The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1907-07-04
A Convenient Wood Box.
IOriginal.l
Grandma. tell us a story"

old plantation"
of greatest suspense of my whole life
The old lady laid aside her work.
took a girl on one knee, a boy on the
other, and the rest chung to the big
chair
.1'Long before any of you were born"
she began, 1.-The negroes were slaves.
When the great war that freed them
came on. they all left us except Uncle
Ben. Many of them left us before they
were proclaimed free, but Uncle Ben
didn't He stayed with us all through
those terrible times and was very use
full in helping us to keep what the
northern soldiers wanted to take from
us.
'There was a young fellow--he was
between boy and man-living on a
plantation near ours whom | liked
very much. He was seventeen. and so
was l. His name was George. One
day George came to the house very
eral army was coming and the soldiers
were taking everything they could get
their hands on. We must hide what
they could eat or carry away.
1--WE called Ben into the house-we
were in the kitchen at the time-and
asked him if he knew of any place
where we could put things to keep the
Yankee soldiers from finding them.
We suggested the well, but he said so
much had been hidden in wells that a
well was the first place soldier would
look for plumber. We talked Of hollow
trees, bushes and such like, but Ben
wouldn't listen to using any of them.
He said the best place in which to hide
things from a soldier was right under
his nose.
Suddenly he sprang for big wood
box we kept in the kitchen beside the
stove. He threw out the wood, then
got his, tools-he was a good carpenter,
Ben was-and made new bottom to
the box about third of the way from
the top. Beneath was avacant space
big enough to hold two or three trunk
fuls Ben made an opening in this low
er part by mailing a couple of the
boards so loosely that we could pull out
the nails with our fingers. As soon as
he had finished his work we put all
our valuables in the lower part and
filed the upper part with wood, so that
no one would suspect there was any
thing but wood in the box
I'VE had scarcely finished when we
heard distant clatter of horses hoofs.
AT the same time George ran in white
as a sheet and said he had been with
n party of citizens who had fired on
the Federal troops They were chasing
him and if they caught him would
likely hang him, for soldiers don't treat
citizens the same as soldiers; citizens
are expected to take no part in war.
Georges danger drove the red out
OF my cheeks in an instant. I had
lot of it then, though l haven't any
now. Like flash, | took the loose
boards out of the wood box George
got into the lower part, though there
the boards and the nails just in time
to prevent lot of mounted soldiers
who rode up to the kitchen door from
seeing me do it. One of them came
in and asked where that bushwhacker
was-the soldiers called fighting citi
Zens bushWhackers-w had been fir
ing on his men. 1 told him to look for
himself, and he searched the house
from garnet to cellar
'sRe didn't find George, and finally,
I'm order to divert his attention, told
him I'd get him up something to eat.
That tempted him, and / got some ba-
con out of the cupboard and fried it.
with couple of potatoes. | also made
some coffee-that is, chickory; we had
no coffee, because the blockade of the
coast prevented our getting any in
from abroad where it grows I offered
him chair, but he preferred to sit on
the wood box. That scared me so that
1T was all could do to attend to my
cooking. Then he began to drum with
his heels on the side of the box, which
gave out a hollow sound. / ran to the
box for some wood. He got down
while / lifted the lid and took out a
stick. Then he got up and went to
drumming again rushed for another
stick and kept taking SO much wood
that he finally took the chair had Of
fered him.
II >s'ssAll this time I was in agony.
didn't care If they found the valua bles,
George being SO much more important.
Every minute I feared he would be
obliged to cough or move and betray
his location, but no sound came from
the wood box. I'd made such hot fire
putting on so much wood that before
4 knew it, preoccupied as / was, the
bacon was burned to crisp. and the
potatoes, too, for that matter. The man
said If / hadn't been such "a good look
Ing girl he'd have set me down for
fool. There were no more bacon and
potatoes except in the wood box, SO
aaay1ro6 ooffna for him and tho man Oy1f-