Old times in Georgia : good times and bad times / by "Sarge" (A. M. Wier)

OLD TIMES IN GEORGIA
GOOD TIMES AND BAD TIMES
BY
SARGE
(A. M. W1ER)
CONSTITUTION PUBLISHING COMPANY ATLANTA, GA. 1903
PBS78 612

WADING THE COLD SHENANDOAH.
"Ive lived on Flynt river er heap," continued Plunkett, as ail had gathered around the fireside," but I didnt ! konw er thing erbout rivers till I got up in Virginia. You ask any old Virginia soldier what he thinks of the Shenandoah river and the cold chills will run up and down his backbone as soon as the words leave your mouth. The Shenandoah is the coldest river in the world, 1 reckon, and there is no soldier what followed Lee but what waded it more than once. It fairly cut er fellow in two either in summer er winter, and that aint all, folks what was never in the army dont know what it is to wade er river. It you stop to pull off your shoes you get erway behind, and it -will take you two or three hours hard tugging to catch up, and if you dont pull off your shoes the gravel and sand will get in your shoes and socks and make you wish you was er yaller dog before you got it out, and so it goes, and every old soldier will tell you the same thing. Id rather be wallowtd m the snow and ice any time than to wade the Shenandoah."
The old man stopped to put the fire in his pipe, and then seating himself in a comfortable position, proceeded:
"Folks cant be made to understand what genuine soldiering is, and you neednt talk to em erbout it. Fighting Yankees aint the worst part of soldiery. Ive seed men march through the mud and slush, so dark you couldnt see your hand before you, and every once in a while youd hear er fellow stumble and fall and flounder erround in er mud hole till youd think he was erbout to drown, and when hed get on his feet ergin the first word youd hear from him would be, I wish er million Yankees would come right down on us, and thats the way he felt. Ive seed men sleep walking erlong- the road, and youd better not tackle em then either, for when men got in that sort of fix theyd fight mighty hard, and take it as er sort of dessert
"And soldiers didnt have no more clothes than what they needed, and they didnt have no more to eat than what it took to keep er fellow lat, and I seed one mess, as they were called, one night that would er whipped any Yankee regiment youd er brought before them, and it was this way:
"The soldiers on the march would cut down er tree at night and make their fires and would use the stump for er breadtray, smoothing off the top of the stump and working up their dough on it. Some of the mess would go to the branch and get wa ter, another would make the fire and another would make up bread and cook. One night, just this side of Winchester, when it was raining like bringers, the soldiers stopped in er piece of woods and struck camps, and the first rations that they had got er hold of in three days was given to the fellow what was going to do the cooking that night and he poured out the flour on top of the stump that was fixed and made up the dough and then turned erround er fixing on the oven and lid, and when he turned back on his dough he seed it all running dow the sides and on the ground. The rain had melted his dough and the flour was all lost. The cook was too full to say anything; he jist rolled up in his blanket and went to nawing on er raw Irish potato and left the other fellows to do the cuss ing. He wasnt needed In the cussing business for the other fellows done enough of it, and I dont believe it was marked down ergin em either, for them were hard, hard times.
"When we got to Fredericksburg, after coming out of Maryland, everybody was as good as naked and something had to be done. The officers said build winter quarters for

they thought that the Yankees were going to bt y.jiet ti-. spring and so the soldiers went to work and built little pen=, something- like potato houses, ana covered em with uirt, ana everything was er moving erlong pretty well till one morning just before day Liongstreets signal gun went bum, and erv>ay down the river Jacksons signal answered back b-u-m. \\e knowecl it was er lig-nt, and so it was the first battle of Freuericksburg. Snow was on the ground, and Lees army was naked you might say, and after old. Burnsides was run oack across the river the boys went on the battle Held arid dressed themselves up. You youngsters that dont know nothing erbout war may think it was mighty wrong to strip the dead, but it warnt, for Lees army had to have clothes, and they didnt have no where eise to get em.
"There was one fellow, though, that didnt get no clothes, and he froze to death in a few nights after, but it haint no harm in telling you erbout what kept him from getting em. Three of em was in er mess together ana they went down on the edge of Fredericksburg on the night the battle closed, and they seed er dead yunkee er laying cold and stiff, with his arms right straight out on either side, and he had on er mighey new overcoat, and the three proceeded to get it off. They raised him on his feet and one of em got on one side and an other on the other side and were trying to bend the stiff arms, when the fellow that was holding him up gave a quick jerk which turned the dead body and brought the stiff arms around with it and the open palm slapped Ned in the face, and it smacked as natural as if the yankee had er been alive and done it. Ned didnt stop to ask questions. He turned his face for camp, and er way erlong up the long slant of Maries heights there was snow enough to see him plain as hed bounce over ridgts like er ball, and he co;ne mighty near running himself to death before he got to camp. You couldnt make him be lieve nothing but that it was a ghost that slapped him, and he wouldnt have nothing to do with getting overcoats that way, and so he froze to death pretty soon after that, one night on picket.
"Its not every one that knows it," continued Plunkett, "but Lees army had more Georgians in its make-up than did any other state. Thats what makes me so mad when I think of old Sherman er coming down here, and er cutting such a dash.
"North Carolina was next to Georgia in furnishing troops for Lee, and then came Virginia. Texas had one brigade, including the Third Arkansas regiment, which was the only regiment Arkansas furnished to the Virginia army. South Carolina didnt have many; Mississippi didnt have no great sight. The Alabamians were mostly with the Tennessee army, and Florida kept out of the cold climate of Virginia, by doing service somewhere on the coast. The snows of Virginia wouldnt er suited them, 1 guess.
"Georgia and North Carolina bore the brunt of the service in Virginia, though there were lots of troops from other stales that was just as good as Georgians or North Carolinans. as far as that went.
"There wasnt but one trouble erbout the North Carolina sol diers; they liked to have er plenty to eat, and thuv kept their eyes skint for turnip patches and sich like, and when camp was struck at nisht, theyd go back to git sich things without ever thinking erbout distance, and I never seed but one tired North Carolina soldier during the war, and he was er fellow that had er mania for playing chucker-luck. One day, on the road this fellow seed er pen of ear corn, and he spotted it, for grains of corn was what the chuck-er-luck fellows used for chips. When camp was struck that night he soon learned thfre was to be er game, and he chugged himself in the ribs with his thumb and ne laug-hed to himself as he struck out down the road to where hed seed the pen of corn, morn two mile= a way He was sure of getting an ear of that corn and running in the srrains on

the chuck-er-luck dealers as their chips. He got to the pen after a half Hours fox trot on the back track, run his hand between the rails, and fished out the biggest ear he could get er hold oi, and then turned and fox trotted it back to camp, in the meantime shelling the corn off in his coat pocket, ready for business with the chuok-er-luckers. The game was under way when he got to camp, and he was soon seated on the ground beside an oil cloth, which was used instead -of a table by the gamblers. Betting was going on freely with grains of corn for chips and they were rated 50 cents a grain. The fellow laughed 10 himself as he run his hand into his pocket and slipped out a handful of grains that hed got at the pen, but he said d m it when he say that were red.
"That fellow was mighty tired when he seed the red grains, and when all the crowd begin to laugh and holler, he acknowl edged the corn, and he soon rolled up in his blanket and went to sleep, and heatold me since that he would never try any more tricks, and I dont blame him."
"Skeery Lucy"."
"Skeery Lucy!" "Thats what they called her," said Plunkett, us he chunked the fire and seated himself in the corner. "As a little girl at school, the teacher called her Timid Lucy, but all the scholars knowed her as Skeery Lucy, for she went by that name among all the settlement folks, and her own daddy and ma.mmy said the name suited her character. "When she growed up and got married she was just the same, and when John, her old man. would be a little late in get ting home at night hed find her shut up tight in the house with the doors all locked and every table and old bench and chairs piled up ergin them, and when John would knock at the door and tell her who it was hed have to stand and wait till she moved these things away before he could open the door, and then hed scold her for being such a dunce, but shed just laugh and say: " You knowed I was "skccry" fore you married me. "The name of Skeery Lucy clung to her for a long; time, and I guess she deserved it. for shed squeal at a lizard or a frog and take a fit. almost, if she seed a snake, but when old Sherman come down here she done what most any man would erbin afraid to do, and they have quit calling: her Skeery Lucy after that, and thats what I want to tell you erbout. "She was left with four little children to scuffle for herself, and then when John went off to Virginia, and it was mighty hard getting along at best, but as the armies got nearer and nearer, things got scarcer and scarcer and Lucy got scarier than ever. The big guns could be heard for a long- time before we seed the yankees. and Lucy just looked like she couldnt stand it. and the folks in the settlement said shed die some day. just from fright and anxiety. "But everybody had to scuffle, and One morning Lucy waked up with not a crust of bread in the house, and the children were swinging onto her dress and apron crying for something to eat. and there was no other way but for her to start out and get a little meal for em. She shut the children up in the house and put out across the field to the mill, and they poor little things, had been taught by their mammy to be afraid and there they sat, all in a bundle, ns scared as rabbits at everything that crac* ked or * mnde a * fuss, an* d whisp* ered to * each other "Shermans army was on the move making for the railroad they d got down the night before and Lucy didnt know it "Hardees army was moving- to meet the yp.nkee<= and to keep them from getting to the railroad, and Lucv didnt know nothing erbout that.

"She had just got to the mill and stepped upon the platform

when down through the woods came Hardees line of battle at a

double quick and before she had time to think they were past,

throwed out skirmishers and were expecting every minute to

meet the yankees. "Shermans line was coming toward Hardee, and it was only

a question of a few minutes until the fight would begin.

"Lucy thought of her little children shut up in the house, and

knowed how scared theyd be when they heard so many men

marching. She didnt know yet that it was a fight.

"She started in a run toward her house, intending to get

there before Hardees troops did. But old Sherman was coming

to meet them and it would only be a minute till there would be

warm times between Lucy and her house.

"The skirmishers began to pop their guns up and down the

line, and here come a battery dashing through a road in the

woods, and unlimbercd in a twinkling and let in, and then the

right had started.

"Lucys house was between the two lines. She seed a shell

hit the chimney and scatter the bricks and rocks. She thought

of her four little children that were huddled up and couldnt

get out and she didnt stop.

"The balls were flying thick from one line of battle to the

other, but she dashed through Hardees line and went up the

cotton patch the same as a deer. The soldiers screamed come

back; lay down! youll be killed, ana sich like, but through it

all she went and dashed ergin the door, and fell in errnong her

little children.

"Just then a bomb1 struck one corner of the house and

scattered splinters everywhere. The children were clinging to

her and er screaming at the top of their voices. Another shell

hit the house and tore away one gable end and the minie balls

were pattering the same as hail. She grabbed the smallest child

up ion her left arm and made the rest jine hands and then took

hold of the end childs hand and out they dashed into the open

field between the two armies.

"The yankfe line was the first to see them as they went

stumbling, falling and rolling over the cotton rows, and they

yelled like madmen:

" A truce, a truce, a truce!

"Then Hardees men seed what was the matter and They

waved their caps and jumped up and down and yelled:

" A truce, a truce, a truce!

"In less time than it takes to tell you, the firing ceased, and a hundred men from Hardees lino rushed for the children

and Lucy and the first ones to them grabbed em in their

arms and were back over the hill in a minute, and the fight went on.

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"Shes never been called Skeery Lucy from that dav to this,

and old Sherman said next day that he would erlost the battle

rather than to have killed so brave a woman, but there are

others who say that any mother would erdone the same thing."

An Old Time Fourth In Flat Ground.

Heretofore it has been the custom of the people in the coun try to g-o to the towns to celebrate the Fourth of July, but this year the good people of Flatground district, on Flint river, cel ebrated "under their own vine and fig trfe1 on Saturday.
After a ride of sixteen miles the aroma of the broiling meats told that we had arrived on the ground where was to be held a farmers barbecue, in celebration of the Fourth.
The ground selected was a beautiful grove of forest oaks, of

about ten acres, running 10111 a "big road" back of the banks of the placid Flint. There were numerous crystal springs that headed upon the ground and made pretty crooked branches down to the edge of the river, and upon either side these were grassy slopes that made delightful places to lounge to keep sheltered from the summers sun. Up and down these little streams and around these springs crowds had collected, awaiting- something to call them together at a place which had been prepared and was intended as a speakers stand. At last a loud voice was heard in the direction of said stand:
"Oh, yes, oh, yes, let everybody come up now and get their seats; were going to call the meeting to Order."
At this there was a general rising of the multitude from the grassy slopes around, and every one that could secured a seat on the slabs that had been arranged around the speakers stand. When the crowd had settled, the same voice announced:
"The meeting will now consider itself in session, and any man that wants to make any patriotic remarks upon the sub ject before us can do so. I am sorry to tell you, my fellow citizens, that the young lawyer that had promised to address us today couldnt get here, and so I move that Colonel Smitk, who I see before me, come forward to the stand and give U9 a starter."
"Smith! Smith!! Smith!:!" rang out from a thousand voices.
Colonel Smith arose, and, in a dignified and appropriate man ner, pioceeded to excuse himself from taking the place as speaker of the day, when a young boy of about twelve sum mers, who had worked himself as near to the speakers stand as he could, spoke out in an excited tone:
"Pa! say. pa!! the brindle steer has turned the yoke and is down, and hell choke his fool self to death if you dont come up there."
This caused some confusion in the proceedings, and before the crowd had again settled, Colonel Smith had taken his seat. When this was noticed, some gentleman in the audience moved that "we hear from Colonel Paterson." This brought forth cheers from the audience, and cries of:
"Paterson! Paterson!! Paterson!!!" The colonel was at once escorted to the platform, and, after
wiping the perspiration from his brow, he stood beside the little table, and, after taking a sip or two of water from a pitcher thereon, he began:
"Fellow Citizens, Ladies and Gentlemen We are here today to commemorate the glorious achievements of our forefathers and to make manifest our appreciation of the heritage that they give into our keeping a free and independent union of states now and forever."
The speaker was somewhat thrown off here by the squeals and kicks of a young horse that had broken his fastening and went into fighting as if he thought it was his patriotic duty. But the horse was soon in the hands of his master and Colonel Paterson proceeded with his remarks, which were, eloquent and patriotic.
Tt was plain to be seen that there was a jug or jugs some where in the grove, but. be it said to the credit of these good people, that it was as plain to be seen that there was but few in all that crowd that partook of the contents of said jugs But just at this time two gentlemen had wormed themselves into the center of the crowd, and one of them was disposed to show his ability as an orator, while his friend, who was beside him seemed as muoh determined that he should not, if pulling him down by the coat tails would prevent it. The first mentioned gen tleman arose, and, with a. self-confldent air said-
i,.";^168 and, Gentlemen " A pull at the long jeans coat tails which the speaker wore stopped the sentence, and looking down at his friend, he finished the sentence by remarking:

"Will you please let go my coat tail?"

The speaker proceeded again:

"Lades and Gentlemen " another pull.

"Will you please let go my coat tail?"

The speaker straightened himself to his full height, and.

in a much more confident voice, and in a much higher key,

he said: "Ladies and Gentlemen" (another pull at his coat) "Ding

you, will you let my coat tail alone?"

After a few more trials becoming convinced that his friend

would never "let go his coat tail," the speaker took his seal

amid the most vociferous applause.

Several gentlemen then, in turn, addressed the audience, and

the crowd seemed well entertained by their eloquent and patri

otic remarks. The speakers, each one, had many things to say

of the "mother country,"and. mentioned with something of pride

the recent demonstrations in connection with the queens jubilee

when, as a young speaker who had spoken with more warmth

than any of his predecessors, took his seat, the crowd were as

tonished and somewhat amused by an old gentleman who had

never pretended to make a speech in his life before, saying:

"Id like to know what we are met here today for, fellow

citizens. I gave one young steer to be eat up here today, and I

want to know what its all ertjout. Ive heard more erbout

Queen Victorias jubilee, and erbout old England than erbout

the men what followed George Washington through thick and

thin. (Cheers.) Im glad to hear you cheer when I speak

of these noble fello-ws. (Cheers.) Ive humped myself and the

boys have humped therself to get out of the grass and come here

today, but we didnt come here to hear erbout these highfalut-

ln didoes thats been gain on in honor of the queen of England.

Me and my folks come to hear old England cussed, and if

nobody else wont cuss her Ill be dadrab my buttons if I dont

do it. (Immense cheering.) Me and the boys have worked hard

anfl the old Oman and the gals have stirred soon and late, er

washing and Ironing and er fixing for this celebration; theyve

baked cake and pies, gathered blackberries and got scratched

with the briers and covered with red bugs, and we halnt er com

ing here to hear erbout Queen Victorias jubilee and old Eng

land. I say d n old England and hurrah for George Washing

ton and the brave men what followed him and stuck to him

through thick and thin."

Cheer after cheer went up as the old gentleman took his

seat, and as these died away dinner was announced, and the

crowd gathered up and down the long tables that were loaded

down with everything- good to eat. and if there was any one

who went away hungry or in a bad humor, it was no fault of

the entertainment one receives at a rural Fourth of July bar

becue.

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Brown and The Conscript Officer1.

"Thar was no soldier." said old man Plunkett. "what wanted to get killed in er skirmish or die in er hospital. But er lots of em died in hospitals, and I remember er young Texas fellow what the doctors tried mighty hard to save, and I think his name was Crawford.
"This young. Texian was shot through the thigh, and the thigh bone was Shivered, and the doctors told him thar warnt much chance for him lessen he had hi=s leg cut off. and they told him then It would have to he cut mighty close up to hs hody. and that the chances war all er gainst him. He told em to wha->k It off. and do the best they could and he thought he could pull through. The doctors put him on er table and they soon had his leg off. just as close up as they could get it and then they got him back on his bunk and it warnt long before he was as

pert as a cricket and crackin jokes with the fellows what war

lying next to him, and it went erlong that way for five or six

days when somehow he took er backset and his wound got

all inflamed and the doctors got to comin to see him every

hour or two, and we all knowed, and he knowed, too, that

something was up; and he lowed that if he had to die from

that wound hed rather to have been killed on the spot, and

then it would er been over with; but, said he, thars no use in

grievin erbout what cant he Ihelped, so let us haveas good er

time as we can while I do live. And from that he took. It

easy ergin and cracked his little jokes and laughed every_chance

he got, but erbout twelve oclock one day, when ffie nurse was

er givin him er little soup, he moved himself and blood spurted

erway out offen the bed, and the nurse called the doctor what

was at the other end of the house, and he run up and took er

little instrument what he had and caught up the artery and sent

for other doctors, and pretty soon thar war four or five o em

arround the young Texian and they done all they could to tie

the artery, but they couldnt, and they shook their heads and he

seed em, and he lowed that if they couldnt do nothing for him,

all right, and so all the doctors but the one what was holdin to

the tweezers passed erlong out, and then this doctor told the

young- Tfxian that he was b-ound to die; that they couldnt do

nothing- for hin, and that as soon as the tweezers war took off

hed bleed to death. The young Texian said all right, but axed

him to hold it until he looked at some pictures what he had

with him, and he took the pictures and ISoKed at em one by

one, and then he took all three of em and held em up before

him er minute and then he kissed em and lowed goodby to all,

and hugged the pictures up in one arm on his breast, and with

the other hand pulled the sheet over his face and the tweezers

slipped off, and we all turned erway and didnt go back any

more till er litter come in to carry himout to the dead house.

Wars tr *bad thing*, wars er* bad thing* ."

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After a pause of a few minutes, old man Plunkett continued: "Country boys couldnt stand soldierin as well as town boys. Er great big country fellow what could swing er ax all day and turn out his 230 rails from the stump, and out run, out jump, or throw down arry town fellow youd bring before him, when it come to camp life warnt thar. and er little old weasly town fellow what never had er blister in his hand in his life would tre praneln er round like er young filly when the country fellow could hardly drag one foot before the other. But all of em Tiad to give up sometimes and go to the hospitals, and the man what halnt seen the sufferin in er hospital dont know nothin- erbout war.

"Whatever Plunkett tells you, you can depend on, stranger," said old man Brown, as he took a fresh chew of tobacco. "Hos pitals are bad things, ana if I had it to go over ergin Id lay in er cave till moss on my back was three foot iong fore Id ever go inside er one.
"You see, stranger," continued old man Brown, "it took er ding sharp man to keep outen the war, if I do say it myself.
"The conscript officers kept er comin and er comin and gittin er little higher and higher in what they called ther scale of ages, till one day the old oman lowed Id better get er little aiiin; she thought I was too healthy for the times, and It was her opinion that the age business would play out all to gether, providin you could tote a gun. Sa the first thing you know my back was in such er bad flx that I couldnt move a chair from one side er the fireplace to the other, and it Tras soon norated all over the settlement that Browns a plum Inva lid, and some lowed it was spinal affection, and some lowed It was liftin too much when I was young-, and some lowed one

thing and some lowed ernother, but me and the old oman and the gals knoweil what it was.
"Shure enough, it warnt long fore the conscript went up to rny age and then me and my folks smiled; but one night I was walkin down in the new ground back er the lot and it was jest gettin dark and I didnt think thar was er soul erround anywhar and I seed er big hickory log layin on the ground, and thinks I to myself thatll make a good fire for tonight, and up I picked it and started for the house with it on my shoulder, when just as I turned erround the corner of the crib er voice right at me lowed:
" Good evening, Mr. Brown. "You oughter seed that log drap, and I lowed oh. my back, my poor back. 1 " Im an officer, Mr. Brown, and you must go up and be examined, said the fellow. "I went and the board,, of doctors thumped me, and P ut thar ears down on me and listened like, and looked at my tongue, and axed me how I felt, and I just lowed oh, my back, my poor back! "The board of doctors sent me over to er hospital and lowed that they would have me treated for er few days and then theyd zamon me ergin. "When I got over to the hospital they give me er bunk to lie on, and I lay there pretty well, ceptin once and erwhile a pain would catch me in the back and Id low: Oh! my back, my poor back. "Next mornin round comes one er these here weasly little old doctors, and he axed me how I felt, and I lowed, Oh! niy Wack, my poor back! The little old doctor he looked at the nurse what was with him and they both smiled and passed on down the room and zamoned the other fellows erlong, and I begin to think I was gittin erlong right well, and that they warnt ergwine to thump erround me any more, but wthen they went all erround the room I seed em stop over on the other side of the room, and look at me and kinder talk low, and thinks I to my self, somthings up, but I just turned over and lowed, Oh! my back, my poor back! "Pretty soon up steps the little old weasly doctor, aid stood by my bunk er minit, and by that time the nurse lie come up with er little table with some things what they called cups, and the doctor lowed: " Turn over; were gwtne to cup your poor, poor back. "Then the nurse he poured some spirits of turpentine in the cups or somethin that burned the same as turpentine, and they had me layin over by this time, and the nurse, Tie handed the ding- little old weasly doctor one of the cups, and he struck er ma.tch and lit the turpentine in the cup. and turned it right down on the small er my back. "Jerusalem! I riz from thar. and the nurse he grabbed me, and I swung him up in the air, when three or four more nurses run? up and takes lew-hold on me ana every other hold they could get, and er nigger er two runned up and helped em. and pretty soon they had me down, my arms tied and my legs tied, and er bayonet tied across my mouth, and they flung- me upon the Jittle old bunk and turnedme over! and that ding little old doctor set twelve er them cups er flre, and put six of em on one side of my backbone, and the other six on tother side, and turned erround and walked off. T was fixed. The nurse "ne took the cups off after theyd burned my hack up, and went and got er little trick and touched er spring, and seventy-five or eighty knives went right into them blisters, and he called that scarifyin! "Well. Ive hated hospitals and doctors from that dav to this, and I always expect to."

Southerners Didnt All Wear Gray".
"You heard a heap said erbout the gray and the blue," said Plunkett, as Ihe proceeded to fill his pipe with tobacco that Brown had chipped from a plug.
"Thar was er heap o difference between the looKs o jonnotons army and Lees. If thar was any gray erbout Lees army, 1 never seed it and er man that didnt have er blue yankee over coat and er yankee canteen, and all these sort o things, was looked upon as a fresh fellow from home and as mornn apt to tie a conscript.
"Johnstons army warnt that way. They didnt have much clothes, but what they did have was confederate, out and out, and Ive seed er two hundred pound fellow with er coat and jacket on that looked like they must er been made for er fellow weighing erbout eighty pounds, and er little old gray cap that didnt look like It was morn big enough for er doll-baby stuck onto er fellow that had er head as big as er peck measure. It kinder looked like they took pains to give little fellows big clothes and bis fellows short clothes.
You couldnt fell Lees army from the yankees, to see em marching erlong; but they wore er dadburned sight better clothes than ever Johnstons army got er hold of every old soldier knows this and I bleve Lees army was eating flour bread cr many er time when the other armies were knawing on old corn dodgers."
"They didnt none o em have anything to brag on," sug gested Brown.
"No," resumed Plunkett, "they didnt none o em have much to eat, and what they did have warnt fixed up much. Soldiers war mighty strange erbout their eating or their cooking, I mout say. Whenever or new kind o dish started up. the whole army would catch on to it mighty quick, and theyd run it plum in the ground before theyd turn it erloose.
"The most commonest way for er soldier to cook, though, was to put his beef in er camp kettle and set it by the fire and let it simmer erway there all night, and next morning it would be cooked all to pieces and brownfd with gravy at the bottom that was good enough for er king to eat. But theyd have changes sometimes, and its just ae Ive told you. whenever one fellow started any new way theyd all get at it, and thev<3 gif plum disgusted fore theyd stop."
"I knowed er fellow," chimed in Brown, "that was sich er good cook that Re liked to have starved himself to death. lettin fellows taste his vittels. But he soon got outen that. He was one o these here polite kind o fellows that would invite you to eat with him if you happened up at his meals, and It was right inter er fellows hand to get er meal offen another fellows ra tions, till pretty soon it got so that jist before hed ax yon to have some hed turn erround. so as youd be sure to see him. and spit in his eating three or four times, and er fellow had to be mighty hungry to eat eny o it after that. Hed tell em that it was jist er habit hed got into, and there was er lot= o em that took it up."
"Thats so." resumed Plunkett, "whatever one got to doin there were others that would follow. I never -will forget the dish what they called bread pudding. It was er kind o softening of cold bread and putting molasses into it and then baking er crust on to it; and there was er kind o weed that growed wild In Virginia that they gathered and biled for vegetables I forgot the name o it, but It was erbout as good as coke salacT
"The yankees had er plenty o everything, though. They had canned stuff to make soup, and they had canned vegetables and they had er plenty o everything that none o our fellows dtdnt get, cepting that theyd whip em and run em outen tber

camps, and it got so arter erwhile that they couldnt do thai, and it was hard times, I tell you."
"MoCIellans army had better eatin that most o folks had at home, said Brown.
"You are right," agreed Plunkett, "and our boys got er heap o it too. But thar was mighty hard times erround thar then, and er fellow couldnt enjoy nothing what he got. That Chickahominy country was er mighty bad place, and the weather was hot, and the fields and woods got dusty from so much trampin on em; But when it did rain thar was mud to pay for it. If 1 live er thousand years Ill never forget the last day o the seven days fighting erround Richmond. The last fight was at nisniu, or late in the afternoon and night. It was Malvern Hill, and the fight went on till erbout ten at night, and the rain was falling all the time. That was er bad place, and you never sed the lightning come noways nigh lighting up the coluds like the yankee cannons that were on top o that hill, and time after time, and regiment after regiment of our boys tried to get to the top o the hill and stop em; but they couldnt, and thar was many er good soldier that gave up his life that night, that died in darkness, with the rain falling down in his face, that there has never been er word said erbout in books, and never will be.
"What was called the Louisiana Tigers, went closer^ to the guns on Malvern Hill than any others, and they come" mighty nigh being all killed there. Major Wheat, the officer what led em, went nearer to the guns than any other man, and was shot down, and as he fell he hollered -out to em, Dont let em get me, boysl : and then there was a rush made to secure the body, and there was a hand to hand fight, till two men caught the dead officer by the legs and run down the hill with him. The next battle finished em up. and they were disbanded, only erbout twelve er thirteen of them being left, and I have never heard of them since.
"But thar haint no use in talking erbout things frway off yander in Virginia, when I can look right out the window here and see the ground where there was jist as hard fighting done as there was anywhere. I was over in the field there today, and as the plow would go erlong and turn up the dirt, I could find an old piece of Shermans shells every now and then. It looks like we never will get all the balls outen the ground, for everytime you plow it, and jist wait till er shower of rain comes, and sorter settle it down, the dirt will wash often the balls and leave em where you can see em. This is the way its been ever since the war. and it looks to me like there iias been more balls and pieces of shells picked up often that ground than tt would take to run er good sized war. and they didnt fight there but one day. either.
"I used to save little things that Id find, but Ive give em all erway to strangers that would tell me they wanted memen tos, but Ive got a little book there on the table that Ive kept and Im always going to keep UH somebody claims it what has or right to it."
The old man stopped talking as Brown reached over to a little table in the corner and drew forth a little soiled testa ment. Thei-f was nothing that could be seen to identify the owner, owing to its soiled condition. There was a note sheet of paper which had been pasted to the inside back of the book, and there were j/hrce or four verses and a name on it, b*ut here is all that can be read:
In this little book theres a promise thats precious. And but for that promise my poor heart would break:
I give to you and I know you will keep it. And read it and heed it, for dear mothers sake.
"I got that little book over on the yankee line the day after the fight, and Im pretty certain that it belonged to eryoun^

Indiana fellow what was killed and buried over there. It was muddy and wet when I got it, and brought it home and dried it, and Im going to keep it."
The old man ceased to talk for a moment, but suddenly rais ing- his bowed head, he remarked:
"Just the other day the robins were hopping erround on the imbs of them trees out there, down in the fields the blue birds were looking at the hollow stumps lor er place to build their nests, the hickory buds were beginning to swell and the peachea were blooming in the orchard, the dogwood blossoms were fixing to open and the honeysuckle smelt sweet on the branches, but there come a cold wind from the North that brought with it snow and chilled the sap and withered the buds and the birds have gone away. Whatever comes from the North brings trouble."
Success of Countrymen.

"See that fellow in that carriage?" asked Plunkett, as Brown

pulled his mules to the right to allow a flne carriage and a

handsome pair of horses to pass.

"Well," continued the old man, "hes one of the richest men

erround Atlanta, and I knowed him when he was one of the

greenest country fellows you ever seed."

"He was always er swapping knives and sick like, though,"

suggested Brown.

"Yes, he was always er kind of trader, as green as he was,

and he always had his eyes skint to make er thrip. I remem

ber once a fellow by the name of Wooten. in Griffin, advertised

in the papers for a thousand gentle house-cats. He wanted to

ship em to some island where they didnt have any. Wooten

emphasized the word gentle, in his advertisement, and John

H.. he seed the advertisement and he begin to hustle to set up

a corner on cats in the settlement. Wooten promised fifty cents

er piece for the cats and John II. h? got as many as <he wanted

at from five to ten cents. He collected a wagon loa.d of cats and

he had to sell his bull yearling- and some fancy chickens that

he had to get money to go into the cat business. But he was

high up, and that hes been a big banker since then, Ill bet

you he never felt no bigger in his life than ho did on the morn

ing toe lit up on his wagon and clucked to the hired "team of

horses to start to Griffin to deliver the cats to Wooten.

"The cats were all in bags, and he had seven hundred of em

in two wagons. He driv into Grffin on the appointed day, and

Wooten met him, smiling, at the pump in the middle of Hill

street. and every boy and every dog in tbe town

were right there to see the cats. Everything was made ready

for the delivering of em, and the whole population of Griffin,

including dogs, had gathered erround the space where the cats

were to be emptied out, and Wooten had his niggers ready,

and each one pot a big bag of the cats in his hand and untied

the string- at the top. and w*re standing waiting for the word

to be given to turn em loose. Wooten lowed:

"One, two, three!"

"And the seven hundred ca.ts we7-c emptied at the word three.

and up riz the yell of the populace as the boys and dogs"

darted among- cm, and sich a scattering of cats ws never seed

in this country, repting it might have been when old Serman

*it into Atlanta.

"John H. wanted his fifty cents apiece for the <-ats but

Ti ooten made the pint that hp advertised for gentle house cats

and John H. scefl that Wooten had er thousand witnesses ready

to swear that the cats were wild as thunder when thev were

dumped outen the bags, and he drlv er long- back home a wiser

out a sadder man.

