dovecot, but
it was not. 1t was a blockhouse
What was taking place there he
could only guess. He saw an If.
regular line of dark figures scramb.
ling UP the hill, some Of them fall
ing to rise no more. Why did no
the rest go back? Now they swarm.
ed about the building. How theil
guns smoked!
"Caraiop The red and yellow
| flag is down.
Then the man in the tree saw hi!
fate. These half naked pigs wht
fought like devils, they would no
be driven back. He was cut off. TX
the right, to the left, in front, be
hind-they were there, these met
with guns who fired and ran for
ward, and fired and ran forwar(
again.
The picture of the faraway hut OF
the hillside, the women and the vine
yards came once more, and the mai
| in the tree bowed his head and wept
1t passed. He looked again dow
the hillside. Not alone on the trail
but in many other places the figure
moved now.
The man in the tree tightened tn
strap which passed under his arm
and around the tree. He fitted tn
rifle stock to his shoulder and peere'
out under the leaves. There was
big fellow with something red sew
ed to his shirt sleeve. Probably a
officer. S-r-r-r! That must hav
gone too high. S-r-r-r! Just lii
tie to the left. S-r-r-r That wen
true. He's down. Very busy wa
the man in the tree.
Not too busy, however, to not
the approach of little squad of me
who stopped and looked UP into tn
trees and now and then fired into tn
dense foliage of the branches.
The man in the tree laid his riff
carefully across his knees and reach
ed into the leaves above him. II
brought down a gourd water bottl
held it to his ear and shook it. Fror
the pocket of his blue and white Co
; ton blouse he fished out a piece {
dry black bread. His meal ende'
he threw the empty gourd from hi
; and began to count the cartrlde
clips remaining in his hat.
"Uno, dos, tres, quarto-Christi
Only 20 more shots, and then
why, then the war would be at a
end for the man in the tree. 1t r.