The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1906-11-27
Sic vas lot Oh q Var
C.

aAmazons2' saith the veteran
..What's tbat9s
women soldiers.
women soldiers be hanged There
never we're women soldiers and never
will be: not that women lack bravery
sometimes they are brave AZ Hons
but you can never rely on woman
not being put to route-to speak tig-
urativeIy-by her sympat6ies. That
isn't war War. as General Sherman
said, is hell.
Il was one OF Sherman's bummers
myself. and you can bet your bottom
dollar the people Of Georgia were hot
against US. and IFS like haunting a
red rag before mad bull to mention
one of us to Georgian to this day.
was out with foraging party one day
and got separated from the others
went into a potato patch and was dig
cling up the potatoes and putting them
into sack when heard woman's
voice says
Hands upv
Looking up. saw strapping girl
about twenty years old pointing
shotgun at me- If the muzzle OF the
gun looked cold, the girls eyes looked
hot. They fairly blazed. dropped
the potatoes and held up both hands
! mighty quick. for feared she would
shoot me anyway A man came out
of the house and disarmed me; then,
covered by two guns instead of one.
was marched to a barn and told to
climb to the loft 1 obeyed and, look
| ing out of window, saw the two
standing guard over me. Ny blood
ran cold at hearing the girl urge the
man to hang me in the barn BE
argued that II my body should be
found there by the Yankees 1t would
90 hard with them, and he was in
clined to wait till the army had passed.
"WIfen evening came the girl brought
me my supper. l took advantage OF
her coming to talk soft to her. told
| her had been married just before the
war opened and had the loveliest little
boy in the world, just two and half
wears old. This was all made up.
was only nineteen and hadn't a sign
of a beard, and, as for wife, I'd never
even been in love. But the, girl swal-
lowed the story, and when told her
some of my boys smart sayings she
said she loved boys of that age and
wished she could see mine. Then told
her l knew they We're going to. hang
me and asked her ii she would let me
have something with which TO write
farewell Ie,ter to my young wife and
dariiu= boy My voice tFembleG- and
the girl put her handkerchief to her
eyes.
That night they placed lanterns
around the barn, and saw four men
ON guard The next morning l heard
one of the Inen say that the Yankees
would all be out of the way by sun
down ana tiey were going to hang me
to one of the beams of the barn The
girl brought me my breakfast, and
talked TO her some more about my wife
and boy and got her crying in no time.
AT noon all the men except one
went into the house to dinner. The girl
Brought me something to eat, and
saw at once from her face that some
thing was in the wind She was white
as a sheet.
They're going to hang you this aft
ernoon. she said.
"'Great heavens. Can't you stop
'em?'
"'No.'
"She was looking round evidently for
some means of getting me of out of the
way, but there was nothing in the loft
except hay. Then she went below. and
heard her rummaging around. Pref
ty soon she climbed the ladder and
beckoned me to come down. follow
ed her, and she showed me some
sheaves OF grain. Unloosening one~of
them, she told me to lie on the floor
and, packing me inside, made sheaf
of me, tying wisp around my waist.
Then. she picked me up and put me on
her shoulder.
81 didn't weigh much more than
hundred pounds, and she was bigger
and stronger than was. She listened
till the guard lounEed around to the
rear of the barn then opened the door
and carried me away.
"'Wha' yo' goIn', Nan?' I heard the
guard cali from short distance.
"'Goin' to the cow shed with some
straw
That was all the interruption there
was, and pretty soon she had me In
the she'd Luckily the open part didn't
face either the house or. the harm. 1t
faced ON n depression in the ground.
and about twenty feet away there was
thicllet. All l had to do was to
crawl to the thlcket and run for 1T.
One would suppose that man not vet
escaped from secret hanging would
light ont Mt once, stopped to tell the
girl how much happiness she hadf
to two people besides myself and 4
her If she hadn't something TO ser
my boy She hadn't, and asked
II l might take him kiss. She
l might If l thought my wife woulc
object assured her that she wouifH&1IG
and, putting my arms about her, gave