~

"John H. went to the towns arter that, and by the habits of economy that he learned on the farm, mixed with suspicion enough to make him mighty cautious, he rides in carriages to day, and nobody wouldnt take him for the green countryman
"I telf you " ventured Brown, "these town fellows think theyre some but if you give a country-raised boy a half er chance, theyll outstrip em, and theyll have to keep their eyes skint or"NthoewvllthdeoresemJouhpn." D. Stewart," returned Plunkett, w.i.t.hout paying attention to Browns remarks, "hes In Congress now from our District, and Ive seed him when he was greener than gourds. John started out once to be er trader, too. He made Jour or five knife swaps and got the best of it, and he got plum excited on the trading business and he always had his eye skint for er speculation. It got to be the talk of the settlement that John D. would make his mark as a trader, till er fellow by the name of Hardie Jackson, whom John D. had got erway with in er yearling trade, went to work to do him up.
"Hardie was on his way back from Griffin one day, and lift seed John D. step outen the woods where he was splitting rails and take his stand waiting for Hardie to come up. Hardie thinks to himself, now Ill get him, and arter they had passed the compliments of the day, Hardie appeared to be mighty rest less to get erlong and John D. ups and axed him what his hurry was. That was just what Hardie. was playing for, and so he lowed:
" Well, John, I dont mind telling you, but I dont want It norated. for I expect to make big money oufen it. A yankee has come down to Griffin and built er mill to make some kind of oil outen cuckleburs (he knowed John D. could get cucklemirs), and Jim Seeks is offering one dollar and a half a bushel for the first in order to test the yankees invention.
"John D. didnt say er word, but he got restless hisself for Hardie to go on his way. and Hardie hadnt morn got outen sight till John D. drapped his ax and grabbed his coat and went flying errotmrt the settlement gathering up hands to gather cuckleburs that was down on his granddaddys bottom. The next morning by the break of day John D. had fifty hands slashing ermong the cucklebur weeds and then gathering them up and putting them in bags. He soon got fifty or sixty bushels, and paid off his hands, which took all the money he had made in his life trading to do, and then he driv In a trot to get to Grffln erhead of Hardie Jackson. Theres no use to tell you any more. There hadnt no yankee built nn old mill, and Jim Beeks never had heard of pu<?h a thing in his life, and so John D. went back home a wiser but a sadder man, and from that day to this he has never tried any trading or speculating, bait he went to work and studied by the pine knot fire, and then pretty soon he would work half the year, and gn to school the other half, till at last an old fellow by the name of Carroll took him in with him as an assistant teacher at Griffin, and from that he studied law, and he went to Zebulon in a trial for mur der case, and he riz before the jury and lowed:
" The case which you have before you is a case of great im portance; It is a case in which a mans life has been taken, and now, gentlemen, it is for you to say whether this poor man shall be hung or not; I do not think you will, but if you do, and you stand before his scaffold and see him dangling in the air, youll say to yourselves Im the cause of all this. His wife a widow and child an orphan, standing before the scaffold griev ing for the father and husband; ah! gentlemen vouI] say to yourselves Im the cause of all this. By this time the Jury were all crying, and John T>. he set down, but he won the case and folks said that if it was his first speech it was er good one. and from that day till now John D. has been going up and 111 bet theres not a man in Georgia that stands better ermong his neighbors than John D. does, and I am glad of it for It

shows that when a country fellow does branch out in the towns he can not only stand his hand, if hes all right, but nine times outen ten hell get erhead of thise fellows that know more at ten years old than an old man of sixty years, and have had their oil and sweet-scented stuff all their lives to put on their handkerchiefs.
"But, thar," said Plunkett, as Brown pulled the team to the right to avoid a rut in the road, "see that flne house?"
Without waiting for an answer, the old man continued: "George Jackson lives thar, and if anybody had er said, when George was er boy. that he would ever be rich and prospersons like he is, hed er been called a fool. "His daddy was worthless and spent all of his time erround still houses, and never did own er thing but er gun and dogs, and his folks never seed him pass over the hills leaving home but what they expected to see him come back in the evening staggering drunk. "When George was er good sized plowboy he was as gauky as er young goslin, and folks said he was going to be just ike his daddy. They called his daddy Drunken Sam, and the older George got, thcr worse he hated to hear him called that, and George got so hed fight the boys in the settlement, but most ingenerally got whipped", he was so clumsy, and his mammy talked to him, and lowed to him that she had shed many er tear over the hearing of her hiisband called Drunken Sam, but she had done got unsened to it now, and it was best to let it pass. George lowed that when he got to be a man hed stop it, and so the thing rested for the time. "Georges mammy had some little laming, and she spent the night by the fireside, learning George what little she could, and as George growed older, he picked up till folks begin to say that he was going to take arter his mammy. "That big white church that you see yonder in the distance was a little log school house them days, and there wasnt no church in ten miles of here, but there comes erJong an old gray-headed Methodist preacher one day, and lowed that if the settlement would meet him at the school house every fourth Sunday, he would preach the besf he could for "em and charge ern nothing. "There was er lot of "stills erround here then, and there was er lot of rowdies who swore that the old fellow shouldnt fill his pointment. and the consequence was that peaceful folks thought there would be a row, and they stayed away, and there was no one at the school house when George, his mammy and Drunken Sam got there. They hadnt set there long till "up rid rowdies from the stills and tied their horses to the swinging limbs erround, and got down and begin to show signs of creating a disturbance, "Old Sam and George persuaded the old oman to go back home, for they seed there was going to be trouble if the preacher came. "Georges mammy hadnt morn got outen sight till the row dies begin to cut up, an among other things Devil Bill Smith, as he was called, offered Old Sam some whisky, but George persuaded him not to drink it, and the* Devil Bill Smith got mad, and lowed with er snearing laugh that Drunken Sam had got so he wouldnt take er drink. Devil Bill was a bully, and George knowed it, but George was twenty-one years old now, and hed growed outen er heap of his clumsy ways, and he warnt scarry. and so he bristled up to Devil Bill and lowed that this whisky business had caused his mammy to sorrow al] her life, and it had been the cause of his having to hear his daddy called by the reproachful name of Drunken Sam, and that he had come to hear the preacher, and h e was going to stay and stand by him. "One word brought on another till the crowd agreed that Devil Bill and George should fight It out to settle the matter, and fair play was no sooner promised than George throwed off

i6
his coat and toed a line, and Devil Bill and him had it over and under, and by the time tEe~old preacher got there the fight was over, and Devil Bill Smith was the worst whipped man you ever seed in these parts.
"They heard the preaching, and George was converted and old Sam wept over him and the rowdies shook hands with him, and when George and his daddy went to their house that nighc and stpped into their little cabin ,and Sam fell down on his knees besides his poor wife and axed her pardon, there was never no happier woman than she as she put one ar merround Sams neck and took Georges hand in hern and lowed:
" May God bless us. "But thats neither here nor there," continued Plunkett, alter a pause; "that old preacher got George a situation in the town and he turned out to be the most successful business man. Some said it was because he had learned the lesson of economy while a boy. Some said it was because the old preacher helped him, but most of folks said it was because his mammy had prayed for him so much. "You better keep your eye on a green country fellow when he gets er showing in town, for you never know what er fel lows going to be till he dies.
Printers Mistakes.
"Jerusalem!" Was the exclamation of the managing editor as he threw himself into his easy chair and wiped the perspiration from his brow. "Anything wrong?" asked one of hit associates who had been too busy to peruse the morning papei. "Wrong? Wrong, hell! Have you read my leader on The Si"tNuaot.i"on in Prance? " The cause for the managing editors indignation was just, and it was about as follows: He had taken extra pains to prepare an editorial on "The Situation in France," and had occasion to write: "When L.ouis Phillipe ascended the throne of Prance." The intelligent compositor set in type "when Sam Phillips ab sconded, the thieves of France." When the editor sawthe proof he was too full for utterance, and with a dash of the pen he wrote on the margin, "Who the hell is Sam Phillips?" never dreaming but what the printer would accept the rebuke and see copy and set it as the editor had written. The printer failed to see any rebuke in the matter, but on the contrary seemed elated over his skill in having set a half column from the editors handwrite with only one "out," as he took the words on the margin to mean. The compositor soon had the matter run over and the addi tion o "whothe hellis Sam Phillips" met the eyes of the aston ished and indignant editor in the morning paper. The general public cannot be made to understand how easy it is for a blunder to appear in their mornings paper. The copy is setn to theforemans desk, who arranges and cuts into takes" little pieces from an inch to an inch and a. half then it is put upon a hook and the printer gets it from there. A man may get a dozen lines from the middle of an article that has no connection to begin or end. It is numbered "1 B," "2 B," etc.. or "1 A," etc. The printers understand these marks and put their type on the "galleys" accordingly. Every thing is this kept "closed up," and is unavoidable in a large office, but accounts for a great many errors that appear from day to day. If a printer loses time in deciphering bad copy he

loses money, and consequently he sets things up just as it strikes his eye and trusts to the proof-reader for the balance.
There is no malicious intent in tho errors of the compositor. Sometimes he may perpetrate a joke upon gome fellow who writes an extraordinary bad hand, as in the instance of the Key. Leftwitchs papers in the Block controversy, a line of comas, periods, etc., were set up, at the bottom of the column, with instructions for the reader to put them just where he pleased. The doctor enjoyed the joke, and the only: time that a frown posed upon his face during that arduous task of letter writing- was when behad occasion to write "Jesus Christ," and the compositor, in setting it up, left out "Jesus," and which upon being marked in by the doctor, the printer put "J. Christ." and innocently remarked, when the doctor remonstrated that his papers were not for fools to read, and he thought any person with sense would know who "J. Christ" was.
The most careful man I ever knew had the line, "Xearer, My God, to Thee," appear in print as "Xearer, My Girl, to Thee."
The same man had "a man found dead in the cellar of a house," appear in the paper as "found dead in the collar of a horse."
Sucherrors seem ridiculous, but they arc the consequence of bad copy and haste, and this should inspire those who are disposed to be careless in their writing to be careful. The general reader cannot imagine how many persons send import ant letters, that call for answers, into a large printing office with omission that makes it impossible for them to receive attention. A public that is so careless in matters of material Interest to themselves are oftenercareless of the interest of the "intelligent compositor."
Ben Hill was the printers friend among public men. His copy was clear and smooth and he never made a change. On the other hand. Mr. Stephens was reckless, and thre could not be found one man out of ten that could read his hand at all. Sena tor Brown furnishes tolerable copy, but is bad on the change. Toombs was reckless and played ihavoc with the printers "string."
Of professional newspaper men, the Rev. Sam Small beats the world in the preparation of copy, while the brilliant Grady will have an eloquent nourish of a temperance article, "with thread bare coat and hectic flush," go in as "with threadbare coat and necktie flush," as an illustration of the handwrite of the latter gentleman, I am told that upon one occasion he wrrote one of his assistants in the office a severe reprimand for some neglect of duty, and the individual turned it to advantage by using it as a letter of recommendation.
Occasionally is met one of these bad writers who dislike to be told about it. This was so with the late Comptroller Peterson Thweatt, He had to pay extra composition for his job work, and ihe was sensitive on the question. On one occasion. I remem ber, a printer, in a spirit of fun, set up in type and slipped into some matter that was being proved for him to read, the follow ing lines of doggerel:
Look down, ye Gods, and take one sight, Of the cursed hand this man doth write, And you will grant us what we seek A deliverance from Comptroller Thweatt. YTe would not have you kill him yet~ Until lie doth forgiveness get But b:,* some supernatural freak, Deliver us from Comptroller Thweatt. This old gentleman always carried a larg-e walking cane, and that printer was always careful to not get in reach of the same. Judge Blecklcy is the printers smart man, and yet he wrote

i8
"De minimis non curat lex," in such a manner that one of the most "intelligent" deciphered it "the miners now cur%e at tax."
One could write indefinitely of these errors, but I must close with Editor Reeds "that little bug, the doodle," which went through as "bonny, the double."
Just His Luck.
"Thai- may not lie nothin in luck," said old man Plunketi, -but thars some mighty strange thlirs hanppens in this world.
"I knowned that tiiar fellow what just rid by here erwhile ago when he was er boy, and knowed him all erlong through life to the present time, and it was said that he was the smartest boy in the settlement, and when he was er young man it was said he was the luckiest fellow in the settlement, and it did look like luck to me, for he never turned his hand to anything when he first started out in life but what it was sure to turn out well, and make him money, and fore he was twenty-three years old hed bought two likely niggers and had his farm well stocked. But he aint got no farm now and he aint got nothin else, and its because his luck changed. His name is Jasper Green.
Plunkett stopped to take a chew of Browns tobacco, and then continued:
"Thars Squire Simmons. what lives yonder where you set that line barn, was just the same age of Jasper Green, and they war raised boys together, and while everybody said that Jasper was smart and lucky, they had to say that Squire was er fool and the unluckiest cuss that was everallowed to live at all."
Old man Brown agreed with Plunkett and stated that he re membered the raising of both boys, and "i was just that way."
"Squire Simmons was er green one," continued old man Plun kett. "and when I remembered how he used to git erround in his copperas britches and jeans jacket at the parties in the settle ment, I cant tell how he ever did turn out like he has, or how he ever got the woman for er wife that he has got."
"He got her," said old man Brown, "and he had Jasper Green ergin him. for Jasper wanted the same girl, and the girls father and her old aunt, that lived erlong with em, wereTagin Squire, too, and called him er fool, and unlucky and gauky, and the old man swore he should never have her. and told ihim to never darken his door ergin. Her maiden name was Lula Bright.
"Well, you see," said old man Plunkett. growing somewhat animated as the fountain of memories began to stir, "I know all erbout the whole business. Old man Bright had watched Lula and Squire erlong time and he seed that she was always ertaking up for him. and he seed that Squire thought more of Lula than he did of anybody else, and he took to trying to bring him out and make something of him, but old Bright got disgusted with Squires awkward ways and then he went to work and tried to git his girl disgusted too, but he couldnt.
"The first thins that old man Bright done for Squire to kinder bring him out, was to give him a young horse, for Squires dada was a drunkard and never did have nothing to help any of his children with. Squire got the young horse home and him and his dada turned in and broke him to work to er little old onehorse wagin what they had. but he was as wild as a buck, and one day while they war passing erlong. Squire driving and the old man walking erlong with his gun looking out for er turkey, they met three or four boys of the settlement and one of em was Jasper, and they would have Squire to stop and talk er while and as he stopped the old man didnt go very far till he set down on er rock, and Jasper hadnt been er round trie horse long till he seed how skitish he was of strangers, and so hed just shuffle his foot on the ground a little and the horse would

19
shy and Squire was busy talking to the oUTer boys and didnt take no notice of what was going on, till Jasper, sitting er little closer and closer to the horse, and at once give a big shuffle on the ground and out jumped the horse down the road, kicking, and er flyin, and the old man was terribly excited and Jasper lowed to him:
" Shoot the horse, shoot the horse, hell kill your son, and the old fool blazed er way and down he fetched him. They skint the horse, put the skin in the wagln, and the old man and Squire took hold and were pulling Efie wagin on back home, when who should they meet but old Bright.
" Hello! said old maji Bright, wheres your horse? " Thars whats left of him, said Squire!? dada, pointing to hide. "When the people in the settlement hered of it, they all said Just his luck, just his luck. But Lula she cried when she hered erbout it, and old Bright didnt like it, and he thought hed give Jasper another young horse what he had there and see how hed come out with em, and meybe Lula would see the difference in the two fellers and become disgusted with Squre. So old Bright he didnt let on, hut he give the horse to Jasper, and the first thing anybody knowed he had him broke and was cutting shines round the settlement, riding out the girls and having er fine time. Old man Bright let it run on this way for some time till at last he called his daughter to him and pointed out the difference in the two young men, citing the horses as an ex ample. Lula she cried and went erlong and Jasper hed rid over in his buggy to see the Brights, and Squire hed walk over to see em, and old man Bright thought hed done the very best thing- he could have done to break up the attachment that was evident between his daughter and Squire. "After that," continued old man Plunkett, "I remember that one day the two young men happened to meet at old man Brights and the old man hed got some fine seed corn from off somewhere, and as it was corn-planting time he give the young fellows each an equal number of grains, and they were to plant in a rich spot and git in the seed of it. Jasper he went home and fixed his ground up well and planted his grains, and it warnt no great while before the corn was up and looking flne. Squire he went home and picked out a rich spot just back of his mammas garden and fixed his ground and laid off his furrows, and then took his corn and went erlong and dropped the grains, intending to cover when he got through dropping, when lo. as he dropped the last grain and straightened himself and turned, he seed that an old rooster had been right behind him ail the time and picked up the grains as fast as he haa dropped em, and people when they hered of it just lowed its his luck, its his luck, and it looked that way to me. "When old man Bright," continued old mat! Plunkett, "seed that nothin else would do. he got mad and forbid his daughter ever speaking to Squire ergin. and he told Squire never to darken his door if he didnt want to git shot, and Squire knowed old Bright was er tough customer, and that hed do just what he said. "Old Bright had er nigger named Pomp that loved his young mistress, and hated Jasper Green, for Jasper was mighty bad erbout pateroling. and he carried little notes from Squire to Lula. and from Lnl3 back to Squire, and in the course of er year or so. Sqnise had fixed things up so that he would go over to old man Brights and take his seat on er bench what was in the grape arbor after it would git dark, and he wouldnt set that long till Lula would meet him there, and theyd set thar and talk, and old man Bright was none the wiser. But Squires bad luck was with him yet, and so one nignt, while Re and Lula. were out under the arbor, and old man Bright was done gone to bed and thought his daughter was in her room, the chicken* what roosted In some cedar trees let in to squalling and th guineas let in to making such er fuss, that Lulas aunt stepped

out in the yard to see if somebody warnt tryng to steal the chickens, and Squire he slid off down the path and Lula went back into her room, and the old aunt she spied Squires white shirt as he got over the fence, an<T she new back into the house and woke old Bright and told him that some nigger had got all her chickens and was running off with em, and old Bright he lit outen bed and blowed his horn, which was a signal be tween him and Edd Turner, who kept a pack of nigger hounds, and Edd he was up and grabbed his horn and blowed up his dogs and tore old Bright had got his clothes all on, Edd was at his house and ready for business.
"It wasnt not time fore the dogs was on the trail of poor Squire, and he hered J em er coming, and he struck out in er run to git home 1C he could, and Lula she hered em and she was scared to death, and she listened to the bark of the hounds as they went down the spring: path and over the fence and then through the old field and into the woods, and she could hear the tearing down of fences so as the horses could get over and the voice o Edd as he set on the dogs and she come mighty nigh going crazy for fear the dogs would catoh Squire and tear him up, but they didnt, for he just took to er tree and set thar till the dogs all come up, and then he surrendered and they took him over to Justice Smiths and put him under guard till morning and then they war going to try him for stealing chickens and put him in jail. The next morning, bright and early, Lula she comes here to my house er crying and er wring ing of her hands, and she tolr my old oman just the truth of the whole matter, and she said she didnt want Squire hurt nor she didnt want her father to find it out, and she didnt know what to do. The old oman called me in and told me erbout howit was, and I just saddled my nag and went over to Justice Smiths and stood Squires bail for five hundred dollars to ap pear at big court, and that settled it.
"That was in the spring of sixty-one, and Squire he joined a military company and went to Virginia, and he made as good er rebel soldier as thar was in the war. Squire he sent letters to me for Lula and Id give em to the old oman and the old oman would take em to Lula, and to thrs day me or my folks can get anything that the Simmons have-got. and they a.r^s the richest folks in this settlement, and that fellow what passed here er while ergo is Jasper Green, and you can tell what he is by looking at him. You never know what er mans gwyrie to be till he dies.
"When Shsrman came down here," continued old man Plunkett, "old man Bright gathered up everything in the way of gold that he had kept all through the war, and hid it out. Thar was not er living soul that knowed how much he had nor what he done witih it but his old nigger. Pomp. When we hered the yankees were apt to git down this way, old Bright he went to studying how to hide his money, and he trusted old Pomp with everything, and asked his opinion as to the safest way to hide it. Old Pomp said hed flx er way to hide it so that every yankee in the world couldnt find it. Bright told him to go ahead and not let a living sou] know about it. Old Pomp he went off and gathered up a whole bag full of gourds and- he fotch em and give em to old man Bright, and they put all the gold and silver into em, and then old Pomp he got a hatchet and told his master to come ahead and they went down in the creek bottom and began to look for hollow trees and. every time they got one that suited theyd put one er the gourds into "the hollow, and old Pomp would mark the tree with his hatchet, till they got all the money Stored away. Old Sherman warnt long er coming, and old man Bright, he lit out on his horse to go over the river and the bridge was burned and he tried to swim with his horse, and that was the end of him. He got

drowned and the soldiers got the horse, and no one but old Pomp knowed anything erbout his money, and he wouldnt tell, and everybody thought the yankees got it."
Plunkett took a fresh chew of Browns tobacco, and then con tinued:
"Right thar is whar Jasper Greens luck changed for the worse, and whar Squire Simmons changed for the better. Lula was poor, then, the war was over and it was hard times. Squire came home from Virginia, and he was glad old Bright was dead, I reckon, for he went straight to see Lula, and they war married, and everybody said that Squire ha^l changed er heap, and had more sense than he used to have, and they went to keeping house, and in erbout er month up steps old Pomp the yankees had carried -him off and told em all erbout the money in the gourds an they got it, old Pomp remarking: Ef young Miss had er married Jasper Green, hed never knowed nothin erbout these here gourds/ Old Pomp is dead, and hes the only niger I know thats got er tombstone. Squire and Lula put it thar on his grave, and the reading on it is this:
O. . HERE "LIES POMP, THE SLAVE. . . His Skin Was Black, but He Was a . . Faithful Friend and an Honest Man.
6.................................................6
"Twenty-odd years have passed since Squire and Lula were married. Squire aint no dunce now, but he could go to the legislature a.ny day hed say the word. Some say its his wife, some say its because hes honest and treats evl^rVbody right, pome sav one thing and some say another but I say its Just His Luck.
The Wild Pigeons as They Were.
"I hear a heap of talk erbout the bench and poultry show what theyve lied going on up at Atlanta, and I hear er lots er folks er bragging on the dogs and chickens and ducks and pigeons and geese and turkeys, but Ive got my own notion erbout sich things."
Phinkett addressed these remarks to a group around the flre, arid there was no retort. Brown simply punched the fire and then posed as if e-xpecting to hear more from the speaker.
"These fellows what do so much improving, as they call it. ore jist the sort of folks to keep outen work, and that is what they are studying erbout all the time.
"Ive seed the da,y I could step out In the woods any morn ing fore breakfast and kill er wild turkey for dinner, and Ive seed the day when droves of pigeons would darken the elements the same as er dark cloud, and roar the same as one of these here cyclones, and all you had to do was to turn erloose both barrels of your gun as they went over and youd bring down enough to eat on er week."
Brown couldnt keep silent any longer, and remarked: "I knowed Tom Ervin to kill two hundred and eighty-three at one shot once, and thar warnt no great to do over it either. "Its mighty easy for these fellows to print pretty picktures in books and papers and talk erbout the Improvement of stock and progress in this and progress in that and progress in tother thing-, but ingenerally it takes morn what any common farmers got to do as they do. This last remark was made

by Plunkitt with some sho\v of being displeased at having been disturbed by Brown, but he soon continued:
"Brway back yonder thar came er feller by the name of French from over erbout Augusta, and bought the jining lots of land to mine and I hadnt morn got acquainted with him fore he was er talking to me erbout progress, progress, till I pretty soon got so I wouldnt go erbout him, and 1 told my old otnan that he was some city chap that was just putting on airs and that he would starve to death fore he was very old if he just kept on reading and sperimenting and harping on progress, but he didnt, and thats what makes me say you never know what er fellows gwyne to be till he dies."
Old man Brown laughed outright at this stage of Plunketts remarks, and said by way of apology:
"This same fellow lowed to me and the old Oman that he could tell us how to break our young heffer what we had from kicking when she was being milked, and nothing would do the old oman but what we must try his receipt, as he called it. So next Sunday morning I went to the cow pen with her, and I got the cow by the nose and one horn and held her* till the old oman run the wagin line erround her and buckled it up as tight as bringers just in front of the bag, and then she lowed to me to turn erloose, and I done it."
"Did she stand still after that?" some one, asked. "Still!" continued Brown, "still? Was you ever caught in er pine thicket by a cyclone? The old oman complains of her back to this day from that fracas, ana Ive got er scar on my shin that will la,st me to my grave. It finished the heffers hash, though. She run and kicked herself to death, and me and the old oman was both glad of it." "He had g-ot that receipt outen some of the books, Ill bet er dollar," remarked Plunkett, and then went on: "French was the first fellow I ever heard talk erbout build ing er railroad through here, and I went right over and tried to buy him out. for 1 knowed hed ruin the country if he could, but he wouldnt sell, and it warnt no great while fore er log house wamt good enough for him. and he was riding errpund in er buggy and bought er nigger every year, and he made it by jist er going eround to sich things as these stock fairs and getting erhold of these new kinds of cows and hogs and sioh Hke, and bringing em down here and selling em for fifteen or twenty times more than he give for em." "I remember mighty well," chimed in Brown, "when French first brought the chickens that was called Shanghies fn the settlement, and it wasnt no great while fore he was getting three and four dollars er setting for their eggs, and all the wlmin went crazy after em, and you culdnt see no chicken but the Shanghie, and it was Shanghie this and Shanghie that, till pretty soon thar warnt no fried chicken for the preacher whin he come, and then it warnt long till everybody wanted the old dominecker back ergin, but French made money outer the Shanghie, though." "French was tthe first fellow." continued Plunkett, without seeming to notice Brown. "I ever heard object to burning oH the woods, and I went to him then and told him hed be rid on er rail if he didnt mind how he cut his capers, but it warnt no great while fore the settlement was calling- him Colonel, and you couldnt go to er gathering nor to church btit what youd hear something erbout Colonel French this and Colonel French that, till I got plum disgusted, and mighty night quit ^going anywhar. "It warnt no great while fore I heard that the Colonel was getting up er club, what he called the Farmers Progressive Club, and every fool man in the settlement jined it but me and Brown, and it warnt fore the Colonel carried his pint and stopped the burning off of the woods, and we haint had no range for cattle since, and I haint seed a wild turkey in thirty years." Brown remarked:

23
"I seed Tom Ervin kill nine turkeys at one shot, once," and upon some surprise being expressed, he exclaimed:
"Tom used to bait for the turkeys down in the bottom, by taking little nubbins of corn and sticking them upon er busto ertaove the hogs head er hog never looks up, you know and this he would do in every direction, centering at er place where he had a good blind fixed up, and just before day one morning me and him went over and got fixed in the blind, and we hadnt been there long till we heard the turkeys er gobbling- erround, and pretty soon we seed er whole drove er picking .the little nubbins on the bushes and coming up to the blind. We laid still till they got up to a little opening pretty close to us where thar was er big ear of corn laying on the ground, and they gathered erround the ear and all tried to pick three grains off at once, and Tom he took aim at their heads as they scuffled over the ear of corn and brought down nine of em. and I got six myself."
"Thats so," spoke up Plunkett. and then went on: "It warnt long fore they went to grading this here railroad from Macon to Atlanta, and everything went up in price to two or three times more than it was worth, but French he fairly throwed up his hat and took er bale of cotton and went to town and spent more than half of it subscribing- for these here agricultural books and papers, and sent em out ermong his club as he called it and before long there was folks spending money for these kind o things that never went to school a day in their lives and didnt know when a paper was right side up. but French kept on er making money somehow, and he could have went to the legislature any day hed said the word. "Now let me tell you," continued Phmkett, "Ive seed this stock ol hogs and that stock of hogs come in and crowd out our old piney woods rooters, but it warnt long fore wed be glad to get the old stock back ergin. Ive seed this stock of chickens a.nol tother stock of chickens crowd the old Domineckers out. but wed want ern back arter a while. Ive seed the old Georgia cow crowded outeh"the pen. but theyd get back ergin. Ive seed the railroads with all that they bring, but when I wag-ined a hundred miles to rnarRet and sat upon old Mikes back and pulled the line over six good mules and lis tened to the jingle of the bells on the leaders, f was just as happy as railroad presidents, and the country was just as prosperous. Thats my notion.
Clintons Career.
As the sun went down behind the towering- hills" the lofty pines that stretch themselves along the Tallapoosa river, just west of the village of Wedowee, a regiment of cavalry made their appearance in the main sauare of the little town, halted, dismounted and stacked arms. This was on the evening of the 13th day of January, 1864, and the people of Wedowee were soon collecting in groups and with anxious faces discussed the meaning of the visit of soldiery, and many speculations were in. dulged in as to the object they had in view.
The people of this section of Alabama were about equally divided upon the issues of the war, but those who now made up the population of Wedowee principally women and children seemed by mutual consent to dwell together without reference to the terrible strife, and those able to bear arms who had not joined either the union or the confederate forces had taken to the mountafh fastnesses one escaped being conscripted and thus cut oft from opportunity of defending their homes against the ravages of the tmshwhackers, and fhe oth^r for the reason that they still loved the old flag and refused to be fulod by the government of secession. Out of these circumstances grew "com-

24
plications that made the sections very dangerous for either party and noted for many a bloody tragedy.
It was soon learned that many of the soldiers had been sent into this territory for the purpose of recruiting, to enforce tf.e law of conscription, to gather up deserters and over awe Hie element t/nat still clung to the old flag and were opposed to dis union.
Up to this time there were what was known as "mutual men" men who did not favor the yankees and yet refused to join the confederate army. Among the latter was a brawny mountaineer wno stood six feet, three inches in his stocking feet, and was rated as the strongest, the fleetest and the bravest "man of the section, but yet the most unassuming of them all. He was truly a man of peace till the circumstances surrounding him lorccd him to fight, and the killing by confederates of his daughters converged him into a man fit for the bloody times, and the name of Lern Clinton became a holy terror.
The bushwhackers that infested this mountain region had striven hard to enlist Clinton into their ranks, knowing that he was just the man for a leader, and in persistently refusing- to joi them, he made secret enemies of them and he well knew that they only wanted an opportunity to kill him and then wreak their vengeance upon those who were only safe under his watch ful eye and strong arm.
On the other hand, it was insisted by the confederates that Clinton was liable under the conscript law, and there were those who made themselves diligent in trying to force" him into the service, thus placing him between two fires, all of which he stood without flinching, and was always found defending the weak against, the depredations of the factions.
The troops above mentioned took up their quarters near th> little town of "VYedowee and from thence "VvOuId go by squads in different directions, and woe it was to the deserter from the confederates or the man liable to the conscript whom thcv chanced to come up with. The killing of Clintons two young daughters was the work of one of these parlies and is a part of the history of the war between the states.
The Clintons lived in a double los house, on what is known as the "Fork ridge." about equal distance between th~e two Tallapoosas the Little and the Rig Tallapoosa and upon the night of the bloody tragedy two young girls, the mother and a small babe were the occupants of the house. One of the girls carded the cotton into rolls while the other stood at the spin ning wheel converting the rolls into thread. The mother sat with her eyes upon the blazing lightwood knot fire that fur nished light for the apartment, knitting npon a sock for hfr husband, while one foot tipped. the rocker of a cradle and soothed the baby to rest. The rain pattered upon the boards, and 1he roar of the waters of the Tallapoosa mingled with the zoon of the spinning wheel, and save these, there had been monotonous silence for some time.
"Keep the coffee pot by the fire." said the mother, "for the night is rough, and I think your father will come in,"
"Yes. Ive been thinking of him myself," spoke the elder girl, "and I most know hell be in tonight, for the river is up and its raining, too, so theres no danger from the raiders, and he can get a good rest under his own roof."
As the last words were uttered, the dogs began to bark, and they started off in a run down the path that led to the spring.
"Thats him! Thats him!" spoke all in chorus. "Hang out the signal," spoke the mother for It was the cus tom in those days to give warning signals, which had meanings understood by the layers-out. The girls dropped their work, and the mother at once busied herself heating- up the meal that had been saved in expectation of his coming. In a moment more the tall form of Lem Clinton stooped as

25
he entered his own door, and holding in one hand the long double-barreled gun which he carried, with the other toe gave each a hug in turn, and we leave them here to visit the camp of the soldiers at TVeflowee, and see what is being done there
"I want twenty volunteers to follow me tonight," said a fine cavalry lieutenant, as he buckled his sword and walked among the men.
"I am glad to raid the fork this night," continued the lieu tenant, "and I dont want a man with me but that he is willing to be buried over there, if necessary, to break up that nest of what they call mutuals."
It was but a moment to secure the volunteers and have every thing ready for the raid.
The waters of the Tallapoosa were bursting- over every low place along- its banks, and the rain was falling in torrents.
"Well have to swirn at the ford," said the lieutenant. And so they did. and this was why Clinton had ventured to visit his home upon that fatal night. He rested at the little home, feeling perfect security, and even the dogs had gathered around the blazing hearth, and were looking- gladly upon their master, when the sharp click of Hie guns of the soldiers came simultaneously with the command of the cavalry lieutenant. "Surrender and open your doors or well break them down!" The command was refused by the elderly daughter, who threw herself against the door, and at the same time Clinton had made himself ready to sell his life as dearly as possible. The door was broken down, and instantaneous with that, guns were presented at Clinton, who was standing; ready to de fend himself against the first who should enter. "Surrender or die." exclaimed the lieutenant, as the men held their fingers upon the triggers of their guns. "Die," said Clinton. "Ill never surrender" At this instant the daughters and mother rushed between Clinton and his pursuers and the mother was badly wounded and the two girls were killed instantly. As his dear ones fell upon the floor Clinton seemed to lose ail reason, and rushing upon his pursuers in the dark he fought as a demon brought tp bay, and defeated single-handed the entire crowd, killing the lieutenant and three of his men and wounding six more of them by clubbig- his gun. The vows that Clinton made, kneeling thatniaht by Ms loved ones, he devoted his lift- to fulfill, and if there is more than one of that company of men who have not subsequently died with their boots on. it is not known, and it will be well, if there are any. for them to keep very quiet and be an the watch for an iron-gray, six-foot-three man, and keep out of his way, for Lem Clinton still lives and has never made peace nor laid his gun in its rack from that day to this.
Let us follow Clinton from the graves of his loved ones, for he has joined the bushwhackers if that is the proper name and has ma.de an appointment to meet with them at their meet ing- place. Hfre he goes, over a rugged mountain path, until at last the trail is lost and he scrambles from peak to peak till he stands upon a towering crag, whose foot is wasrTed by the turbid waters of the Big Tallapoosa. He has been here before, for he lashes his gun upon his shoulder and at once approached a huge grape vine that has been fastened to a mountain oak and spliced till it reaches the waters below, and grasping- it with firm hold he eases himself over the precipice and down, hand ovov hand, for two hundred feet he goes, till his feet strikes the bottom of a light Uattcau, and then seating- himself at one end he moves down the river till he comes to the confluence of the Big and Little Tallnpoosa rivers, and there he stops, draws hig batteau up in the bushes and makes his way a few steps into the forest, where fhe bushwhackers arc to hold their meeting and formulate their plans.

