(1884) Tony Tidbits: The Union Drummer Boy

8/9/2019 (1884) Tony Tidbits: The Union Drummer Boy

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Vol. I. ] *""*^ e^^rnrsVeer**- ^^^^ NEW S ORK I single Civf, 1" rnt i X-,> | .I $S Per Sear. ) J^ " > l"*' -TONY/TIBBrrS;THE "CrnNrionNr /xDi^LXjnvtnvLEiP^ :^o^5r.By major/ WALTER WILMOT.

The Boy, Oruni and aUi were jerked npward, and placed beside tbe driver.


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TXIEITONY TIBBITS;

xjiiNrionNr iDi=^xj:]VEivd:Bi=\. :^c:>^^.A Tale of Gettysburg and the T-nrelfth Army Corps.By MAJOR WALTER WILMOT.

'lor of " Dashing Ddany ;" Jack, the Hero of Ftilo Alto;" " The Fightmg BrigadeDeep," etc., etc.

CHAPTER I.THE WAB CORRESPONDENT AND HISPRISONER.It was the night after the first

day's fight at Gettysburg. GeneralHancock had already joined thetroops on Cemetery Hill, having beensent by General Meade, on learningthe death of Reynolds, to assume thecommand of the field till he himselfcould reach the front.In conjunction with General How-ard, General Hajncock had immedi-ately proceeded o post troojU andepel an attack on the right flank.The attack, however, had been but

feebly made, and so was promptlyrepulsed.At nightfall the little army on thehill that had so gallantly sustaineditself through the toil and peril ofthe day was cheered by the arrivalof General Slocum, with the TwelfthCorps, and General Sickles, with apart of the Third.With Slocum there had come ayoung man of good build, a resoluteand, withal, a military air. Hewas mounted upon a magni ftcenthorse, wore heavy riding boots, amilitary cloak and slouch hat ; andyet this beligerant-looking youngmaji was not, in a strict militarysense, connected with the army.Who and what he was we shallsoon discover.

In a marvelously short time he hadpossessed himself of the situationkne V all that had transpired fromearly dawn when Reynolds pushedforward to Gettysburg, and foundwith his cavalry engagingthe enemy, till dewy eve, wheu theattack on the right flank had beenre)>nlsed.Having learned all it was possibleto lind out, he.once more mountedhis horse and galloped away into thedarkness, muttering to himself as hesped over the ground:" Now how to get the news to New

York before any of the other fellows,that's the question. Wires cut formiles in every direction, so they say,and of course it's trueleave Stuartand his cavalry alone for that. Allthe instruments destroyed too. Hum!that's worse ; might manage somehowabout the wires, but, deuce take itiI can't make a new instrument norprocure one either at a moment's no-tice. But pshaw! some operator hashad sense and wit enough to concealhis instrument, and if there's one tobe found within ^uradius of twentvmiles, I'll h4\e Vy Walloo! what'sthat place ahiiad? I'm sure I see alight." I" Yes, a farm house. Hope therebs ain't in possession there; but ofcourse they're not; this side at leastis held by the blue coats. I muststop and see what I can find out. Imay have struck the very spot I'm insearch of."The gate had been torn from itshinges, so without dismounting herode into the front yard, and havingreached the door, gave a soundingknock with the handle of his heavyriding whip.The alarm seemed to cause a gen-eral disturbance within, for he couldhear the sound of hurrying footstepsand excited voices ; but after anotherand more impatient knock, a white-robed form appeared at the windowjust over his head.

It was a woman's form, and a wo-man's voice that demanded, in asomewhat excited and querruloustone, what in the world he wantednow?"My dear madam," answered thehorseman, in a polite and persuasivetoqe, " pardon my unseasonable visit,I beg; but the fact is, I am most anx-ious to procure a guide to the nearesttown or railway station that the reb-els have not visited, and wherethere's likely to be a telegraphofiice."Tliere ain't no sich town in these

parts, strangerthey've been every,where.""You're sure?""Sartin sure." *" Well, then, I must have a guideto put me in the way of finding atown or station not in these parts, ifthey've been everywhere abouthere.""There ain't nobody in this 'erehouse to show you the way, mister,"Then looking back into the room:" What ? what d'ye say ?"A man's voice murmured a ques-tion, which, once more looking out,she repeated"I say, mister, who be you, anyway?""I'm connected with the press, and

7nust get a disjiatch through to NewYork to nightdo you understand?""The press! What kind of a pressis it now?"" The newspaper press, madain,thenewspaper press."Oh!" and again she turned back,and there was a scarcely audiblemurmur, to which she answered,"HeyP" and then, on its being re-peated, called out to the stranger:

"I say, you ain't no rebel, beyou?"" Nono, of course not, I tell youI'm a newspaper correspondent, andconnected with the army of the Po-tomac.""Will you pay for a guide?""Yes, yes, let me in, and we caneasily settle that business."

"Better let him in, Nancy," now in-terrupted the unseen man, in quitea distinct tone of voice ; " reckon he'sall right any way," and so a minuteor two later, the door was opened,and the war correspondent -sprangfrom his horse and hurried into thehouse.Behind the woman who had open-ed -the door stood a great burly man,in his shirt sleeves, who at oncehinted to the correspondent that, forgood pay, he was ready to put him


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THE ARMY AlfD NAVY LIBEARY.bearded old soldier suddenly thrusta drum into his hands, with the hur-ried words:" Here, bub, this is more in yourline than mine, just give it particularfits, its bettr music to the boys'ears than dying greans; and I say,don't stand there as if you were a-going to take root, but just driveon for the other side of the hill. ByJove ! I'd take you for a raw re-crnit if your uniform didn't tell abetter tale."Tony, from very fear began beat-ing the drum with might and main,and if he didn't succeed in get-ting much music out of it, he madenoise enough, and that seemed to bethe most essential point just then.At the same time he hurried for-ward, as he had been ordered to do,and for- a while kept pretty wellup with the men with whom he hadpassed a portion of the night, andsome of whose faces he recognized.But soon he became confused byall that was i)assing around him,the heavy tramp of armed men, theneigh of the war horse, the harshrattle of the wheels of artillery hur-rying to their stations, the voice ofthe bugle, the roll of the drum,and all the indescribable tumult ofpreparaiiou.From the point where he nowfound himself, he saw the variouscorps of the army as they arrivedand were moved to their positionson Cemetery Hill and the ridge thatextended southeast and southwest;and as if by magic, he saw batteriesplanted and breastworks thrown up.

Faster and faster the troops assem-bled, and by seven o'clock the secondand fifth cori^s with the rest of thethird had reached the ground, andnow the skiimishing began, but asyet no severe conflict took place.Tony continued to gaze upon allthat was passing around him as iffascinated, and presently forgot evento beat his drum."Out o'ther way there, bub !" anda span of spirited horses, attachedto a caisson swept madly by.But when the team was gone,Tony was no longer standing whereit had found hima hand had reach-ed down from the wagon, and thenext instant the boy, drum and all,were jerked upward, and placed be-side the driver.Tony regarded the powerful manwith a look of astonishment." There's no use in gettin' killedwhen you won't be even so much asthanked for it," said the driver," time enough for that when youcan't help yourself."" What, was I likely to get killedwhere I was standing?" asked Tony." Well, I reckon," was the reply,then regarding the boy curiously;" What regiment and corps do youbelong to ?"" What did you say, sir ?"" I asked what was your com-mand ?"

"11 don't know," stammeredpoor Tony."Well, here's a pretty go," mut-tered the driver, as he brought hishorses to a stand, " a bright look-ing boy enough, and yet don't knowhis own regiment. Jump down, bub.''

Tony quickly descended to theground.The driver's attention was nowdirected another wayan oflicer wasordering him to move the caissonfurther to the right, thus the boywas left once more to himselfalonein a great crowd, bent on death anddestruction.Strange to say, not a thought of

getting away from that pandemo-nium of a place, even entered hishead. In a passive sort of sense hebegan to consider himself as belong-ing thereas a x)art of the tremen-dous panorama that was continuallyunfolding itself before the eye.The great body of the rebels wereposted on the opposite ridge, northof the town, distant from a mile to amile and a half, and overtopping theFederal army on each wing.The roads on which the enemywould desire to march across thevalley were commanded by Meade'sguns; and hence General Lee mustfight with the hills against him.There was no conceivable approachthat could not be raked and crossedby the fire of the Federal cannon.The reserve, artillery, and all theessentials to insui'e victory were inposition, and at tfi'e right time.The immense clavalry force, too, foronce, at least, was present, coveringboth flanks of the army, and readyfor constantly harassing the enemy.The latter, we may here say, wasa new and encouraging circumstancewhich gave confidence to the men,while it aftbrded security to theteams.The southern ends of the two di-verging ridges or lines of hills onwhich the Federal army was drawnup terminated, each, in a steep,sugar-loaf peak, which thoroughlyprotected the Hanks. To attempt tomarch along the sides of these ridgesand around these terminal i>eaiis,would have exposed the rebels tothe danger of weakening their frontso greatly, as to make it easy forGeneral Meade to cut oft' the flankingforce. Hence, a battle being de-termined on, there was no alternativebut to attack the Federal positiondirectly in front.For once, then, in the history ofthe Army of the Potomac, the enemyin accepting the guage of combat wascompelled to fight at a disadvantage.Tony could neither see nor under-stand all this, but he did see, and hecould interpret the exultant lookswhich animated the countenances ofall about him. And a thrill of ex-citement agitated his own breast,and he longed to take some otherpart in the great drama about toopen, than that of a mere spectator.

CHAPTER IV.TONY BECOMES A SOLDIER ON THE

FIELD OF BATTLE.Skirmishing continued, and nowand then the roar of a great gunbroke on the air; but the real con-

flict seemed as far off as ever.Regiment after regiment was stillpressing foward around the hill, in aceaseless stream, and all at onceTony was caught up by the hurryingmass and earned onward with ittoward a park of artillery, whichcrowned a neighboring eminence.Suddenly, he heard a hail, the next .,instant he was jerked to one side, 1and on turning round, saw the gray- \bearded, kindly face of the old sol-dier who had given him the drum alittle while before, looking down up-on liim. j-s"So, my lad, here you art, -^Sf'Didn't know what had become ofyou. Lost your command in the ex-citement this morning, I fancy.""Hain't got any command to lose,"

said Tony desperately, "and that'sjust what I wish I had.""What's that he says?" asked agood natured, pleasant looking Irish-man, coming toward them, "hain'tgot any command ? Shure, thin, haayour whole regiment been wiped outentirely?"

