St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1904-02-10
Scorer
Ser,1,ice Girl
forigina1.l

fOrigina11
A few years after the close Of the
civil war I visited my comrade, Cap
tain Collins. He had been married,
while had remained bachelor. While
waiting for dinner we talked over old
times
women are the worst enemies we
have to meet in war; said. sIf I
were general, I'd have a corps of wo-
men to defeat the schemes of women of
the opposite side. Men are no match
for Them
.'Kinsey," Collins protested, ''you were
always a woman hater. The stories of
how southern women carried informa-
ton are all rubbish. never saw nor
heard of any of it. I. married a south
ern girl
81 experienced it, went on. cit
was in the early summer Of 1862. l
was then a second lieutenant of cavaI-
~ and on duty at Pulaski, Tenn, with
picket guard on one Of the turnpikes
leading northward. We were stationed
some five miles out of town on crest,
SO that I could look either back to town
or up the pike. OF course I had orders
to let no one go through, except those
who had passes. Well, one morning,
looking back to Pulaski, saw a wag-
on coming loaded with furniture, and
when it reached me I noticed that q
woman, a very pretty young woman,
was driving it. The major was in COM
mand of that part of the picket line
and happened to be at our post at the
time.
I'm going no'th,' said the lady. I'm
tired of this war country. I'm Moth
n woman anyway, and I'm going to
join my friends in Ohio
g Let me see your pass said the ma
jor.
"sHaven't any pass; didn't know I'd
have to get one.'
g You can't go on without pass
s.I was standing directly behind the
major, and the woman was looking
right over him to me. She was little
more than girl, and I sympathized
with her. didn't see any reason why
ten miles should be added to the jour-
ney of northern woman trying to get
out of the south. gave her the wink
and, suddenly pushing forward, threw
my arms around her neck and kissed
her, eXclaiming:
"'Why, Alice, who would ever have
thought Of meeting you here?
sShe twigged at once and received my
caress without making any fuss. Then
I turned and introduced my cousin, Al
ice Warfed. This fixed matters. The
major not only passed her through, but
gave me permission to accompany her
some distance up the pike [ rode by
her, she thanking me with the sweetest
of words and the most honeyed smiles
for saving her the trouble of going
back for her pass. I asked her at what
point in Ohio. her people lived, but she
said she'd never been there herself and
didn't seem to know much about it.
She explained this by saying that she'd
lived in the south ever since she was
ten years old.
3sWell, we were riding through wood
when I heard a Gathering Of the hoofs
of many horses. We become accustom-
ed to noticing small things in war, and
I couldn't understand how the coming
cavalry-for such it must be-made no
din of sabers. Our men always wore
sabers, but the southerners didn't. Sud-
denly 1 saw between the trees a Con-
federate flag coming. I was about to
turn when the girl in the wagon whip
ped out revolver and called on me to
throw up my hands. 1 was too late
anyway, for the corners were right on
me, so obeyed her order
''When the troopers came up, it turned
out that General John Morgan, the Gel
ebrated Confederate partisan leader,
was in command. He took off his hat
to the girl in the wagon, with whom
he was evidently well acquainted.
For heavens sake he exclaimed,
what are you doing with all that fur
nitureY
ssThe girl laughed. I tried hard to
get a pass to come out to meet you, but
the Yanks were too smart for me, so l
played the northern woman trying to
go home. This gentleman helped me
through by owning me for his cousin.
But, general, there's a Yankee wagon
train at Pulaski, and I've taken all
this trouble to come out and tell you.
There's a small guard, and you can
easily capture the whole kit
General I said, take me south,
please, somewhere, anywhere, where
I'll not see my comrades again. I'd
rather go to Libby than meet one of
'em.'
1.-THE general laughed, but I was
obliged to go with him back to Pulaski.
The girl left her household effects in
farmyard on the road and, mounting
horse, rode back with US, guying me
pleasantly all the way.
'.That was the way John Morgan
came to know of the wagon train being
at Pulaski. He drove off the guard and
after helping himself to what supplies
he wanted burned the rest
"By Jove.' exclaimed Collins. "She
waS a nI11cIu girl ruaSn.f she q,