26
Here is a place that nature has fitted for a hall of secrecy. Two large rivers forming a wall on one side and in front, with a. limitless forest back in the "fork," with towering crags and lofty trees, that lend their shadows to a dismal night that makes darkness seem a thing: of substance.
Fifty men, made desperate by the feuds of the times, swear allegiance to each other, and elect Lem Clinton as their captain.
"Now give me a chaw of tobacco," said a heavy-set, middleaged man, who held a gun in his hand that was fully as lonff as himself, and whose rigtit name was Hickenbother, but who was familiarly known as "Old Hick." "I haint had nothing to say at the meeting-, but I voted for our captain, and now me and old Betsy Baker, (as he called his gun) are ready to obey his orders and to follow him to h 11."
"I wish hed order you to kill that owl thats been er iiohooing over thar for the last, two hours," spoke up Joe Presley.
Further conversation was cut short by .the tall form of Lem Clinton arising- from the log- upon which he had been sitting, and chunking the dim lire -which furnished a little light for the occasion, he cleared his throat and said:
"Boys, you all know me. Ive not got much to say. You all understand what we have agreed upon about the signals, but I will repeat to you the urgent charge already given, that no man shall leave these diggins so far but what he can see a light when it is flashed from the ferry peak, unless he gets permission to do so. ,.nen you see a light burning on yander highest peak, to the right of the ferry landing, you must drop everything and report here at this place as soon as you can; and mind, be care ful and look out for spies. The meeting is dismissed."
So spoke the man who had been chosen by unanimous consent, the leader of the "layers-out" of the Tallapoosa "fork "
Let us again visit the camp of the soldiery at Wedowee. Three days rations have been prepared and the men are ready to march at a moments warning. Eighty-five men are ready and anxious to avenge the death of their fallen comrades in the Clinton fight.
The night is dark, and as the soldiers mount their horses and file into the Burrows ferry road and head for the river, the tall form of L.em Clinton emerged from a neighboring thicket, and with his gun at a trail, he daris across the road and takes a near cut that will land him at the ferry at least an hour ahead of the troops. Once at the ferry, he mounts up~ up, the rugged side of the "ferry peak." and it is but the work of a moment to have the whole top of the towering peak illuminated by a lightwood fire, that had already been prepared of rich lightwood splinters that would flash for a moment and dying out, leave all in darkness.
The bushwhackers are together, and led by Clinton, they take their places on either side of the road that is terminated by the river. With impassible mountains on either side, and the river in front, there was no way for the soldiers to retreat except to right about, if once they were in the gorge
"Quiet, men, let every man be quiet until I shall give the word fire. and let every man do his duty, and Lem Clinton will do liis."
There was nothing now for the bushwhackers to do but to await the coming of the soldiery. The trap was set. once in the gorge the soldiers would have no way of retreat but to plunge into the swollen Tallapoosa, or to about face, which latter had been anticipated by Clinton and he had arranged to close in the road and cut off retreat in that direction.
It was thus that things stood, when the clank of sabers an nounced the close approach of the soldiers. On. on they came, unconscious of danger, till the Head qf_ the column reached the riv"eHraslt!b"ank, and the officer in command "gave the word:
The tall form of Lem Clinton sprang into the road, and at the sa"mFeireti!m" e his shrill voice was heard clear and distinct:

And fifty bushwhackers pulled the triggers of thair guns, and above the clatter and confusion the voice of Lem Clinton was heard:
"No quarter! Die, devils, die!" This closed the career of that company. Not one escaped to tell the tale, and that was fhe last organized mlitary of the confederacy that made an attempt to invade the "fork."
Babies at Church.
"Thars too much of this jining societies and too many isms these days to suit me," said Plunkett, as he settled back in his rocker and mashed the tobacco down in his pipe.
"It used to be that the church was the thing. Ive walked six and eight miles to meeting after working hard all the week; and every other fellow, and the girls, too, that was raised erlong with me have done the same thing, and there wasnt none of this having er fellow to meet you at the door to show you a seat and make you feel like a stranger thar wasnt no rented seats then.
"They dont walk now. They have to offer premiums to get folks to go to church. Thars something- wrong somewhere, and if its not corrected this will be a land of sin and infidelity. If there is any progress in the tendency of the times to make these socieiies as big as the church and as good, I cant see it; but if I say anything they call me an old fogy and say Ive outlived my time and haint got no sense, and sometimes I believe they are right and then ergain I think they are fools and, all in all. Ive got to believe that Jordan is a hard road to travel.
.Ive seed the day when it was er young womans greatest pride to carry her little baby to church and show it oft and the woman that had twins was just as "proud ergin as the mother with one; but now its got so that the baby must stay at home er long with some careless nurse till its mamy can rush to church and back. This is a hardship on the wimin and its crued to the iittle ones, and the consequence is that the wimin are getting so they dont want no children, and 1 guess if the children had their way about it they wouldnt be born.
"They used to be proud of the babies and take em to church, and the more the merrier, and I dont see why it couldnt be that way now. Pallets were made down on the meeting-house floor and the babies were put upon it and theyd lay there and crow and kick up their heels while the preacher preached, and if one of em got to crying too much, its mamy would pick it up and go out under the trees with it for a few minutes and there was nobody disturbed and nobody cared.
"These were the old-time meeting houses. The baby boys and the baby girls all laid on the pallet side by side and as they growed up they sat on the benches side by side, then arter awhile they loved and courted and married "and brought more children to the some old meeting house, and thus it was that you didnt have to offer premiums to get em together on meeting days, for they loved the old house and the trees and ihe benches and they had heard many a good thing- erbout the old brothers and sisters and the sweet little children that rested in the graveyard all the associations were dear, and there was ho new departures that could win them from the lessons taught under such surroundings.
"When a young woman marries these days, before you know it she quits going to church and the prospect is that she wont get to go for years, for the new fangled fashions dont want babies at church, and by the time one gets out ol the way theres another, and the poor woman will get disgusted with the baby business, become estranged from the church, get care-

28
less erbout religion, and if the world dont grow to be worse under this state or affairs my names not Plunkett.
"By the time er boy gets in his teens these days hes looking erround to see what society he will jine. The boys not to blame, for he sees that he has got to belong- to these societies to get erlong in the world. If he wants to be a carpenter, he must jine a society; if he wants to lay brick, he must jine a so ciety; if he wants to be a machinist or railroader, he must jine a society; if he wants to be a printer, he must jine a society; if he wants to be a professional man, he must jine a society, and if he wants to be a merchant, he must jine every darned society in the country, and thus it is that these things are getting to be bigger than the church,, and its time that the church was seeing it, and its time that these folks that call me a fool was seeing it, for I tell you that these isms and these societies and ;hese departures are taking away the good old religion" that used to be here, and when it is all gone you will be sorry, for I can tell you that there is no country and no people that can stand without a high moral standard, such as the churches alone gives under Gods blessing.
"A fellow might as well go to Africa as to go to these towns and try to work at any of the trades without belonging to so cieties, and he can be as wicked as he wants and^never go ernear a church; if he is all rislit in his society business he will be more than apt to get erlong. If there was any end to this I wouldnt say a word, but its getting so that the more socie ties a fellow belongs to the more chances he has, and I dont see where it will stop.
"Self-defense forces some into these societies, and they tell me that is why the farmers have formed a society for them selves. This alliance, as it is called, was formed so" as the far mers could have a society of their own, and pretty soon youll hear of the niggers bavin.? one for themselves, and then the Irish, and then the Dutch, and theyll keep on multiplying till the devil will get the whole thing. Im erfeared.
"The church used to fill the measure for all charitable pur poses. If a brother got sick and his crop needed work, the neig-hbors appointed a day and gathered at his farm and work ed out his crop; they saw to his needs and cared (or his folks the rich men that didnt work themselves would send five or six hands and horses. Now, youve got to look to some society for such as this. The poor man and the rich man are beginning to believe that they were intended as enemies, the brotherly feel ing has passed away, people are suspicious of each other, and if it keeps on. these societies will multiply and complicate till they will turn and rend one another. Then you can remember that I told you so."
John Simpsons Coon.
"Thfse Christmas times are not like what they used to be." said John Simpson. sorrowfully, as he drained his glass for the seventh time. "There is no sport nor sociability to compare with the days when I was a boy."
John Simpson is tall and athletic, his fifty-five years of life sitting lightly upon his shoulders. From early manhood ho has been a trapper and hunter, and is never so happy as when narrating-bis feats of chase. Tonight, however, his mind seemed to wander back to earlier days.
"But the world has never been the same to me," he resumed, "since Mary Bagley died. You see, in middle Georgia, where I was raised," the whole week before Christmas was given up to frivolity. Every man had a good supply of corn liquor, his shot gun and his dog. YHien Christmas came, the fun was at its highest, lien gathered around in parties "and shot for beef dur-

29 ing the day and played cards and drank until midnight. At that hour they" would start out to give their friends a Christmas surprise. This was done by surrounding the house of the fa vored family and firing into the air. Then thej- would arouse and admit the revelers, treating them to the best they had. \oung ladies felt it to be a great compliment for their lovers to call around in this way. Well," said Simpson, wiping the starting tear from his eye. "it was in 1852; I was a strapping boy of twenty-one. I had gone to school with Mary Bagley. and though we never said anything about it, we loved each other. When, on Christmas eve of that year, I was about to start out with a surprise party, I said: Boys, lets go to old man Bagleys first. They all agreed, and we soon reached the house. As we fired our first volley we could sec that the inmates were up. Seized by some fool notion corn liquor, 1 reckon I rushed up to the front door, and putting the muzzle of my gun to the opening underneath, I fired. A scream followed; the door was thrown open, and there laid Mary, wounded by my bullet, which had entered her heel. I started off like wild for the doctor. When he arrived Mary had the lockjaw, and nothing the doctor could do relieved her. She died on New Tears day, and when her body was laid in the grave my heart was buried there, too."
HUNTING THE WKONG COOX. Another glass of Prohibition wine seemed to buoy up the old mans feelings, and he resumed his narrative: "My education was to despise all dogs except the long-eared hound. For the flee and cur 1 was taught contempt. The nearest that ever our hounds come to running sheep was to tree a goat, and they would not have done that but for one of the Crawford boys, who went along with us one night coon hunt ing. He carried along a half cur and a half bull dog that some fellow in Zebulon had loaned him. We called up the dogs and filled our pockets with roasted potatoes and started for the river bottom. We had no more than got into the woods than we heard the half cur and half bull give a bark. " Theres a rabbit, said some one, disgusted. "But directly old Blue, one of our hounds, opened up, and then Trailer joined in. and soon the whole pack were on the hot trail. We knew the hounds wouldnt run a rabbit at night. so thought it was a possum. We then followed after the dogs to the edge of the Flint river bottom, where a tree had fallen from the bluff and lodged in a big white oak that came up from the ground below. Up this bending tree the dogs indicated our game. By the time we got there old Blue was on the trep making his way for the top. We slid down the Muff and stood beneath on the bottom waiting for Blue to shake a possum out. Blue soon got to the top, while the other dogs bayed at the roots, arid the first thing you know something came down through the tree top, making more fuss than forty possums. It was Blue that had fallen! Another hound then went up and Be, too, soon hit the ground. After four of our hounds had been thrown out. the half cur and bull made his way np. He had no sooner arrived at the top than down he came, making- more fuss than all the others together, holding on with bulldog tenacity to we knew not what. They hit the ground together and tore it up for some distance around, but the dog held his hold, while the animal began to bleat. It turned out to be old Bagleys billy goat, which had butted the hounds off, but when lie made his lunge at Crawfords dog he was caught by the back of the neck and both came down together.
SPEAKING OF COONS "But. speaking of coons, did you ever have a pet coon? I had a pet coon, and he could get into more trouble than all the pets that ever lived on fathers farm put together. He would

30 steal thread, thimbles, socks, combs and brushes. Anything that was lost would be looked for first in the coons nest. Be had a bed up on the plate of the house-^an old-fasnioned story and a half log- house. Everything he got a hold of he carried there, and in every trouble he got into he made for that place. Once I carried this coon with me to a quilting at old man Bagleys. Old man Bagley had a heap o bees, and you know a coon likes honey better than anything. The quilting was proceeding nicely; all the women folks sitting around plying- their needles, when in dashed the coon, literally covered with bees. He rushed un der the quilt, strewing the mad insects. I tell you, the quilters moved, and the chairs flew and the dresses napped, and such a dancing- was never seen before. Pet coons were not worth much in that market afterwards
"This same coon got me into trouble again. He would follow me all around the place. One Sunday, Frank and myself went down in the pasture, just behind the horse lot, and the coon came along, too. In the pasture we decided to take a ride upon a. gentle horse that was grazing there. We g-ot the horse by the mane and led him up to a stump, and I got upon his back and Frank got up behind me. Then the coon bounced up on the stump and wanted to get up, too, so I reached down and took him up in my lap. No sooner had the horse started off than the coon, fearful of falling, stuck all his claws into the horses withers, and the fun began. The horse went running and kick ing. Frank soon hit the ground and left myself and the coon holding on for dear life. I stuck on till we reached the lot fence, and there, as the horse mounted high and went over, I came down across the rails, and left the coon master of the situation. Father heard the racket and soon the whole plan tation was trying to catch the horse to relieve it of its rider. That was the last of that coon. He got killed, and I got whip ped, and Ive never wanted a pet coon since.
"Hounds have more sense than folks. Blue, the hound with which I hunted, was blue speckled in color. He has long since passed away, and the stock has disappeared. It may be that some prisoner confined at Andersonville during the war will remember a hound of this name and of the same color. That dog was an offspring of our old Blue. He could track and catch anything that runs upon the ground. He. too. is dead long-ago. I think he was the last of that stock of hounds full blood In Georgia.
By this time the old clock struck out the hour of twelve, and Simpson, looking up quickly, exclaimed:
"There! That reminds me of Mary Bagley. Boys, if ever you find old Simpson laid out. I have one request to make bury me beside noor Mary."
-^ Fashioned Hymns.
"Listen! 1 said Plunkett, as he raised the window by whirl he sat and pointed with his hand in the direction of the negri houses.
"The nig-gers are having- meeting," continued the old man, and fis he ceased to speak they began to sing:
"On Jordans stormy banks I stand. And cast a wistful eye,
To Canaans fair and happy land, Where my possessions lie."
"Thats the kind of singing- I like," continued Plunkett, "if ther are niggers."
After a pause, the old man continued: "Ive not got er bit of use for this ere high-fa-luting way theyve got now of having choirs. and I dont like this organ

31 business erbit. They didnt used to have no clioirs, nor no or gans, either, and folks didnt set up as stiff as pokers and play with their fingers and never open their mouths. Everybody sung, little and big, and its my notion that folks had er happier time then than they do now,
"Tiiars too much dressing and too much frisky fixings erbout folks these days. Ive seed the day that one of these sincethe-war wimin would er looked like er peafowl when youve just julled its tail out if theyd er went through one ig-cod days meeting: Folks went to church them days to praise God, and when some of them old women gnt happy it was er caution, and they didnt care for finery; theyd er ruined these wimin thats been brought up since the war.
"In my courting days," continued the old man, "the young folks walked five and six miles to church, and thought nothing of it. They didnt wear out their Sunday shoes, either, for the girls and boys would loat their shoes and stockings in their hands till theyd get pretty close to the meeting house and then theyd sit down on er log bythe little spring branch and rinse their feet and put era on and walk into church as neat as er pin and as pure as er babe."
"Thats so," chimed Brown, "and theyd have little baskets of fried chicken and ham and later custard, and sich like erlong to eat at dinner, and wed go out under the shades and spread it all out on the grass, and everybody had er plenty, and there warnt no such things as tramps them days, but If there had er bin, theyd er bin as welcome as anybody, and would er Wn made to feel at home."
"Nobody never heard of er tramp in Georgia till since the war," continued Plunkett, "and I never heard of none of this dynamite nor anarchists business, and I never seed the time but what ay strager could get er piety of places to stay a week if he wated to. whether he had money or not, folks didnt charge for a little old nights lodging and supper and breakfast in them days, and I never knowed one neighbor to .sell another sich things as seed potatoes and cotton seed, and I dont believe in it yet."
"We used to hear of the niggers going to rise, though." spoke up Brown.
"Pes," agreed Plunkett, "thar used to be er head said erbout the niggers er rising, but the niggers have ma.de us old ones feel mighty bad erbout that, for wien the war eam on they showed us different, for when all the men were in the army, the old niggers would er fought for the wimin and children at the drop of er hat, and I haint never forgot it neither, and thats what made me so mad when these agents came down here arter the war and suaded er heap of em off to new countries out west, and I know in reason that they never found another country as good as old Georgia, nor another people that had the same kindly feeling for them that we did."
"Thats so." nodded Brpwn. "Ive sed the day when I thought the abolutionists were erbout like the anarchists that I hear em talk erbout, and thats why I dont say any more erbout these fellows than I do. "Ive seed the day that if er fellow had er been caught cir culating The New York Times erround, .hed er been hung to the first limb that would er held him. and then I lived to see these very same fellows what would er done the hanging, ready to whip any man that wouldnt throw up his hat for old Horace Greely and vote for him to be president of the United States. This is er strange world. I tell you, and you never know what er fellows gwine to be till he dies." As Plunkett ceased to ealk, the negroes broke out in sing:
"I am bound for the promised land, I am bound for the promise land, Oh. who will come and go with me? I am bound for the promise land "

"Thai-, haint no choir nor organ crbout that?" spoke Plunkett.
"I begrudge niggers that sort of er meeting-," spoke up Brown.
Plunkett continued: "The preachers used to make your hair stand on end er talking e-rbout hell. I dont hear much erbout hell these days. They used to be satisfied with eighty-five or ninety cents col lections. That wouldnt b"uy the cigars for a preacher these days. Old Robinsons clown sung er song through here erwhile before the war, and we all thought it was mighty wrong to speak of a preacher like the clown did. but if he said that then, what could he say now? One verse went:
"There is the preacher, he preaches very bold, He preaches for money, and not for your soul, He rides around his circuit twelve times a year, And then if you die Im sure he dont care, etc "But," continued the old man, "it is not all the preachers that the clowns song would fit. There are many, many good mne who are preacihing, and I love em, but 1 was just er think ing that it would be joy to strike er good old-fashioned fellow that would straighten his legs out under the table and pitch into the red -ham gravy and fried chicken and fill his plate ergin and ergin. and pass his cup two or three times for the old oman to fill, and tihen after breakfast gc out to the lot and beat thunder outen you in er horse trade, theyd put it on you in er horse trade, but they wouldnt let nobody else do it, and it was all right. "These old preachers have erbout all passed erway. The old churchs are passing erway. The springs are drying up and the shady slopes that bordered the little spring branches are things of the past. The horse blocks have tumbled down and painted posts have taken the place of the swinging jimbV The congre gations have almost passed erway, but when I hear them nig gers sing I think of them, and I wonder where they are taught. Will I ever know?"
A Story of the Ku Klux.
"This is Line creek swamp." said Plunkett, as the wagon rolled off the bridge that spanned a little creek and went jolt ing; over the poks that were laid across the road to keep the wheels from sinking into the mud. The old man continued:
"Erlong- erbout the time that old Grant run for president the first time, this here swamp was er pretty lively place, leastwise it was thought to be no place for er fellow to be driv ing slow and er spinning of his yarns, but it haint that way now, and so Ill just tell you of gome of the scares that used to be erround -here in the days of what they called reconstruction, and how the youngsters worked to carry their ping at the elec tions, from Which grew the report of there being kn klux in the country.
"It got norated erround that the soldiers what was killed in the war had formed a spirit brigade, and thftt they were ermong us to protect us if needs be.
"Tt was said that the click of the hammer of a gun "went K. K. K., and that this was the password ermong the spirits, and for a short time these spirits were known as K. K, K.g but pretty soon they got up th= name of TCu-Klux-Klan. and that was the way they were known to folks off at er dis tance.
"The first scare was one night when there was er gathering to raise er school house up on the hill up th; road yonder, and

33
all of a sudden, after the night had got as dark asbringers, there was er powerful screaming for help down on the creek, and everybody thought it was some one eibout to drown, and out the whole crowd black and white put to rescue whoever if was that was in so much distress.
"Down the creek they went, falling over logs and bushes and getting into the briars, and the same distressful scream for help, help, help! was kept up, and the noise seemed to geterway from where it was thought to be by the crowd when they first started out, and the niggers begin to sorter back their ears and get spicious, till soon the whole crowd hnd stopped, and were holding er consultation over the matter. Sbme lowed it was some persons in or bateau in distress and that they were floatIng- down stream, and it was the duty of the crowd to rescue them, if possiblye, for the screams of greatdlstress was going erlong all the time, and out the crowd put ergin, but they stayed right together, and there was one fellow in the crowd that was er talking erbout ghosts all the time and had got some of the whites and all of the niggers worked up jn the spirit question, when all of a sudden, not morn twenty feet in front of the crowd, thar raised up er fellow at least fifteen feet high, looked like he was eating lire, his mouth looked like it was full of fire, and his eyes looked like two balls of fire, and he lowed:
"Stand your distance K. 1C. K.!" "The crowd stopped. Some fell on the ground, some rolled In the creek and some broke through the woods like the devil was arter them and never stopped this side of Atlanta, and that was the first I ever seed of the doings of the ku klux, and I found out arter that what it.jvas, and hoiv it was managed, and it was nothing in the world but er big pumpkin fixed with holes in it for mouth and eyes, and er candle put in It and fastened on er pole, dressed up and operated by fellows up in er tree over it with ropes tied to it, but Id er swore it was er ghost when I first seed it, am] thereare niggers that were in that crowd that believe to this day that it was er ghost, and you cant make em believe nothing else. "The lection business was pretty hot erbout then, and the niggers got mighty stirred up, and some of em talked mighty brave erbout what theyd do if any g-host was to come er fooling erround them, and I never wilj forget old Jack, who was er mighty big talking nigger, for the way he moved erway from his own house and come up to get me to protect "him or pray for him, for he gave it up, and it was this way: "Kr great big fellow I think ho was stuffed with something-, for he looked low up and high erround driv up to old Jacks fence jist at dark. Old Jack was er feeding his mule at the time, but he soon stepped out to see what the fellow wanted, and found out he jist wanted er drink cr water. Jack told one of his gals to bring er gourd of water, and the fellow, he set there on his horse, and Jack says he never opened his rnouth nor winked his eye till the water came, and then he grabbed the gourd out en Jacks hand and sorter turned to one side and gulp"edSitmdoroe!wn and then handed the gourd back and said: "Jack told his gal to bring another gourd full, and he gul"pedStmhoaret!down and lowed: "And then another goiird was brought, and he gulped that dow" nSanmdore!lowed: "Jack lowed to his gal, get that biggest gourd there, of your mammas, and give the gentleman enough water at once, sos he can go on his way. The gourd come, and it held at leas"teSr mgoarel!lon, but the fellow gulped it down a,nd lowed: " Draw that water, dar, honey, lowed Jack; get the other gourd, and bring the little one and the big one full to de gentleman, and let him get erlong its getting dark! The

34 two gourds were brought this time, and the fellow gulped em down as quick as Jack could hand em up to him, and he lo"wedS:more!
" In de name of de Lord, old oman, lowed Jack, hand the bucket erlong- out here with the gourds, and let the gen tleman get his water and be er going. A large bucket was handed 10 Jack, and he was just fixing: to dip out the water and hand it to the fellow, when that individual reached down and took it from Jacks hand and gulped it down, and then be "loSwemdo:re!
"But Jack was er getting away from there by that time, and him and the old oman and all the children come up through the field back er my house er screaming at every jump, and cr bouncing over the corn rows like er India rub ber ball.
"I found out arter that the fellow had rubber tubes fixed erbout him, and poured the water Into them, but you cant make Jack nor his folks believe nothing else but what there was spirits in them days, and that they called themselves the ku-klux-klan."
Shermans Trenches Around Atlanta.
"Changes come mighty fast," said Plunkett, as he leaned back In his chair and asked for his pipe.
"Me and the old oman went over on the other side of At lanta to the old Lickskillet settlement last wek, and we hadnt been there before since the war, and there haint narry one of us that will ever want to go there ergin, for things have changed, folks have changed and nobody didnt know us, and we didnt know nobody, ana we were glad to get back home and its moren apt to be the last trip we will ever take away, for were both mighty old and have outlived our old friends, and this young g-eneration haint got no time to waste, and so thats the reason Im always er humming that good old hymn:
" On Jordans stormy banks I stand, And cast a wistful eye
To Canaans fair and happy land, Where my possessions lie.
Plunkett brushed a tear from his eye as he finished the quotation, and taking- his pipe he puffed away for a moment thoughtfully, and soon give way to his disposition to talk, and proceeded:
"They would ha.ve me to go over the old battle field at Ezra church and pint out places, where the yankee line stood and where the confederates charged, time after time, and it is erheap easier to get erround there now than it was the last time I was on the ground, if I have had twenty-five more year to pass over my head.
"I knowed every spot, but old Sherman nor none of his men wouldnt know the ground now, for the woods have been cleared and the trenches have been leveled, and peaceful far mers are turning over the soil, and now and then up comes er piece of the old army doings that has the good effect of im pressing the minds of the young generation that wars er bad, bad thing.

"But we didnt stop at the Ezra church battle field. Noth ing would do but what I must go erlong with em and track the line of battle, and as we went on er line from where Ezra church stood ercross to the Marietta road, I seed the wife of Squire Tom Ackerage er standing in the door of her house, and I knowed her, though it had been forty-three years since Id laid eyes on her, and shes the only living; member of old Ezra church, but the old church has long been gone, and theres er new one now erbout er mile from where Kzra stood that is painted white, and has an organ, and I guess its all right and well that the old-timers should be outen the way.
"The trenches are still up in the wooded places, and were easily followed, and they are jist like old Sherman left em, cepling theyve filled up some with leaves, and trees, and bushes are growing erlong em great, high trees, that have growed up since the war, and I dont know why it should be, but theres more long, slender poplars growed up erlong these trenches than any other and morn eyer I seed on the same ermount of ground blood seems to produce poplars.
"But what surprised me was the railroads I run over on the Marietta road. T guess old Sherman would be surprised, too. now, to pass erlong over where he had er dinged old bat tery planted on the Marietta road that throwed bombs clean across the country over to the Central railroad at the end of Peters street, to see depots and two or three roads besides the one to Chattanooga ergoing erlong. Sherman was mighty bad erbout swinging erround to get to railroads, but hed have enough now over on that side of Atlanta and maybe hed not be swinging erround for more.
"When we left Marietta street we ran er.g-in what they called the Belt road Sherman dont know nothing erbout that and pretty soon we run ercross what they call the Air Line, and we hadnt been set down morn er minute till boom, boom_ boom. went some cannon.
"Sherman! by Jings! said I. "But we werent long in finding out what it was to the satisfaction of the balance, but all I know is they call it jubi lee something, and that was as much as I wanted to know erbout anything that had cannon in it. "But they would have me go over toward what they called Piedmont exposition, and we heard some mighty fine music, I reckon. lea.stwise they said it was fine, and one of the young sters what was in the crowd with us went to writing, and pretty soon he had this here piece in this book writ, and he give it to me cause it had old Shermans name in it two or tbher.e"e times, and Im ercruainted with him leastwise, I used to The blank book that Plunkett handed over had the follow ing lines written in pencil
SHERMANS MARCH.
The poet whos subject is warriors Thinks only of blood and of strife.
The bustle and smoke of the battle, "Kclipse a more innocent life;
Thus musing I sat. much enchanted. Bv sounds from the great "jubilee,"
That sang praises unto the heroes That Srierman marched to the sea.
These men are entitled their glory A. glory more precious than gold
To the victors belong the laurels, But the story has not been told;
For as fire sweeps over the prairie. From which all things livine would flee,
Seemed to the Southron this army That Sherman marched to the sea.