"I never had any regiment," saidTony."Never had a regiment ! Phat didye have thin ?a;battalion, a com-(>aiiy, or jihat ?" '"I didn't have any thing at all.""The deuce ye didn't ! then whatare ye doin' in thim regimentals?""Them what?""Regimentalsuniformclothes.""Oh, the man who sent me herehad me put them on. Some fellowswho called themselves soldiers forcedtheir way into our house Jast nightafter I had gone to bed, 'and alongwith a great many other things, car-ried ofl' all my clothing, so, whenthis man wanted to send me with aletter to the general, he told me tQput on these." "^'"And to whom did these belong to,my boy?" asked the old soldierthoughtfully. This may prove to bea serious matter for you, or for some-body. ""Oh, divil a serious matter at allwill it be for ye, me boy," exclaimedTim, quickly; "we'll see to all that;but who did they belong to, jist thersame?"'" A wounded drummer boy whowas brought to our house early inthe evening." )"This case ought to be reported tSthe officers at once," said the oldsoldier." To the deuce wid the oflBcers !Corporal Snowden, shure, 'tis yerselfthat knows they've got something ofmore importance than this b'y tothink av jist now.""You're right there, Tim, so they .


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THE ARMY AND NAYT LIBEAET.have. Still, we ought not to losesight of the lad.""Av course not. We'll keep himwill our comijany. Shure, 'tis an il-igant soldier I'll make av him, if he'sonly put in me charge."Yes," said the corporal, "we'llkeep him with iis; come on, boy,"and as they hurried him along: "By-the-way, what's your name?""Tonv.""Tony what?"" Tibbits, sir, Tony Tibbits.""Tony Tibbits!" exclaimed the

Irishman; "shure, thin, it's an ili-gant name, almost as foine as me own,and that's Tim Oooney, all theworruld over." And if the world don't know it,it won't be your fault, Tim," laughedthe corporal."Yer niver said a thruer word inyour loife, corporal."

this time the trio had reacheda somewhat secluded nook on thehillside, where a portion of a regi-ment had installed itself, and seemed,in a desultory sort of way, to be pre-paring breakfast." How are you, corporalhalloo,Tim, me boy 1" called out at least adozen voices, and then some oneasked" Where did you pick up the kid?""Is that yerself, Billy Duffy?"

said Tim; "thin jist Ink at him an'tell me is he an old soldier or not ?""He's a plaguey young soldier, Ishould say," laughed SergeantSmall, who just tihen was preparingto swallow a cup >'i>f hot coffee."Av course he's young," assentedTim, but that ain't phat I mean at all,for, d'ye see, Peter Small, he may bea young b'y and yet an old soldier.Phat de ye say, Billy Duffy ?""He looks as though he'd seenservice," said Billy, with a wise nodof the head."An' you, Stephen Hui^hes ?""He's got the right color on him,"answered Stephen, critically.

"I'd like to see how he handles thedrumsticks before I give an opinion,"said Phil McGiveney, " I've a boy ofown about his age, and if he can'tknock Hail Columbia and YankeeDoodle out of a drum in less time andin better style than any other drum-mer in the army, why, I wouldn't sayso, that's all."" Yes, yes," cried Tommy Glynn,and at least half a dozen others,"let'ssee how he can handle the sticks.Come, bub, just hammer away for usa little.""Give the sheepskin fits, me boy,said Jimmy Keenan, with an encour-nod and a wink."I can pound hard enough, if that's

all you want," said Tony, graspingthe two sticks; "but as for makingany music, I can't do it. I never hada drum or a pair of drumsticks in myhands before to-day in all my life.''"What's that he says ?" demandedJoe O'Brien; "never had hold of adrum before? Then what in the

world is he doing round here in thatuniform, I'd like to know.""Yes," said Sergeant Small, turn-ing to Snowden, "where did you pickup the lad, corporal ? Let's know allabout it."Listen to me, sergeant, darlint,"exclaimedTim Cooney, as he eagerlypressed his way forward; "it's wellacquainted I am wid the lad, and 1can tell ye his story as aisy as therpraste can say mass. Hear me now.""Hold up a moment,will you, Tim ?The only trouble with you is thatyou ain't a priest yourself; you weresurely cut out for one."

"It's right ye are, sergeant. ShureI have an iligant gift av the gab, an'would have made a foine praste in-tirely ; but, murther, phat would Mrs.Cooney and the gorsoons have donethin, I dunno?"

"That's more than I can tell you.But come, let's hear what the cor-poral has to say."In a few words Corporal Snowdentold all he knew about Tony and sat-isfactorily accounted for the mannerin which he had come into possess-ion of the driun. Then, without in-vitation, Tim told a beautiful ro-mance about the young adventurer,and wound up by proposing that thecompany should formally adopt him,and that he should at once be in-stalled as their drummer."The very thing!" exclaimedSteve Hughes, "for you know thatour drummer is in the hospital, andis to receive hii> ili-'scbarge for disa-bility, if he hasn't "J^ot it alreiidy.""True enough," said SergeantSmall; "but then, as I understand it,the boy don't know any more aboutdrumming than a mule about sacredmusic.""That don't make any difference,"said Phil McGiveney, quickly; "heshall know all about it in less than aweek; I'll teach him myself.""What, you, Phil?""Of course; didn't I make a musi-cian of my own boy, and can't I doas well by another?"" That settles it," cried Duffy;"run the kid over to Professor Mc-Giveney at once."What's all this talk about ?" ask-ed a fine looking officer, of sometwenty-six or seven years, as he nowapproached the group.Sergeant Small started to his feet,and with a military salute enteredinto an explanation."Hum," said Captain Ellsworth,when he had finished. " I've Leardsomething about this boy before, Ifancy." Then turning to Tony:" Did you enter our lines in the nightwith a note for the general ?"" Yes, sir. was the prompt reply."Who sent you?" asked the Cap-tain."A man who came to our house onhorseback, sir."" Where is your house ?"" Down the creek apieceFarmerGripper's place, sir."

" What hind of a looking man wasit?"Tony, to the best of his ability,described the correspondent."Ah! I think I know who hemeans," exclaimed Corjioral Snow-pen, suddenly."Well?" said the Cairtain."I'm pretty sure it was Byingtonof the New York Tribiine. I sawhim start out in the early part of thenight and he took that direction.""You must be right," said theCaptain musingly, "he probablywanted help to repair the telegrapjtiwires, and so sent to the general forit.""But about the boy, Captain dar-lint," put in Tim, with the greatestassurance in the world, " Shure wemay kape him?"

"I don't know about that," answer-ed the Captain, slowly. "If I un-derstand the matter rightly, he's le-gally bound to this farmer untilhe's twenty-one, and the master orguardian could come and demandhim of us at any time."" No fear of his coming for thenext two or three days, at least,"said Tim, "an' after that he mighthave a hard job huntin' us up, I'mthinkin'.""And I fancy," said CorporalSnowden, "that Uncle Sam needs hisservices quite as much as this hardfisted farmer, and for that matter, isquite as much entitled to them."

"There's much truth in that. Cor-poral," rejoined the captain, approv-ingly, then turning to Tony:"How is it, my boy, had you rath-er go back to the farm, or stay 'withus?""Stay with you a hundred timesover," was the earnest reply."Think seriously, my boy, a sol-dier's life is full of hardships anddangers, then

"It's a glorious life, sir," inter-rupted Tony eagerly, "and I shouldbe fighting for my country.""Well said," murmured CorporalSnowden, with an approving nod."But listen," urged the Captain,"even now you can hear the sounds

that herald death to some one ; andlook around you, at this very mo-ment, on every hand, you see thou-sands hurrying to their fate.''"No matter," said Tony firmly, "itmay as well be me as they. If I die,I shall die in a good cause; if I live,I shall be proud of the choice I makethis day.""Enough, you shall be one of us,and if Farmer Gripper institutes asearch for you, I fancy, from what.Iknow of these brave boys, that itwill be no easy task to find you.""Arrah ! jist let him come," saidTim, "Sure, its a foine scare we'llgive him.""By Jove ! I hope he will," chuck-led Duffy, rubbing his hands togeth-ei-."Then that's settled," said thecaptain, and I leave the young re-


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THE AEMY AND NAVY LIBRARY.cruit for you to look after, boys. Seethat he doesn't sufler in your hands.""All right, captain," and as Ran-dal Ellsworth turned away, SergeantSmall called out,"Tony, my boy, I'll bet a Scotchshillingand that's a big onethatyou haven't had bite nor sup sinceyon woke this morning.""You're right, sir," answeredTony, casting a wistful glance atsome hard-tack and a few other sol-

diers' delicacies which were scatter-ed around."Come and sit down beside methen and help yourself, lad."Tony obeyed with alacrity, and forthe next few minutes was too busyto answer half the questions thatwere rained upon him by the boys.

CHAPTER V.DESPEEATE FIGHTJNG TDM COONEYPEEDICTS GKEAT THINGS FOE TONY.HoUE after hour passed, and stillTony and his new friends remained

out of harm's way in the shelteringnook.The inaction of the rebel armyseemed providential. Had the con-test been renewed in earnest at day-light, with the first and eleventhcorps exhausted by the battle andthe subsequent retreat, the thirdand twelfth weary from their forcedmarch, and the second, fifth andsixth not yet arrived, nothing but amiracle could have saved the armyfrom destruction.Instead of this, as we have seen,

the day dawned, the sun rose, thecool hours of morning passed, andthe forenoon wore away, with no se-rious aggressive movement on thepart of the enemy. Thus, time wasgiven for the absent half of theUnion army to arrive and take theirplace in the lines, while the rest ofthe troops enjoyed a much neededhalf day's rest.

It was not until two o'clock in theafternoon that Sedgwick arrivedwith the sixth corps. He had march-ed thirty-two miles since nine o'clockin the morning of the day before.

