The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1905-04-27

talk? searched myself for something
to write on, and wondered where my
pockets were, forgetting l had
changed clothes and was now a
Seventh Georgia rebel What was tc
be done? Every moment lost might
help to the destruction of our army.
All l could think of was, no pen, no
ink, no pencil, no paper. even tried
to write on the ground, and laughed to
think 1 could not carry the earth with
me. l grew desperate. but all at once
everything became as plain as day. /
took out my knife, cut off the top OF
my shoe, and with the sharp point
wrote the following:
Don't muv 2dc rebs will atac sentr
muv to rit is bluff hurd um sa so with
oun mouth
felt better then. ] put my knife
back, examined my revolver, and
made for the picket line. l passed
short distance to the right. of the
sentinel, near enough to see others ly1
ing on the ground don't think he
made quick she and the other two
sprang to their feet. 1t was at short
range, and l turned far enough to fire
and fired three shots, with what eff
feet l could not tell, and then struck
out for dear life and our lines. The
other posts, on right and left, opened
up, and the race commenced in good
earnest. l strained every muscle and
sinew in me. Then 1 saw a fash from
our guns, and knew that our men had
seen me.
l tried to call: "Here comes your
dispatchv The squad that met me
were from the First Minnesota, and
they always made quick work Of ev-
erything, for they were expert rifle
shots. The race was over L stumbled
and fell time or two. but held fast
to my dispatch, and when the boys
met me 1 was nearly all in. One of
them said: 1T is Johnny" Another
said: "Pick him up and run; they are
getting battery into position" Sure
enough, they were. for the next in
slant, crash. came q shell, and then
they did hustle. | wasn't worried in
the least, for 1 said to myself: They
can't hit dispatch" | kept saying,
"Gibbon," and the officer in charge
ordered four of his men to carry me
to division headquarters. l was tenn
porarily paralyzed. 1 could not use
my hands nor speak; but l could hear
and see as we'll as ever. While they
were making out my writings
thought: You are awful poor schol-
ars If you can't tell what m-u-v spellsv
Everything was topsy-turvy. One aid
was sent for Hancock, another for a
doctor, and the old scratch was to pay.
When the doctor came he looked me
over and said: He will be out of
this very soon." He ordered me
stripped and rubbed with spirits,
forced a dose of something down my
throat, and 1 soon began to realize
where 1 was. Hancock came and
could make out the dispatch off-hand.
1 thought to myself: THAT man knows
something" He said: Hurry up, doc
tor, and get him talking as soon as
possible; this is important" / tried
TO use my talking machinery, and
did make noise, and the doctor said:
HE is coming around fast now" The
next moment my head seemed to be
on fire, and then my feet took me in
the same way. / yelled like a Co
manchie Indian, and for a few mo-
ments l kept the whole squad busy.
The doctor continued to treat me. and
after some time he inquired: How
do you feel now?" 1 said: "All right"
HE can talk now, but go slow until
he gets started" he said. asked the
doctor if l was stabbed; he said no,
and then l told where l had been. de-
scribed the fellows 1 had seen, gave
their conversation to each other about
forcing our center and about the State
militia; how they would make as if
they were trying to turn our right,
and then charge our center. Han
cock turned to Gibbon and said: Gen
eral, they will find the - lot of
State militia they ever run up
against" and the next day proved
that Hancock was right.-Alex. Wor
den, Seventh Michigan, in National
Tribune.