36 The artist that pictures a battle,
Is partial to the strong and bold. Hes blind to the helpless and homeless
And their story has not been told; Hes blind to mothers with children
Or maidens though fair as could be, Who scampered from homes in horror
As Sherman marched to the sea. The seekers of truth, for history,
Horrors and sufferings unfold, But pitiful scenes by the roadside
Will never, by them, be told; The sorrowful groans of the homeless,
And the penniless refugee, Will never be put in connection
With the grand march down to the sea! But there comes not a wail of sorrow.
From along where the red hills roll, Life blooms once again in the valleys,
But the story has not been told; Well sigh when we see the reminders
Of this grand march down to the sea, But the Southron harbors no envj,
Their records as bright as can be. "Well," resumed Ilnnkelt, "talking erbout refugees makes me think of a little baby that was picked up at the worst railroad wreck in the quickest time that was ever in Georgia. I know the iittle baby was some refugeeing womans, but who it was or what their name was could never be found out and thats why that little tombstone over at the Church has on it;
CHILD WITHOUT A NAME.
"It happened this way," continued the old man. "There never was but one locomotive made in Georgia up to the time that one was made in Atlanta during the time of the war. They needed engines mighty bad then, and they went to work in the shops at Atlanta and turned out as good er looking lit tle locomotive as 1 ever seed, and they named it Sunshine, and the railroad men took on over it erheap, and every engi neer wanted it for his.
"Things were hustling outen Atlanta., for old Sherman was doing some of his swinging erround, and it was feared hed get the control of the Maeon and Western then, and this lit tle engine was erbout to be shut oft, so the engineer he fired up and folks piled onto it and out she started for Macon. She was er sailing erlong as fast as ever an engine run them days, when before you could wink your eye, she busted. That was the last of Sunshine, and it was the last of er heap of folks, but it was war times, and fifteen or twenty folks killed wasnt noticed worth talking erbout. but in the wreck among the dead and wounded was found a little baby that nobody has ever claimed, and the little thing was not scratched by the wreck, but just set there in er iittle place and laughed and crowed, Mani, mam. mam and we knowed toy that it was the little child of some poor refugeeing woman. They took good earc of the little thing, and it lived eight months after that, and the strange thing is that it never heard an engine nor seed er ca,r but what it would say them same -words over:

Mam, mam, mam. But its over yonder, with Child Without a Name on its tombstone, and that ends it in this world, but it teaches the lesson that wars er bad, bad thing."
A New Years Tale.
"I remember things what passed erlong time ergo better than I do wha.t passed last year," said old man Plunkett, as he squared himself around in his favorite corner and puffed away at his pipe.
"And so does I," said Brown, as he took a vigorous bite on his tobacco and prepared himself to listen,
"I went back," continued Plunkelt, "to where I used to live in my young days, in old Pike county, but things haint nat ural there, and folks haint the same, and I was glad when it was time to start home."
"Ill be bound," chimed inBrown. "As I passed erlong- the roads that I used to travel and knowed everybody, ]d ax: " Who lives here? "And theyd tell me Professor So-and-so, or Dr. So-and-so, or Rev. So-and-so, or Judge So-and-so, till I just hushed up axing questions, and I began to wish I was back erlong with the old oman." "The war brought this new tangled way of calling folks on," spoke Brown, "and I dont like nothing- that was got up by them times." "Well," continued Plunkett, "I found everything changed, and the folks what I had known either moved off to Texas or were dead ones for I axed em " Whars old Rolin? " Hes dead long ergo! " Whars the Hollands?" " Gone to Texas. " Whars Burton? " Gone to Texas. " Whars the Jones? " Gone to Texas. "And so it went, till at last I axed em whar tie Blakes was. and I found that one of the girls, Elizabeth, was living over by the mill erlong with some of her grandchildren that I didnt know nothing erbout, but nothing would do but what I must go over and see her, and I went, and me and her talk ed of ok] times, a,nd she jist set thai- and the tears would run down her cheeks, a,nd I cried er little myself, but the young folks thought it was childish, and so I braced up and wanted to change the subject, but Elizabeth wouldnt hear to it till at last one of the young gals that was in the crowd walked over to one of these" here pianos, and two or three stood up by her, and she begin to thump away on it and they all sung some hifalutin1 song and then they turned erround to me and Eliz abeth and axed us if we didnt like the music, and Elizabeth lowed to met " Dont you remember the last time we were together was at er singing at old man Lees, down in the 9th? "And then the youngsters were right in for us to sing em one of our old songs, and Elizabeth laved off her specks a.nd begun, and I joined in on the bass, and we sung, as the tears rolled over Elizabeths cheek and drapped down on her lap, this old song, which we had sung together forty-five years bfore:

38 All in the merry month oj May,
When the green buds they were swelling, Young Jimmie on his deathbed lay
For the love of Bobry Alien. Young Jimmie died on Saturday,
And Bobry died on Sunday , The mother died for the love of both,
She died on Easter Monday. Sweet William was buried in one church yard
And Bobry in another, And out of his grew a rose,
And out of hers a briar.
"When me and Elizabeth quit singing, one of the young men cut er caper er two erround on the carpet, and sung:
"Bonnie, Annie Laurle or any other man, Nelly Ely stuck her foot in her Hoop-te-do-dem-do." "And out he pranced on the porch to the water bucket and took er drink." " Ill bet er hundred dollars he was one of these here since-the-war youngsters, spoke old man Brown. "But," continued Plunkett, "nothing would do the young sters but what me and Elizabeth should sing em some of our old lively songs, so Elizabeth she begin to smile and let out: "Oh, where have you been, Billie, boy, Billie, boy; Oh where have you been my charming Billie?" "I have been to seek a wife; shes the joy of my life, But shes a young thing too young to leave her mamma." "Did she ask you in, Billie, boy, Billie, boy Did she ask you in, my charming- Billie?" "She asked me in with a dimple in her ehin, But shes a young thing too young to leave her mamma." "Can she make a cherry pie, Billie, boy, Billie. boyCan she make a cherry pie, my charming- Billie?" "She can make a cherry pie as quick as cat can wink its eye, But shes a young thing too young to leave her mamma." "But," continued Plunkett, "Im back home, and me and Elizabeth will never see each other on this earth again, for shes seventy-two and if I live through tomorrow it will make eighty-three new years that have passed over my head, and folks may pass erlong: and say hes dead before another new year comes, but Im glad Ive never been in Texas. "The reason I dont like Texas is on account of yonder lit tle grave in the corner of the fence right by them cedars and that persimmon tree. My old Oman planted them cedars thar and I built that rock wall erround em, and I expect to flx It in my will so as that little grave will be cared for." Brown chunked the fire and took a fresh chew of! tobacco, and Plunkett proceeded: "Erway back yonder when me and my old Oman were young like " The old oman, as Plunkett called his wife, laid her knit ting down on her lap, and putting one of the needles In her hair as was her habit, she finished the sentence by remark ing. "And tnat was just the day before New Years." "Now, how do you know what Im gwyne to tell?" remarked Plunkett, but soon proceeded:

39
"The old oman ana me war gwyne over across the creek to spend the night it was the nigflt before New Year, 18 , and as we went on up yonder by that gin. house we seed er lot of folks there jist er striking camp 01 the night from some where down in Monroe county that were on tne way to Texas.
" Were going to use water from your spring- tonight," said one of the campers, as me and the old oman got opposite to em.
" All right, said I, and I axed em where they were boun for, and they told me Texas.
"Over to one side by er fire sitting on er big trunk was er young oman with er bouncing little baby in her arms, and as me and the old oman walked up it crowded and jumped and laughed at us till the young mother could hardly hold it and she lowed to her little babe:
" Thats not grandma, honey. "And I seed tears trickle down her cheek, and the old oman she run her hand into the little wallet what she had with her and pulled out some little sweet cakes and give the little babe, and then she kissed it and we went on our way. "As we went erlong the road, I was er thinking what fools folks were for leaving this good old State of Georgia to go erway ercross the Mississippi whar they didnt know er soul, when the old oman spoke up and lowed: "Plunkett, dont you wish we had sich er little babe as that one?" "That was a sorter tender pInt with me, and I lowed its not my fault we haint got a dozen as good as that one, and the old oman hushed and we both walked erlong thinking erbout the pretty little babe and that sweet looking young mother that looked too tender for the rough ways of Texas, until we got ercross the creek to where we were going, and then we dismissed them and spent a happy last night of the old year. "We didnt get back home In two or three days, but when we did come, the movers had gone, there was some scattered fodder and corn and some chunks of wood and ashes that showed the camping place and over in the corner of the fence there was er little grave rounded up, and er board was stuck at the head, which read:

^-

LITTLE MART,

*

*

*

*

AGED

-J.

*

*

5- One Tear and Three Months. !

4>

*

"That is all there was, but we soon found out that it was the pretty little baby that had took the croup the night before and had died, and they buried it there in the corner of the fence and moved on to Texas."
"If theyd er give her er spoonful of carosene oil, she wouldnt er died with croup," spoke up Brown.
"Thar warnt no carosene oil them days," retorted Plun kett, rather sharply, and then he proceeded:
"The old oman and me nave kept that little grave fixed up, and both of us have went out there and cried er many er time when wed think of the sweet face of that tender mother. and I want her to know that we love the little babe and call it ours, and every New Tears day we go out there ard rene-w the headboard, and think of her and wonder if she had any more little g-irls as sweet as Little Mary."

4
A Day at the Front.

The first time I seed a camp of soldiers," said old man

Plunkett, as lie loosened threw the half rind of a

the top button watermelon into

of his pants and a piggin that sat

near, "I didnt think it was so bad to be er soldier. They

had and

good they

tents with floors had formed into

in em and er plenty to kiver wilh, messes ol six or eight men to a

tout, and most ingenerally had er nigger to do the cooking,

and the soldiers lay erround and talked and played cards and

read books and sich like, and only had to drill er liitle every

day, and they looked fine and walked proud, for there was

a.lways more than apt to be ladies er looking at em, and big

boxes came from home every day or two with boiled ham and

turkey and chicken and cakes and pies, and dinged if I

didnt fare better while I was on my visit than I did one day

with another at home, and I begin to think that H was all

foolish for the old mothers and the wives to be er grieving,

for 1 thought to myself, if I could call back twenty years and

was clear of the rheumatism, thar wouldnt be no better fu.n

for me,"

The old man stopped talking, loosened another button of his

pants, remarking: "I blevc I eat too much of that melon,"

and then proceeded:

"The next time I seed that regiment it was different, and

if any one had er told me that fourteen months would er

brought such a change, 1 wouldnt er believed it

"On my first visit I had seed white tents er looming up er-

long In straight rows long before I g-ot to the camp, and big

log heap fires were burning, and I could smell the cooking,

the men were well dressed and fat and joking and their heels and prancing erround like young finics,

kicking up and some

were wrestling and some er hollerin, and over at another place

there was singing going on, and when they seed me they come

er running and picked me up and made loud demonstrations,

but this time, my second visit, it was different, and it was so

different till it has impressed me from that day to this.

"They were at the front now they were in the trenches,

and as I passed over the hill I saw down in the valley another

camp of these same soldiers. "Little smouldering fires

1 stopped for breath. were burning here and

there,

seeming to struggle against the misty rain that was falling.

"Dingy brown blankets and oilcloths were stretched over

a bended bush, under which two men were expected to shel

ter, by laying close. These had taken the place of the large

white tents that met my vision ,on my first visit. Many had

only bushes between them and the clouds above.

"There was an absence of the smell of cooking meats,

but as I followed my guide on through the dismal camp I

could see the solitary camp-kettle by the smouldering fire,

and the feet of two men coming out to the edge of the stretch

ed blanket with a seeming desire to bask by the little fire.

"Ive seen cm," interrupted Brown, "when they had to lay

with their feet in the branch to keep the green ra.whides that

they wore for shoes from drawing up and getting as hard as

er bona."

"Well," interrupted Plunkett, without taking notice of

Browns rerna,rks, "I went on through, regiment after regi

ment, till I got to the old Ninths c-arnp, or where was said to

be all

their camp. strangers to

I found me and

a few wagons and a few sick menwas told that the regiment was over

the hill in the trenches, but that they would be relieved as

41

soon as it got dark as they had been in there twenty-four

hours. One of the drivers got up and give me a chunk of

wood that he had been setting on, and 1 drawed it over under

one edge of a, wagon and poked my feet out to the small

lire that they had burning.

"I didnt have to wait long-, for pretty soon it was so dark

that you couldnt see a gray mule ten feet off, and directly I

heard the rumbling of walking men coming down through

the woods that lay out toward the trenches. Everything- was

quiet, nothing but the tread, and now and then a stumble over

a chunk of some tired soldier, could be heard, but in a mir.it,

without any command being given that. I could hear, liUle fives

began to dot the woods all over, and 1 wondered how it was

done with the wet wood.

"The men had their blankets rolled up into a tight roll not

much bigger than your arm and tied together at thc end till

they were in tne shape of a horse collar as they hung- over

their shoulders. This was all they had, except a haversack,

cartridge box, frying- pan ana gun. The litt.c brown blankets

were soon being" stretched two men to a blanket, this giving

them one to kiver with and then there was a scramble for a

minute or two to draw their rations. The beef was cut up by

one of thft men and placed in. as many piles as there were

men, and then a fellow would turn his back with a list of

names an<3 another fellow stood by the piles of beef with a

stick in his hand, and touching a pile, he would ask who shall

have this, and the fellow with his back turned would call out

a name, skipping all about on the list. This kept down par

tiality and made all satisfied.

"I heard familiar names being called, and I stepped among

the men from out oC the darkness, and if an angel had er

drapped down it would not have caused more surprise.

".Everything stopped, the men gathered erround me there

warnt more than thirty of em and porno cried and some jist

stood still and couldnt say er word, for the memories of their

homes back in Georgia rushed in upon em and they were too

full for utterance.

"1 had letters for many of em, and I never shall forget how

eagerly they gathered em and went off to a little fire and got

down on one knee sorter sideways, and read em, and I never

will forget how sad the ones looked that I didnt have nothing

for it makes me think of them ieUows every Urns I go to

these reunions that they are having and see 1he wives and old

mothers and sisters and children of the fellows that are not

here to reunite they look lonely like God bless em. I hope

that there will be a great reunion some day, where there wont

be none absent and all will be at home.

"I was thc hero of that occasion, and as first one and then

another would ask me erbout their homes and loved ones and

I begin telling in er general way, I was soon surrounded by

eager listeners, and now and then, first one and then another,

would turn hit head to one side and wipe his eyes with the

sleeve of his jacket; but they wouldnt leave, roe as; tired as

they were, till the rattle of guns in the direction of the

trenches scared me so bad that I hushed, and then the men

went to cooking the rations that they had, for there was no

telling when they would have to double-quick back to the

trenches.

"The cooking wasnt morn done till, sure enough, the

whole camp was broke up and everybody had to go into the

trenches. The report was that the yankees -were going to

attack, and there was so much bustle and confusion in the

darkness that I didnt know what else to do but to go along

with the crowd, and so, pretty soon, I was in a trench and in

sight of the first yankee line of battle I had ever seed.



"It was erbout twelve oclock when we got into the trenches

and still dark and er raining, and the mud was ankle deep, and

here and there a. puddle of wafer, in er minit I heard a

42
splashing up the line erbout fifteen or twenty feet that sounded like a hog er floundering in a mud hole, and I heard a soldier say, I wish I was a dog, and then the fellows laughed, but I cant see to ihis day how one soldier could laugh at another, when they were all in such a bad fix.
"I was longing for daylight to come, for it was chilly and worse than anything, I thought, that could be, but daylight hadnt moren come till I was er longing1 a heap worse for darkness to come ergin. As soon as day broke, a fellow pretty close to me lowed that he would freeze to death if he kept crampt up there, and so he kinder straightened himself and peeped over the bank, but he raised most too high, and before he could jerk his head down er ball hit him and he drapped over on the fellow next to him and give one or two kicks in the mud and water, and that was the last of him. That started things. Our fellows began to pick at them, and by sun-up I thought to myself Im er dead man, but I didnt have to be told to keep down I done it without any telling, and how the soldiers got used to the thing, and set there cramped up in the trench and laughed and joked, with every now and then a fellow getting hit with a ball, is moren I tan understand. So it went all day. Kvery now and then the fellows would start to shooting, and the balls would zip erround and Id lay low, and then things would sorter quiet in the trenches, and the big guns on the hill would commence pecking at each other, and them squealing- shells would pass over us, and I layed lower still. Things wouldnt moren get er little quiet and Id begin to git up offen the leg Id been, setting on and straighten it out in front to get the cramp outen it and feel in my breeches pocket for a piece of tobacco, till some devilish fellow would put his cap on er ram-rod and poke it up above the banks, and before you could say scat a, ball would hit it, and Id drap. Thus the day was spent in the trenches, and as soon as darkness came ergin I didnt have to have no guide to "take me away from there.
"Most any of the old soldiers will squat down on one leg and whittle with a knife, and talk to you from sun-up till sun down erboat the war, and never get tired, but it will all be erbout the charging of batteries and the clash of sabers, but I can tell you that the fighting was only a part of the war. Hunger and thirst, and marching and losing- sleep and lying still, cramped up in trenches, would make a man take fighting as a dessert."
The .Niggers Here to Stay.
"You may speculate erbout what the nigger would be if it wurnt for the influence of the whites, but its all bosh. The nigger is here, and hes going to stay, and thars no use in talking erbout what he would be under different circum stances."
These were the words of old man Plunkett as he settled himself down in his favorite rocker, and proceeded:
"Ive watched the nigger for er long time, and Ive watch ed the changes that have took place for the past sixty years.
"I can remember when the little sullen African was plen tiful in Georgia, and all you had to say to quiet a bad child was to tell em youd give em to the African to eat. This was the way the young idea was taught, and yet I lived to see

the nigger work through a four-years war to support an army that was fighting- to keep em in bondage, and there never was a time during them terrible days but what the nigger would er laid down his life to protect his missus or the chil dren of the men in the army. I cant lorget this, and I dont want to forget it. The nigger may steal a chicken now and then, hut hes the best laborer for this country, and we like him, and he likes us, cepting when it comes to politics, and then lies gwine to vote with the yankee, and I dont blame him.
"But the niggers going- forward. Hes mighty different now to what he was thirty years ago, and it haint er gwine to be long before the nigger will have a will of his own and will cease to follow the yankee just because he lives beyond the line, and the whites what have got it into their heads that the nigger is <an inferior race and cant come up to the white folks had Letter begin to scuffle or theyll wake up some bright morning to see the nigger erway yonder in front, and then theyll slap their hands on their knees and say, like I have said in a thousand other things, Who would er thought it!
"I know ihe nigger. Ive watched em in their quarters as little shirt-tail urchins. Ive seed twenty of em, with the one garment for their wearing apparel, follow the old mam ma negress with a, bucket on her head and one in each hand as she made her way to the shade of an oak to portion out to them milk that was sent from the white folks house, er scuf fling and er squealing the same as pigs, and then Ive lived to see the day when nigger youngsters of the same age as these wear store-bought clothes and smoke cigarettes, and guy an old man like me the same as the white boy of purest blood.
"They used to say the nigger would never be free, and I never did believe they would; but they are.
"I never did believe that the nigger could have laming beat into him; but he can.
"Ive changed my notion mightly, and its all from what Ive seed.
"Ive seed the day when I would er thought it a,Il right to lynch er fellow for bringing The New York Tribune into Georggia, and yet Ive seed the time when old Horace Greeley was bragged on and I went up and voted for him to he our pres ident.
"When the negro went to voting, I thought it would col lapse the world, but it didnt, and now I think it all right for the nigger to vote, and if I was running for office Id get his vote if I could.
"Knowing these things is what makes me anxious erbout this young generation. When I hear em talking erbout the nigger cant"do this, that and tother thing, and erbout em er going back into heathenism, it reminds me of many er young man that I have known in my life who stood upon their blood and wore gloves and sieh like till the poor boys in the settle ment would outstrip em and reverse the whole condition of things.
"Its not what a man used to be nor what hes gwine to be that counts. Its what you is now is the way the world looks at it.
"The nigger lives cheap. His clothes dont cost much and the whole family is put to work at once.
"The nigger man will work for fifty _cents a day. and his wife will cook for a family of whites whose income from salary will range from $75 to SI 50 per month, and the negro cook is moren apt to feed her family from the scraps of the highsalaried individuals table, and pick up old clothes enough to clothe the family, and so at the end of the month the nigger family, whose head only can earn fifty cents per day, will have more monej; to lay away than the man who earns $75

44
or $150 per month! The nigger is wide awake, he gets all he can and he keeps all ho gets, and his whole family is ^ selfsustaining by the time they can pick blackberries or drive a milk cow to the pasture.
"The Lord had something to do with this nigger Business, else the yankees never could er whipped us. The nigger had no-thing to do with coming over here, and he didnt raise his hand to free himself. He lived here and worked for the wimen and children and for the support of an army that was fighting to keep em in slavery. We oughten to forget this, and we never will, but the whites neednt "be deluded with the idea that because they are so much better than the nigger, it aint no use to make an effort to keep so, for I tell you that the workers will be the property owners, and the nigger will work and live scant and have money, and grow more and more like the whites, till arter a Avhile youll be saying, who would er thought it?
"Ive seed these sort of things. Ive see.d enough to teach me that you cant tell anything erbout changes that are to come.
"I wilj tell you of some things that Ive seed right here in Georgia to illustrate the way sich things wTork iind to impress you that its all foolishness to be er sizing er man or er race up till trie end has cornc.
"Thar was Dan Burrow, one of my old neighbors boys, who tied the plow-line erround himself to be certain that a young heifer what he was driving across the river wouldnt get away from him. The heifer got scared and took the advantage of a hill, and run, and Dan he stumped his toe and fell, and the heifer dragged him over roots and gravel and stumps till the skin and pretty nigh all offer him. Folks said he was er fool, and his daddy never would trust him with driving anything after that; but Dan growed up and went to Texas, and he is now the greatest cattle raiser that ever wont from Georgia to that state and can handle more cattle and do it better than most any man. This g-oes to show that you dont know anything erbout what a fellow is gwine to be till he dies.
"Thar is Lum JIcGahee the biggest devil in the settlement as a. boy, who, upon one occasion, found a hornets nest and stopped up the hole and took it to church and tin-owed it right in ermong the mourners, turned out to be a great preacher and a good man.
"Ive seed these things and Ive watched close, and when ever I see folks turn up their nose at er youngster for being dull I always tell em that they cant tell what er fellow is gwine to be till he dies.
"I might tell you of men what Ive seed in the newspaper business," said the old man, turning to (he scribe.
"Erway back before the war thar was er fellow come from over in South Carolina by the name of TVhightman, and I hear that there is a Bishop Whightman over in South Caro lina now, and I speck hes this fellows brother.
"Well, young Whig-htman went into the newspaper business at Griffin, and there was er great to do made over him, and he got to be the pet of the whole country rouau. He was clever and smart, and he could hop up and make er speech all most the same as Ben Hill. He was educated to be a preacher, and everybody thought for er long time that he would go to preaching- arter awhile; but anyhow, everybody was dead certain that his life would rje a grand success, but the first thins: anybody knowed, he took to drink, and he wag er terrow to the biggest fighters erround, and at last he went over into North Carolina and committed suicide; and I stuck er pin right thar, and used it in my arguments arter that, to show that you couldnt tell nothing erbout what er man was ffwine to be till he died.
"Thar was Colonel , he was the newspaper man of hie

45

young- days, and the pet of society. He had passed the dan

ger line. Everybody thought lie was a success, the Colonel

thought so, too. Tn his old age he lost his prestige -and died

in poverty, and, if not in disgrace, neglected and unwept the

most affable and generous as well as among the most brilliant

editors of Georgia, was laid to rest in a paupers grave at

Atlanta. There is no sadder ending to a prosperous and bril-

liavit career than the picture of this good mans life. Thats

what makes me say that you cant tell what changes nre to

come. Thai- is a lesson in all this.

"The nigger is here and hes going- to stay, and they are

growing more and more like white folks every day.

"Whoever heard of a nigger having the headache before

the war? Ive seed em many a time carry a hundred-pound

basket on their head, and have a great big, strapping youngster

in each a.rm. They cant carry nothing on their heads now,

and one of em will whip their children in a minit iC they

catch em at it. They complain of headache now, and grunt

the same as white folks, and must have their coffee every

morning that is
iiy.

when they are cooking for some white fa.m-

"They used to comb their hair with a cotton card, and keep

it tied up in strings sill The week. They have combs now, and

will stand before a looking glass and primp the same as er

white girl.

"They are beginning to squint their eyes around at each

others clothes when in church, and it wont be long. Im er-

feared, till theyll ha.ve cushioned benches and rent them out

and have four or five of the biggest-mouthed ones to set up on

cr platform and do the sing-ing. Theyre getting to do very

much like white folks in er heap of things, but they have all

got their eye^ skint for economy, and if the whites dont got

some of this live williin your means into their composition,

the nigger will have the wealth and then you can remember

that I told you so!

A Chapter About Chancellorsville.
"Hero," said Plunkett. as he handed over a strip of yellow paper, "er fel"low wrote these lines on his cartridge box for er
it was while the fells were flying and the bombs were bursting, and before he got through they were ordered forward, and I picked it up from where he let it fall in the confusion and Ive kept it, and Browns gals say if hed er flnished it it would er been er poem. Here are the lines:
Pines grew thick at Chancellorsville, And shells were falling fast.
The. ground was covered oer with straw, And -twigs and withered grass;
The battle raged, the confers charged And drove the "blue-coats" back, And held the field with wounded strewn. Amid the battles rack: The cry of "Fire 1." above the din Was heard, and like a storm, The flames rushed oer the Ivattle ground Oer many a soldiers form; The men in "blue took in tlie scene;

46
With -horror and dismay. Between them and their burning friends
There loomed a line of gray; "Fix bayonets!" the quick command
Of officers in blue; "Well have our comrades from the fire
Or we will perish, too;" "Steady, steady!" the battles rage, Was fiercest of the day. But not a single backward step Y\ras forcd that line of gray.
"I could tell you er heap erbout that fight," continued the old man.
"Chancellorsville is up the river from Frede2iicksburgr, and I think its what was afterwards called the Wilderness, when old General Grant got down there. Thars er world of pine land erlong there, but they aint the long pines like we have in Georgia; they are kinder stubby like, and the limbs come down nearly to the ground, and I seed General W right on er horse what they said the ladies of Augusta give to (him, go er sailing ermong them limbs, and got his long hair tan gled up erround them and liked to have got snatched offien the horses back.
"Hooker was the yankee general at Chancellorsville, and the boys ermong the yankees would tell our fellows from ercross the river how hed fight, and Mr. Lincoln come down to Fredericksburg and reviewed the army, and we could see them on the other side of the river, and our fellows begin to think that they wouldnt have old Bnrnsides to deal with, but Hooker couldnt do nothing with Lee nor none of cm, as long as he had anything like an army."
"But," spoke old man Brown, "Hooker made Gordons brigade skin outen the breast-works down at Fredericksburg-, and as they run half bent, the yankees let em have it, and I never seed the like of men shot under the phouldcr-blade dur ing of the war. but it was because they were flanked, the reason they run."
"But," resumed Plunkett. "what I was going to tell you erbout was the fire during of the battle.
"The bombshells set the woods on fire, and there was er lots of fellows burned, and if ever you seed fighting it was there. The Confeds had just run the Yankees back and held possession of the field, and when the woods caught 011 fire the Yankees tried to regain the ground so as to save their wounded, but they jist might as well been cr butting ergin Stone Mountain, for the confeds wanted~to save their wound ed, too, and there they stood. Three times the Yankees charged and they got nearly close enough to club guns, but they had to go back, and pretty soon the details beat the fire and got it stopped, and tn-eryobdy was glad of it, for there warnt no old soldiers but what wanted prisoners treated well, and they were all treated well, on both sides, as long as they were in the hands of men who fought; it was fellows who didnt fight that treated prisoners bad. and it was fellows who didnt fight that gets so tarnacious mad. Bullets and bombs had er m:ghty soothing- effect on er fellows temper, least wise it did mine.
"But, Ill tell you one thing," continued Plunkctt, after a pause, "thar was er mighty big difference in the looks of the prisoners captured in Virginia ana these here fellows wha.t Sherman had with him. Lees army captured er many er fel low that you couldnt tell no more what he was talking erbout than you could er quaquaing erround. They hadnt been over here long, and I may be mistaken, but I dont think they fit like these western fellows, but they fit well enough for me."
"And me, too," chimed in Brown, unable longer to contain himself.

47

".But," continued Plunkett, "bayonets haint much use in the war, cepting to souze down in the ground and keep your gun standing up. You cant find many folks that ever fought with bayonets, and when the war first broke out every fellow that went out had to have a great big butcher knife, and Gov ernor Brown had some pikes made, to be used instead of bay onets, but we soon learned better than that.
"I seed or mighty heap of tight places up and down that river from Fredericksburg to Chaneellorsville, and one time I took refuge behind a tombstone that had on it:

^...v......v._

*-.

THE MOTHER

*

OF

-1-

WA SHINGTON.

"But bombs and balls didnt have no respect for graves nor nobodys mother when they were searching erround for confeds, and it soon got too hot for me to stay there, and you ought er seed me move when I got up."
"Them things make er fellow mighty suple," suggested Brown, "and you may see fellows so tired they can hardly drag one foot before the other that will get rested in er twinkling and as pert as crickets when er bomb sails ermong em.
"But," resumed Plunkett, "I seed er little girl go over to the left of the old Chancellorsville tavern, that they couldnt make run by their balls, but that there fire what" Ive told you erbout made her git up.
"The little girls folks were refugeed talks, and they were living: in a little house out in the wilderness by some old gold mines. The mother had went up the river and got cut off from her home and the little girl, erbout twelve years old, was tak ing care of the house and the little baby boy, and the fighting soon got so fierce that it was safer to lay down at or.e place than it was to try to run out, so she stayed and hugged the little brother close in her arms, and lay down on the floor till she heard the fire er cracking and er roaring, and then she riz and with the baby boy in her arms and her hair all streaming down her back, with nothing on her head, she pitched out amidst the Shower of lead, and the soldiers seed her and begin to cheer, and that seemed to get her faster, till her foot caught in er bush and tripped her and threw her down, and the little baby fell erway in front ol her, and er bomb bursted and tore up the dirt not more than twenty feet in front, but she never left her little brother. She grabbed him and started ergin, and the yankees ceased firing and the soldiers of both sides cheered worse than ever, a.nd the whole line pulled off their caps and waved to the little lady as sh e went over the brow of the hill. I hope she lived to" see the days of peace restored, and I hope she may raise up a family as true to the old flag as she was to her little baby brother."
Brave Men Run Sometimes.
"It didnt matter," said Plunkett, "how good er soldier er fellow was, it suited mighty well to be er good runner, for thar warnt many soldiers but what had to run sometimes.
"Cheathams division was as brave er set of men as ever fought er battle, and Ive heard it told that an old fellow from down in Spalding county come mighty nigh stampeding er big

48
part of em. He had the rheumatics, and was allowed to get him cr horse, and one night as the division was marching erlong- the road keeping their eyes skint for the yankees, the old horse got scared, and the old fellow had some fifteen or twenty canteens swung erround him, and the niore capers the horse cut, the more fuss the canteens made, iand pretty soon, the bit broke, and then the horse took right down the pike a.fter the soldiers, and the canteens were flying and er rattling and the old fellow was holding on and er hollering- till the soldiers thought thar was erbout 40,000 yankees right onto em, and thar werent no time for foolishness or waiting for orders to get outen that road and into the woods, and they got."
"I dont bla,me em," winked Brown. "The finest yunkee regiment I ever seed and the only men I ever seed try to keep er perfect dress in battle," resumed Plunkett. "was at I he seven days light erround Richmond. They had on red caps, red jackets, white pants that come to jist erbove the knees and wimmhis stockings, that fitted up to the pants wilh er little buckle. They were called the New York Zouaves, and I seed them run, and run mighty fast, too, They all got killed pretty soon arter the war started, and I think it was jist because they didnt run moren what they did. I never will forget how* these brave fellows fought at Gaines Mill, for i was behind er pretty big stump and warnt scared much, for the old Thirteenth Georgia was twixt me and them, and as they come outen the woods into an open, level field, the old Thirteenth riz from where they were laying in the bushes, and then they had it over and under. You could hear their officers right dress, left dress, and as er little fellow would fall theyd close up the place, and they were jist like they were on dress parade, till there warnt none of em scarcely to dress! This was the way these fellows fought, and arter the fight was over you could sight up and down the places where they had stood and the ones what -was killed instantly was still dressed, for while some would fall forward and some backward, their feet were as though they had been laid to a line. "Xol only them," continued the old man, after a pause, "but right up here in Atlanta at the twenty-sceond of July n\"ht. jist er little piece beyond where Bill Hulseys house now stands. 1 seed some as brave fighting and some as peart run ning as ever was performed." "You are right," chimed in Brown. "Theyd got me then and I was erround thar." It was old Joe Browns pets, as they called em," resumed Plurikett, "what done the fighting- and er right smart running-, too, but they had to run. and after the old SQldiers of Johnstons army seed them fellows fight they didnt have no more to say about Joe Browns militia, for thar was many er old soldier that told me then, and theyve told me since, that the way that First Georgia Regiment of State troops fought has never been beat, and I dont believe it. ever will be. They were cut up mighty bad. and as they ran back er piece and formed, and their Colonel was standing with his sword in hi3 hand waiting- for orders to try it ergrin, I could see the tears run down his cheeks as he looked and seed how his regiment had been torn to pieces, and an old soldier what was erlong with me. said I bet you thats er brave man and er kind of ficer; a.nd he was. for before the day was over he acted so valiantly he was promoted then and there." "Old soldiers didnt like the militia much." suggested Brown, "and theydidnt like to see er fellow with er biled shirt on. an^ fhar werent no fellow who ever wanted to go ermong em but once with too many white things erbout him. I tried it. and Id er left the army in disgust, but I couldnt. When I went up ermong them the old oman took er right smart pains in fixing me up and making me look nice. I passed erlong by

49
the camps and they seed me and acted like they never seed a man before. I had er long jeans coat on, and they begun by picking at that, first saying, Come out of that coat! Come out of that hat! We know youre there, we see your legs! Lay down militch! and er thousand other things, till I got so dad bringered mad that I couldnt see."
"It didnt do folks no good to get mad during- of the war, nor it dont do no good to get mad erbout war things," resum ed Plunkett. "There used to be some fellows erround me, when I lived down on. the river, that would get mad with me every time they got er chance, and theyd pick er chance, at that, when Id tell my war stories. I got so I didnt care er darn, and pretty soon I got up the reputation of being er pretty good liar on the subject of things that happened dur ing the war, and from that it got so they thought Id lie just to please the boys, and I humored cm. Things stood this way till one rainy day er crowd of fellows had gathered over at the doggerie and pretty soon thar was er fine looking fel low rid up and tied his horse and walked up to the crowd and begin to lay it off erbout things that happened on the Mississippi river during of the war, till Tom Irvin turned to him and lowed
" Look er here, stranger, haint you er h i of er liar? " Thats the reputation I bear in Arkansas, answered the stranger. " Well, wouldnt you like to see him and Plunkett to gether? asked Tom. "The stranger remarked that if Plunkett was such a liar, hed ride outen his way to swap a few, For, says he, Im the biggest liar in the State of Arkansas, and if you have anybody in Georgia that can hold me er light, Id like to see him. "They told him where I lived, and it wasnt but erbcut three miles outen his way, so here he come, and I was setting on the porch when ho rid irp and stopped, and turned a.n<3 asked " Does Plunkett live here? " Yes. says I. Im Plunkett. " Well, Mr. Plunkett, I understand that you are a terri ble liar? " Thats what they say, I answered. " Well, continued the stranger, I heard erbout you over at the doggerie, and Ive rid by to swap a, few with you; I was in service with Grant at Vicksburg, and very often -when we were scarce of ammunition wed load our mortars with rebel prisoners instead of shell. " Oh, yes! Oh, yes! I remember all about that! In fact, I was one of the fellows what you shot out of er big gun over into Vicksburg, and thats what makes me so used up now. " Good-bye, Mr. Plunkett. "And off he rode he was satisfied, and so was I, and Ive never told er lie from that day to this." "Ive noticed one thing, though," suggested Brown, "thar haint many folks that care er darn how many lies er fellow tells if its favorable to them, but you jist be er little inaccu rate in er manner that would take erw-ay some of their lau rels, and its cr d n lie! d n lie! faster than er cat can wink her eye." "Well," returned Plunkett, "I would never do anything to detract from the brave fellows who fought, dead or living. I love them; its my greatest pleasure to remember their brave deeds, but theres another side that is never appreciated in times of peace, and that is never considered under the patriotic enthusiasm that precedes all wars. In the goofl work of zealous care to hand down to future generations the un tarnished record of our heroes, send as a companion thereto the truth verified that wars er bad, bad thing."