It was only on his arrival that theFederal army attained anything likean equality of numbers with that ofthe rebels pitted against it.At length, between three and fouro'clock in the afternoon, the work ofdeath began. The Federal batteriesin front of the rebel line of fire re-plied vigorously; and for two hoursthe roar and thunder, and flame, andsmoke of artillery so completely fill-ed the heavens that all else seemedforgotten.At length through the woods onthe left black masses were seen mov-inglarger, more frequent, andnearerSkirmishing in that part of the

field became sharper.General Sickles moved forward todevelop the enemy s intentions and

to gain a commanding position fromwhich to repel the rebel attack.Bigelow's Massachusett's battery ac-companied him.General Sickles' position was un-fortunately too far from the mainline to be promptly or immediatelysupported by the second or Fifthcorps.General Meade saw this and soughtSickles at once, and discussed withhim the ijropriety of falling back to

the line of his supports; but theenemy had perceived his exposedposition, and were rushing forwardto the attack in heavy force, abouttwenty-six thousand men beingthrown at once upon this singlecorps.Very early in the engagement Gen-eral Sickles was severely wounded,and Major General Birney took com-mand oif the coi-ps, and retained it,tfiough himself wounded soon after.

After a brave and determined re-sistance, the corps was forced back;and the enemy, flushed with success,pressed forward with all their mightfor the high ground between 'RoundTop and Little Round Top. If theycould reach and hold this they woiUdbe able to command the Federalposition on Cemetery Hill.The struggle was fierce and des-perate, and, for nearly four hours,victory seemed poised in the balance.Bigelow's battery, which had notpreviously been under fire, occupiedan exposed positiini, and the rebelsseemed determimid to take it. MajorMcGilvraj", who commanded the ar-tillery on the left, ordered CaptainBigelow to hold his position till hecould get up two batteries on theridge, and to give the rebels graveand canister.Captain Bigelow obeyed, and asthe rebels came up to the very muz-zles of'his cannon to capture them,he blew them to pieces, and filled theair with the scattered fragments oftheir bodies.

Still they rushed on with demoniacyells, climbing upon the limbers, andshooting the horses,but Bigelow heldouj though nearly all his horses werekilled, five of his sergeants dead,and three of his cajanouers and twen-ty-two of his men wounded, and him-self shot through the side, till thebooming of the guns from the ridgetold that McGilvray had planted hisbatteries. He then brought off fiveof his limbers and two of his guns,dragging them in part by hand.The rebels rushed forward, seizedthe four jjieces with loud shouts, andcame on for new triumphs, but McGil-vray' s batteries drove them backwith terrible slaughter, and a freshdivision coming up to reinforce thethird corps, charged upon the rebelsand recaptured the guns.

It was at this moment that LarryO'Brien and Jim Pender, both ofCaptain Ellsworth's company,rushedin among their comrades, and withone breath exclaimed:

"O," boys, the most elegant piece jof fighting you ever saw in yourlives. Sickles' corps is in for it hotand heavy, and they want help theworst way. I wish the colonel wouldlet us take a hand.""Arrah, now, Sergeant darlint,"cried Tim Cooney, "just spake to thecaptain, af he axes it as a favor,shure, the colonel won't refuse."

"I'll do it," said Sergeant Small," but I fear its of no use. It's irreg-ular, you see."At that moment the ca]>tain andseveral other officers approached.The Sergeant at once made knownthe wishes of his comrades.Captain Ellsworth shook his head."No use," he said, "the regiment,will have enough to do by-and-by,I'm thinking; still, if you wish it,I'll speak to the colonel." _^"Then spake at onct, captain, dar-lint," said Tim, "for see, sure, he'scomin' now."As the colonel came up, the cap-tain referred to him the singular re-quest of his men."No use," exclaimed the colonel,promptly; " 'twouldn't do at allcan't think of it for a moment. Meadewill see that Sickles' corjjs don't suf-fer.""Arrah now, colonel," began Tim,in a wheedling voice."Well, I don't know," continuedthe colonel, with a grim smile; "ifyou're all so mighty anxious to getkilled, if there were any other troopsabout here moving to the support ofthe Third Corps, why, you mightjoin them without attracting atten-tion."

. "See, colonel !" exclaimed Cor-poral Snowden, "two divisions of ourcorps and the Sixth there are justmoving toward Little Round Top;we can easily join them.""Well, if Captain Ellsworth ap-proves, you may go.""Hurrah for the Colonel !" andwith three ringing cheers, the braveboys fell into rank, and with Ells-worth at their head, hastened to join the moving divisions.

In addition to the Sixth Corps, andthe two divisions of the Twelfth,Doubleday's division of the FirstCorps, the Second and part of theFifth came to the assistance of theThird, and after nearly three hoursof the hardest fightiny ui the war,succeeded in repulsing the enemy,who had at one time gained possess-ion of the summit of Little RoundTop.From this point they were drivenby Ellsworth's company and Craw-

ford's division,who, cnmingup fresh,charged upon them with great fury,drove them down the rocky front ofthat hill, across the valley below,over the next hill and into the woodsbeyond, taking over three hundredprisoners.In this fearful charge it was thatTony Tibbits for the first time in hisyoung life saw what real fighting


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THE AKMY AND XAVY LIBRARY\was; then it was he learned to loveand respect every man with whomhis lot had been so suddenly andstrangely cast.

j He saw Captain Randal Ellsworthcheer on his men, and noted that notfor one single instant did he shrinkfrom danger. He saw that the friend-ly sergeant and corporal were bothgreat warriors, a host in themselves,and that the two O'Briens, Diifly,Phil McGiveney, Tim Cooney,Hughes, Glynn and all the otherswere in their native element whenthe fight was hottest aud blood wasflowing most freely.Then he forgot everythingevery-thing but the light, and casting asideHIS drum, which a half dozen shotsliad rendered useless, he picked up

rifle, the use of which he well un-and went in with the restin dead earnest.At this time the fighting was fear-ful in the extreme, and the Union

troops were doing terrible work; butthe rebel General Barksdale was seento fall; then thoroughly disheart-ened and driven back with severeloss, the rebels made no further at-tempt on the Federal left wing.But now word was passed that theTwelfth Corps was in danger, andCaptain Ellsworth with his company,which had suffered severely, has-tened to rejoin his regiment.

It was time.The rebel commaiiding general wasnow determined t-> break through

the right and gain the central one ofthe valley roads.The failure of his troops to turnthe left, the snatching of the victory,as it were, from their very clutches,aud the hurling back of their brokencolumns, defeated and in confusion,made the case more desperate; andso the attack on Slocum was furiouseven to madness.But shortly after Ellsworth's menhad joined their regiment the Firstand "Sixth Corps came ap to the sup-port of the Twelfth, aud sustained itin au unyielding combat.Until half past nine o'clock thebattle raged with uumitigated fierce-ness, the lines moved to and fro,each in turn advancing and fallingback.At this hour of the night the en-emy made his final charge on the leftof the right wing held by GeneralGeasy'S division. He was repulsedwith terrible slaughter, and refusedto renew the attack.At ten o'clock the battle ceased,and for a time peaceful quiet reignedover the field of carnage.Ellsworth's men now had a little

time to rest, and Corporal Snowden,placing his hand kindly on Tony'shead, said"You made no mistake, my braveboy, you were cut out for a soldier,if ever boy was yet."Thrue for ye, Corporal Snowden,"exclaimed Tim Cooney, who wasstanding near; "I had me eye on him

all through ther foight, an' I predictthe b'y will prove an honor to mesagacity; shure there's not a doubtav it.

CHAPTER VI.THE GEEAT VICTORY AT GETTTS-BUKG.EwELL, operating against the ex-treme right of the Federals, whichhad been weakened by the withdraw-

al 'of troops sent over to support theleft, had succeeded in gaining a foot-hold within a portion of the Unionlines near Spangler's Spring. Thiswas the only advantage obtained bythe rebels to compensate them forthe terrible disasters of the day, andof this they were destined to be soondeprived.Duriug the night General Meade,determined to dislodge Ewell fromhis position, and as a matter of per-sonal honor assigned the task toGeneral Slocum, who had previouslyheld the same place.A division of the Sixth Corps wasstationed on the right of the Twelfth,Slocum's, thus forming the extremeoutpost of the right wing. The FifthCorps was sent over as a reserve, andGeneral Wadsworth's division of theFirst Corps took position to strength-en Howard's right where it joinedSlocum's left.These were the preliminaries.The men well kView the fearful

called to ^^erform, and nerved theirhearts to the perilous task.The next morning at four o'clock,Slocum's line opened a terrific fireon Ewell's men. The enemy re-sponded in a furious chargeper-haps the most furious ever made on afield of battle.With fiendish yells and seemingcontempt of death, during six fullhours, they hurled their solid massesagainst the well-defended lines.

Tlie Federal troops stood like awall of fire, whose flaming tonguesinwrapped in death whatever camenear, whose foundations were asfirm as if one with the primal rockon which they rested.Nothing during the war had equal-ed this six hours of carnage. Infront of Geary's position were morerebel dead than the number of theentire list of casualities in the twelfthcorps. They lay in bloody mounds,some pierced with a single bullet-wound, others torn and mangled inthe most frightful manner.Before half-past ten o'clock, Slo-cum had repulsed and driven backthe foe at every point, and reoccu-pied his original position. As theyfell back, a battery on the Baltimoreturnpike plowed through the ene-my's lines with shot and shell hurl-ed over the heads of the twelfthcorps, and made terrible havoc intheir ranks.

