The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1909-12-11

Charles sprawled himself out upon the
floor in ungOvernable terror, and called
upon the Lord to save him and his fam
ily. pray for us all, Uncle Charles, -
screamed my aunt, her voice just heard
above the roar Of artillery. The can
nonading was now something fearful.
Our house had been struck twice and
the shrieking balls andburstlng bombs
were enough to appall the stoutest
heart My aunt being very brave IN
speech, but in reality very timorous,
and Uncle Charles "a bright and shin
ing light" among the colored per-
suason, she again requests him to pray.
Aunt Judy by this time began to be-
wall that She had "lef ole Mis- COW in
in the cOwshed, and mistaklng the
moaning of the shells for the dying
groans Of the cow she and Douglas la
mented it in true darkey fashion.
Uncle Charles meanwhile was very will
ing to pray, but Aunt Judy objected
strenuously, saying ''dis ain no time
to be spendn' in pra ar, Chars Pryor,
wild dem bumb shells flying over you
and iizzin' around you, and ole Mis-
COW dyin right dar in your sight. -
But when the house was struck for the
third time, Aunt b.. in despairing ac-
cents, begged Uncle Charles to pray, so
he fell upon his knees by an Old barrel
in the middle Of the cellar floor. upon
which sat a solitary candle, whose
Pickering light litup his hushed and SOL
emn countenancc, and in tremulous tones
with many interJections, offered up this
prayer:
80 Lord, dy sarvants is in great
trial and tribulation, but aint afeared
for we knows dat de good Buk says
dat Thou did'st lead de chin Of lsrul
throu de Red Sea, an none of EN- eben
so much as gotter der shoes wet.
Boom, Boom. two cannon balls crashed
through the house in quick succession.)
Uncles Charles fell down on his face,
shouting, 1T done come sure nuf, we's
all agwine to jegment. " Taking courage
presently and lifting up his head once
more, he continued. But Lord we don
wan to 90, tell we's all sot free an
'mancipated, so Civ Us few mo- days on
de yearth. o Lord. jis grant US dis
'tition, and we won trouble you no mo
but go right long bout our business,
but we puts ourselves in dy hands.
Just here a shell burst with deafening
noise outside the cellar door, and Uncle
Charles, though he "Warn't afeared, ~
lodged behind the broad brick chimney.
and no amount of persuasion could get
him out. protesting that he "did trus
in de Lord. but pears like he gwine
SEN down dem shells like he do rain, he
gwine make EN- fall alike on de jest
and on de unjest" Aunt Judy seemed
much pleased that Uncle Charles had
had such a fright. and remarked to him,
Serves you right Chars Proyr, and |
hope you is well skeered for tryin to
pray in dis here hellaballo.
My mother at this time thought Of
my fathers portrait, and afraid OF It's
being injured she determined to get 1t
herself and bring it into the cellar.
Without telling anyone Of her intention,
she left the cellar and went up into the
parlor; the portrait was hanging just
over a sofa, on which she stood to take
il down. She had just reached the
door opposite the sofa when a shell
came crashing through the wall, de-
molshing the sofa on which she had so
recently stood, as well as many other
articles of furniture. She reached the
cellar white and trembling, but with
the protrait unhurt in her arms.
At one O'Clock the cannOnadlng sud
denly ceased and for one hour we were
at liberty TO 90 above and see the dam
age that had been done. My mother s
first efforts were directed towards get
ting a lunch, of which we were all sore
" in need. With the aid of one Of the
frightened servants she succeeded in
getting a fire and having some coffee
made end with this, together with
some cold bread and ham, we had a
plentiful repast.
What a scene met our eyes; our pref
ty garden was strewn with cannon balls
and pieces of broken shells, limbs
knocked off the trees and the grape ar
Dor a perfect wreck. The house had
been damaged considerably, several
large holes torn through it, both in
front and back. While we were de-
ploring the damage that had been done,
Lieut.. EUstace returned in breathless
haste to say that he had just heard an
order from Gen. Lee read on Commerce
street, saying that the women and
children must leave town, as he would
destroy it with hot shell that night
sooner than let it fall into the hands of
the enemy, who were rapidly crossing
the river on pontoon bridges They
urged my mother to take her children
and fly at once from the town. After
resisting until the gentlemen in despair
were almost ready to drag her
from her dangerous situation, she flnal-
ly consented to leave. The widest
confusion now reigned. the servants
wringing their hands and declaring they
could go without their "chists, which
they all managed to get somehow, and
put upon their heads, but the gentle
men insisted so that we had only time to
save our lives, that they would not even
let my mother go back into the house
to get her purse or single valuable.
So we started just as we were; my
wrapping, | remember, was an old iron
ing blanket, with large hole burnt in
the middle. | never did find out whether
aunt B ever got her clothes on, for
she stalked ahead of us, wrapped in a
pure white counterpane, tall, ghostly
looking figure, who seemed to glide
with incredible rapdity over the frozen
ground.
''She stopped not for brake and she
staid not for stone. "
Gates, fences and bars delayed not
her fight,
One bound and she cleared them,
not breaking a bone,
Intent upon sleeping in safety that
night.
We plodded along under heavy
cross fire, balls falling right and left of
US. We left the town by way of the
old "plank road," batteries of Confed-
crates on both sides. The ground
was rough and broken up by the tramp
ing of soldiers and the heavy wagons and
artillery that had passed over it, so
that it was difficult and tiresome to
walk, and the sun not quite warm by
this time and the snow was melting
rapidly, the mud was simply indescrib-
able. think the only vehicle we
encountered (of which often heard
nv mother tell in after years. was a
diIapidated wagon, to which an old col
ored man had hitched decrepit, but
v;cions Iookin0 mule. hopinQ to drive off