"Wade In, Forty-Eighth."
"It would be mighty hard to find er man that served in th Virginia army that dont love Dee, Jackson and Longstreet."
Thus spokeOld man 1lunkett, a.s he stooped and dipped his pipe in the ashes, and then resuming his easy position in his arm chair, he proceeded
"Whenever you heard of Jackson making-a telling dash in the rear of the yankees, you might be sure that Longstreet had do:ie some bull-dog- fighting- in front.
"Thats the -way it was, and every Confederate soldier that went with Lee from Seven Pines to Spottsylvania will tell you the same thing.
"Later on we had the Hills, and the soldiers would fell the yankees that they had two Hills to pass over, a Long-street to trample, and a Stonewall to climb fore theyd get to Rich mond; but Without disparagement to any, it" was Lee first, then Jackson and Longstreet that the soldiers of the Virginia army looked to and loved the best.
"Colonels, brigadiers and major generals come in lor their share of the affections of the soldiers, and every company thought it had the best captain, every regiment the best colo nel, every brigade the best brigadier, every division the best major general, and Longstreets corps thought Longstreet the best, and Jacksons corps thought Jackson, the best, while all thought Lee the greatest and best that had ever lived ox_that would ever live; and so it went, and I guess it was all right.
"I remember once,; continued Plunkett, after stopping a moment to relight his pipe, "near Orange Courthouse, the boys were halted on the road, and some went to one side and some to the other, and were sitting down before I could tell you about it for it didnt take a tired soldier long to find a place to sit that General Lee soon appeared on his gray horse, and as he did the boys begin to rise to their feet and to wave their hats and holler, and General Lee he pulled oft his hat and rode erlong with the sun broiling down on his bare head, and he didnt say a word till the boys got enthused so that the road was erbout to be blockaded, and then he checked his horse to keep him from stepping on some of them, and lowed
" I love you all. Let me pass. My old war horse, Longstreet, is Just behind, and you must save some of your greet ings for him.
"And Lee hadnt moren got a hundred or two yards be fore Longstreet did appear, and he had a poor sick soldier that had straggled up behind him on his horse, and he stop ped at a wagon and told em to haul the soldier, and as he passed erlong thar was no tr.an in that division who would er swapped him for any other general theyd ever heard of, and I think they were about right.
"But," continued iPlunkett, lighting his pipe for the third time, "Jacksons men was just as big fools over him, and I think they were right, too, and the brigadiers were liked, ana the colonels were liked, and the captains were liked, and the men liked one another, and every one thought his company and his regiment was the best, and T think they were about right in that, for they were all the best; but I seed one old colonel get riled once, and it liked to have caused er right smart trouble afterwards.
"It was at Sharpsbuirg," continued Plunkett, after making two or three efforts to puff smoke from his unlighted pipe,

51

"and things were mighty hot, General Ranse Weights brigade

rose from behind er rock fence, fixed bayonets, and started

for the top of a ihill where some yankee and the Yankees seed they were going

cannons to lose

were their

planted, guns if

they didnt stir mighty fast.

"And they stirred.

"Genera] Wright was as brave as he could be, and fee stood his ground with the Yankee infantry that came to meet. him as long- as he could; but he seed they were going to kill all his men, so he give orders to fall back. The brigade fell back slowly, fighting all the way; the yankees pressed, and General Wrig-ht was compelled to hurry up a little on his backward move and in the confusion, when the balance of the brigade made a halt with the determination to go back no further, the Forty-eighth Georgia did not hear or under stand, and so kept back till they arrived at the fence from whence the brigade first started, which, by the way, was oniy a few feet.

"The mistake was soon discovered by the Colonel of the

Forty-eighth, and he at once ordered his regiment forward

in line with the balance of the brigade, and at the instant of

getting- formed in this place General Wright fell, badly wound

ed. The Forty-eighths Colonel was the senior Colonel, and

as brave and good a man as ever fought for the and as General Wright was wounded he was next

Confederacy, in command,

and he rushed immediately to the Generals side, and asked

" General, what will you have me do?

" Keep your regiment away from that fence and up with

the Third Georgia, was G-eneral Wrights reply.

"The balls but that old

were flying thick and Colonel didnt care;

fast, and he pulled

it was hot times, off his hat and

waved his battle:

sword,

and

his

voice

was

distinct

above

the

roar

of

" General Wright is wounded, and Im in command. Wade in, Forty-eighth, G-d-er-mighty d n!
"If ever you seed fighting, it was there, and if there was ever a better regiment or braver set of officers in the Con federacy than the old Forty-eighth, I never seed nor heard of em, and General Wright and the old Colonel were the best of friends: but that Third Georgia was always er hollering erround, Wade in. Forty-eighth! until it mighty nigh caused trouble. But it was all for fun, and there were mighty few of the brave fellows that charged from that rock fence that lived to the surrender, and thats what makes me say wars cr bad, bad thing.

"After awhile, thoug-h." continue! Plunkett, "others came

in for their share of honor and esteem. Ewell, Early, Stew-

art, Gordon and many others, and I could tell you a right

smart these

about all of these that will youngsters that have come

never be told up since the

in books, war call

but me

cranky and iay I ought so I dont like to talk.

to

wear

knee

breeches,

and

Ive

got

"Gordon," continued Plunkett. after a short pause, "had er

fellow in his old brigade that I havent heard of since the

war, and Id like mighty well to know what became of him.

" Gordons Bull. he was called.

"I think he belonged to the Thirteenth Georgia Regiment,

and if I were to tell you how that man could holler youd not

believe it, but you know it is seven miles ercross to the Hast

Tennessee railroad, and Ill bet you might put Gordons Bull

over there and let one of the big engines blow its whistle, and

let him tive."

holler,

and

you

could

hear

his

voice

above

the

locomo

"Ive heard of that fellow." said Brown, speaking for the first time, "and he was red-headed."
"Yes," continued Plunkett, taking no notice of Browns in terruption, "you could always tell where Gordons brigade

52 was By that fellows holler, and I think that after Gordon got up higher he exempted him from duty, just on account of his voice
"He could call the brigade together any time when theyd get scattered, and it was always a joyful sound to the broken down straggler that had fallen behind during- the day and, overtaken by darkness, footsore and hungry, ound his way to camp by the guidance of this wonderful mans voice "
Scraps of Unwritten History.
"All that land," said old man Plunkett, pointing with his walking cane, "to the right of the road, clean back to the river more than two thousand acres belongs to a man who started a store just after the war and sold the farmers pro visions on a credit at 33 1-3 per cent, and took mortgages on land for security. This is nothing- like all he owns. Hes got twenty sush places and stock and money and United States bonds, and he lives like some er the lords of England that ve read erbout, and it all grew out of the war, and nobody neednt try to make me believe wars not a bad, bad thing.
"Ton see that double log house up the road yonder?" asked the old man, "Thars whar a fine fellow settled in 1856, and went off and married and brought to that house one er the finest young women as it was ever my lot to live by, and they were just getting fixed up to live easy when the war broke out, and John he voluntered and went oft to Virginia, fully expect ing to get back in sixty days at furtherest. They had a big1 Bght at ilanassas, and" our boys whipped em, and John he was thar and he writ home erbout it and said, Kiss the chil dren and tell em Ill soon be home, and we all expected em back in a few days, so I put up a shoat to fatten, and Johns little wife she put up a big turkey and went to scouring and sweeping the yards and cleaning- up generally, to make John feel proud of her when he got home, but he couldnt come, and them yards got mighty trashy and the-turkey died of old age before he did come. That young woman and her three children looked so lonesome stayin thar day after day and night after night by themselves, and every day the corn in the crib getting lower and the meat in the smokehouse almost gone, and no hogs in the pen to replace it, I grew to think war was a bad thing- and Ive not changed that opinion yet, stranger.
"At last Johns little wife seemed to wake up to the fix she was in. and she quit cnin and went to work same as er man and planted some corn and went to spinning at night and weaving rainy days, and she soon had a crop er growing and the children dressed in Sood checked homespun, and she man aged to knit John socks and gloves and to weave him a good jeans suit, and when the settlement made up a box to send the boys, John was sure to get his share of good things, ana she writ him cheering letters when every line would have been blotted with tears if shed give way to her feelings, but she was brave, stranger, she was brave, and thars many a woman who went through them trying times that deserve a monu. ment that would stand the beating- blasts of a thousand cen turies, that have never been thought of. and will never be heard of in connection with the heroism of them days. Wars a bad thing, stranger, wars a bad thing.

"Along in July of 63, away in the middle of the night, I hered the horn at Johns house a-blowing, and 1 knowed It was blowing- for help. Thar was no white men at home scarcely, so I knowed it was my duty to a , and I hobbled out over thar as fast as I could, and I found that Johns lit tle girl was mighty sick and had a high fever, and the little thing wanted John, and all she would say was:
" Mamma, do tell papa to come home; his little Annie is so sick.
"Then shed cry and say, Please, papa, come to little An nie; Im so sick, and then the mother she began to cry, and the other children cried, and I tell you, stranger, I cried myseir. The doctor come, and he said that Annie had the typhoid fever, and she lingered along mighty sick, and the only thing that she wouild say was to repeat the words, Please, p,apa, come to your little girl; shes so sick. Then the mother wrote to John and told him all about it, and he tried mighty hard to get a furlough, but he couldnt, and a man couldnt travel then without papers, for there was a g-uard at every station and on every train, and at every street corner and everywhere, to halt you and make you show your pass; and so little Annie died, and the last words she uttered were; Papa, if you love your little girl, do come Im so sick." Wars a bad thing, stranger; wars a bad thing!
"Johns little wife broke down then, and weeds grew up in the yard, and the palings fell off the garden fence and the gates and the bars were all down and John, he was captured and was away up in a Northern prison, where he stayed till after the surrender, and he never has been the same man since. He gave a mortgage on his li-ttle place to get started after the wai, and the per cent eat it up, and the only land that John owns now is a little spot of about ten feet square, which he reserved, because it was the grave of his little An nie, who died never understanding why it was that papa would not come to his little girl. "
Lucy, the Stillers Daughter.
"The folks that lived in that "house moved there from Pike county. Georgia, in 1869," said Plunkett, as he pulled back the wagon sheet and pointed up the mountain cove to a little cottage that looked sad in its desolation.
"Yes, and they were as fine a young couple as ever left Georgia for these mountains," spoke up Brown, as the wagon jostled over a big- root that stretched across the road.
"The fellows name was John Dawson and the girl that he married was named Lucy," resumed Plunkett, without taking notice of Browns remarks. "I seed Lucy When she was baptized, and I knowed her when she was the pet of the settlement, and her daddy was rich and she was as tender as a tiny flower "
"But her daddy made his riches by selling peach brandy," suggested Brown.
"I seed John and Lucy when they come erlong- the road moving here," resumed Plunkett, "and Lucy looked mighty happy when she raised the wag-on sheet and "looked out at us. and they did do mighty well w>hen they first got here, but arter awhile John got acquainted with four or five rowdy fel-

54
lows and it warnt no great while till he begin to go cr drivin with them and would occasionally jist happen up at the still house, till after awhile they would go outen their way to git to the still,<fend then pretty soon theyd leave home and spend the day there till it begin to look as II John preferred to stay at the still house and listen to the yarns of the moun taineers than to be at home with his wife, and pretty soon Lucy took it that way, and then she went to work to per suade him from going with these fellows
"John promised at once that he would break off from liis rowdy associates, and he kissed Lucy and smoothed down her hair as she sat on his knee and he told her that there was no use in her being scared erbout "Ms ever having any thing to do with whisky or of forming any attachments that would cause him to neglect his farm or forget his little wife, but Lucy was scared, and she turned erromnd on his lap and put her hands on each side of his face and stroked his eheeks till his lips pouted, and then kissing him she lowed, in a timid voice, as the tears glistened in her eyes:
" Now. John, dont you think you go with these fellows just a dlttle too much?
" I dont think so. Lucy; it was just sociability, but I will quit I wont go with them any more.
"Then Lucy kissed him ergin and he vowed that he would turn over a new leaf from that minit and he got up and went
whistling out to his lot. *****
"More than a month had passed since John had turned over his new leaf, and Lucy looked happier than she ever had Jooked in the mountains and new gate* and pretty fixings erround the house showed up well to the credit of Johns new ways.
"John was at work down in the new ground, outen sight of his toousfi and he was whistling- erway as lie worked, when erlong came his rowdy friends on their way over to the still house, and they sat down on a log- and begin to talk and laugh with John, and they had er little of the corn juice erlong, and they would have him take er little .lust to be sociable^and tie took a clrfnk and then they talked and laughed till arter while the bottle was passed erround ergin and pretty soon one of the rowdies proposed that John go erlong with the crowd right from there and that his wife wouldnt miss him, and that they would have a sociable time over at the still. John -was a mighty sociable fellow when he got a, drink or two in him, though he had never been drunk in his life and never expected to be, for he was one of these fellows that could con trol himself, and so. after much persuading, the whole crowd lit over the new ground fence and put out for the still.
"Lucy got dinner ready and Mowed the horn for John to come, and while she was waiting she went in to the glass and smoothed her hair and then went out and ilooked toward the new ground, but she didnt see no John ercommg and then pretty soon she blowed the horn ergin and went out and waited and watched, but no John didnt come, and then she put out down across fhe field and went nearly to the new ground and got up on a log and called and called, but no John didnt come, till at last she went down into the new ground and searched and called and called and searclfsd till she was hoarse and exhausted, and as she fell down on the grass in the corner of the fence she lowed between her sobs:
" Oh, John, John, where have you gone? "And there she lay till John and his cronies come back and found her. and John, for the first time in his life, was drunk, and for the first time in his life he was unkind to Lucy, and told her in ft drunken passion that her old daddy made Ms riches by selling peach brandy and, running a still.

"Johns cronies never had much trouble after that in get ting him off to the still. They would get him to take a drink and then would talk erbout helieving In tbe man wearing the breeches and sich like, till it warnt long till John spent the most of his time at the still and his little wife lost the bloom in her ehesk and the sparkle in her eye and folks that didnt know her said she was dyspeptic and didnt make home happy and give her all the blame.
******** "One night in December the neighbor wimen had gathered in to see Lucy die. John was off at the still, and they sent arter him and jist as he stepped into the door Lucy semed to revive er little, and as she reached out her hand in a senseless manner she spoke in a low, sweet voice: " Tell the folks around old Hebron church that this ig Lucy the little blue-eyed girl that they used to pet; Lucy that was baptized in the pool by the spring at the old church; Lucy who lived in the big white house in the fork of the roads. "And then a shadow seemed to flit across her face and she gasped and added: "Lucy, poor Lucy my father made his riches by selling brandy and running a still, and it has come home to his inno cent little girl whom he loved so well, and she was dead.
******** "Lucy was buried right over there, and it may be that I am an old superstitious fool, as they say I am, but when I look at that grave I think to myself that I would not sell whisky nor run a still if I knowed I could make a, thousand dollars a minute, and I haint none of these prohibitionists, nother. "Through a long life I have never seed a man make his riches by selling whisky but what it come home to him or to his children."
Two Old Men of Long Ago.
The sun was just going: down over the tree tops as Plunkett made his way up the spring path, with a hoe on his shoulder and a briar hook in one hand. Arrivfhg at the steps to the porch, he took his seat thereon, pulled off his shoes, knocked them against the sill of the house, and poured out the dirt that was accumulated in them during his afternoons visit to the plow hands, just over the hill.
"I dont know," said the old man, despondently, "what the countrys coming- to. It used to be that I could be er mile erway, and tell jist as well when er nigger was working as if 1 was right at him. That was when they sung and hollered and laug-lied, and jist as long as you could hear em ergoing on with the songs and laughting you neednt be uneasy but what the work was going on, too, and when they got right still you might know it was to your interest to step over and get up on the fence, and sorter cough like, so as they could see vou."
"Thats so," remarked Brown, who had stepped up and took Ms seat beside the old man. "I overseed er long time, and it was er fussy nigger that done good work."
"But," resumed Plunkett, "they are too highfalutin to holler and sing now. They are always gvvine on about those

56
lady from Atlanta, those society, and sieh like. Theyre the devil to take er hold o these proper words, and while I was over in the field tMs evening I tiered old Hoses oldest boy tell his sister to hand him those swingle tree, and its society this and society that and society tother, and club this and club tother, till I wish sometimes that the man that started this society business ermong em had to go through ernother four years war."
"Youre right," echoed Brown. "But the nigger haint all," said Plunkett, "the white folks are crazy on this proper word business, too. It used to be that a boy stayed at home and worked lor his daddy till he was twenty-one, and then hed marry and" settle down in the settlement and make er plenty and raise er family. They are off for Atlanta now before their own daddy and mammy gits enjua.inted with em, and the next time you see them theyre saying those and sich ]ike. There are boys now seven years old that knows morn I did at thirty, and every one of em after they get erpast twelve years old think Im erfool, and it wouldnt take much for em to tell me so and knock me down or draw er pistol on me if I cut up." "The gals haint no better," suggested Brown, " cepting they dont cuss and smoke these here little old paper things what they have now." "There was two boys in the settlement," said Plunkett, "that I had erright smart hopes for, but one of them has done gone to Atlanta." "Thats the Simpsou boys?" inquired Brown. "Yes," answered Plunkett, "Thomas and Charles. Theyve stayed at home well considering, but Charles hes up to At lanta, and Thomas he took his years money and er little more what his daddy give him and bought er real good saddle horse, and last week he rid the critter to Atlanta to see Charles, and he come back home er toting the bridle and sad dle on his own back. Them fellows up there at Atlanta, got erround him and suaded him into swapping horses with them, and dinged if they didnt get his horse for one that died with er fit on the way home, and all he fotch back was the saddle and bridle, and its er wonder them Atlanta people hadnt er got them. Charles writ Thomas er letter last week and told him hed better come up and catch on, and I guess hell goits just like em." "Thomas has got more sense than Charles," said Brown, "if they did get his horse." "Oh, law!" said Plunkett, "Charles is plum gone; you can tell that by the way he writes these fool things what hes sending errour.d to the settlement gals. He thinks hes er poet, and thats worse than losing "fifteen or twenty horses. Heres what he wrote to Joe Bagleys red-headed gal, and some folks call it development of talent, but its mighty nigh made every red-headed girl in the settlement his enemy, and his old daddy and mammy are mighty nig* crazy over the turn hes er taking:
STANDING ON THE CORNER. Just take your stand upon the street
Some pleasant sunny day, And see the sights and watch the folks,
That pass along the way. A beggar here goes hobbling by,
Brushed by a lady gay, And there a" pretty red-head girl,
And here a horse of gray. Smiles just perched upon your face
Will soon give way to sadness. An" eyes quick glance at things around.

57 Will wreath your face with gladness A prancing team of horses pass, And then the loaded dray. A red-head girl trips oer the street, And then a horse of gray. A throng of school girls skip you by With eyes of every hue, Ana then the romping boys come on Sincere with natures true; A hearse may quickly change this scene, As quick a band may play, But where you see a red-head girl Youll find a horse of gray.
On every corner of the street Medicine mon doth yell;
The small boys pass with blacking brush. Or papers for to sell;
The army of Salvationists Will kneel and sing and pray,
And then youll see a red-head girl, And soon a horse of gray.
A "dude" will strut the street along A twirling of his cane,
You must not think too hard of him Por he is not to blame
Nor of the girl with "bustle" large, For nature takes its way;
I cant see why a red-head girl Should match a horse of gray.
"I dont know," said PHmkett, "anything erbout this red head and gray-horse business, but I do know this one thing-, thars mighty few folks, if any, that ever seed er dead gray mule."
"Thats so," spoke up Brown. "Even in war times you didnt see no dead gray mules; at least I never did, and I never seed any soldier what did."
"But," said Plunkett, "whenever I tell em that it Is er sign of death for er whip-o-will to sing on your chimney, or a squench owl to come erround in the yard at night, they call me a. superstitious crank, and call me old fogy. But theyll find out arter awhile."
"Xo," said Brown, "nor they dont make cr cross mark on the ground and spit in it now fore they turn back when theyve started anywhere, and they dont take no pains to see the new moon clear, nor they dont care for dreaming of snakes, nor muddy water nor fer er rabbit running ercross the path in front of em."
"They laugh at old ways a.nd harp erbout progress," said Plunkett, "but the man what dont pay attention to these things wont have no good luck in the long run, and the nig-ger, or white man, eilher. what goes to the field with er head full of these here highfalutin proper words, haint er g-wine to work but little, and hes er gwine to git up to Atlanta as soon as he can pay er weeks board and have money to jine the societies "
Moving to Town.
"Is always makes me feel bad to see folks pass erlong mov ing to the city," said old man Plunkett as he leaned his chair back and threw his feet on the banisters.
"Thars hardly a day passes," continued the old man, "but what I see movers pass erlong the big road going to Atlanta.

58
"This is all wrong, for if a man what is brought up in the country cant stay there, thars no use in his going to Atlanta to better himself, for he cant do it.
"Ive seed too much of it, and I know how it is. I remem ber just erbout two years ago thar come er fellow eriong and camped yonder by the spring. He was plum carried erway with getting- to Atlanta. He had a good yoke of steers, two good cows, erbout eighty-five dollars in his pockets and four likely country girls besides his old oman. I went down after supper and sit and talked with em for some time.
"The gals were plurn carried away with getting to where they could earn their own living er working in (he factories and sich like, and I soon found out thar was no use in talking to them or their mammy. Their mammy lowed she was tiard er seeing her daughters slaves to the corn field, and she knowed that pretty soon arter they got to Atlanta theyd make money so fast that all four of em would be er having nothing to do but to dress and promenade erround. So I turned my talk to the old man, who seemed to be sensible and substantial, and I lowed:
" Stranger, youve always had er plenty to eat and clothes to w" eaYre,s.haint you?
" Youd better turn right erround in the morning and go back.
" Well, we cant cumulate nothing, and the gals haint satisfied, and the old oman thinks we can do better, and if I was to say anything theyd think I was trying to keep em back, and soIve sold out what I had, and I think well soon make money enough to go back and farm right, leastwise, I hope so.
" Stranger, said I, you dont know what youre doing. These are pretty girls and smart; these are good oxen and fat; the wagon is all rig"ht, arid the cows are good milkers; youve got some money and youd better take the back track, for Atlanta and no other city wont bring back the tranquil peace youve left behind, and you may take my word for it.
" Well make money, said the old oman. Other folks do well in the city, and I know my daughters are smart, and theyll work, and after we get enough to farm right, I wont mind it; but this way of working and giving er big part for rent and buying guano and sich. we cant morn live, and we haint er going to stand it no longer.
"I seea thar was no use in talking to the old oman nor the gals for I could see by their looks that they agreed so I turned to the old man and lowed:
"" YCesh.awing the bag is proof of the pudding? " Well, you just go back to your settlement and you bring me a hundred of the men who rent land tenants as they are called. " I>et em form a line out thar in the big road. " Ill go to Atlanta and Ill pick out one hundred of the mechanics skilled workmen, who get from two to three and a half a day and Ill bring em here and form er line long by the side of your one hundred tenants, and then well take an inventory of what each line has got. " Youll find that your settlement renters have got milk cows a.nd steers and er horse and cr pig or two and er house to live in, and able most any time to take off er Saturday to go to meeting or sich like, and when the girls sweethearts come to see em on Sunday they can give em some fried chicken and some preserves and some blackberry pies or potato cus tard" ;Yneosw. haint that so? " Well, said I. on the other hand, the line of men from the city the skilled workmen will have no cows, no steers, no horse, no pigs, no nothing, but are in debt for their weeks

provisions, and if they were to take a Saturday off to go to church or to a picnic, ninety-nine times outen er hundred theyd make somebody feel disappointed on their next settle

ment "I

day. seed

the

old

lafly

was

getting

hot,

so

I

stopped

talking

and went home and left em to discuss me as some old crank

who didnt know what I was talking erbout or didnt like to

see the* moun* tain fo* lks do* well. ****

"Two years passed erway, and one hot June day I seed a ragged old man and a care-worn woman stop at my gate. It was the same old man and the same old oman what I have told you erbout.
" Come in, said I, and make yourself at home. "lly old oman got em chairs, and arter theyd took thar seats and got er good drink er water, I axed: " Whar you traveling? " Going back, said the old man, as his old oman pulled her bonnet over her face and ctrapped her eyes on the floor "" SWolhdarit.s your wagon?

"" SWohldaresm.your steers?

"" SWolidharsemy.our cows?

"" SWphenatr.s your money?

" Whars your four daughters? "And then came the climax. The old oman bursted out to screaming, and lowed: " Ruined! Ruined! ! Ruined! ! ! "I heard the story arter dinner. "The girls went tp the city innocent and virtuous. Now they were ruined, ruined, ruined!
**$***
"Thar must be a change," continued the old man, after a pause.
"I seed it demonstrated during of the war that our Geor gia girls could be just as sweet in a homespun dress as in a black silk.
"Its the fashions. Its the custom. "A young couple will marry these days, and there is a fool sort of a pride grot -up among them that they must do thus and so, and theyll do it if it bursts the boiler. "Why cant a young couple who earns two dollars a day go to church with good jeans for the man and calico for the woman? " /Folks will think thus and so, is the answer, and the young- couple will either not go to church, or else they strain themselves beyond their means or live right up to their means so that when misfortune in the way of sickness or out of work comes on, they are forced to do what should have been done at the start, and ninety-nine times outen er hundred there will be something unpleasant outside of the mere s* tress * of wan* t. *****

"Thar is many a girj that would go to Atlanta and work

in some of their shops and stores in a minit, that would pout

out try

their lips and feel to hire them to do

like they were the cooking or

insulted if you were to housework. Thats just

a notion, and a fool notion, too.

"It would be safer to entrust the morals of young girls to

the mistresses of the dwellings than for them to mingle with

the masters of the shops and the shops surroundings.

"Either one is all right, but if I was er young man looking

for er wife, Id cr heap rather take a cook than a clerk.

"Take a young girl at ten years eld and put her in a shop,

and what will she know about keeping house for a husband?

6o "The negro wimin hire for cooks ana housekeepers, and that is whats the matter. Our girls must go to the factories and manufactories and stores when, if it was not for a simple notion that it would degrade, the housework of the rural dis tricts could be aid by our Georgia girls at a living salary, and would prove economical to the employers and a blessing to such as would otherwise drift into the cities.
Plunkett and Brown Discuss Old Times.
"Its healthy to get up early in the morning," said Plun kett, as he turned his chair and leaned back in the corner.
"Thats so," spoke Brown, "but I can remember miglity well how hard it Used to be for dad to get wo boys up in the mornings, and it seemed like 1 can hear his voice as he hol lers out: Billic, get up, son. Billie, oh, Billie, get up, son and make er fire. Billie, Billic I say Billie! Id hear every word hed say and heard him the first time lie called but I never would say er thing, till pretty soon hed yell out: Bill, Bill, you lazy rascal; get outen that bed or Ill be in there and frail thunder outen you in er minit! That always fetched me, and there haint no boy that knows how sweet sleep is lessen hes had er daddy to make him get up early in tha mornine."
"I know all erbout that possoming business," answered Plunkett, with a smile, "but arter you was up and got your face washed ynd jumped erround er little to take the stiffness outen your legs, you felt better and thar warnt so many doc tor mans er living them days as there is now, and there warnt so much of this going to town to clerk erniong the youngsters, and er wearing of these store-bought clothes and walking with er little old walking stick. The boys of these times like these sort er things, but I can tell em that they have never tasted of the joys common to the boys who wore the copperas pants held up by the gallas, who saw the sun rise from his work in the field" and watched his dog arter the branch rabbit across the plowed ground and listened to th melody of the songs that would sound from adjoining fields and the plow-boys Wo gee! Wo haw! Git up, Mike! and sich thars no sich pleasures to be had in the cities.
"Polks had er plenty them days, and they made it at home, and neighbors went to each others houses^ and they didnt feel like not eating enough when they set down at the table, and you didnt see no little old tin pan with shelled corn in it to feed the Ihorses on, but great big ears ivere tumbled into the- troughs without any counting, and fodder was pitched outen the loft as long as er horse_ would eat, and I never heard tell of one of these bales of hay.
"But they made the children wait till the old folks got through eating," said Brown, "and the hardest feeling I ever had ergin anybody, cepting conscript officers and Yankees, was ergin the preachers and highfahjtin company that could cause me to have to wait. Ive watched em er many a time through er crack in the dining room door, as theyd take the chicken outen the dish and smack their lips over the good things when Id be so hungry that I could eat er piece er dog, but I knowed better than to whimper, and it was mighty sel dom that ever me or any. other chap of my day got er lick at the preserves they were ingenerally took often the table when the childrens turn came erround and kept outen sight till the next meeting day."