Ellsworth's brave boys now had abreathing spell, for after the retreat

of Ewell's troops to the west andnorthwest of the town of Gettysbtirg,the enemy remained quiet till oneo'clock in the afternoon, when theyopened fire with one hundred andtwenty-five to one hundred and fiftyguns on the centre and left, the posi-tion of General Hancock's corps,which from the want of natural de-fenses, was the weakest portion ofthe Federal lines.The Federal batteries, fully equalin number and caliber, repliedpromptly, and for the next two hoursthe earth fairly shook xinderthe feetof the two armies with the terribleconcussion.The air seemed filled with ironmissiles, and the forest trees on bothsides were riven, torn and splintered,as if struck by lightening.At last the Federal troops ceasedto reply, not from any disposition toyield, or from lack ofammunition, butto compel the rebels to a further de-monstration.They were not slow in making it.Pickett's division, the elite of Long-street's corps, which had not yetbeen under fire in this battle, wasadvanced, and supported by threebrigades from two divisions of Hill'scorps.They moved steadily forward fornearly half a mile, intending evi-dently to carry the Federal lines byassault; when having arrived withinshort range , the artillery opened onthem with grape, canister, and shell.They hesitated for a moment, thenwith tremendous yells rushed ontill, when within a short distance ofthe lines, they were received with amost deadly and destructive fire ofmusketry.Under this they reeled and stag-gered, and a part rushing up to theFederal lines threw down their arms,and surrendered, while the remainderturned and fled.Two brigades of Doubleday's di-vision sprang foward, and each cap-tured more than eight hundred pris-oners, aud the other brigades tookconsiderable numbers. Fifteen standsof colors were also taken by thethe Federal troojjs.Over one third of the rebels en-gaged in this assault were left uponthe field, and three thousand morewere taken prisoners. One of theirgenerals was killed, and four moreweundedtwo ofthem mortally.On the Federal side the loss hadbeen much less, but Major GeneralHancock and Brigadier General Gib-bon were severely, and GeneralsWarren and Hunt slightly wounded.Of course this closed the battle inthis part of the field, as there was noprobability of rallying these brokenand disheartened troops for anotherattack.But Longstreet had not relinquish-ed the hope of effecting a lodgmentof his troops upon Round Top orLittle Round Top. Hood's aud Mo-Laws' divisions of his corps, while


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THE AEMY AND NAVY LIBRAKT.the fight with the Federal centerwas progressing, assaulted thesepoints with great vigor in front,and at the same time Longstreet sentan infantry force with two or threebatteries, to a point nearly two milessouthwest of Bound Top, with ordersto press foward and turn the flank ofthe sixth corps, so as to fall upon theFederal rear and secure its trains ofammunition, which were packed be-hind Bound Top.They were, as they thought, mak-ing good progress in this movement,when they suddenly found them-selves confronted by two brigades ofKilpatrick's division of cavalry.A fierce engagement ensued, inwhich the rebel batteries weresilenced, and the infantry drivenback to their original position infront of Bound Top, and the Penn-sylvania Beserves charged uponthem, capturing the battery, takingthree hundred prisoners, and fivethousand stand of arms.At the same time. General Gregg,with his division of cavalry, who hadheld a position on the extreme right,crossed the Baltimore and Bonaugh-town road, and successfully attackedStuart's cavalry and Ewell's forceon the left and rear.The great battle was over. Thwart-ed at every point, his eftbrts to pene-trate and destroy the Federal armyall defeated, with nearly one third ofhis whole force either killed or pris-oners, his ammunition and supjjliesnearly exhausted, the rebel com-manding general sullenly drew backto his intreuchments, and orderedthe gathering up of such of hiswounded as could be most readilymoved. The rebel troops which hadhitherto occupied the town and thetract southeast of it, moved duringthe night to Seminary ridge.During the same night, the Fede-ral army, worn out with the stress ofthe terrible combat, bivouacked in itsposition; the men dropping in theirplaces and sleeping.Before the sun rose on the morningof the fourth, Lee had decamped withhis whole army toward the Potomac.

Details of Federal soldiers were atonce made to bury the dead. Alongthe Union lines and down the slope infront, especially in front of the pointwhere Ellsworth's men had been sta-tioned, the ground was strewn withcorpses, many of them already black-ened and swollen,some still in strikingattitudes. Here a soldier had evident-ly been engaged in trying to save thelife of a wounded comrade by bindinga handkerchief about the shatteredlimb, but was shot, and, falling onhis wounded companion, both haddied together.Tony, who with Corporal Snowdenhad accompanied the detail from hisregiment, beheld this and many otherfearful spectacles, and as he gazedabout him he could have recognizedthe truthfulness of the picture drawnby a certain ofiicer there.

" I could im.agine," he said, "no-thing more terrible than the silentindications of agony that marked thefeatures of the pale corpses whichlay at every step. Though dead andrigid in e very muscle, they still writh-ed and seemed to turn to catch thepassing breeze for a cooling breath.Staring eyes, gaping mouth, clinchedhands, and strangly contracted limbs,seemingly drawn into the smallestcompass as if by a mighty effort torend asunder some irresistible bondwhich held them down to the tortureof which they died." One sat against a tree, and, withmouth and eyes wide open, lookedup into the sky as if to catch a glimpseof its own fleeting spirit. Anotherclutched the branch of an overhang-ing tree, and hung half suspended,as if in death he had raised himselfpartly from the ground. Anotherhad grasped his faithful musket, andthe compression of his mouth told ofa determination which would havebeen fatal to a foe had life ebbed aminute later. Another clung withboth hands to a bayonet which wasburied in the ground. Great numberslay in heaps, just as the fire of theartillery mowed them down, mangledtheir forms into almost indistinguish-able mass."Tony Tibbits saw all this and more.No wonder then, taking into consid-eration all he had previously passedthrough on Ilia, bloody field, sinceleaving the farmer s house, that, atone bound, so to speak, he becametransformed from a diffident countryboy to a brave and thorough soldier.

GHAPTEE VII.GILES GRIPPEE GETS INTO HOTWATEE.For two days after the battle the

greater part of the Federal army re-mained on the field of Gettysburg,and the Twentieth Connecticut Vol-unteers, the regiment of which Ean-dal Ellsworth's company formed apart, occupied a position near thespot where Tony Tibbits had firstfound it.The boy had quickly won his wayto the heart of every member of thecompany, they would gladly havemade a pet of him had he not resent-ed the idea and shown them conclu-sively that he wanted to be treatedas a man, and do a man's whole duty.This manly bearing of the braveyoung drummer boy only increasedthe love and respect his comrades feltfor him, and so, by the time the greatbattle was fairly fought and won,they were ready to do anything inthe world for him.

It was the second day after thebattle, all the work assigned to theTwentieth had been performed andEllsworth's boys, in common withthe rest of the regiment, were " tak-ing things easy."Tony, Joe O'Brien, Jim Keegan,and one or two others, were lying in

the shade of a clump of trees, at therear of the camp, and at some distancefrom the rest.Suddenly, on looking up, Tony sawtwo persons advancing to their quar-ters, one from his neat uniform itwas easy to see was the orderly ofsome general, the other woreplain clothes of a country farmer.As the boy caught sight of thelatter's face he uttered an exclama-

tion of alarm.His comrades turned quickly andasked to know what was the mat-ter." Gripper," gasped Tony, "hecome to take me away." Where is the griper ? " demandedJim Keegan savagely. *' Just let Ime get a-hold of him, and I'll show 'him what a griper is." ^^" Don't talk so loud, Jim," whi^-*}ered Tony, " he'll hear you and then 'it will be all day with me sure." ^" Pshaw! " laughed Jimmy, " don't bother your liead about him, the boys iiever'U let him get away with you in \the world." J" I don't know about that," mut- ?tered Tony, with a sorrowful shake *of the head, " I'm worth a good dealto him and he won't go away without !me if he can possibly help himself." '"Ah! but that's just ithe can'thelp himself."" Hark! " exclaimed Joe, " there'sSnowden, Lairy, and Tim Cooney,the farmer and orderly are going tospeak to them. Let's hear whatthey've got to say," and cautiouslybending forward, they all listened.

"Corporal, here's a man who wantsto see your captainEllsworth I be-lieve," said the orderly. "He hasparticular business with him.""Ah!" responded Snowden, who atonce suspected the farmer's identity,"very sorry that Captain Ellsworthis not aboutoff on si>ecial service,you know.""Well, I suppose one of lieuten- ;ants would do as well "the orderly."That's bad again, our first lieuten-ant was seriously wounded in the ,late battle and is now in hospital, Ithe second lieutenant is busy makingout a report and as he don't like thebusiness, and has got the temper ofa fiend, it would be about as much .'as any man's life is worth to disturb ;him." I"Oh Lord! don't disttirb him on 'any account then," exclaimed thefarmer hastily."Hum," said the orderly, "at leastyou must have some officer aboutwho cau give the man the informal.,,tion he seek. Of course its no busi- !ness of mine, but you see, I was sent ,by General Slocum, and I dare say ^he'll want me to make some kind of 'a report. Where's your first Ser-geantThompson, Brown, or what-ever his name is?"

"It happens to be SmallPeteSmall, since the charge we made onLittle Bound Top, when the rebels

I-

si


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THE AEMY AND NAVY LIBEAEY.held possession of the summitthere.i "Ah! your orderly was killedthen'""Yes, and Sergeant Small was pro-moted to be orderly Sergeant, and Iwas advanced a peg or two myself.Peter's first sergeant, and I'm firstcorporal now.""Well, can we setSmall?""Whyyes, I think so." Thenturning to Tim Cooney with a slywink,"Tim, old boy, go fetch the ser-geant.But wait a moment; whoshall I say wants to see him?""Giles Gripper," answered thefarmer, "and you may as well saythat I've come about a boy, who, Ihas enlisted in this com-j^Miiythe little scamp want's to robme of his timethe rascally villain.""Oh, the dhirty spalpeen!" ex-claimed Tim, "Phat's the name ovhim?""Tony Tibbets," answered the far-mer, "and he's no more fit to go towar than I amno! I don't meanthatthan my old woman is.""Well, sor, I'll call the sergeant

a few more besides, I'm thinkin' "Tim, sotto voce, as he moved"Have you such a boy in yonr

as he describes, corporal?"the orderly."Let me see," mused Snowden,Tony Tibbits. About howshould you say, sir?""Wal, may be fourteen," said the

"p'r'aps a leetle more.""Hum! I fancy there was a boy ofdescription who came into ourduring the night, after theday's fight.""Ah! and he's with you now?"the orderly quickly.

"It may be so.""Then, Mr. Gripper," continuedorderly, turning to the farmer,don't see as I can be of any fur-use to you, and so, as I've muchlook after, at headquarters, I'llyou good day. Good day, cor-good day, comrades," and hegone."Nice likely fellow, that," said theapprovingly; "reckon he'll

a general some day, sure.""Very likely," replied Snowden"that's the kind of timbergovernment makes geneials outand he cast a furtive glance in

direction Tim had taken.But Tim did not seem to be in anyto return, neither did Sergeantshow up."Farmer Gripper began to grow im-

"What in thunder's the matterall you sojers?" he growled,pesky lazy lot seems ter me.""Don't get impatient, sir," srtidSnowden jneaiiiii.


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THE ARMY AND NAVY LIBRARY. 11"Where did you ever see him be-

fore ?""Down by the spring yonder, justbefore dark last evening."Ah 1 And what was he doingthere?"

