Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-03-07
DAILY St1OkI SrOkr
In the Darkness.
lnvright. lis. low 9. B. Lewis. ]

attack of nerves" now and then, even
up to the colonies, but as for being
downright scared 1 had a couple OF
experiences l will tell you about. II
hadn't been alone ut the time
should have probably been drummed
out of the army for cowardice. There
was one thing l dreaded more than q
battle, and that was standing on picket
alone at night.
On the night 1 have in mind l was
stationed about twenty rods north of a
log cabin occupied by a farmers fam
lily, and the Confederate picket was
supposed to he about the same dis
lance on the other side. l was not on
the highway. but in a fringe of bushes
along one line of an old field. 1t was
darkish night in autumn, with a
breeze kicking up a shindy all around,
and when 1 was told to fall out At
Post No. 6 and keep my eyes and ears
open got homesick at once.
The first thing l did was to move
along the fringe about thirty feet and
then lie fat down. l could see out
across the field in the direction of the
house and the Confederate picket,
though but dimly. There was no light
in the house, and no sounds came
from it.
l hadn't been on post thirty minutes
when l had a regular attack of
nerves" l didn't realize it until
found myself chatterinS and trembling
and half crying. and then got up and
kicked myself and did some tall swear
10 %
break the spell or bolt, and there was
Il hard fight before l got the better of
my nerves. l was feeling much easier
and was thinking of going back to the
spot where | was first posted when
suddenly caught 4 sound which jump
ed my heart into my mouth and shook
me from head to foot with chill.
1 saw figure and knew that some
one had stood within arms length Of
me. but had my life depended on it
could not have raised a finger. choked
up and gasped for breath, and it seem
ed as if l waited for hours to be at
tackled. 1t slowly dawned upon me as
1 waited for a blow that it was n wO-
mans figure, and after making half a
dozen efforts to do so l managed to
dSh W III w as l1lGIe W MT was
wanted.
1t was we'll for that woman-for
woman it was-that l was unnerved
by my fears. There was q spring
within Il few feet CO me, though had
not been told of it, and she had come
down from the house for water for
one of her sick children. She did not
know the exact location of the post,
and instead of making her presence
known and escaping all peril she had
come silently along and escaped death
simply because l was unnerved.
When l came to discover who it was
in front of me 1 was that weak that
l had to sit down on the ground, and
the woman went back TO the house
trembling in every limb. l never.
should have got over the remorse of
it if 1 had shot her down in the dark
ness. nor could 1 have hoped that her
children would ever have forgiven me.
At another time, about a year later,
had q post in an old cotton field. 1t
wasn't open ground as much as it was
bushes, and along the south front of
1t was fallen tree. Here was the
post, and crOuched down behind the
tree, with my head just above it, l
could scan the ground between the
COnfederates and my burrow.
After l had been on post about half
an hour the night thickened up with
Il sort of mist until 1 could not have
seen a man ten feet away. Then 1
rose up and took seat on the log and
lighted my pipe, and had worn away
an hour of my time when my heart
suddenly gave a jump and 1 began to
tremble
l had neither seen nor heard any
thing to alarm me. and l couldn't make
out why should be knocked over that
way all at once. 1 didn't stop there
very long TO think the matter over,
however. On the contrary, l slipped
backward off the log into Il tangle of
bushes and briers, and there l meant
to remain until l heard the tramp of
the relief. Lee might be advancing
with his whole army to make an at
tack. but 1 wasn't going to leave my
shelter to try and drive him back.
Nerves? You may be certain that 1
had 'em. l trembled like n leaf, and
I'm telling you that 1 had to hold on to
my chin to stop the clicking of my
teeth. l wouldn't run away, but in
stinct told me that l was in deadly
peril, and the fact that could neither
see nor hear it made matters far worse
for me.
Without fully realizing what l was
doing got my musket around and rest
ed the barrel on the log and made ready
to fire.
1 sat there looking over the log, but
not able TO see five feet into the mist,
when something slowly rose up be-
tween me and the sky. 1 didn't say
10 myself that l would fire. l didn't
even know that l had fired until / got
The kick and the report of the musket.
The sound somehow broke the spell, |
and 1 was on my feet and feeling i
great deal drawer when the corporal or
he guard came running out 10 see
4