6i
"The first I ever knowed of this shelled corn business," re sumed Ilunkett, without seeming to notice Browns interrup tion, "was in 1859 the year of the comets that brought on ihe war. That was cr dry year in Georgia, and there was hardly any corn made, and so in 60 we had the first of this shipped corn that ever I seed, and I wish it had er been the last. We didnt make enough corn for seed, and we had to plant the bought corn and it was called Lincoln corn, and it come up and tassled out at erbout knee-high and made er lit tle old yaller nubbin that warnt fit for turkey bait, and I bleve that was the beginning- of trouble that Im erlered Ill not live to see pass erway Ive seed er many hungry person since then, and I never seed any before."
" Cepting waiting children," suggested Brown. "I heard of er soldier," resumed Plunkctt. "that went up to er house in Tennessee and axed for something to eat, and the lady told him certainly, certainly, but youll have to wait for the second table, as I have distinguished guests to dine with me today. The fellow said hed wait, and he took his seat on er bench out in the back porch where he could look right in on the table, and as they begin to bring in the good things and place em on the table he seed em and smelt em and it was too much for him; he couldnt Stand it; so he jist wa.lked in and took one of the chairs at the table. In er minit here come the lady and her distinguished gusts, and thar set the soldier as solemn as er judge. The lady begin to turn red in the face and to hum rand haw, but the soldier didnt let on and one of the distinguished was without er place to eat and he had to turn back and wait. The officer what set next to the sold-er took er notion there was something wrong er bout the matter, so he turned to the soldier and asked him what command he belonged to. The soldier answered his question, and then the officer said: " Do yon know who you have the honor of dining with? " Xo. sir, said the soldier, looking at the stars of a generals rank on the speakers collar.
"Well, sir," proceeded the office, "you dine with General Magrudcr I am General Magruder.
" Oh. never mind, spoke the soldier, I used to be par ticular erbout who I associated with, but since the war I dont care er cent.
"I seed er hungry soldier at er table once," said Brown, showing a disposition to cope with LPlurikett. "It was at er mighty good old deacons table; and the deacon was never known to oat without er great long grace, but no sooner than they took their seats at the table than the soldier jist lit into the first thing he could lay his hands on, and the old deacon looked, and the soldier had his mouth pretty close down to his plate and was cr putting the eating erway; the deacon hummed and hawed, but the soldier .list reached over and got some more. Mien the deacon, with a mighty red face, lowed:
" Were in the habit of saying something here before we go to eating meaning grace.
" Jist say what you please, answered the soldier, you cant turn my stomach; Im used to it; and then he reached for some more eating, and the deacon and (his whole family set there without turning their plates and seed the soldier swipe the last thing from the table."
"Well, 1 said Plunkett, as Brown ceased to talk, "I was jist er thinking erbout the old times, and my mind wandered.
"Ive rambled over the old homeplace today. Ive jumped the ditches and rolled on the grass where I played with little Nell; I have swung on the coupling pole of the wagon as it jolted over the cotton rows; T have patted the sand on little Nells foot end hands, making- frog houses, and raced with her down the path when the old dinner horn Wowed to meet the hands from the fields, I have knelt with her over the doodle (holes, and heard her sweet little voice say doodle, doodle,

62 doodle! Doodle, doodle, doodle! I have been in the old loom room with mother, and hopped erround as pert as er cricket to get her the shuttle that would fly from her hand. These things have passed, but I cling to their memory, and the last song I ever heard little Nell sing comes to me as fresh as the day she sang and makes it seem like prophecy:
" Some day it shall not be as now. Your strong hand rove about my brow;, Youll take from these some silken tress, And leave the rest in silentncss Remembering- how I used to say, Youll think of this again some day; Remembering how I used to say. Youll think of me again some day. "
She Died at the " Limits."
Thar used to live between 1 Atlanta and the Chattahoochea river," said old man Plunkctt. knocking the ashes out of his pipe, "a family of folks what was as well-to-do as any would wish for. The old man died along in 1833-4, and the old oman she raised three of as fine boys, and four of as fine daughters as thar was anywhar erround Atlanta. When the war carne on the boys volunteered and went up in Tennessee, and they stayed thar and fought all the way down to AtJanta, and not one er them was ever sick nor hurt in the whole four years. The old oman was eighty years old when the armies got erround Atlanta and she couldnt do nothin but stay at home, and the gals stayed with her and done very well, considerin. When Hardee come down here to Jonesboro all three er the boys were with him. and they .hadnt seed none er thar folks cause Sherrnan had them cut off; and the boys were mighty bothered erbout it and were afeared thar old mother and sisters were on sufferance, and they didnt know what the army was going to do nor whar they were gwine to go. They talked and talked erbout it ermong themselves, till at last they decided that the folks at home must be attended to, and they knowed thar was no use in tryin to get a furlough, so they decided that one er them must desert. Thar was narry one of them what wanted to desert, and they at last decided to draw straws and the one getting- the shortest straw should desert the Confederacy and go back and see the old oman and the gals. Charlie got the shortest straw, and so when night com on he put out through the woods and got outen the Unas of both armies and went clean on erround Atlanta to the river and come up to the old home from the other side. He found his folks in a mighty had fix, and he told me arterwards that if it hadnt er bin for some scraps of potatoes what he gathered up outen Judge Wilsons later patch, tlheyd er starved to death.
"Arter the fight at Jonesboro, IToods army took the back track and went up in Tennessee ergln, and Sherman he pitch ed out down the country arter rnakin way with everything that warnt hid whar he couldnt find it. Orders came out for everybody to leave Atlanta for a certain distance erround. and to take thar choice of goin south or back across the Ohio river. Them was the tryinest times that I seed durin the whole war, and I said right then that the back er my hand was ergln old Sherman, and it !s yet.

"Charlie, he was over lihar on the other side of Atlanta takin care of his poor old mother that was the rise of eighty, and he knowed she couldnt be moved back across the Ohio, and he knowed he was a deserter in the Confederacy, and It they ketahed him theyd shoot him; so he decided to lay right still and say nolhin till things sorter quieted down, and may be the yankees wouldnt bother em when they found out how it was,
"When everybody errotmd had moved off, Charlie he thought the best thing he could do would be to go right up to headquarters and tell the yankees how it was and argue the pint with em, for he knowed theyd find em, and then it might go hard with em all. Charlie (he puts out up to At lanta, and who should he run up with but old man Markham, and Markham he stood pretty well with the yankee some how, and he was always clever erbout Tnelpin folks; ?o h& goes erlong- with Charlie up to the headquarters of an officer called Leduct, who was the quartermaster general of the yankees, and he talked for Charlie all he could, and told hlni how old and feeble the old oman was; but it didnt do no good for ihe jist called a fellow to him and ordered him to get er wagin and a guard and to go erlong with Charlie and take hi3 old mother and the gals and carry em outen the lines, and so the fellow went and done as he said and carried Charlies folks to a certain place what they called the limit, and put em right out in the big road and turned erround and driv back to Atlanta.
They made it on down this way the best they could till they got yonder to my ginhouse, and the poor old mother couldnt stand it no longer, so they struck camp under the gin house and built up a little fire, and Charlie and the gala went out thar in the woods and raked up leaves and plntf straw and filled an old wagin body what was there under the gin ihouse and laifl the poor old mother in it for a bed, and then they axed her how she felt, and she looked up at em so pitiful like that Charlie had to cry, and then the gals cried, and when the old mother seed they were cryin she talked to : em, tried to cheer em up, and we all seed she was kinder wanderin in her mind, for she axed em to sing her a song, and Brown he was there by this time, and he opened up on ihe Old Ship of Zion, and we all jined him, and as we finish ed the last chorus the old mother lowed:
"Oh sing me a song that will take me Backward on memorys swift wing,
To the home and scenes of my girlhood, And the joys and comforts these bring,
Oh sing me the songs {Jhat I sang you In the years that have long been past,
For around them memories cluster That even" in death Id hold fast.
MOh, sing me the songs that I sang you In the years before papa was dead;
The songs that I sang as I rocked you Each night before going to bed;
Oh, sing me a song, as I am dying, Softly sing a good-bye to my soul,
For why should my loved ones be crying Since Ive grown so tired and old?"
"Then Brown rniscd Jesus, Lover of My Soul,* and we all sang with him, and as we finished up the last verse we seed the old mother was done dead, and outen the reach of all miltary or* ders. * Wars* a bad* thing* -, stra* nger, * wars * a bad thing.
"Whatever Plunkett tells you. you can depend on, stran ger," said old man Brown, as ihe moved his chair around

64 into the shade. "It haint been no great while since I seed Charlie, He lives just the other side of Atlanta, now, r,nd is doing well, and raising- a. family right at the same old home where he was raised, ceptin it haint the same houses, for they was all tore down and burned by the soldiers. When the old mother died, what Plunkett has told you erbout, I took the igrls over to my house and just told em to make themselves at home. We didnt have nothin to give em to eat, for we didnt have anything for ourselves, but me and Charlie went out into the woods and ketohed three rabbits, and Plunkett give us some old hardtack what hed picked up erround the camps and the wimin folks took the rabbits and put the creckers erlong with em and made a stew, and I never seed a meals vituals what I thought was better than that rabbit stew, and Irom that day to this Ive never worried much over sufferin for something to cat, for I said right then that if a fellow was obleeged to have a, thing, hed be certain to git it.
"ile and Charlie went rustling erround then to see what could be done, and we went up to the Yankee picket line, and thar was a big- Indiana fellow standin guard, and we told erbout how we was fixed, and he would (have us to take what rations he had with him, and said he could do without till he got back to his camp, and from that day to this, whenever a fellow tells me hes from Indiana, Im his friend, and if I ever see one er them in need, Ill help him if I have lo sell my coat to do it.
"While me and Charlie was rumaging erround to get a livin we ran ercross er pile er saddles what had been left by Hoods men, and we lit in to em and cut the skirts often em, and carried what we could tote home, and hid the balance and kept goin back for em till we got em all, and we kept em till Atlanta begin to be built up ergin, and then, we sold em to a fellow to cover a house on Whitehall street, and this g-ive me and Charlie both a start after the war, and nary one or us have worried any from that day to this erbout how we are to get erlong, or we know that when youre obliged to have er thing, youll git it.
The "Lay-By" Time.
"It used to be that the lay-by of crops meant peace and rest for the old and frolic and enjoyment for the young."
These were the remarks of old man Plunkett, as he leaned back against the oak, under the shade of which he had seated himself after his noonday meal.
"Yes, sir," continued the old man as he trailed the dust from ibis socks upon the rounds of the chair, "we used to have good times after lay-by pf crops, and even the niggers always looked forward to the time to come when they could have their three or four hours in the middle of the day to gather erround upon the grass and1 eat watermelons and "drink cider and sing the melodies that are unsung now, and watch the sports of their young offspring as they rolled upon the grass and tumbled in the sand. The nigger was happy then, happier than, he will ever be ergin. and the whites were prosperous and contented then to an extent that will never be known in these days of what they call progress and prosperity. Friend ships were sincere and nature true in them days, and such a thing- as one neighbor charging another for a quarter of beef or a leg of mutton or a ham of shoat warnt known, and the big meetings went on at the old unpainted meeting bouses, and after the sermon was preached in the morning, the bas kets were opened up and the vituals spread and everybody was welcome to eat. drink and make merry, and after the

6s
meal was over the youngsters would pair off and scatter through the groves and walk to the spring and sit in the wagons and on the grass and court and get engaged, and then they would all gather in the old church again, and the leader would stand up in front and beat time with his hand and sing the good old songs that helped thousands that long since have slept in their graves on to that other shore
"Where no more storms -will rise.
"And then would come the camp meeting time that would; bring a season of love feasting between neighbors that would pay for all the Jogs of the plow handle in the short riiis and all the blisters from the old shoe and all the vexations of a contrary mule in a new ground cotton patch, and for all the early rising in the months of May and June when the grass was jointing and spreading from row to row. Everything was love, and every smiling face seemed welcome, without price, to partake of the bountifully supplied tables that were spread beneath the trees.
"Yes," continued t)ie old man, after a pause, "we all eat together, and wheat straw was the flooring for the tents, and the quilts were all there to spread down, and the men would lay down on one side and the women on the other, with just room for a person to walk between their feet, and If a. long fellow and a tall girl happened to lay opposite each other, they had to be mighty careful how they straightened, or their feet would meet and get tangled up; but there was nothing wrong if they did. for the young girls didnt have to sit up in those days as stiff as a poker for fear theyd be talked erbout, but they acted just like they were humans the same as men, and when the time would come to go to sleep, sweetheartswould walk together to the tents and at the door one would go to the left and one to the right, and undress, and sleep upon the straw with our feets nearly touching, with just as much propriety as is in the customs that now pertain.
"When the big bugle was sounded in the morning, there was a rush to get ready to attend the prayer meeting before breakfast. The services were held under a large arbor, that was renewed from year to year, and there was kept a long bugle that sounded from the pulpit just as they sound their big bells these days.
"It would seem strange to the young generation to watchsuch a getting ready of the boys and girls, the old and theyoung, when that old bugle was sounded. The girls of this day would never have got to a morning service, for by the time theyd get all the fixings on what they wear these days th"e meeting- would ihave t*een over but then it warnt that way. for by the time any yoxmg fellow could get into his clothes and pull on his boots his sweetheart would be ready to pour him some water outen a gourd to wash his face and then hed pour for her. and in less than er minit theyd have their lhair smoothed up and on their way down to the arbor to enjoy a prayer meeting where a sinner would be saved and a backslider reclaimed before the sun was fifteen minuteshigh. They dont have no such meetings these times. For if they were to get up a good campmeeting1 now some of thefellows would come outen Atlanta and be er holler.n ice cream, ice cold lemonade, only five cents er glass! or someother town talk, or else these preachers what we have now would stop about the time they got things warmed up anff asK some of the brothers to pass erround the hat. or else some youngster would shoot off a pistol. If everybody in the new generation dont go to hell, if they keep this progressbusiness up, it will be a wonder to me
********* "The only thing that I see now in the lay-by time that

66
has a smack of the good old day of before the war is the soldiers reunions. They took me over to Newnan not long ergo and I seed old soldiers what 1 had seed under trying times, and when the good people of Newnan showed their appreciation for the veterans by giving them the preference at the table and everywhere, it done me good, for I knowed they deserved it, and when I thought of the.way they had to scramble during the war to get er little beef and bread, and looked upon their bright faces as they pitched into the fine dinner set before them? I thought of the old song that we used to smg that went to indicate mans condition in paradise: " And not a wave of trouble rolls across their peaceful
breast! for these old veterans seemed to fill the measure of that old song this was the veterans paradise.
"I seed men from both armies there. The army of Vir ginia and the army of Tennessee mixed and mingled, and now and then a scattering Yankee joined em and they seemed to be just as happy as our boys and fared just the same. I seed Ixmgstreets men that come from Virginia and helped the Tennessee boys at the battle of Chickamauga, and then 1 thought of the old Twenty-ninth North Carolina regiment and the brave Arkansans that .went to make up McNairs Arkan sas brigade, and I thought of the Ninth Indiana battery that was planted on er hill in front of Longstreets men and was er mowing them down frith grape and canister when McNair led ihis men in on the left of Longstreet and drove everything in front of em, and then by mutual ^consent drifted in the direction of the Indiana battery and" rwas soon ermong the men that stood at the cannon. I thought of a young Lieu tenant Keid, of the old Thirty-ninth North Carolina, and whose home is at Franklin, Macon county, North Carolina, and how the canoneer dashed a big shell ergin him and knocked him down when he demanded his surrender, and I wished that they could ba at Newnan the Indiana battery, the Carolinians and the Arkansans, and I know in particular, that the Arkansans of McNairs brigade would have been overjoyed to er been there and er hered how the old veterans bragged on their fighting on that day at Chickamauga, for there was a newspaper correspondent erbout that time that unintentionally neglected them in a report of the battle, and Colonel David Coleman, who was the author, left the impres sion upon many minds that the ArKansans dla not do as well as they might have done; it was the Colonels zeal for his own regiment that made this seeming, for Ive heard members of the old Thirty-ninth speak since, and they regretted It, and there is no men that get more lavish praise for their gallant work at Chickamauga than does the brave Arkansans of McNairs brigade, who captured the Ninth Indiana battery on the left front of Longstreets line and made it possible for that corps to drive the Yankees before them."
What Plunkett Thinks of Predestination.
As the household filed in from the supper table, Plunkett opened a little book that lay on the table, and taking there from a scrap of paper, without a word of comment he handed It to one of the girls to be read. Here it is:

67 "We haint axed nary question,
Since the nigger was set free, But went erlong up to the polls
To elect the nominee; "But were getting kinder jubus And opening wp one eye For old Blaine has taught tne lesson That er yank is mignty sly. "They are sending out their letters And fore thyre axed decline And thetrick would be er good one If the people were all blind. "We are on to agitation, But we call no man er He, Were too polite to be so harsh^ So we say its mighty sly. "Let em write and talk of tariff And these complicated things But the most they want is office Or the good that office brings. "The Souths been fed upon the scraps, Of the nations chicken pie We want a just division now, Theyve learned us to be sly." "Well," said Plunkett, "what is to be, will be." "I blieve that doctrine," spoke up Brown, "till I went to the war. I was a Hardshell, but when ne "balls Ijegin to fly erround Id forget all erbout my church doctrine, and it took er mig-hty suplo man to get into er (hole quicker than me." "I knowed er man," said Piunkett, "that went clear through the war and fit in every battle from Seven Pines^to the surrender, that never got a scratch, that never was sick worth talking erbout, that got killed by an old broke down mule er kicking him the very next morning arter he got home." "I iheard of one," chimed in Brown, "that went through the same way and got killed by er ram er butting him in er few days arter he got home." "But," continued Plunkett, without seeming to notice Browns remarks, "I could tell you erbout erthing that hap pened over on the river that was erbout the worst thing that happened during of t)he whole war, leastwise, it made me ieel the worst, for I knowed em all, and I knowed what er good little woman the wife was, if she did play on one of these here pianos." "Yes, I seed him the day he volunteered," spoke Brown, seeming to know what was going to be said, "and I seed his little wife when she caught ihim by both handa and leaned her face down on the brass buttons of his coat and cried, the day they took the train to start for Virginia. I haint brave, and Im dadburned glad of it." "Them were mighty bad times," resumed Plunkett, "when the soldiers would tell their folks good-toye. Theres many er one living now that can remember the partings, and the longer the war went on, tihe harder it got to be, but it was just" erbout as bad to watch the old fathers and mothers, sisters and wives, and see em cry when the other fellows begin to come ihome, and they knowed their loved ones were killed, and wouldnt come at all. "But what I was going to tell you was erbout Charlie Holland, who wasnt killed, but who never did get home." The old man took a whiff or two at his pipe and then pro ceeded:

68
"Charlie Holland went oft to the war and left his wifearid two little children, a little hoy and er little girl, and they lived on tiie river and done (he best they could till they heard that the war was over, and then the whole talk was erbout papa coming home. and every morning theyd get up bright and early, and the little wife would fix up the children as clean as er pin and theyd go out and set on the fence and watch up the road, and when theyd see er fellow er coming theyd holler to their mamma and here shed come with her sewing throwed over her ihead for er Wonnet and would watch till the fellow wou.d get closer and closer. tin at last, shed say thats not him; and shea turn and walk back in the house ana tne children would watch, and directly theyd holler to her ergin; Yonder comes papa! And theyd clap their little hands and run and catch the mother by the dress, and pull her erlong faster a.nd shes put her hands up to her eyes to shade em from the sun and look with all her might, but directly it would be the same old saying: Thats not papa, and turn and "walk back to her chair on the porch. i "It went on this way day after day, till it got so sh2 begun to cry and she quit sitting on the porch, but stayed* out at the gate with the children, and there was no soldier that passed erlcng that road but what felt like crying when they seed her and them children watching there, and now the tears would come when shed ask em if they knew whereCharlie was, till at last the soldiers quit coming- by. They were all at home, and Charlie hadnt come yet. The little wife kept up with the watch and kept the children dressed torun and meet papa, till one day the little boy ran to her and said that he heard some men say that they expected that Gharlie had found cr wife out in the war that he liked best, and he was ffoing to stay. She broke down right then, and" she took to bed and the doctors couldnt do nothing for her, and she died in a few days, and the last words she said was:
" Watch at the gate for papa. "I helped to dig her grave," spoke up Brown, "and I never will forget how the folks talked erbout Charlie." "Yes," resumed Plunkett, "they did talk erbout him, but they were sorry of it after they found out how it was." The old man stopped to change the position o his chair, but soon went on"The railroads were all tore up and Charlie had struck out through the country, taking all the near cuts in order to get home to his little wife and children. He got to the river bank on the other side from his house and he could see the ligtht through the window, Vmt the night was dark and the storm was raging and he couldnt make nobody hear in Is holler, so he got er hold of er log and decided to cross on it. The river was up. and it got him in er whirl and dashed him ergin the rocks and his dead body was found in the driftwood at the bend of the river on the very evening that his poor little wife was hurled from a broken heart, because he did not come. Them were bad times bad times."
Pictures Cant Show What War Is.
Pictures and writing- dont learn you much erbout er battlefield," said old man IPlunkett.
"Its mighty nice," continued the old man. "to look at er picture in er book and see the horses er rearing and the flags er floating and the brave men er flashing,"but it haint so nice to be fjhar. Thars danger and death erround that flag ana the air is filled with the zip, zip, zip of the minnie ball that is

worse than er nest er hornets darting arter you, and the boom .and zoon and the whiz of the shell like thai1 was a shuck tied on to em haint no pleasant thing and I haint never seed many folks but what it would make peart.
"You can march er man and perish er man till hed as soon die as lire, but whenever you begin to throw bombshells erround him hes as fresh as if hed got outen bed and eat er -hearty breakfast, at least thats my experience, and Ive herd men that 1 know was as brave as could be say the same thing-. I seed er long, gaunt North Carolinian once get so tired that he thought he just couldnt live any longer with out er little rest, and so he just put his cartridge box under his head and turned over on his back and was ersleep in lour seconds. One of the devilish fellows took his knife and dug up the ground right between his legs, and then hopped off to one side and gathered er great long shell and took it and .put it down on the fresh loosened dirt, and then shook the fellow and waked him, and when ihe opened his eyes and seed the shell between his legs, he give er spring and er whirl the same as er circus actor, and got off er piece and turned erround the same as youve seed horses run off and turn erround and snort, and then axed: I3id that shell fail tnar.
"They told him it did, and tried to get him to take ernother nap; but, no, sir, he warnt sleepy nor tired either any more.
"But wait till the tattle is over," continued Plunkett. "They are burying the brave fellows that rallied erround the flag and that yelled and waved their hats in the charge. They haint got no coffins; they haint got no graves; thar haint no wce_ping, but everybody is On er rush to wrap em up in thar little blankets or pull thar coats over thar heads and dump em in the trendhes and put er little dirt upon them. Here and thar er foot sticks out. Thars er hand that wasnt [u<ite covered, and heres er head uncovered by the rain These are the buried. Walk erround. Heres er hand, heres er jaw bone, heres er piece of skull, heres er leg, heres er chin or er nose; these are the things you see_after the battle! "The armies are gone. The crops are tra~mpled down, the cattle driven off, the birds have left even the buzzard, that one would expect to see, has been scared away by the fuss of the battle, and nothing- is here but death, destruction, silence!
"Old Sherman did leave us one thing, though. He left us dogs. You never seed the like er dogs that was through tJhese woods arter old Sherrnan left. The people refugeed and the nigger run erway and the dogs went wild and took to tne woods and er fellow had to be migtity careful how he moved erround or theyd get arter him. Ive seed as many as 150 dogs in one gang twixed here and Atlanta, and it warnt no great ways twixed gangs, either. I cant say for certain, but I think thar was at least 45,000 dogs left in Atlanta, and they took up old Shermans way of foraging on the old country, and no living thing nor dead thing that would do to eat could escape their smell.
"And cats! Youve, heard of cats being- drawn to catnip patches, but that aint nothing- to what the broiling- of er piece of meat anywhere erround Atlanta would do arter Sher man left.
"Me and Brown went up to Atlanta arter old Sherman left and Brown he had got er hold of er good size piece of meat

skin and carried It er long, and when we got hungry we just stepped over ermong some brick and rubbish on Alabama street and went to briling it on the coals, and it hadnt morn struck the fire till we begin to hear the cats squall erround, and it warnt morn er minit HIT here they come from every direction, and Brown he jerked the meat from often tin coals and lowed if any cat gets this meat skin hed have to be er better man than I is; and we both took to er middle wall that was er little to one side and got up on it and thar we stood and eat for er minit, but it warnt long, for the cats begin to make for us, and we seed wed have to fight, so we put our eating in our coat pockets and let in with the hickory sticks what we had, and if you ever seed dead cats it was thar.
"We were up on er piece of the middle wall what was left standing, and the cats couldnt crowd morn forty-five or fifty at a time, and wed let em have it with our sticks, and Brown he never failed to kill one, and sometimes two, at every lick, and I warnt er sleeping. Id Just hate to tell you how many cats we killed, for I know youd think it looked il of all reason.but Ill say 10,000 anyhow, and Brown would be willing to swear right now that wouldnt er made er hole in em.
"But these things have all passed. The muskadines and grapes are ripe In the bottoms and the simmbns will soon be ripe, and as old as I am, 1 expect to eat possum that Is treed by yon old dog and see him wfioop the coon up and dowrn the creek swamp.
"Whatever Plunkett tells you, will do to depend on," said old man Brown, with an emphasis that plainly showed his willingness to vouch for what Plunkett had said.
"People these days," continued Brown, "think these things out of all reason, and thats why you do.nt hear more erbout these wild dogs and cats than you do er fellow can mighty easy get up er reputation as er first-class liar by telling the truth erbout things that happened erround here in 65
"Brlong with the wild dogs." continued Brown, "you mout have said something- erbout the niggers that flocked to the city erbout that time. Er nigger couldnt be made to believe he was free till toe left his old home, and they just flocked by here in droves, and you was just wasting breath er talking to em. Thar was er mighty good nigger that went from my settlement and took seven little children up thar. I knowed in reason he was er sufferin, so me and his old master went up to get him to come back, bin we couldnt. W* found him. though, where they were camped, and as soon as we walked up to where they was we seed one of the children lyin over to one side, stone dead. His old master axed:
" Whats the matter with that child, George? " Hes perished to death; but (he free dough, answered George. "Georges old master tried every way to get them to go back and stay with him, but they wouldnt, and the next time T went by there another one of the children was dead, and when axed what wp>? the matter, the answer came: " Perish to death; but he free, dough. "And that fool nig-g-er stayed right thar till the !ast one of of his family died, and then he d.ed himself, and the last thing he said was: " Ts most gone; but Is free, dough. "But its all right now," continued Brown, "the nigger warnt to blame, and I dont blame em now. Ill always remember how the niggers stayed here at home durin 6 the

7' war, when tihar warnt nobody but women and children tomake em mind, and made the crops, and took care of things. Thars some folks now that talk erbput er war betwixt the whites and blacks, but its no sich thing. Ive Ween er hear ing all my life erbout the niggers risin, but tHey haint riz yet, only to go to work, and they haint er gwine to if ba4 men will let em erlone and not put em up to it."
The Graveyard by the Church.
"These youngsters what Have come.up since the war," said Plunkett, "call me cranky, and_that professor what teaches at the academy says Im er mono-maniac on the subject of progress."
"That professor," spoke up Brown, "is always er throw ing out his ihiffhfalutin words."
"I dont krow the meaning of their big words," continued Plunkett. "but Ive seed the day. when just as smart school teachers as he is wore leans to church, and it was home made at that."
"Id. like to see," spoke up Brown, "one of these here sincethe-war gals, with that hurnp ;on thar back, stand up by the side of the Georgia gals with the pretty homespun dress, that theyd made themselves er during: the war."
"Yes," continued Plunkett, "the women done mighty well during the war, and they suffered a heap, but they didnt make much fuss erbout it, like the men."
"Thats the way wimin is," chimed in Brown. "Wimin suffer and dont take on much. My old oman made me erehamed of myself on that. It used to be that when I had the toothache or headache, Id groan erround and quit work and knock thunder outen the children, and the old oman when she was aching would just go erlong with her work erbout as common, till I didnt believe she was hurting much. One day when she had the toothacHe, an warnt saying- much erbout it, the doctor come erlong the road and she stopped him and set down in er chair and had five teeth pulled fore she ever got up, and didnt make no to do over it, either. Id always been er getting biling drunk when I had er tooth pulled, and then with er pint of liquor under my shirt, Id howl and kick and talk erbout it for er week, but I quit after I seed her, and I haint had no excuse to get drunk since."
"Yes," continued Plunkett, "Ive seed the day when we made exerything right here at home, and the farmers didnt have no mortgages on their places then."
"Salt," said Brown, "we made our salt during the war." "Yes," continued Plunkett. every smoke ihouse in Geor gia was dug up during the war, and the dirt put in er hopper and run down like ashes when you make lye, and it made mightv good salt, too." "They neednt talk to me," continued Plunkett, "Ive seed the day when er shoemaker could settle down at any cross road and make as good er living as any man need to want, and Ive seed the day that Id rather been er blacksmith than to have been sent to the legislature. "Since these progressive times as they call em come In, shoemakers and wagon-makers and blacksmiths and sich like get er little mending to do, but they iKave er heap of time to set erround and cuss the dullness of their trades. Its rail-

-roads and machinery and progress that has made it no, and I dont see any good such things have done the country, ceptln,g to build up towns here and there, where youd least expect it, but I told em so.
"In old Know-nothing days the men In my settlement were going erround pulling their mouths to one side, and winking and making- every kind of sign tKat youd have to jine to understand, and theyd harp on things from the old country er coming over here and perishing out our mechanics, and they said they were going to stop their goods and them, too, from coming:, but they didnt; but it was pretty warm times fur erwhile, and the whole settlement got stirred up and were erbout to jine the Knownothlngs, but Ben Hill made an ap pointment to make er speech, and failed to come, and I know in reason that if Ben had er got ermong em, thar wouldnt have been one left outside of the Knownothing party, but in place of his coming, there come erlong- in a few days a fellow -by the name of I>ochrane, a young: Irishman, and the men .and wimin both gathered to hear him speak, and that settled -Knownothingism in that settlement.
"Lochranc," continued Plunkett, "worked on the wimin. -He told erbout the faithful wife that had followed :him from .across the ocean, and how she had died at Savannah, and how lie had promised iher to visit the grave and keep it green and .how, after erwhile, their two little children had died and were .laid beside the mother, and Vnen "he drew a picture of how .he would feel if the Knownothings were successful, standing at the graves of these dear ones just before returning to the old country. He cried, I cried, and everybody cried, and dinged if it wouldnt er took old Ben Hill to counteract that .speech, and as he failed to come, there warnt but three Knownothing votes cast at that precinct, and we learned arter the election that Loehrane didnt have no dead wife and chil-dren.
"They are still er talking," continued the old man, "and the niggers they are beginning to take hold of these signing organizations. Theres been er fellow erround er talking- erbout what he calls Knights of Labor, and theres something up ermong the farmers erbout what they call an alliance, and if the niggers git to winking and blinking at each other, and the whites have their signs, it win be bad times with me and Brown, for we are too old now to jine any of em.
"Well/ 1 spoke up Brown, "Im erfeared of these organiza tions, on ercount of the nigger; for, if his siety tells him to quit work, hes morn apt to do it, but I hope hell get his chickens from the whites who have set the example of lorming these organizations."
"The church is good enough for me. without hunting up secret things to jine," continued Plunkett, "but thars no use talking, for theyll do jist like some feller that wants office tells them to do, and theyll never understand that when er feller gets in some high office and begins to get rich he ceases to be one of us. till they try it seventy-five or thirty times, like I have, and then theyll want somebody to kick em all over a big horse lot for not knowing it before.
"Thats too much progress, too much machinery, too much organization, too much change. Magnify the church and keep it pure, thats my notion," said Plunkett, as he stooped and dipped his pipe in the coals, preparatory to taking a smoke. After a whiff or two at his pipe, the old man continued:
"Look at the oldchurches of the land. They are being torn down in order that they may be moved to some railroad station. We used to cherish the church, for there wed meet and know and love each other and serve our God. In the little graveyard near by. wed bury our dear ones, and meet ing days wed go and drop a tear to water the flowers. Old -. people like me could select their resting place, in confidence

that theyd rest undisturbed, shielded by the protecting hand oi the church they had helped to build. But In these change ful times the coming generation will move away the house of their fathers and then its only a matter of time for crops to grow at the old graveyard by the church. Keep the old 0nun.-h.es up where they stand and where they have stood lot s-ears-, if for nothing more than to protect the graves of those who have lived before. If you will chang-e, change not in this.
"I go in these old graveyards every time 1 can, and I read tha lettering on the tombstones, and they bring to mind the friends of long- ago, and when I think of tile parents who have buried their little children, and of the sons and daughters who have buried their fathers and mothers and moved off to Texas, leaving their dead in the care of the old church. It makes me feel bad, for I know trial these have the picture of the old house with its every nook and corner, and a picture of the graves they left behind imprinted upon their hearts, and they live in the faith that thus it will remain; but Ive seed (t. and if you move the old eliuron, the graves will soon go to rack, and after awhile pass away."
The First House Built in Atlanta.
"A long life haint much after the years are left behind," said Plunkett, meditatively, as he fixed his chair in a com fortable position.
"Ive been here er long- time," continued the old man, "but It dont seem so very long-, now that it is past, since I was a. youngster, sparking the girls, arid wa? as suple as er cat and warnt erfeared to catch er Ihold of the end of a handspike at any los-rolling or house-raising, and theres many er house standing yet that I helped to dove-tail and put up the logs.
"Eriong in 36 I -syas at er house-raising that was the start ing of Atlanta, Hardy Ivy built the first house that was ever put up at Atlanta, and John Thrasher built the next, erbout three years arter that. I was at both raisings, and if any body had er told me then that ever Id er seed what I have, Id er called him a liar. "While we were working on HardyIvys house here come erlong two Creek and three Oherokee Indians, and" took their seats a little ways off, and watched us for some time without saying er word, till directly some of us went up to them and commenced to talk, but they seemed to be downcast and there wag only-one of them that spoke, and he jist said:
" Paleface much push Injin. "And moved off through the woods, one behind the other, and Ive often thought of that push and wondered where it would end. But it wasnt Jlst the Indian that was much pusbed! Mighty nigh everybody that lived erround this coun try at that time was driv out tjy the new fangled ways that was brought in. It wasnt many years before John Thrasher moved erway. but he went back ergin pretty soon, John Thrasher was the first man that ever put up er..store in At lanta, and he done er mighty g-ooa barter trade Jill er fellow by the name of Willis_ Carlisle corne erlong and put up er little store right erlons byThim, and he could play er fiddle and got er right smart of Thrashers trade, for folks them days would gather erround a fiddle."