"lie was whispering to a soldier.""He was ! Anything else ?""I saw him offering the soldier

money."Oho 1 trying to corrupt one ofour noble^comrades. But of coursethe brave defender of our countryrejected the filthy lucre with scorn,eh?""Not much, sir; he pocketed thegreenback so quick it fairly made mewink.""Ah ! I see, the prisoner is an oldsinner. He knows how to corruptthe innocent."At this point the boys, with oneaccord, sent up a dismal groantheysaw no chance of being "corrupted"just then."Is that all, John?" asked the

sergeant. "Didn't you catch anywords that passetl between the plot-ters?""O yes, sir, I heard this man say,'you must find a chance to smuggleme in some time to-night,' and thesoldier said, 'that may be difficult,'then, after a moments thought, thisone said something about bringingsome one out to him.""I see, I see!" exclaimed the ser-

geant; "there was another, probablyan officer, concerned in the plot. Isthat all?""Yes, sir.""Step downthat is, stand to oneside. Bring on the next witness,sheriffI mean Tim."Here he is, sir, Billy Duffy.""Well, William, look upon theprisoner and tell me, did you eversee his face before?""Think I have, yer honor," an-swered Billy, carelessly."Ahl when and where?""He was jumping bounties in Con-necticut, more than a year ago.""Ah-h-hi" exclaimed the ser-geant."O-o-o!" groaned the boys, and alook of bewildered astonishment set-tled on the face of the farmer."Are you quite sure of what yousay?" asked the sergeant, seriously."Oh, yes," answered Billy, "I re-member him well. I have good causetohe picked my pocket of a heavygold hunting-case watch over onGrapevine Point one day."He did?"

"Yes, indeed, sir. You rememberthat watch, Jim Penderthe one Ilent you the night you went courtingthe ilillhouse avenue girl?""Oh, yes," said Jim, with an hon-est look, "I remember it very well.""Well, that's the watch he robbedme of, and I swore I'd be even withhim some day, and now the time hascome."Look-a-here," cried Gripper ner-vously, "what's all this nonsense

you're a gettin' off ? I never was inthat miserable little State of Con-necticut in all my life, and what'smore, never expect te be there,either."You're more than half right, any-way, I suspect, old man," said LarryO'Brien, with a chuckle; "the factis, you won't live to get so far asConnecticut."What's that you say?""Silence in the court!" said Ser-geant Small, sternly. "Go on withyour testimony, Mr. Duffy.""Am I to tell all I to tell all I knowabout the prisoner?""Certainly, everything.""Well, sir, this man is not at allwhat he seems."What! how's that?""He is acting a part when he

claims to be. a farmer. He was act-ing a part when he was in Connecti-cut, more than a year ago.""Acting a part! who is he then?""In pointof fact, he's a lieutenant-general in the Confederate army!""Oh, what a lie!" groaned Grip-per."And the bosom friend of GeneralLee," added Duffy."That's another whopper; neversaw Lee in all my life, I tell yer.""This is getting serious," said the

sergeant, with a solemn shake of thehead. "Are you sure of what yousay, comrade?""Certainly," was Billy's unblush-ing answer; "and it so happens I amable to fully account for his beinghere at this moment."We are listening.""Well, sir, it grew oiit of a seriousconference between him and Lee. Hesaw that the South could never whipus in the regular way, and at lengthtold Lee so. Then when the rebelcommander-in-chief acknowledgedthat he was right, and asked himwhat he would advise, he said:" 'Let some officer with a pleasingperson and good address disguisehimself as a substantial Pennsylva-nia farmer, and make his way intothe Union lines. Then let him pickout some boy and claim him as hisor bound apprentice, and get awaywith him. When he's secured thefirst in this way, let him go back andsecure another and another, usiug adifferent disguise each time, if helikes. In that way, don't you see,we can soon carry off' the whole Unionarmy, and at no great risk of beingshot, either, which is a considerationworthy of attention.'"You are the worst liar I everheard!" said the astonished farmer."Sir!" said Billy, with dignity."Go on, Mr. Duffy," commandedthe sergeant, "and tell us what Gen-

eral Lee said to the prisoner's sug-gestion.""He said, as he grasped the pris-oner's hand : ' my dear general, I likeyour idea very much ; but where inthe world can we find just the rightmanI mean with a pleasing person

and good address? for in truth thesethings do count with the Yankees,there's no denying it."" And then our friend herestraightened himself up and strikinghis manly bosom with his shapelyright hand, said:" 'General Lee, I am not, I believe,,a vain man, but I know my merits,both of person and mind. If I am.handsome, 'tis as God made me, andas for my address, deign to rememberthat I have always associated withgentlemen. In short, I am just theman you want; I will undertake theimportant mission. One by one I willbring ofl' the whole Union army, 1swear it!' ""Good heavens, what an awfulplot!" exclaimed the sergeant, roll-ing his eyes upward in holy horror."Terrible!" murmured Snowdon.^and O'Brien.The rest of the boys indulged inanother dismal groan."You understand it all now," Duffy

continued, "Lee gladly accepted hisproposition and so you see how hehappens to be among us. 1 tell you,sergeant and comrades, this thingstrikes right home to us. After car-rying oft' the Lord only knoMS howmany of our brave boys, he under-takes to deplete our own company!""Ah! I seeI understand," ex-claimed the sergeant, "and of coursehe's communicating with Lee all thetime, eh?""O, of course," said Billy, readilytaking the hint, "and there's wheremore of his ingenious and diabolicalwork comes in. How do you thinkhe does it?""Hum, can't say. Evidently^he'sgot a head capable of plotting" anydeviltry.""You're right there, as 1 shall pres-ently prove.""We're listening.""Well he has a curious mongrelcur that follows him about whereverhe goes, and when he's got anything

to communicate to his chief, he writesit on thin paper, crams thepaper into ~a piece of meat, makes the dog swal-low it whole, and posts him oft" to-find Lee, who, knowing the dodge,gives the cur an emetic, and so makeshim throw up his dispatches."Another groan from all the boys."Sergeant with all due deference,I think we've heard enough to con-demn a dozen spies," said Cori)oralSnowden solemnly."Indeed we have," assented thegrave judge. "And now the onlything left for us to do is to pass sen-tence.""Of course.""And that sentence must be ""Death!" exclaimed the boys in abreath."Ah! but this is an aggravatedcase," said Steve Hughes. "Hang-ing's too good for such a man.""You're quite right, Steve," nod-/ded the sergeant. "By what deathshall he die then? "


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THE ARMY AND NAVY LIBEAEY.There was a moment of unbroken

silence, and all looked toward BillyDufiy."1 have it! " exclaimed Billy atlast. "Let's Iniry him alive!""The very thins!" shouted theboys. "We'll bury the oldspy alive!"

CHAPTEE IX.POOR GEIPPEK FINDS HIS WAY TOTHE BOTTOMLESS BIT."Let a dozen set to work at onceand dig a grave," commamded the

sergeant.The boys rushed away with a shoutHiid the faimer pleaded in vain for"Yer all wrong. I'm as good a

m:tii as any ov yer," he moaned.v3^eii with another gasp, "Oh! what'llther old woman say when she hearsof it!"But it was all of no use, the dig-ging went on steadily and soon the

grave was ready. Then they led theunhappy man to its bripk."Giles Gripxier, have you anything

to say before we proceed to carryout tlie just sentence that has beenpronounced against you? " asked thesergeant gravely.The farmer gazed upon the un-frioudly faces in the crowd whichsurrounded him, looked down intothe gaping grave at his feet, gave aprofound sigh, and then blurted out:"Go on with yerdurued old funeralreckon as how it'll save me burial

expenses, any way.""What a hardened sinner!" groan-ed Corporal Snowden."What a precious old file!" mut-tered Billy Dufify."Better blindfold him, sergeant,"suggested Jim Pender."Of course," and a handkerchiefwas tightly bound over his eyes, ef-fectually shutting out all light.

Tlie miserable man was then low-ered into the narrow grave, and dirtthrown upon him."He's gone oil t)ie handle, boj's!"exclaimed Duily suddenly."Sure!" asked the sergeant anxi-ously." Yes, look for yourself.The sergeant let himself down intothe grave and carefully examinedthe victim."Only fainted," he said at last."But it's a dead faint, that is cer-tain.""Then hustle him out lively^ andlet's sow him up in the blanket andtake him to that confoundedly darkcave that Johnny Loftus discovered.He'll think sure that he's in his graveor the bottomless pit when he comesto there.""You're right Billy," exclaimedEll. Lillie, "and we'll have just loadsand loads of funyou bet."Poor Gripper was now lifted outof the grave, and his arms foldedacross his breast, were tied in thatposition, his feet were also tied to-

gether. He was then wrapped up inan army blanket, which was securedby strings, the bandage, of course,was still left over his eyes."Now, then," said Duffy, when alltheir arrangements were completed," let's take him to the cave, it's morelike a grave than anything else, andwe can all set around and wake thecorpse.""Agreed!" and the unconsciousfarmer was conveyed to a low anddark cave at no great distance, wherehe was carefully lain upon the ground."Now then," said Joe O'Brien,

"let's go away and leave him to him-self for awhile.""No, no! what's the use of that?"exclaimed Duffy, "Let's stay righthere. If we fasten a blanket overthe entrance, he can't see us, even ifwe take the bandage from his eyes.

"That's so," said the corporal,"and if we stay and keep mightyquiet, we shall soon hear what hethinks of death and the other world.

"That's all right," said Duffy;"but I propose to get even more funthan that out of him. But you shallsee for yourselves. Now then, hangup a blanket, some of you, you candrive a peg or two into the cracksover the entrance there easy enough.The rest sit down and keep quiet; hemay come round at any momentnow.Nearly the whole company had bythis time crowded its way into thecave, which was by no means a largeone. The blanket was at last sus-pended over the opening, and everyray of light shut out, then Duffy re-moved the handkerchief from thefarmer's eyes."Now," he whispered, "keep quietever mother's son of you; he'll becoming round before you know it, andI don't want th


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THE AEMY AND NAVY LIBEAEY.ceive/w? You befriend Tony Tib-bits. You give him a good home.You make a pet of him. Why, youworked the poor boy almost to death,in fact, made him do a strong man'swork, that's the way you befriendedhim. You and your wife made a re-gular drudge of him in the house,fed him on your leavings, and madehim sleep in an old tumble downshed, that's the home you gave him,and as for clothes, you never allow-ed him but one poor suit at a time,for every day and Sunday, so thatwhen that one was stolen, your wifewas obliged to steal a wounded drum-mer's uniform to replace it with, andyou never give him a dime of spend-ing money in your life that's thekind of pet you made of him. Pah!I C'xn't bear to talk with you. Beel-zebnb, old fellow, just stir ui) thebig brimstone Are, we must give ournew friend a warm receptiona sortof foretaste of the comforts he is toenjoy among us.""Oh Lord !'' gasped Gripper, withanother moan, and again he becameunconscious.