<4 "Er fiddle will draw me now," spoke up Brown, showing signs of restlessness. "I remember Carlisles store and Thrashers, too. They stood upon the road jist erbout in front of where the custom house now stands." "But," resumed Plunkett, without replying to Brown, "when I see these here big engines what they have now er scooting erlong between Macon and Atlanta, with fifteen or tiwenty box cars as big as houses used to be hitched on to em, I cant help from thinking erfJbut the great to do there was made over the flrst locomotive that ever went in.to At lanta. The flrst engine that went into the place didnt run there itself; it was hauled there on a wagin. It was narated erround that er locomotive was going to be put on the tracks of the new road that was to run to Chattanooga, and people gathered at what was then called the Terminus from far and near. Folks went from erway over at Zebulon to see the sight, for I remember mighty well er seeing John Xeel and Jimpy Neel from over in pike, a,nd there was er lot of hands (hat had been er working on the road, and arter they all got tiard cr waiting, they started out down the road toward Decatur, for there had done come er fellow in on er horse and told us that the engine was coming, and on the way the railroad hands and some fellows from down at Hardhead and Williamsville got in er fuss, and I always believed an Irishman would fight fair with his fist till that day, but I found out bet ter when that fight begun. We kept er going till we got to er branch pretty close to Decatur, and there we run up with er little engine er setting up on er wagin with sixteen mules er trying to move it, but they were stalled, and ropes were got and tied on to it and the crowd gathered the ropes and helped the mules and pulled em outen the mud and up the hill, and it warnt long till the flrst locomotive rsvas at the Terminus, as they called Atlanta then, and the letters on it read:

% $ % % J % $ % % ? { *!*

4-

FLORIDA.

*

*i*

*J*

And this little engine steamed up and made a trip to Marietta on Christmas Eve day. 1842.
"Tt warnt long arter this till they got up the name of Marthasyille, and then they begin to -have hifalutin ways, and theyve kept on going from worse to worser, till I never get astonip^ie/1 now at anything I see or hoar.
"They pretty soon had PT schoolhouse and er youna: P*-esbyterian preacher, who. I think, was named Rev. .T. 5. Wil son, made appointment and preached the first sermon that was ever delivered in what is now the city of Atlanta."
"Its a great wonder it hadnt er been er Methodist preach er." remarked Brown, for these here Presbyterian? haint much in going to places Tore the Methodist ha.vo went erionsj before and sorter downed the old devil."
"T begin to drop off from the settlement erround Atlanta as soon as they went to putting on airs, and I got so I didnt go tlhere at all lessen I was obliged to." said Plunkett. without taking notice of Browns remarks.
"T had to ECO up there when old Shermnn corne down." re marked Brown, "but they took me. I had to jine under the last call, and T never have seed wha,t good I done em, for it took one of the old vets to keep me there, and T never will believe anything but what theyd laughed if the yanks had er got me. and T have had er notion that one fellow what they put me in a pit with tried to get me killed, for the very minit Id lay down and stop shooting hed tell me to get up and try em ergin. and one time when T raised my head and er yankee ball went zip through the old beaver I had on, he

didnt get excited at all, and when I poked my finger through the hole in the hat and showed it to him and told toim that ifjhe hat had er been er little lower crowned theyd er look off the top of my head, he laughed fit to kill hisself, but I couldnt see no laugih in it."
"They did treat old fellows bad," remarked Plunkett, "and if the melich had er been obleged to stay much longer, theyd er starved to death, for the most of them were so old that they didnt have no teeth, and they couldnt eat the bard crackers without soaking em err/out er day in water, and they couldnt do nothin at all with the beef what they draiwed. The soldiers would pass by where the melich were camped and theyd see em er gumming the tough beef, and theyd let out to the old tune of Uncle Ned
" Deyve got no hair on the top of the head, Deyve got no eyes for to see,
Deyve got no teeth to bite de hard tack, And they ihave to let the tough beef be.
They tell me,! chimed Brown, "that the last company that was made up, during of old Shermans visit was 105 strong, and outen the 105 men thar want but 106 eyes in the whole crowd, and the orderly sergeant when he wanted to form his company, had to get erround to each one and holler in his ear: Fall in, fall in! and may be if hed start soon in the morn ing hed get ready for marching by 10 oclock, and by keep ing right down to it and hauling the pikes for em, they could make the distance of two or two and a half miles in a day."
"But," resumed Plunkett, "the pits are filled up and the melich have passed away. I saw the forest pass away and a city stand upon the ground; I saw that city pass away and a greater one spring from its ashes. -I have seen the pomp and splendor that goes with these things, but I will venture to say that in it all there has never been a happier couple upon that spot than me and my old oman on the afternoon we sauntered off from the crowd at a big shed where was held Hie first Methodist Conference that I ever attended, and, going erlong a little trail, took our seats on the roots of the biggest popular tree that I ever seed in Georgia, that stood jist where John James bank now stands, and from beside which a clear little spring gushed oiit and wended its wav down what is now Alabama street. It was sitting- there on the roots of that old tree that I got a promise which was soon fulfilled, and that made me a happier and better man through a-11 these years."
The Negro as He Was and as He Is.
"Theres no man of my age," said, old man Plunkett, "but what has seed the genuine African, and all the folks what war children erlong with me remembers mighty well how scared we was of these old clumpy fellows, who looked as much like er monkey as they did like folks. If you wanted to make the children behave them days, all you had to do was to tell em youd give em to the African and it would make em mind quicker than er hickory. These old Africans never

did make er bit er fuss. They went er long with thar work just as still as er mouse, and it took an overseer close erbour, em all the time, and they always had one eye on the wihite man, and so did the children of these Africans, and they never made much fuss till erlong- erbout the third generation after they war brought over here, and any man What was er good judge of er nigger would give more for one that was QJSSJ-_ than he would for one that was still. Er nigger haint doing no devilment when hes er making er fuss, and the nig gers what brought the biggest price war Bhe ones that would start out over the path that led to his wifes house, singii.t? sos you could here him er mile:
" As I went running through the field, The blaeksnake bit me on the heel; And then I run T run my best., And I stuck my head in erliornets nest
Oh, run, nig-g-er. run, The patterroller catch you; Oh, run, nigger, run, For its almost day
"When I used to oversee," continued Plunkeet, "I could tell just as well when the niggers war doing good work er mile off as I could when right at em, for if you could hear em singing you might know the gxass was being killed, "Whenever you seed an advertisement in er paper with er picture of er nigger running with hounds arter him you might swar it was one er these here still niggers what had run ei-way.
"This," continued Plunkett. "was the way they used to advertise for er nigger when ihed run erway, and theyd offer er reward for em, and thar was folks them days what made their living watching for these advertisements and catching the runaway?. All er man had to have was er good horse, som good pistols and er pack of well-trained hounds and he could make Ihis $500 or $600 er year and have er heap er fun be sides, for running er fox warnt no whar to the side of run ning er first-class nigger. It took er mighty good pack of hounds to catch some of em. for theyd take to the creeks and branches and get in the water and go down stream and er dog had to hustle to git em. Ive seed many er pack of hounds run down by er runaway nigger, but these fellows what followed tihe business of catching them would git em sooner or later and they war morh apt to let their dogs chaw on em er Httle when they did catch em. Sometimes the run away would put snuff or beat-up tobacco down in his tracks. and the hounds would come erlong and sniff it up thar noses and then thard be er time.
"I knowed one nigger, though." continued Plunkett. "tnat was er runaway for over twenty years and they never did catch, him. I guess his master spent $500 trying to git him, but he didnt do it, and he hadnt seed him in twenty years fore old Sherman come* down h&ro, but old Sherman rousted him. He had er cave fixed rigiht under his masters house, right up by the chimney, and he"lay there many er night and hered em talk erbout him. "When old Sherman begin to throw his cannon balls erround, the nigger was laying in his cav-3 and he didnt know nothing about what was going on outside, for he didnt know nothing erbout the war. for he didnt hava no more to do with other niggers than he did with w-hlte folks he kept hid from everybody but er shell crushed through the house and he pricked up -his ears and lowed to himself
" Whflt in de name of de Lord is that deyve got arter m? now?"

. "The first thing you knowed e,r shell hit the chimney at him, to which he had er flew to carry the smoke from his cave, and tore it all to flinders, and then ihe was the scardest nigger that was ever in Georgia, and he come outen the cave in er hurry and he hadnt morn got erround to the back door till er shell hit one of his legs and tore it oft, and his old master lias had to take care of ihim from that da.y to this. He stays erround and feeds the hogs and tends to the cattle and sich like, and his old master wont drive him off, and I guess hell die right there without ever feeling hes free.
"Thar was some bad niggers always and thar was some mean masters, too, but thar never was er time in my life but what Id er walked through snow barefooted to help any of the nigrger boys what I was raised up with, and what 1 used to go out in the woods with and gather cnestnuts-and sKin up tine muscadine vines the same as er squirrel, erbout this time of the year.
"Niggers may be different now," continued Plunkett. "They dont look to me the same as they used to, but they tell me its all for the better. Education and polish, as they call it> aint er gwine tor make no difference in. good niggers and the bad ones would be bad, education or no education."
"I went up to Atlanta not long since," continued the old man, "and they took me erround to wihats called Atlanta university, and what I seed thar Id er never bleved without seeing.
"E er man had er told me thirty years ago that Id seed niggers er reading Latin and Greek and setting up er playing on er piano Id er said he was er liar. But I seed it, and the girls would set up at the piano and play and sing just the same as any white girl, but I dont like it as well as I did the old song that they used to sing erlong erbout an hour ter sun when they war at work in the cot.ton patch something like the following:
"The sun shines bright in the old Kentucky home, Tis summer, the darkeys are gay,
The corn tops ripe and the meadows in the bloom, While the birds make music all the day.
The young folks roll on the little cabin floor, All merry, all happy and bright,
By-m-by hard times comes a knocking at the door. Then my old Kentucky home, good night. CHORUS.
"Weep no more, my lady, Oh! weep no more today;
We mill sing one song for the old Kentucky home, For the old Kentcky home, far away."
"All the colleges in the world will never make sweeter sing ers than the old-time nigger, and all the education in the world will never make sweeter songs than the old plantation melodies.*********
"Some niggers are shifty, and some haint," continued Plunkett, after a short pause.
"Now, in slavery time thar war some niggers what always had money er plenty, and thar war some wlhat never did have any. Every nigger was allowed to have a patch of his own during slavery time, and all they made on it was theirs, and they done just as they pleased with the money. Br shifty negro could make money in many ways and he didnt have to spend it for eating and clotihing and doctors bills and sich like; it twos all clear.
"I knowed er old nigger named Pomp that wag as good er collar and basket maker as you ever seed, and its many er

time Ive knowed him to loan his master er hundred dollars and make him pay interest on it, too. Old Pomp was the only nigger in Georgia, I reckon that hated yankees too bad to enjoy his freedom. The reason old Pomp hated the yankees was because they war always comin in with some newfangled invention and er cuttin him outen ihis trade.
"When the wimin folks used to sew white oak splits in their pettycoats, to answer for hoopskirts, old Pomp had er regular set of young wimin to furnish with the splits, and they paid him well for it. It warnt long after the wimin begun to wear hoops till it struck old Pomp that bamboo briers would be just as good as white oak splits, and so ho gathered er lot and begin to sell em to the gals erround, and they took like fire, and old Pomp made er lot er money outen em; but the first he knowed some yankee had invented these here steel hoops, and it was good-by to bamboo briers and white oak splits, and it made old Pomp so macl that he has never liked a yankee from that day to this.
"Its strange how folks and mote especially wimin folks will take er hold of these here yankee inventions. When these here hoops first come out the men made fun of em, the preachers prayed ergin em, and the wimin emselvos war aferd of lightning when they had ern on, for in them days folks thought that steel would draw lightning.
"I remember bein at old Friendship meetiin house, lon^ erbout the time the gals begin to wear the steel hoopskirts, and old Brother Smith was er preachin on the subject of .boilerhY After False Gods, 1 and he was just er givin the wimin fits for wearin these yankee inventions, and erbout the time that he lowed that they would call down the curse of God upon themselves, if they didnt mind, thar was er big clap er thunder, and er big oak tree tihat stood right close to the meetin house war tore all to flinders, and then the old parson lowed:
" L/ook, gals; God haint ersleep; Hes sarching for yu. "Then 1 seed old Miss Grimes step over and whisper somefnin to her gals, and they riz and went out behind the meetin house and come back in er minit as straight as er pole, and as they come in er blushin and er tryin to hide their faces, the old parson lowed: " Glory to God! These have seen the error of their ways. "Erbout that time ther was ernother clap er thunder, an all the wimin in the meetin house that had on hoops riz and went out behind the house, and when they came back they were all as straight as er pole. Kvery one of em had pulled off the hoops and left em outside, and from that old Brother Smiih got up the allfiredest revival that you ever seed for the gals hleved that the Lord was sarcBilng for em."
Gold in Grapes.
"The young fellow that used to teach school over at the academy hed er saying that A thing of beauty is a joy for ever, said old man Plunkett, as he seated himself under the sihade of an oak.
"In two miles of the union pagsengsr depot of Atlanta there is a vineyard that is a thing of beauty and of profit as well," continued the old man, and that is what I want t<i tell you erbout."
"I went up to see "Wesley Elliot, who lives at the terminus of West Hunter street, and I seed things and heard things

to at makes me know thars no use going to Texas or any -other state to find a better country than old Georgia.
"Six years ago er fellow livin jining- Wesley took it into his head that er man couldnt make er living any more on the old red rutted hills sich as he had, and he offered his seven acres for sale, and it was mighty hard to sell, for it was rugged and red and the washes was so close together thai it took t-r feHow all the thne lifting ihis p<ow over them, ana most folks thought it was too poor to sprout peas, till at last one day there carne erlong some outlandish folks and ortereu him er hundred dollars an acre for it, and he took it and was off for Texas in less than er week, and I haint never heard from iiim since, but I bet that if he could see his old red seven acre field now hed look in wonder, for of all the sights I ever seed in the way of grapes, it is there, and the old out landish fellow wouldnt let him cut the vines often the ground for ten thousand dollars, for he has erbout ten thousand vines, and &e thinks er uollar erpiece is er low estimate of their worth, for he wi.l clear twenty-five hundred dollars often this years crop, and will increase i.ua,t profit from year to year as his vineyard facilities become more perfected.
"This outlandish old fellow is named Bernard, a,nd he hails from a little village called Natzviller, Alsace Loraine. HP cant speak a word of our United States talk, hut he has some boys who have learned to talk, and one of them, named Shon (John) is clever and will tell you what the old man means by his jaberrsh, and from him I learned things that ought to make this young generation ershamed of themselves for leaving old Georgia because^they cant do well. When the war was raging between France and Germany the people refugeed from Alsace Loraine just like they did here in front of old Sherman, and went to Paris. These Bernards were among the refugees, and when the war was ended and their country fell under the government of the Germans they re fused to return, but instead they came over to the United States and landed in New York city the I Oth day of May. 1881, with only 85 cents to back em up and er house full of children with appetites like young alligators.
"An agent of the Atlanta cotton factory seed em at New Tork and made er irade with em to come to Atlanta ana work in the factory. They sold everything they had that would bring a cent and were still $65 in debt when they Jlanded here. There was not one of em that could speak a word of English, but they could work and the. whole fam ily went at it, and when the first weeks wages was paid over to the old man he run plum wild, and was frantically gesticulating a.bot much fine country this was as some for eigners who could understand explained.
"This old man Bernard was not like some of our roiKs who, wanted to get rid of their little farms and move to town, but he at once went to work to saving and planting to get him er few acres, and longing to see the day when ne could take tils children out of the factory to breathe the pure air that fanned the rural districts around Atlanta,
"By .the a.id of Governor Bullock and the firm or Kisas, Way & Co., old man Bernard was enabled to buy this seven jarre place, and he at once moved upon it with his numerovis family an d nas on s since paid for it. The old folks went to work upon the farm while the children! remained in me factory, and thus they struggled away, >buoyed up with trie hope that the day would soon come that they might with draw from the factory work and live under their own vine and fig tree.
"For three years spades and grubbing hoes were all tney had to do the work that our folks perform with the norsf and plow. The children walked to Elsas & Mays factory at the end of Decatur street four miles from where they lived to work. Through the heat and cold and mud and rain, day

83
after Jay, these boys and g-irls were up before dayiigm and on their way to the factory, while tile old folks stayed at home, using- the grubbing- hoe and spade to Dreak tnejr ground, and the little farm begin to blossom and Bloom and the ruts -begin to pass away, and pretty soon they had a cow and pigs and these were domiciled in the front yard, and the people in passing erlong the road wondered at such a way of doing, hut the Bernards soon had a. barn upon the place that was better than the rickety dwelling, and the peo ple wondered again why they aid not build a dwelling- nrst, tout the Bernards went On and never a sprig of grass or a weed grew upon that seven acres but what it was cured ana stowed away in the loft of the barn, and in the course 01 time _they had more cows and more pigs, and \\ esiey J^iiiot says that they made more manure there in them little stalls in front of their house than the most folks made who run a ten-horse farm.
"It was three years from the time they moved on tneir litt.e farm till they had er house, and to this day not one or the family can plow, but they have quit digging and spading, and hire a hand when they want plowing done.
"John Bernard is a clever young fellow, and though fie cant talk Inited States no g-reat sight, it is er pleasure tor an old ma.n who has seed crab grass grow waist high and lay and rot, and cleared ground and burnt logs, and wasted tim ber and seed briars and bushes grow erlong the tence row and cause a waste of space ten or twelve feet at each end ot the rows and never thought nothing of it. It say its er pleasure for me to sit down and hear em talk erbout the way they do in their old countries.
"Theres er fellow that has er big farm, will ouiia a vil lage, and the people who work upon these farms live in vil lages. It was something- on the order of building our nigger houses before the war, I guess, only they have brick houses and the people are peasants instead of slaves.
"They dont have nothing to waste in that country, ror they tell me that the people who rent ground only have so many trees allotted to each family, and they are not allowed to cut them down, either. The trees are what they call Ital ian poplars, and they are long and slender and do not snut off the sun from the crop. At a certain time each tail these trees are trimmed closely that is, the limbs are cut off and tied into bundles and stored away and goes to make the luel for these peasants until the next trimming time. That wouldnt suit a nigger and it wouldnt suit me, tor I like a big log: heap fire, and so does every one who was raised on a farm in Georgia.
"But I was going to tell you," continued the old man, af ter a pause, "they have got to where the children can stay away from the factory. All crlong for six years they have teen enriching them seven acres "and growing- cabbage ana onions and turnips and garden truck of every kind and plant ing grape vines until now four acres of the seven is a Bear ing vineyard, from which this year they have stored away nineteen hundred gallons of grape juice and will get several hundred gallons more, for the whole of that old red hill fairly slitters with a profusion of the ripening fruit that makes the thirsty travelers mouth water to pass. Its a picture to look upon, and John says that the red hills of Georgia is as good er country for grape as is France if you will do em right. 1 cant say what these Bernards estimate their property to be worth at this time, only that the vines above are worth ten thousand dollars of any mans money, I believe. But besides these vines these poor refugees who landed in the Lnitea States in 1881, without a dollar, have built a handsome dwell ing and improvements generally, besides their jyine house, which they have just finished, and which is the most Impor tant of all.
"The wine house is 90x110 feet, three stories high, with a

Si
cellar of twelve feet from floor to ceiling. *i is fancy painted s,Hd has a sign up now that reads:
"BERNARDS WINE CELLAR." "In this house is located the presses and machinery lor converting the grapes into wine and this press capacitated lo squeeze out 200 gallons of the juice at one pressing. There are. three more acres yet that are planted out with grape vines, but have not arrived at the bearing stage; only lour acres yet have brought any return 1or the labor expended, but all the time the ground has been utilized in one way or another and there is a lesson in this seven acre farm that should put lu blush the sons of Georgia who would hunt bet ter fields-."
Old Man Plunkett and a Female Spy.
"Just twb days fore old Sherrna.n swung" erround here to .Jonesboro," continued old man Plunkett, "folks seem to know thar war trouble er brewing, and the big road was lull ot people er rsfugeeing, and a lots of them had been refugeeing from way up in Tennessee, moving on as old Hnerman aaiaaced, and these were in a bad fix as sure as you er born. Me and my old Oman never would turn cm off when theyd just ax for sh?;ter to keep outen the rain, and we ted em, tco, as long as we had anything to feed on, but things got mighty scarce with us, and we had to hear the poor little refugeeirg children cry for bread many er time toward the tast without being able to give cm any. Wars a toad thing, stranger, war-s a bad thing.
"Xight come on and it was raining:, and so dark you couldnt sec your hand before you, and we had took th wimm and children, in as long as ws had a bed that would hold one and -piled em down on the floor as long- as we had a quilt, and me and the old oman was fixing- to go to bed ourselves when tke dogs went erround the hovise same as theyd er been arter some, wild varment, and when I went out to see what was the matter what should I find but one of the likeliest young wimlns ay you ever laid your eyes on, and when we got her in the house she told one of the pitifulest tales you ever heard, saying she had started down the road to keep outen the way of old Sherman and had lest her way in the dark ana couldnt go any further. The old oman ground some wheat Khe had parched and made some coffee, and I got out my bot tle of spirits what was made outen sorghum and we warmed her iip and made her feel at home the best we could, and she lowed shed just sit in a chair till mornin, and the old oman lowed that would never do, and she said, says she:
"Id rather for you and the old man to and tnen sne said that the young stranger should sleep in my bed witn the, old woman and Id sleep up in the loft on some "broom straw that was up thar. After I seed the old oman and the young stranger all snug- in bed I went up the ladder into tne Iqft and .ay down on the broom straw and I had as good er nights sleep as I ever had in my life, for my head was right up erg-ln the roof and the rain pattered on the boards, and er man-what haint slept to the sound of rain on a housetop dont know nothing- erbout it.
"The young stranger was up and gone next morning by the time it was light and nothing strange was thought of it, tor in war times folks dont think strange of many tilings.
"Long up in the day following the night the young omnn slept_with my old lady, I was out in the piazza, and I lookeri up the road and I seed er long line er blue coated soldiers er romin, and I called up the old oman and I says, Were gon-

ers thems yanks. Browns gals \vas over at my house, and they lowed it was no use to run, so we stood thar in the piazza, and pretty soon all the soldiers were out in the road In the front er the house, and tney stopped, and no sooner tha-n they stopped than down they set on each side er the r,Qad, and pretty soon here come some men on horses down the road, and the men they riz to thar feet and holler, huzur! ljpsa.r. huzarl I didnt like that holler, and I dont like it yet. Pretty soon I seed them men what was on horses was of ficers, and in a mlnlt two of em started toward the house, and rid rite into the yard, anj rhen I says were goners, ehorje. The two rid UD to the well. One of them was as pi-ei^y er yankce as you ever laid your eyes on, and the other was an old sharp looking- cuss, and they said thats UerieraJ Sherman. J was g~azen at em, for I spectcd every minit to see one of em run his hand in his pocket 1or a match, but he didnt, and pretty soon the young officer looked over at us ar.d raised his cap as perlitely as any southern tejiow wouia er done, and the old fellow he smiled like, and they rid oir. Then thinks i to myself, what in the thunders the matter with these yer yankees. But I seed the old fellow call a felIQ.W what had er sword er lunging- by his side to him, ana he pinted toward the house, and pretty soon twelve soKiierg started right up toward us. and 1 says, now 1 know were goners. They come right up to us, and one of em lowed:
" We are sent hero as guards to you arrd your property. You can rest easy. Xoihin youve got will be disturbed. Pretty soon up rides er fellow with er Jot er bundles in his arms and he .give the old oman a pacKage of coffee and sev eral thin.as what wed not seed any of since the war Begun; then he turned and handed me- er note, and I called one er Browns gals and told her to read it, and she read it. and heres what it said:
" These things arc sent you by the young officer who drank at your well a hit ago. Please accept them as corning from one whom you kindly entertained last night, i am a federal scout. F. H. C.
"The old oman lowed, Well, well, wr eli: : and 1 lowed. Hell, hell hell! Wars a bad thing, stranger, wars a bad thing.
"It warnt long fore the battle of Jonesboro set in, ana tne big guns roared and the little guns rattled, and the yankees kollered huzza: huzza! huzza! and Hardees men hollered sanie as a thousand men after a fox just fore the dogs picks him up, and by-jings I got erroutud like I never had er touch of rheumatism in my life, and if the conscript officers could tr seed me theyd er lit fin to me. like er hungry duck on er June" bug-; :but thar warit no conscript officers round mar l hen,
"When the night was nv?r." said old man flunkett, with a i-ii"- sigh, "I went over yonder by them three big trees what you see standing- off by themselves, and right thar was wrhere they had what they called a field hospital; and of all tne sights I ever seed, it was there. There was a pile of scraps there as big as your corn crib arms, legs, sculls, hands, feet eyervthhig, and laying off to one side was dead men and horses, and me and Brown stepped over errnong- them, and what, should we see but the young officer what .1 told you erbont laying with his face turned up to the sun, and we said " ht erway that -we would bury him as well as we could; so Brown he went to loosen the collar of the blue coat what looked like it was er chokin him and he jumped bade same as if hed er been shot, and lowed its er woman and it was."
"Whatever Plunkett says you can depend on it," said old man Brown, us he settled back in his chair.
"I bleved when the war first started 1 could whip the best three yankees that could be fetched before me, and er long in secession times when We all had these cocades pinned in our oatg I talked accordin.

"After the war had run erlong erbout er year i tnougnt maybe 1 couldnt back up all I had said and believed er.oout being1 able to lick the three best yankees. and I decided that maybe to make it certain I had better fall one and make it two. and so I talked aecordin.
i was dend sure 1 could whip t\vo of the rascals the best dav they ever seed till the war had gone erlong lor over two years, and then I had er talk with the o!d woman and tile gals and decided Id fall one more; that would put it ma to ninn, and Id er swore to that and I talked aecordin.
"After a while the conscript law was mukin things mighty squally, and seemed to sorter throw a damper on tilings gen erally, and I had come to tile conclusion that a man as old as me was morn apt 10 be mistaken erboiit hi??e;r, so 1 de cided (hat if i could call back erbout twenty years J knowed I could stand my hand with one er tnem, but I cou.cint call i. years back, and so I talked aecordin.
"When the Yankees did come, I didnt .iave time to do tiny ; in and I dont know till this clay howr Id er come out it it had er been convenient lov me- TO tackle : em. 1 was Kept busy trying to keep what little I had outcn the way of the soldiers and I didnt do that, for one side er the other got it all. Our own folks had mighty strange \vays of doing things. They had er law that wouldnt allow er fellow to go and give in 15 tax and then pay them with money, but you had to give one-tenth of every tarnal thing you made and haul it to the fjunrtcrmaster and then the dinged quartermaster would nna out where you lived in spite of all you could do, and theyd come to your house ana press the balance and give you a darned little old piece er paper with some printiu on it lhat wsirnt worth a 5 cents confederate shinplaster er wagon load.
"When old Shermans gang- came erlong I didnt nave i tarnal thing left but three old hens, an old rarn and one old goose. When I heard the yankees was coming 1 dug me out a hole in the ground down in the woods back er the lot and put the hens and the old gander in it. and then covered it with rails and leaves, and Id er swore Id er kept em, but I didnt.
"When fke yankees come they went down to the lot zamLnin errounu. and what should the old gander do but worK his head up through the rails and leaves and when he heard the yankees coming he lit out to hollerin oiua ! qua! qua! and the yankees lit out clown thar and caught all of em But one old hen, and they took after her, and she flew- up in the tree iwhar Id hid what little meat I had by hanging it on the limbs erway up in the top. and the yankees sigiiur. eiioupa after the old hen found it, and then shot the old hen and went erway with the whole business. It tickled them, but we couldnt see nothin funny erbout it. Since then Ive had to rustle fo.r er living and Im mighty careful what 1 say and so I "talk aecordin."
First and Last.
"I remember mighty well," said old man Pluniiett, "the first confederate soldier that was ever buried in (Georgias soil, and from all Ive been able to find out, 1 know the last."
The old man fixed his chair at his favorite place in tne corner and continued:
"Folks stirred erround like they war er fixing for er Dig camp meeting frolic when the boys hrst begun to volunteer and go erway and there warnt no man but what was loaded down so with clothe and he,l quills and blankets but what it took "he.p to pet em on tin- train. They lamed better than that, though, lore it was through with, for it got so pretty

aeon that all er fellow wanted was the smallest blanKet ne

oould git er hold of and er little old: frying pan."

The old man asked for a match, lit his pipe and then pro

ceeded : "I went to Griffin to see some of my na.bors of eriong just

after secession had took place, and thar was as fine er looaing company or men at the depot as" you ever looked at, and

I just stood erround and gazed at em and thought Id like tn

be young and suple myself so I could go, and I felt real sorry for Hie yr.nkees, for I (bought theyd be cleaned from the

face of the carlh. "Thar was one man in the company of the soldiers what 1

knowed. and I knowed his wifa, for he had moved out on Flint :her from Griffin just erbout er year Before that ana

had purled up and was er doing- well, and I liked him, and everybodv in the settlement liked him, but nothing must do

but that he must go and take er hand in cleaning out of the Yankees, and all his little wife could say to him couldnt per

suade him outen it. Hed just say: Oh. Betty, Ill be bank all right in sixty days,.and tnat

will tie time enough to gather the crop, and you can see to

things that long. "Poor Frank, he didnt know what he was er talking er

bout, and he didnt know notking erbout what war was, and none of the vest of us didnt; but that little wife of Franks

cliiRg to hi? arm and leaned her head ergin him and cried just like something had told her it war gwyne to be worse

than we all thought it was, and Frank hed just Put his hand under her chin and make her hold up her head and say:

" Now, dont cry, Betty; Ill bo back in er few days.

"And the train ca.me up and it looked like that little wom ans heart would break, but Frank he just grabbed her up in his ar;r.s and kissed her and jumped erboard the- train ana was off.

"Franks? ittle wife went on !back to their home on the

river, ani she attended to things in the day, stirring erround a.s night come on and the whippoorwili begin to sing errounff shed fasten up the doors and set thar and cry erwhiie and humming little songs and doing pretty well, but" just as soon knit, erwhiie, and then cry ergjn till nigh on to every night

shed burn up go to sleep.

or

half

er

load

of

lightwood

knots

fore

shed

"One evening I went over to Squire Adamss to get the

mall., and as I was setting in the porch passing er few words. up driv a follow in er carriage, and hp axed us whar Frank lived. I told him I was erbout ready to go home and that 1

went right by his house. I got in the carriage with him, and we started off, when he told me he was on a sad errand. Said he:

" Franks dead!

" Jerusalem, said 1, you dont say so?

" Yes. said the fellow, he was killed at Jrensacola last

night and will be brought to Griffin today, and Ive corns to get his wife and .et her know it.