CHAPTEE X.GENEKAL LEE HAS AN INTERVIEWWITH MES. GEIPPER."Now then," said Dutfy, hurried-ly, "I've got something here that oneof you must help me to make himswallow. It will keep him in adrowsy state for the next four or fivehours, and by that time, I promiseyou, we shall be well rid of him.Pull down the blanket, Steve."The blanket was bulled down, andthe dosewhatever it was, adminis-tered." Nowthen," said Bill, "we'll leavehim where he is till night; and thenhalf a dozen of our best fellows shallsee the play out."About an hour after dark, BillyDuff, Jim Pender, Steve Hughes,Tim Coouey and the two Johnnies,as John Doftus and John Faulk-ner were called, silently enteredthe cave."Here he is, all right boys," whis-pered Billy, after feeling around forsome time, "and as quiet as a freshcorpse, my do.se worked beautiful-ly."" 'Tis yerself that can do it, BillDuffy," said Tim admiringly."You bet," laughed Billy, "andnow the question is, how shall weget him home?"That's easily answered," Johnny

Loftus, "just lift him on my back,I can carry him and not half try.""I believe you, and that I thinkwill be the best way, at least you cancarry him till you get a little tired,and then Steve and Tim can have ago at it.""Pooh !" said Loftus contemptu-ously, "just lift him up, will you ?"The unconscious farmer was boost-ed into position and the squad start-ed off.

"You fixed it all right to getthrough the lines, Billy?" said Pen-der."Yes, of course, come ahead," and

they hurried on toward the road.Having passed the wondering sen-tinels, they kept on until they hadalmost reached Gripper's house,when Billy brought the squad to ahalt."Now you fellows wait here," hesaid, until you see that the coast isclearthat is until you see theold woman start off around the housewith me, then take the old man in.You know where his bedroom isJim, Tony told you. 'When you findit, strip him and put him to bed, thenmake yourselves scarce as soon aspossible. But if yon hear him callout'Hold on boys, don't shoot !'why, come to me. Do j'ou under-stand?""Yes, all right,drive ahead, andBilly advanced to the front door andgave a loud knock.Mrs. Gripper did not keep himlong waiting. She was anxiouslyexpecting word from her husbandand Tony, and thinking a message ofsome kind had come from them,hastened to open the door."Who be yer?" she instantly de-manded on seeing Billy."Hist !" he replied warningly,"Can I trust you, madam ?""Trust me ? of course yer canif

yer pay me fu) keeping yer secret.""Ah! mercenary woman! But nomatter, let it be as you say. I willtell you my awful secret and payyou for keeping itBut please stepthis way.""Why, what d'ye want me tercome out there fur, I'd like terknow?""There may be some one listeningabout here. Ain't there some one inthe house?""Nothat is nobody but Hans,our hired man. He's kinder beenlookin' after things about ther housesince my old man started out ter findour bound boy.""Hum, Hans, eh? Perhaps you'dbetter call him out tooif he can betrusted."

"Lors-a-me! Of course he can, sar-tin sure, I'll answer for it.""Then call him.""Hans! Hans! come here, you'rewanted," and presently a sturdylooking young Pennsylvania Dutch-man made his appearance in the door-way.""Now, then, sir," said the woman,"what have you to say to us?""Where's your barn?" asked Billy."Over there," was the answer."Come and point it out to me.""Why, if you just go round theother side of the house, you can seeit easy enough."I (lare say; but I'd much ratheryou two would show me, and thenHans must go to it with me."Dot vos all right," said Han^."Gome on, Mrs. Gribber," and so tlie

three moved around the comer of thehouse together.Here Duffy brought them to astand and held their attention."Before we go any further," hesaid, "I ought to toll you who I real-ly am; for my conscience would notpermit me to deceive you in this mat-ter and get you into trouble unwit-tingly.""Ah, that's right, that's fair, sir,"exclaimed the curious woman, "andnow for the land's sake who be yer,anyhow?"

"Hist! not so loud; don't give itaway for the world. Let me whisperit in your ear. I'mcan I trustyou?"

" Of course yer can. Come, do tellus if yer ever goin' ter.""Ah, dear madam, my heart almostfails me. Suppose you should l}^->>tempted to send word to GeneralMeade, what would become of methen?""Good heavens, what can the manmean? What in the world is hedriving at? , Hans, can you makeout?""Nein, I have not understand,"answered the Dutchman, stoically."No more can I; do tell us, sir.""Once more then, madam, listen,"and putting his lips close to her ears,he whispered: "I am General Lee!Now don't, donH give it away, Ibeg.""General Lee! Good Lord!" ex-claimed the woman, starting back

aghast."There, I told yon just how itwould be," said Duffy, bitterly."You'll have a whole troop of Yan-kees down upon me in less than notime, and. then I shall be hung, per-haps drawn and quartered.""Oh, Hans, Hans, what shall wedo with him?" asked the bewilderedwoman.

"I have not know," replied theman, "unless you vos took him in an'give him somedings to eat.""That's it," slie exclaimed,bright-ening up; "you want your supper,~sir, then we can talk afterwards.""Ah, dear madam, how thoughtfulhow kind! just as that sweet childTony said I should find you.""What! you know where that lit-tle scamp Tony is?""Don't say scamp, dear madam; Ihave heard him say how he lovedyon ; I have heard his pitiable story."Ah, and what is his story?""After delivering the message-with which he was intrusted hestarted to return home and losi hisway. He was then taken in chargeby a Union picket, and held by themuntil the next day, when the boy,picket and all were captured by mymen, and he is now a prisoner in ourhands.""An' so ther rebels have reallygot him, have they ?"With great dignity:"He is a prisoner in the hands ofthe Confederal^, m-A'am."

i


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THE AEMY AKD NAVY LIBKAEY. 16"Ter duyfel !"Gripper heeded them not, e\ en ifhe heard them, he probably supposed

the cries came from some other lostspirits, and so went on:"Oh, why wasn't I a better manwhile on earth, then I might havebeen in the kingdom of light now,and not chained down here in the pitof darkness and despair."Then something seemed to comeback to his memory." Ah ! he said, the evil one himself,that wasthat 1 must be burned,and he sent Beelzebub to stir up thefire, I wonder if he's got it hotenough, and when he's coming forme ?""Oh, Lord ! what misery. Whathorror ! And then ter think that myold womans's enjoying everything Ileft behind me on earthp'r'aps ismarried to that Hans Traeger beforethis. She wouldn't waste any timeabout it, Zknow."But jist let her do it, an' I'll haunt'em both, every time ther devil willgive me a day off, an' 1 hope that'llbe ])urty often. Jist let me get at'em now !""Lord, no, Giles ! don't come anear me. Jist rest quiet in yer grave,can't yer, an' let us alone.""Whowho spoke ?" gasped Grip-per wonderingly, "that sounded likeNancy's voice.""Of course it's me, Giles, an' Ithink y'er pesky mean ter come backhere an' bother me, jist 'cause 1 wanter nuther husband now you're dead.Why can't yer rest quiet in yergrave, like any decent man ? I'msure if I was dead you'd marry againfast enough. How long would it be,I'd like ter know, before the widowBangs, ther bold ugly thing, wouldbe a-standing in my old shoes?"And in her anger she tried te extri-cate herself from her uncomfortableposition, and, naturally, upset thechair.In falling, her head came in violent

contact with Hans' overloaded stom-ach. Not being able to see, and withhis mind full of ghosts and super-natural apparitions, the Dutchmansupposed, of course, that the enragedshade of the farmer had come to takevengeance on him for the tender pas-sion he had inspired in the bosom ofhis widow. So he at once set up ahowl of fright, and began kickingvigorously with his big feet, his armsbeing so entangled that he could notuse them.But his feet did fearful execution,they soon knocked to pieces the chairhe had tumbled over, and then tear-ing through Mrs. Gripper's dress andskirts, sadly bashed her shins, andmade her fairly howl with pain.Meanwhile, firmly persuaded thathe was among the lost spirits, allthis seemed peifectly natural toGripper, who remembered that hehad always heard while on earththat Hade's was anything but a quietplace.

And now a new fancy took posses-sion of himprobably the effects ofDuffy's dose, which must have lefthis throat dry, and an unpleasanttaste in his mouth."Water! water!" he cried, "oh !I'm burning up inside, fire consumesme. I'm in agonyagony !""Poor old critter," murmured Mrs.Gripper, for the moment forgettingher own pains."Ter duyfels! Why don't dotg:host geep quiet und go avay, I voslike to know ?""Water ! waAt that moment thore came athundering knock on the outsidedoor."Oh, Lord, there comes Beelze-bub," groaned Gripper."Land sakes alive ! what's that?"exclaimed Mrs. Gripper, with chat-tering teeth."Ter duyfels 1 dare vas ein odderghost," moaned Hans.Bang ! bang ! bang ! on the door,and now the most profound silencereigned in the bedroom.Bang ! bang ! bang 1 and then aloud " hallo, there !"But no one moved.After a moment Gripper began hisgroans and mutterings again, andHans, feeling Mrs. Gripper's hand

stealing upward toward his throat,became frightened, and once morebegan to kick and tumble about.The woman sciean/ipd, and in themidst of all this '"iiproar, a brightlight burst upon the scene, and astrong, manly voice demanded, in atone ef wonder and amazement:"What the deuce is to pay here, I'dlike to know ?"Then, as he caught sight of thefarmer in bed, the old woman on thefloor, with tattered dress and skirts,and the chair attachment, and poorHans, with his head and arms envel-oped in dresses, skirts, and otherfemale wearing apparel, he burstinto an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

CHAPTEE Xn.THE WAE CORRESPONDENT SETSTHINGS TO RIGHTS."Well, well," exclaimed the stran-

ger, as soon as he was able to speak," this beats any thing I ever saw be-fore in all my eventful life, and I'veseen a good deal too. I wonder whatin the world I shall come acrossnext."All this time the farmer had been

sitting up in bed, regarding the in-truder attentively."You ain't the devil?" he askedat last."No, I should hope not," was thelaughing reply ; "still I should thinksomeone had been raising the devilhere.""Nor yet Beelzebub?" persistedthe fanner."No, nor him either," laughed By-ington.

"And yet I have seen you before.""Eight again, old man.""Ah! I know now, you're the newspaper fellow that came to my housethe first night of the great battle,and who got me into all this troubleby sending Tony Tibbits off to thearmy." I got you into trouble! What doyou mean, old boy?""Ah, sir, it was through you, inthe first place, that I lost my life,But say, how come it that you tooare in the bottomless pit ? Was youso awful mean and wicked while onearth ?""Nowj'old man, you've got me, un-til this minute I didn't know that Iwas in the bottomless pit,indeed,I supposed I was in your own farm-house, near Gettysburg. But to tellthe exact truth, when 1 came up to_your door, I was inclined to think"that jiandemonium had broke loose.""See here, mister," whimperedMrs. Gripper, at this point, "ifyou've got any of ther milk o'human kindness left inter yoursoul, I wish yer'd jist come herean' pull this cheer oft' on me.Almost dying with suppressedlaughter, Byington obeyed. Hecaught hold of the chair, andafter two or three vigorous yankspulled it oft. He then helped thedilapidated woman to her feet.With a bitter groan she sank intoanother chair; but this time she wascareful tc see that it had a firm woodbottom before she trusted her weightupon it.Hans was next extricated from hisunpleasant predicament, and as heslowly raised himself to his feet, hemerely ejaculatedfrom force of hab-it, probably:"Ter duyfels!" and then stared,first at the war correspondent, thenat Mrs. Gripper, and lastly at herbefogged husband on the bed."Now, if it's all the same to you,"said Byington, "I'd like to havesome one tell me the meaning of allI've seen here. What's the matterwith Mr. Gripper? and what wereyou two doing on the floor there ?"He had addressed himself to thefarmer's wife, and she hastened toanswer:"We'd been out-doors," she said,"Hans an' me. General Lee calledus out, an' wanted Hans ter hide himin ther barn an' ""What!" exclaimed the aston-ished Byington, "General Lee want-ed to hide in your barn ! What inthe world are you talking about, wo-man ?"

"Talkin' about what really hap-pened," she afiirmed, "General Leedid want to hide in our barn, didn'the, Hans?""Yaw, dot vos such.""Yes, indeed, an' he would a-doneit too, if six Yankee soldiers hadn'ta come up an' took him prisoner,wouldn't he, Hans ?""Yaw."


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THE ARMY AKD JfAVY LIBEART."A squad ofUnion troops capturedhim, eh ?""Yes. they did.""Right here in your front yard?""Yes.""How did they happen along soopportunely ?""They knew he was somewhere

hereabouts,' and were out in searchof him.""This is news," muttered Bying-ton to himself, "Lee a prisoner in

the hands of the Federals! I won-der if any of the other boys havegot hold of it yet. If they hain't,by Jove, I shall be pretty well up inthe world. Lord! how the Tribuneswill go off to-morrow," and he beganto write rapidly, holding his pad inhis left hand, and shoving the iieucilover the paper with his right."But come," he said at last, "youhaven't told me the whole story yet,go ou.""Why, sir, you see, after thesoldiers had carried off Generalee ""Stop! How long ago was that ?""Let me see. How long ago wasHans? An hour?""Not so much as dot.""Half an hour?""More.""All right," said Byington, "sayand go on."Well, after they'd carried him off,came inside, an' Hans feelin' hun-

I got him something to eat."Just as he finished, and da I wasof puttin' thei*things away,both heard an awful groan, com-as it seemed ter us, from thisvery room, an' as yer may wellwe war both awfully dis-"

"Why, didn't you know it was Mr."Ah! there it is, yer see, sir, we

ther old man was dead.""Dead! why should you suppose"Why, you know how you sent

Tibbits away that night?he never came back at all,ther moment ther battle wasthat is, yesterday mornin',

started out ter find him, an'hadn't seen uothin' of the oldsince, so we supposed he mustgot killed by mistake."An' I was killed," spoke up theabruptly; "but not by mis-not be a long shot.""How was that, sir?" asked the

curiously."Why, yer see, I searched all dayyesterdayI suppose it wasthat pesky boy, an' not flndin'one o' ther generals gave me

last night, sayin' as howe'd got track on him himself, an'he'd send me to him terday.ell, he did, an' a young soldierent with me; an' when we got toher regiment an' company where teroy was, ther soldier left me, andhem fellers said as how I was a spy,n' so they dug a grave an' buried

me alive, that's how it comes thatI'm dead now.""Ah ! I see, "said By ington thought-fully. Then turning to the woman:"Well, go on, madam.""Where was I? O, I remember.Hearin' that awful groan, we rushedin here; but it beiu' dark, we couldn'tsee nuthin', so I went out for alight,an' jist as I came back with it, weheer'd ther awfulest noise yer everlisted to an' I was so skeert that Idropped ther lampthere 'tis now.Then Hans tumbled over a cheer, an'fell inter ter closet, an' I sot down iner nuther an' went clean through it.An' when I heer'd Giles tell as howhe was in ther bad place an' hadcome ter haunt me, I tumbled over,as you found me."Ah! I see it all now," said Bying-ton, with a smile. "And so, oldman, you -really think your dead, doyou?""Of course; how can a man that'sbeen buried be alive?""Such things have happened be-

fore, and will happen again," saidthe correspondent."Is that so?""Yes; and in your own case, Ithink I can tell you about how it was.You were speedily dug up after youwere buried, and when you revived a

little, being still somewhat dazed,came home mechanically, and with-out knowing what j'ou were about.Your wife and \tlaus being outside,you fouuil the jSOut door open, andso walked m and came right here,naturally enough, and went to bed.After a while you got back yourfaculties a little moreenough so thatyou could recall the past, in a meas-ure, and now, I fancy, you're all right.Come, old man, say that you are, forI want to do a stroke of business withyou, and in a hurry too.""What! and ain't I really dead?"asked the old man excitedly."No more than I am.""And you ain't dead?""Not much.""Hurrah! I'm ready for anything

then. Want er do a stroke o' busi-ness with me, eh? Well, wait erminute, an' I'll be with you," and hesprang out of bed as buoyantly as aboy of ten."Mercy me!" exclaimed his wife,and rushed from the room.Byington and Hans followed her,and a little later the farmer joinedthem in the dining-room."I ain't dead, that's a fact," said

the old man, looking around him;"but I don't understand it yet.""Well, it will all come back to youby-and-bye," said the correspondent."And now let's talk. You've got agood horse in your stable, eh?""Whyyespurty good."You bought him of a Union of-ficer?"

. "Yeyes,""Well, mine's a little lame. Comeand look at him. The army is justmoving South and I must be well

mounted. If you're a mind to makea trade, I'll give you a hundred dol-lars to boot. Come, now, let's makequick work of it, for I must get offmy dispatch about the capture of 'Lee, and then join Meade or Slocum,wherever they may happen to be."All right, mister, I'll look at yourhorse," and being now thoroughlyconvinced that he was still in thelaud of the living, the farmer becamemore worldly-minded than ever.He sold the correspondent a horsehe had never owned, stabled the onehe took in exchange, and put onehundred and ten dollars in green- 'backs in his pocket, and then he re-turned to his house feeling that hehad done a very smart thing. Sothere, for the present, we will leavehim.

CHAPTER Xni.FROM GETTTSBUKG TO THE TENNES-

Unfortunately for the the Unioncause. General Meade did not seemto comprehend the great advantagehe had won. Two days after thebattle he carefully pushed the Sixthcorps toward the enemy ; taking hisother corps by different roads andadvancing as rapidly as Lee movedon and got out of the way.The general course was toward,,Frederick, which was reach thesecond day out.The Seventeenth pressed forwardwith the Eleventh corps to Hagers-town,which it occuxjied on the twelfthof July, capturing one hundred andtwenty-five prisoners. The Fifthand Twentieth overtook the enemyintrenched at Fair Play on the twelfthand were ordered to take positionand throw up earthworks.Next night the main rebel armyescaped across the Potomac. Theretreat and pursuit were continued,without much in the way of interest,until Lee's army occupied the southside of the Kapidan, near OrangeCourt House.The Twelfth corps went into campnear Raccoon Ford. Ross, the colonel of the Twentieth, now had commandof the brigade.On the twenty-fourth of Septemberthe Twelfth corps was relieved andmarched back to Brandy Station ; andall property was turned over to thepost quartermaster. The march was resumed to BealtonStation, where to the surprise of all,the corps was embarked on board thecars to reenforce the Army of theCumberland in Tennessee.This was to meet Longstreet's ,army, already thrown into the west-ern scale in aid of Bragg.Rosecrans had been pushed intothe fortifications around Chattanoo-ga; and Bragg was investing theplace, while operating on the Unioncommunications with strong detach- ,ments. The enemy occupied Look- i


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THE ARMY AND NAVY LIBEAEY. 17out Mountain, and the railroad andri vcr back to Bridgeport, Alabama.The Union army was on balf-ratious.Every day their provision-trainswere attacked and wagons cap-tured.The twelfth corps travelled nightand day from Virginia westward.The twentieth regiment, in which weare particularly interested, was stow-ed away in freight-cars. Dispatchwas indispensable. Comfort couldnot be considered.The commissary had preceded; andat regular intervals the train stoppedfor sandwiches and coffee for thesoldiers.All through Ohio and Indiana the

troops were greeted with an ovation.^Thousands turned out at every stop-Ipingijlace; and ladies brought to the(veterans bouquets and wreaths ofIflowers. Haversacks were seized,

I and filled with fruit, cake, bakedI meat-pies ; and the pork and hard-tack came to be despised.Prom Louisville they went on toNashville, thence to Murfreesbor-ough and to Fullahoma.The rebel guerrillas infested thewhole country; arid they now cut therailway immediately in the rear ofthe reenforcements.A division of the Twelfth corpswas ordered to defend the trackfrom Bridgeport back toward Nash-ville; and the guerrillas became, fora time, somewhat more timid, andtheir raids less frequent.The Twentieth regiment wentthrough Tennessee to Steplienson,Alabama, where they arrived on thefourth of October. Here the Twelfthcorps had its headquarters, and wasoccupied in guarding the lines ofcommunication for the army at Chat-tanooga. A few weeks later theTwentieth Eegiment went to Cowan,Tennessee.Grant wos now in command, andhad an army of one hundred thousandveterans in and around Chattanooga.During the succeeding weeks, hemoved on Lookout Mountain andMission Eidge; defeated the rebelarmy with frightful slaughter; cap-tured six thousand prisoners, seventhousand stand of arms, and scoresof cannon, and pursued the shatteredhosts of Bragg as far as Dalton.The Twentieth regiment was stillguardiug the lines of communicationat Cowan. The duties of the regi-ment were extremely arduous; andthey suffered every few days fromguerrilla raids. One company, sta-tioned at Tracy City, was surprisedby a band of more than one hundredand fifty land pirates, who dashedinto their lines, and attempted tocapture or murder the boys.One brave fellow, a guard, wasshot dead from the first fire. Cap-tain Upson, commander of the post,was murdered in cold blood. Whilehe was trying to join his company,only a few rods distant, he was shottwice through his body after his sur-

render, and he soon after died fromthe effects of his wounds.A part of this same band of guer-rillas attacked a freight - train ofeleven cars, at some distance fromCowan, A rail had cautiously beendisplaced from the track, whichthrew oft' the train with a terriblecrash.

Instantly a gang of rebels jumpedfrom behind trees and ledges, andcommenced the work of bloodshedand plunder upon the passengers;simultanously firing the train, whichwas loaded with hay, lumber, andthe like.Captain Ellsworth, who at thetime acting as brigade-inspector, andwho sometimes was unlucky andthen again lucky, happened unfor-tunately to be on board.Thtee brave soldiers were shotdown by his side; and a musket wasleveled and fired at him, whichmissed its mark, just grazing hisneck.Ellsworth, in company with two

lieutenants and three negroes, brake-men on the train, was then taken un-der guard, and rixn off three milesor more into a dense woods. Thepoor negroes wore shot; Ellsworthexpected the same fate; but wasfinally simply robbed of his watch,about four hundred dollars in money,his coat, hat, boots; and then askedto sign a parole.He flatly refused:, and. after strip-ping ll.e two li',' i/i^i^.;nfs, who werewith him, of all ln-Ly had, they werethen left by the cutthroats to gropetheir way back through the woodsbarefooted, which they did, guidedby the light of the burning cars.Captain Ellsworth was not in thebest of humor when he got back tohis regiment, and he lost no time inlaying the matter before the lieu-tenant-colonel commanding.The officers were called together,as a sort of committee of war, and itwas unanimously determined, thatthe land pirates must be extermin-ated.But how should they go at it?only a small portion of the regimentcould be spared to follow them up,the rest were absolutely needed forguard duty along the road.While they were still deliberating.Major Andley Peale, of the Tennes-see Union cavalry, was announced.He listened attentively to whatwas being said, and at last askedpel-mission to say a word himself.Permission was promptly granted."I understand," said the Major,"that quite a number of Kentucky

horses were captured by your menthe other day. How many of themwere there?""Between fifty and sixty," saidthe Lieutenant-Colonel."Ah! then let me have betweenfifty and sixty of your best men,whocan keep the saddle when on horse-back, and I'll son settle this busi-ness for you."

"By Jove!" laughei! the Lieuten-ant-Colonel, "I dou't ku >w as we'vegot that number of horsemen in thewhole regiment. Connecticut ishardly big enough, you know, topractice horsemanship in to advan-tage"

"I'll guarantee to furnish themen," exclaimed Captain Ellsworth,quickly, "if I may be allowed to ac-company them.""It 8 a bargain," said the lieuten-

ant-colonel, promptly; "and now youand Major Peale go off and settle allthe details of the expedition betweenyou.""You turn the capable horses overto us, of course," said Peale."Certainly.""Come, then. Captain." And thetwo went out together.Less than an hour Inter EandalEllsworth, at the head of neaji.v hjs_whole command, rode out of Cowan,in company with Audley P.eale, andhis Union cavalry, and that nightthey bivouacked on the t)ank8 of aswiftly flowing stream, near the out-skirts of a pretty village, and many-miles from headquarters.

CHAPTEE XIV.EDNA STAmVOOD DEFENDS HEEHOME.About two miles from the bivouac,and south ol the village, standing on

a slight eminence, Twljich overlooked^j broad acres ol 'one ol the bestplantations in East Teispessee, .stooda stately mansion, which for morethan sixty years had been the abodeof one of the proudest families in allthe land.An unnatural silence reignedabout the place, no one could beseen in the grounds, no lights ap-peared in the windows, and even thenegro quarters seemed deserted.All at once, a steady, growingsound was head in the distance,which soon resolved itself into themeasured hoof-Fti ok-ys of a numberof well-trained hojses; and soon asquad of mounted men appeared,who, on coming in sight of the man-sion, halted, and held a brief consul-tation."Now, then, Bolton," said theleader of the party, "you're quitesure of what you say; the generalleft those papers with his wife, didhe?""Yes, Colonel, either with his wifeor Miss Edna, I won't be certainwhich; but I'd think it more likelythe latter, for she's got more grit anddetermination about her than hermother. If she wasn't a woman,she'd be her father right overagain.""O, bother her and her fathertoo," growled one of the number,"what we want to know about is thepapers; eh, Colonel?""To be sure," acquiesced the col-onel; "still, I must say Bolton is


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18 THE AEMT AND NAVY LIBRAET.right about the girl. Edna Stan-wood is a young lady of very decidedcharacter, and she comes of mightygood stock, too.""She's a regular she devil,"growled the man who had beforespoken."Come, come, Captain, not quiteso bad as that. I fear you have aparticular grudge against her andher family.""So I have; and against every oth-er Union family in East Tennes-"Humph! is that all? Then you

haven't so much cause for grievanceas I have myself.""Ah! I remember," said the cap-tain before he thought, "she reject-ed vou too.""Oho! then she didTejeat you, mydear captain? In truth, I alwaysthought so.

Jillson bit his lip withvexation, but presently blurted out:"Yes, Colonel Hicks, she did re-ject me; and at the time I swore theday should come when she shouldrepent itwhen I'd be even with herand all her race. You may judge,then, with what delight I heard, af-ter the South had taken up arms,that St. Clair Stanwood had boldlyannounced himself as an uncom-promising Union man, and had ac-cepted a commission in the Unionarmy. Then it was that I resolvedto take an active part in the war onthe side of the sSouth; and in ordernot to be drawn U.oo far away frommy main object, I joined your inde-rpendent force, Colonel."

"I see. Well, I've no great causeto love the Stanwoods myself, andwith such a good hater as you by myside, Abner, we ought to be able toaccomplish something to-night."

"If we get hold of those papees weshall accomplish sometMng.""Ah! but suppose the girl refusesto give them up, or to tell wherethey are?"

J'TLen force her," hissed Jillson,between his set teeth."But suppose sTie still refuses, inspite of all I can do?""Then turn her over to me, andthreaten to burn down the house."That woidd be pretty tough,wouldn't it? I hear Mrs. Stanwoodis quite an invalid, and Flora Pen-rose, her niece, as kind and inoffen-sive a girl as ever lived, is stayingthere with her.""That can't be helped, we musthave those papers, at whatever cost.You know as well as I, Colonel, thepossession of them would set us upfor life.""That's so," muttered the Colonel,thoughtfully"Well, cov...- ou, wemust try for them, any way. Bolton,is there many niggers about theplace?""Very few, colonel, not more thantwenty-five or thjrty in all, and mostof 'em mind there own business too.""All right, that's the safest plan

for them. Come on, let's makestraight for the front door, and soget inside before they have time tofasten it. Forward!"The little party moved on, rodethrough the open gateway, andpushed forward to the broad verandawhich ran across the whole front ofthe mansion."Dismount!" was the Colonel'sbrief order, and springing from hisown horse, he made a rush towardthe open door."Back! not another step forwardor I Are!" and a fair young girl, ofnot more than nineteen summers,suddenly appeared in the doorway,a revolver ready in her hand.Taken completely by surprise, thecolonel at first retreated down thesteps; but quickly recovering him-self, and supported by his dozen fol-lowers, he again advanced towardthe door."Back, I say!" came in firm deter-mined tones from the lady's lips,"not one of you can enter here, 1know you all for a baud of heartless

outlaws, and while I live you shallnever cross the threshold of myfather's house.""Out of the way, Edna Stanwood!"said Abner Jillson, in a brutal voice,"We have not come hear this nightto be balked in our purpose by awoman, out of the way, I say, or itmaj be the wor.se for you.""No sir! I move not from where Istand until you hawe lipft this place,"was the brave repljf,"One moment," Laid Colonel Hicks,in a somewhat conciliatory tone, "itmay be that this matter can be com-promised. We have come for a cer-tain package of papers, which, as wehappen to know, your father left,some days since, either in your own,or your mother's hands, for safe keep-ing.""You happen to know!" sneeredEdna, "I see Austin Bolton amongyou, and understand very well howyou 'happen to know' that my dearand brave father, when he visited usthe other day, left certain papers be-hind him.""Ah! he did leave them then;" ex-claimed Hicks quickly. "Well, de-liver up those papers to us, and wewill go away at once, and make youno further trouble."Those papers are no longer in thishouse," said Edna firmly."What! no longer here ? I don't be-lieve you.""Of course she lies," growled Jill-sou, casting a look of deep and bitterhatred on the girl."It makes not the slightest differ-ence to me what you say or think,"she said calmly, "the papers are nothere. Do you for a moment suppose,after learning that Austin Bolton hadbeen seen sneaking about our draw-ing room, while my father was talkingto my mother and myself in the libra-ry adjoining, that I would keep thepapers in the house another hour ?"

Lester Hicks, I knew his connectionwith you, and that bad man by yourside, and therefore understood onlytoo well how dangerous it would be.""Hum," said the colonel, after amoments' consideration, "then youwill give us no information about thepackage ?"

"I will not," was the decided re-ply-"Then you must stand out of theway, for I propose to question your

mother."You ^will do nothing of the kind,sir, my mother is confined to herroom, where my cousin is attendingher, and she cannot be disturbed, it .would be dangerous to her health,which, I frankly tell you, is very pre-carious.""Oh, come, hain't we heard aboutenough of this chin music?" askedJillson impatiently, "What are westanding here for, any way? Shall welet one weak girl keep a dozen of usstrong men in awe?"

"I wouldn't advise one of the dozenstrong men to attempt to interferewith the weak girl," said Ednaquietly.At this moment .one of the menwhi.spered to Jillson, and as Ednasaw, directed his at

(1884) Tony Tidbits: The Union Drummer Boy

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