"We driv on up the lane and we soon got to where we could see Ifranks house, and out in er little patch er cotton erround

the house we seed his wife ar picking cotton. She just picked cotton erround the house to keep from thinking enbout Frank, bhe heard the carriage when it run ercross the little poie

bridge in the lane and she straightened up and put her hand

over her eyes and looked at us, trying to tell who we war, tout

we driv in the gate and right up towards her before she

knoyed whn we war, and then when she recognized the fellow she began to smile, and you could see her white teeth as we

ijriv on up and she held o_n to the oome meeting us, and she lowed:

cotton

in

her

apron

ana

" Well, well, who would er thought of seeing you out here/

"The fellow turned as white as a sheet, and she noticed it,

and she axed him wihat was the matter, and then it seemed

to strike her that somtt.iin was wrong, and she dropped me cotton outen her apron and run up close to the fellow, and he had to tell (her, and if the look she gave as she fell back warnt the saddest I ever seed, my names not Plunkett.
*********
"The burial took place in Griffin. I was thar; they Drought the corpse in on the train. The engine was draped in crape everything was drooped in mourning. The streets were lull of carriages and buggies, and the procession moved off under the sound of the dead march, and the young military reversed arms, and everybody uncovered their heads as the hearse would" pass by, and it seemed glorious to die a soldier ana have such honors. But poor Frank was done dead and left a good wife that would not have given him up for ail the v, orld.
"Oh, it was in 1861, when I seed Frank buried," continued old man Plunkett, after a pause. "In 1865 I went to Griffin, and 1 had got erquainted with a young Texan by the name or Archie, who had been in the hospital thar for some time and was still thar when the yankees took possession, and warnt able to go to his home. The doctors all told him he must have an operation performed or die, and that the chances were that hed die anyhow. The yankees then bad taken possession of every thing that had belonged to the confederate government_. but their doctors joined in with some of our doctors to do what they could for the young Texan. The operation was b~egu"n, tint he was dead before it was over with, and was turnad over to er sargent to be buried. One wagon carried the remains to the burial grounds, and three stout yankee soldiers were^ the mourners. They lowered him down into the grave an3 threw the dirt upon him. Not a tear was shed, not a tuneraj note, but a. rough looking yankee stepped Sack, as me last shovel full of dirt was put on the grave, and pulling out his Pistol, he fired five shots over the dead Texans crave, saving:
Al honor to the dead confederates!
**#**$**:
"Whatever Ilunkett tells you you can deipend upon it." said old man Brown, as he moved his chair around to say a word himself. "Thar was er lots er difference twixt the be ginning and the end of^this war. if a fellow what didnt wear no stripes on his shoulders got any glory outen ihis war, It was erlong at first, for toward the end er private soldier didnt ermount to much. This here conscript law did the whole matter of patriotism up. lhar warnt no enthusiasm after that conscript business come in, and I can tell you p>ivately that everybody erround here was whipped long beiore the soldiers in the field laid down their arms and these here very stump speakers whats been erround since the war was as baldly whipped as anybody else, and there is not a man In the ^ouiherri confederacy but what knows weve been treated better by these here yankees than we expected.
"1 know all erbout it," continued Brown. "\Ve expected chein to confiscate everything we had land, niggers and all, arid they could er done it just after the surrender and thar wouldnt er been er thing thought erbout it. Fellows went erbout talking in er whisper and er hiding erround ti.l one day it got narrated erround that Ben Hill war er gwlne to make a big speech in Atlanta, and thar was fellows what walked forty miles to git up thar and hear what he wou.ii have to say erbout things. I wrent, but I was scared, for AtiSnta war full of yankees and I didnt know what tnp fool things war gwine to do.
"Ben Hill got up and started off with his speech, and the cold chills fairly run up ami. down my backbone fer erwhle, and wed squint our eyes erround at the yanks to see how they

86
war er taking it, and then -wed look at old Hen and thar warnt nothing- erbout him that looked scary, so the first thing you knowed fellows begin to smile erroimd and t.iar naur. t been no smiling in er good while in this country, and the yanks didnt seem to get mad, an pretty soon some er the fellows cheered er little and kept one eye on the yanKs, lui pretty soon old Ben Hill got warmed up and. he lit in, ana it warnt no time fore we didnt care a darn whether ttts yankees liked it or not, and we haint cared much erbout yankees since, but thars no doubt erbout em having us flown just after the surrender, and it warnt nothing else in trie world but that thar conscript law that hacked us. I did hate conscript officers."
Old Blue and the Gin-Er-Round.
_"l want you to take a look at my hounds," saici o:d man Plunkett, as he arose from the table with a pone of con:bread in his hand and made his way to the back porch.
That speckled pup," continued the old man, as he broke a piece of bread from the pone and tossed it toward the dog, "is the best stock of hounds that was ever in Georgia."
- The old man tossed another piece of bread toward the dogs, which caled for a general scramble among them, and the manner in which the "pur, jumped with open mouth to catch it would have done honor to an expert baseballist.
"The man that owned that dogs grand-daddy wouldnt er fbuk S500 in gold for him. The fellow lived down in fiKe, on Flint river, and the old dogs name was Blue.
"O.d Blue, 1 continued the old man, "wn*s known by many er yankee before the war was through with, for he kept his master outen the army and give him er easy place at Andersonville when it was mighty hard ter get erround goin ter uu .front, as they called it.
"Some of the yankee prisoners at Andersonvnie b iievtrd old. Blue had more sense than his master, and there was one long Indianinn there- who used to say he had more sense than uijj whole southern confederacy.
"Old nine was kept at Andersonville ter track the prison ers when theyd set away, and he got so that he knowd Ms business as well as folks, and all you had ter do was ter say. Yank, Blue, yank. and hed be circling erround the stockaue and outer the track before the olher dogs would get through barking and (prancing- erround the fellow that blowed (he horn.
"Old Blue didnt have no enemies ermong the yankees, though, and he seemed ter be sorry for uie poor fellows, just like folks, and he had er hole in the stockade that he used ter slide through and go all erround^ermong them, and he fared fust as well ermong the yanks as he did outside ermong tiie rebs, for narry one didnt have nothing ter bj;ag on in the way of ea 1.in, and thars many er man that had rattier ter have been old Blue than either yank or reb them war times:
"Thar war one little yankee in the stockade that old Blue had made friends with, and thar never was er day passed that he didnt slide through Ms hole in the fence and so in and see him. Atter erwhile that little yankee was took down sick and couldnt have much ter do with the old dog, and old Blue he looked like he was er grievin the same s folks, and I always will believe he did. At ter the fellow begin ter git purty weak from his sickness, and er passei of em tnougnt nn waser goner, old Blue got so hed go ter see him two ana three times er day, and one day when he slid in he had er big fat rabbit in hismonth, and he went up ter wnere tne SICK

yarikoe was lyin and laid the rabbit down and stood ana looked at the sick man, as much as ter say, this is tor you. Two or three fellows tried Ter git the rabbit away trom old Blue, but hed begin ter bristle up an growl as soon as theyd start toward him, and nobody couldnt git It, till at last nie sick le.low took er notion ter try and git it, and he didnt have er bit er trouble, but the old dog wagged his tail ana pranced erround as if he was pleased, and 1hat was why old Blue got up the name ermong the yankees of having so much sense; and I think they were right, for Ive seed some mighty smart dogs in my days, and no man never had er truer friend than er good old-fashioned Georgia hound, if they do kill e; sheep .now and then.
That .Hue yankee got well alter erwhlle, and ned been so sick that the guards were sorter slack on mm, and the first tiring anybody knowed, one mornin before day he lit out and m.ide for the woods, and everybody thought hed git er way; for they didnt believe old Blue would run him. The alarm was given, and Ed Turner w~as on his horse in er miirit, and blowd his horn and old Blue was thar fore you could er turned round twice, and some of em told Ed that his dog would full him this time, and that hed belter keep rigiit up with him or he wouldnt git the .prisoner. Ed was kinder Jubas hisse.f, for he knowd how friendly old Blue was to the little, yankee, so he didnt say much, but set his dog out to find the track, and it warnt long fore old Blue raised his head and barked, and Ed he aggcd him on, and purty soon he struck out up the branch er opening at every jump, and Ed he put the spurs ter his horse ter keep up, b_ut he couldnt aud purty soon tiie dog was so far ahead that you could hardly hear him bark, but all at once Ed stopped his horse and lis
tened and lowed, Old Blues bayed him; andi then he rid in er hurry, for he was erfeared the little yankee would pet his old dog and stop him from barkin, and then it would be goo<3by, yankee they couldnt catch him.
"But \ou otignt terve seed that old dog! The little yan kee did try ter hash him up and stop him from barkin, but no, sir-ree, the bark kept up, and when Ed got in sight of em the little yankee was tryin ter go forard, er snappin his linger and er talkin good ter old Blue, but it didnt ermount to er thing he kept er barkin and er runnin erround in front of the yankee, as much as ter say, I dont want ter bite you, but you musnt git erway, till Ed he rode u,p and made the capture and took him ba.ck. The soldiers that guarded erlOund the stockade lowed that old Blue was just like them erboul: the matter they were sorry for the yankees and didnt want to hurt em, but it was their duty to keep em from gittin erway, and they were bound ter do it. Old Blue had sense, and I wouldnt take er humled dollar bill for that thai- pup, because hes of that stock."
The old man made his wa\ for his favorite seat on the front porch, and motioning- me to a chair, he continued:
"Tbars not many women that likes hounds erround, cause er hound is morn apt to stick his headi in er dinner pot if he gets er eh;.nee, and er heap of em sucks eggs, but whar thars boys ter whistle and hounds ter bark, things haint lonesome, and I n^ver knowed er traveler refused er nights rest at er house whar these are found.
"In my raisin every boy had his coon and possum doss, and whar lhar was er good lot o boys in the family you war mighty apt ter see er good many hounds. There were four brothers of us, and we all had our hounds, and erlong- this time o the year, when the errapcs were ripe erlong every fence row and simmons er plenty in the old fields, wed pick our two hundred pounds of cotton erpiece every day and fol low the hounds at niyht. and in them days I never herd er joung fellow er talking erbotit being tired.

"Boys are different these days, and they tell me its all for the best, but I gant help from thinking of the times when wed light out to the -field OH er irosty murning, hollerin 1 :
"Had er <3og, his name was Lioa; Heie, rtatler, here, here! Run er tracK as cold as iron; .Here. Ratier, ..ere, here! . -. VL .; ln-ar ili] Ilutlcr comin: lii-iv, l.Li^ei, here, here! Oh, dont you hear old Ratier runnin".
Here, Ilatler, here, here!
"These things may sound foolish these days, but I can remember when er crowd o boys could spend all the early mornin on jost sieh as this, and when the dinner horn would blow theyd have er half er days work finished that nobody wouldnt be ershamed of, and they never needted no liver regulators like ihey do now, and er boy tuat greased his hair with lard and went ter the good old Georgia gin-crroumV got married to good girls jest the same s these fel lows .that have nil this sweet-scented stuff poured over cm.
"Times war diffent then, and when er gal went ter git married she didnt sarch erround for some fellow that wore gloves and walked under a parachute, and when er boy went ter git er wife he didnt sarch erround for er girl that you could span erround the waist; but they war morn apt to .pick er gal that could gather er heifer with her first calf by the tail and frail thunder outen her with er board.
"You cant beat the old Georgia gin-er-round," continued Piunkett, "for having er good time with the girls, and you didnt have ter pay out money ter have some yankee ter learn you how ter dance. If e.r fellow could ! cut the pigeon wing 1 and wear er big red handkerchief erround his neck and red top. boots on their feet, and sing:
"It rains an it hails, an its cold, stormy weather, Krlong comes the farmer drinking all the cider; Ill reap the oats, an wholl be the binder. Ive lost my true love an right here Ill find her,
hed have er good time and was morn apt ter get or gin for his wife that couldnt be beat in them day?, or these days either.
"These little parties didnt cost the old folks anything, Tor the girls would jest go to work and cook up er big pile o taler custards, and maybe some cake, and erlong ebuut midnight theyd r^et em out on er table and every one would help theirseir, and theyd be jest as well satisfied as they are where they have all these finnykee things that I see em have now."
General T. R. R. Cobbs Death.
"Niggers say that house is haunted," said old man Plun kett.
"And er heap er white folks, teo," chimed old man Brown. Plunkett looked at Brown, as much as lo say its not your time to talk yst. and then continued: "The man what used to live there was er bachelor. He wa.s one er these here fellows what was always cr trying to get something er little better than what he had, and it took him er long time to find out that er fellow better let

well enough alone, but when lie did find it out he was just as Big er fool Hie other way, and you couldnt get him to make er hange on nothing- hed hardly change his clothes. Thats, why r.iggers says the house is haunted; they hear fusses erround there and see strange things, and they say its noth
ing in the world but old Toms ghost lingering erround erfeared to make the change from this world to the next. I kinder bleve its haunted myself, for I know Tom will not make er change if theres any way to keep outen it."
1iunkett stopped a moment and then proceeded:
"When the war broke out Tom jined er cavalry company, and he got him as easier riding horse as 1 ever backed in my life, and went up into Tennessee somewhere and pranced e?rouud drinking buttermilk ancl sirh like till he got so big and fat that it was er missery for him 10 get erbout. It warnt iiottiin-g but laziness, but Tom he look er notion that the cayairy branch of the war was the very hardest part there was, so nothing- would do but he must make er change. He got what they railed er transfer from the cavalry to heavy ar tillery at Savannah, and out he put for the coast, and he lay enound Savannah and done what I call nothing, but Tom be" begins to cuss himself for quitting the cavalry, where he didnt have no lifting to do, and getting ermong- them big guns where or fellow had to lift or throw ttp forts two or three days in eveiy week, and so he decided to make ernother change and get into what they called the flying artillery, an<2 then hed be fixed. He got er transfer to er company in Vir ginia, and out he put. Tom didnt know nothing about war up to that lime, but he thought he did, and he was in the highest sort of spirits when he marcher! out through Rich mond to take his place erlong with his company. T-Tis com pany w"as out on er creek called Chickanominy, and Tom got such a disgust with the coins try that no never would have er thing to do with chicks nor eat any hominy afterwards, caze, he said, he hated everything that sounded like Chir-kahominy. l guess it was er bad place from all crcounts, and brtore Tom got outen there and through the seven days fights he was the c-ompletest done np fellow that ever went from Georgia to Virginia.
You onghter herd him cuss hissclf," continued Plunkett, "and he went right to work for ernother change. He kno .ved he couldnt be worsted now-, so he got er transfer 10 the infantry and took his iplace erlong with Stonewall Jacksons andTLongstreots men. Jerusalem, you oughter heard him in erbout -;r week after he got into the infantry. Thars no use trying- to tell you erbout what he thought eHbout hisself. but he got so thoroughly down on changes that theres er heap er folks what know him, dont bleve hell ever make any exertions for er change if he knowed he war gwine straight to heaven, and thats why the house is haunted."
Old man Plunkett took a fresh chew of Brow-ns tobacco and then proceeded:
When T.oes army was at Fiedericksburg, erlong in 63. the folks in The settlement fixed me up er box er clothing and got m* to take it to the hoys. When I got to em it was winter, and the yankecs war right on the other side of the river and seemed to be just waiting on the weather to come ercross and tackle our boys. Tom was thai- and the fellows jined in and divider! up the clothing so as to let Tom have some clean underwear, for he was in er terrible fix, but when they took the clean clothes to him and told him to wash up and change his clothing Tie looked like he was gwine to whip out the whole regiment.
" Dont you talk to me erbout changing, said Tom, and any man that comes erround me talking erbout changing is in danger of his life: and h.-> wouldnt have er thing to dc with the clean clothes. Tht buys talked it over ermong them-

90

selves arid decided to make him change. 1 got sorry for Tom fore it was through with, though, for they just grabbed him

and drug him to the creek through the snow and soused him in and rubbed him with soap and sand and mud and sich like, till you could nearly see the blood er popping out all over" him, bt he kicked and worried till he warnt able to walk back up to the place in the woods where they had some little old blankets stretched to sleep under. They tolod him up, and everyn.ing passed off thai night till just as day be gun to break, we hered er gun er big cannon up the river from i>reuericksourg, and when we listened and we hered eir.uthei- eiway down the river b-u-m and the boys Ljcgin t:> liy er:ound, and they told me that first gun was L,ongstreet and that second one was Jackson, letting each other Know that they war all right, and that it meant er fight, and quicker
than Ive been er telling you, the bugles war sounuiug and the drums war beating, and you could hear the ouicers everywhere saying, tail in, men, fall in; and 1 soon seed that was no p.ace for er c-ripip^e, but the boys told me to stick to the wagons, and 1 stuck.

"That was the first battle f ever seed, continue! old man 1luukeit, "and 1 had some kin in er South Carolina company and f gut with em down behind er rock fence that run erlong with tne big road just at the edge 01 town, and at the foot of what ihoy called -Maries heights 1 calieu it er long, steep hili and the top of mat lull \vas, the piuce the yankees war making lor. \\ e couid hear their officers making speeches to em, and they lowed:

Maries heights have to be charged, and we are the

boys to do it. 1

,

"EJut that rock fence was between them and the tup of that ml;, and they never did pass it. 1 seed er fine looking of ficer \N ho they said was- General Tom Cobb, er setting on ins horse over by er little- house just ercross the road and inbegin to talk to the soldiers and speak to the colonels, and tte-n the colonels would speak to the captains and then all got still, and we could hear the yankees tearing- down gar den fences ana yard K-hces, and pretty soon here they com--, and as Quick as. lightning it looked to me our boys rose from behind tha.t lenue and let em have it, and then thar was lighting,, for the yankees come and kept er corning, and aa fast as uiie would fall enother would take his place, but they never got that rock fence, but that line looking ohicer that set on his horse so bravely got struck with one of the shells that was ilying in the air and it shattered his leg and they ceuldnt save him; and he bled to death, and I was mighty sorrj", for I wish he could cr lived to have seen just how bad the re-bel boys whipped em.

Thar at that rock fence," continued old man Plunkett, "I know 1 could er walked over every foot er ground in three acres and never get offen er dead yankee, and they said old -ji3q 3t[} put; jaAiJ atij jo spis .iciuno oija uo jpiri ins" SG3i[uu.\ Jackson, down the river, give it to em just as bad.

"We stayed down by that fence three days, and then the tie of Freelericksburg- was over, and our boys were as jollier set of fellows as you ever seed, as theyd hail the yankees on the other side and sing:

The yankees came to FredericKsburg. To whip the Southern rebels,
But the rebels they changed the game, And whipped em like the devil" Then bum, bum, bum, oum, bum. AVe whipped them like the devi!.

Thc-n "id Burnsides, he rode up. And he stood right straight in his saddle.
And he waved his sword and give command For the yankees to schieuaddle. Then bum. bum, bum, bum, bum, For the vTinkees to schiedaddle.
TJie boys went back to their camps ergin, continued old man Plunkcu, "and Tom, he spoke for the first time in thive days, as they stacked their arms:
" Its just because they change their generals, the reason we whip em so easy,
"And the fellows suns out: " Xow, there he goes on change ergin! "
Shermans First Shell in Atlanta.
"Tou cant find two leaves on any one tree just alike, said Plunkett, as he settled himself back in his chair and puffed away at his pipe.
"ft haint everybody that knows that," spoke up Brown, "but if any man will find two leaves off any tree jist alike, Ill fling up my hat for him to go to the nexl legislature."
"Neither tan you find two mens minds jist erlike," said Plunkett. "uud more especially on the subject of war."
The old man knocked the ashes out of his pipe, and then continued without interruption:
"In sixty-four I was hobling er.ong on Peacliirce street or looking for the melish, and as 1 filed to the right at the First Methodist church 1 run ercross an old soldier ergoing my way, and he lowed, as lie fell erlong by my side and we walked together down what they call Wheat street:
" Old man, Jo you live in Atlanta? "I told him no, 1 didnt live eruuut Atlanta and dinged if 1 -waincd lo be erbout Atlanta, but the conscript officers would have me come up, and Im of opinion that Ill never get outen the place erlive, for i haint had nothing to eat in forty-eight hours and I haint had no sleep cepting er little I got leaning up ergin er stump, and I dont see no prospect erhead of doing any better. " You dont know the ropes, said the fellow. When we get out yonder in that thicket Ill iix my blanket down for you and keep the Hies often you till you take er nap, beings youre an old man. " Xo, 1 thank you, said 1; er fellow fixed up for me to take er nap erlong with him yesterday evening, but jist be fore we lay down 1 seed him turn some of his clothes wrong side out and go to killing something that was on em, and that settled me. If 1 haint to be er soldier till I get used to this here lice business, Ill not do the Confederacy much good, for I know Ill die before I can stand it. ""Well, said the fellow, you snant perish to death if youll stick to me, and no sooner said than he opened er gate near a striped kind of er house, what they called the calico house, and up to the door he went and knocked till er fine young lady opened it, and then he lowed: " Will you give me a drink ot water, Im so hungry 1 dont know where Im going to sleep tonight. "The young lady smiled and lowed: " I think you deserve water and something to eat and a place to sleep. I can satisfy your thirst and give you some thing to eat, but as for sleep/ youll have to try the ground out under the trees. "The lady opened the door and axed us in, and give us rhairs_ in the hall, and turned and went back in er room,

and as she turned her face from us the fellow cut his eye erround at me, ana lowed:
" yWhat did I tell you? and then he smiled from ear to ear and winked, and jlst ^hen er nigger gal came in with a pitcher of water, and we hadnt moren cleaned that up till the young woman came back and told HS to walk in to din ner, and we walked.
"As we walked into the dining- room, there set er colonel, and right in front of him set er lieutenant colonel, and the colonel was er furrowed fellow from the Virginia army, and the lieutenant colonel was a comersary officer in Johnstons army, and they were arguing pome pint erbout the general ship of Lee and u ohnston. And us we took our seats, the colonpl lowed, with er right smart warmth:
" Why, sir. Johnston used to command our army in Vir ginia, and it was retreat, retreat, retreat all the time.
" He saved his men, though, lowed the lieutenant colo nel, and if theyd er jist let him enoan hed er captured McClellans whole army.
"Captured the devil! lowed the colonel. Why, sir, it was retreat, retreat, from Yorktown to Seven Pines, and there, when Lee took command, the yankees could see the flags waving- on the capitol at Richmond.
" They wouldnt ergot no closer. paid the lieutenant colo nel. That is the wny of General Johnston; he keeps cr hacking and er backing till he gets em right where he wants em. and then hell do em up, list like hes srwine to do old Sherman now " e" f w flova. Vr,,, neednt be erfaird erbout
ntn; tharH never be no harm done to this city. Old Sherman will have to take the back track in er flay er two. and then T gue<=s- this "Vlrernii rirmy crowd will quit some or their bragging, 1 and he looked over at the ladies and smiled.
.i IT- hadnt mornn fixed his eyes to wink at em till
" Boom, boom, boom, and er shell went whizzing through t>i.-< nir like It had er shuck tied to it. and seemed to say:
" TVr.rre-arc-you. whore-are-you, where-are-you?
"TCvervhodv Jit out of that room and left me and the old soldier mister of the whole business. I rose, or started to rise, b-.it the fellow eausj t me bv the waistpone of my pants n-,.1 ierked me down in my seat with ro muh vim that he broke my p-allessps. and then he lowed:
" Ting it. dont get scared, pitch in! This Is our oppor tunity.
"And he b<\s-n to poke the eating Into his hosom with one hand and into his mouth with the other, till it warnt moren er minit ti 1 ! the table was cleared of everything and the fel low looked rrhiiit as big ergin as ho did when he went in there, and before the excitement from the shell was over, me and him werp layincr in the shade of a tree op the grass. and the fellow had pulled chicken and meat, and pins, and bread m.iten his shirt and piled it up on er piece of oilcloth what he had. fill it looked sorter like er befon the war barhocue erronnd there, and as the fellow straightened himpelf ni.:t on the straw fer er rest, he lowed:
" I guess that young woman will think we were d n hungry when she takes er look at that table.
"This fellow profited by the first shell that old Sherman throwed into Atlanta, and it done me some good myself, but we soon nnrtrcl. and I never thought no rnoreof him" til: after that nnp day T seed him righterbouf the corner of Broad and Alabama street?, and he was er fixing to get onten town, for Mayor Ca1ho-.:n and er party had done gone out to surrender the city, and he was standing talking to me erbout it when over came a shell and tore him all to flinders: that was the last shell that was thrown into Atlanta, and I couldnt help

from thinking erbout how different the first shell affected my old sjjldier friend from the last one, and Ill ever think.
"But," resumed Blunkett, after a pause, "you cant find no two leaves erlike, you cant find no two minds erlike, you cant find no two fellows what seed things jist erlike in any battle, and Lees men like him the best, and Johnstons men liked Johnston the best, and I guess its all right, but how anybody could like old Sherman I cant see, and I dont be lieve he cares a darn whether hes Hkesi or not."

Going to the Factory During the War.

"Going to the factory during of the war was a. big thing,"

said Plunkett, as he settled himself down in his rorker and

continued :

"It was r.o uncommon thing, for folks to cook up a weeks

rations and pnck corn and fodder in the wagon and bundle p

bed quilts, the same as if they were going to move to Texas,

preparatory to starting off to the factory to get a. little old

bunch of thread to make the filling of their homespun dresses

and sick like.

"There was always an understanding betwixt the wimin

of adjining settlements when they would go to the factory,

andpn a day appointed, the wagons with white sheets for

covers would begin to congregate at the crossroads soon in

the morning, and when a.l had arrived they would start up

the big) road, and they would make a line as long as a brigade

wagon train.

"There was many more wimin along then represented the

ownership of the wagons, for there was many a poor woman

that didnt have no wagon, and these was welcome to go er-

long in the company and have their luggage and. the children

that was too small to leave at home hauled, and thus, going

to the factory was a bigger thing than you could make any

of this since-the-war generation believe.

The factories that the folks from Meriwether, Pike, Cow-

eta, Clayton, Spaiding, -Munroc, etc., went to was erway down

in Unson and Talbot, as far as sixty and seventy miles from

some of the homes on this side, and I guess the same facto

ries wa? visited by /people covering the same radius all er-

round them.

.

"There was mighty few factories In Georgia, and this made

what few there was always crowded with wimin and chil

dren camped erround waitin their turn to get uiread. Tne

factory managers had to get up a system in letting out their

thread, .ind so they required the wimin to form into a line

the same as soldiers, and then a fellow would stand at a

window and give out the thread to each one in turn, and

theyVnad to make it a rule that if any one broke line they

would have to go foot. This was the best that could ibe done,

for before they established this rule there was so much

crowding and pushing that they got erlong slower than they

did the other way.

"What would these since-the-war wimin think of standing

in a J^ne for twenty-four hours to get to pay seven or eight

dollars for a bunch of thread that thay wouldnt pick up in

the big road these times? Tt seems strange to the young gen

eration, these sort of things do, but they are facts, and thats

whaj makes me say that the wimin done the real suffering in

the war.

"Ive seed some mighty bad-sights on these factory expe

ditions, for I was old and rheumatic and the wimin alwavs

94
made me gp erlong with em, jest to say they had er man eriong, but I couldnt do em much good.
"One rainy night when we had struck camp on our way back from the factory, three or four of the children began to cough croopy and we seed that we were going to "have a niglu, of it. The old wirrun got ready some tobacco and fixed poultices, and some of era said that lye from oak ashes was g-cod for croup. ;md they had some ready, and it warnt no great while before we had to go to using these things, for tlie children began to choke more and more and to bark with the croup at <.very breath, till it looked like that some of em would die in spite of all that could be done, but we soon got em all right but one little curly-headed girl, that every body said was the sweetest child on the trip, and she was bound to die, so they all said.
"Old Sister iJrown T,-as sitting on a box holding this little girt in her lap, and all that I could do wns to hobble erround and hold the torch for em to put things in the little childs m&uth with a spoor., and the young mother was standing over her little girl, every once and erwhile droppin down on her knees by her, till some of em said that if Dr. Caldwell could be got froxi Zebulon that he could have the child, and it was no sooner mentioned than the young mother lit on to the wildest horse in the whole teams, and put out for ZebuIon as fast as the horse could go.
"The night was dark and the rain was falling, but that young mother didnt care for nothing, and Id knowcd her many a time to squeal at a mouse running by her and flee front the echo of her own rumbling in the darkness, but she was brave this night somehow, and she plunged into the creek wlhonut stopping to think whether it would swim, find she was in Zenmlon and had Dr. Caldwell up before youll think about it. these days, and tV.cn they started on the race back to the camp.
"The doofor was a good rider, and he had a good horse, but he couldnt keep up\ and the young woman kept in f^ont, and every now nnd then shed rein in her horse and beg ihe doctor to hurry and save her little erirJ. The doctor was do ing his bcsi. but when they struck the creek on the way back it was swimming, though it warnt that wav when she went colons-, The doctor told her to be cautions, for the creek wag risin misrbty fast, but she ,1us(- cried and begged him to hur ry, but the doctor stood on the <?dge of the water nnd refused to plunge :n an^ bp drowned, and she wruns1 her hand* and erather.vi ]-, the reins and said. Ill go in front, nnd before the doctor could do anything her horse was plunging in the water, and the current struck em and took em down stream, and the v n unfr w n man lost her hold on the horse and was sirups-ling in the W7 ater.
"The d n otor didnt wait no longer. He it offen his horse an3 plunged riaht in and swam to her, and caught her by the hair nn 1 held her off nnd up ottten fhe water till they stmok the hrnk on the other side, and shed no sooner got into write" whe^e they could wade til] she frrnbbed the doc tors hand and went pulling him on toward the camp.
"The doctor was what they called a miehty dignified man. V.:t he was in a. trot as he come tip to the camp, and the vouns- Trmth = r didnt turn erlooap hi band til: he was riirht i-t ciilr h 1 r little s irl. and then he give it some lobelia and sinh like, and wrapped a wet cloth erround its neck, and done other things till th little \hm? besran to breathe all right, and 1h rn we was all slad and thanked the doctor.
"Ive sped sights at these factories. One time tbar TVS* said to be seven or eight hundred wirnin waitin to get thread at one of these factories, and !t got to be common talk among the witrnn that these factory folks didnt treat em right, and they resolved to have the thread by force if they couldnt

get it no other way. They seed the manager and offered what money they had and was refused, and then commenced er scrouging ana er pushing to get into the factory, the like of which I had never seed before, and, I hope, will never see ergin. It might have been wrong and might have looked fead to see them wimin takin thread and scufflin the same as men, but it was war times, and it was hard times, and they didnt have much use for fellers that kept outen the war by running these factories, and I guess it is all right.
"But," continued the old man, after a pause, "as hard as it was to S'-t thread and to get wool rolls, these wimin would take the most of what they did get find make it up. into clothes and socks and gloves for the men who was in the army, and then the settlement would get together and maks up a box and send it on, and nine times out of ten the box would get lost on the way, and when theyd find out their loved ones had failed to receive it theyd jest set down and cry aa hour or two, and then get up and go to spinnin and weayin, and the same thing- would repeat itself from time to time.
"One soldier frit mighty bad for a box to come to his com pany and he have nothin in it. The wimin knowed this, and Ive knowed the wimin and children to set down and eat dry bread day after day in order to save, sos they could send good things to the one far away. The children didnt grumble then, nehhc-r. like they do in times of peace, for the mother would jest tell em that they must do this so as theyd save something to send to their poor papas, and that was enough. I blieve folks love each other more during of the war."ennyhow, m least it seemed that way to me.
"It was a sight to see one of them boxes fixed up," con tinued the old in;!!!, as he wiped a tear from his eyes. "They would get the box right down in the middle of th* floor: the mother worild pile everything crround that she was goin to send, and the children would kneel erround and help her, and every one bad to put ir. some little cake or some thing, and theyd be as hungry as children could be, but theyd never think of wanting to eat it. It had to go to p"apa. and its one of the sad things of the war that "these boxes hardly ever got to the poor fellows. Wimin had a hard time In the war times, and so did the children, God bless em."
The Two Picketts.
"Hearing so much talk erbout Thanksgiving lately," said Plunkett. as he fixed himself in an easy position, "refreshes my memory and calls to mind a Thanksgiving dinner in war times.
"During of the war," continued the old man, "there was not much chance to get anything extra to make a dinner outeji among Lees soldiers, but I seed a squad of em feast on this day that I tell you erbottt, and the way it was brought erronnd and the fate of the Confederate and of the Federal soldiers who were instrumental in bringing it erbout makes me think of it with a sad heart and impresses me afresh of how cruel a thing war is.
"It was at United States ford, some twelve or fourteen miles above Fredericksburg. Old Burnsides had his army on one side of the river and Lee faced him on the other side. and they lay there and watched each other with the river between em till the private soldiers that done the picket

96
-fluty got pretty well erquainted and were mighty friendly -considering.
"This ford that I tell you erbout was erway on the flanks of the two armies, and the pickets that -were floing duty there had got to be pretty sociable, and often cracked their little jokes at each other.
"The day was cold and gloom*-, sleeting- er little and rainitig er little, and six confederate pickets hovered erround a smouldering- fire with their army blankets pulled up over their heads, er shivering and rubbing their eyes that were hurting from the smoke, and keeping their gunlocks dry. when, just as daylight begin to streak the east so as you could see ercros? the river, a tall, well-dressed yankee soldier stepped down to the brink of the water and dipped up a cup full, then, as he flraigMerud up, lie looked over to the ragged eonfcderatsSj and lo\red:
" Hello, Johnny Rebs: How do you all feel this morning-? "One word brought on eniother, till the}- got to talking erbouj: it being Thanksgiving day, and then the confederate that was cluing- the talking on our side told the yankee that the .prospects for anything to celebrate the day with was mighty yiim with us. and then the yankee lowed that they had plenty, and if our fellows would agree to an hours truce and pay Ihem a visit hed see that we should have a good difiner and a friendly time. The confederate lowed that if he C8ld swap tobacco for sure enough coffee to make a cup full apiece for our breakfast, it would be glory enough for one day. and the yankee lowed for him to come over and he should have :~o\r\f, ana it was no sooner suid than the confed erate, be = in to fix to wade the ford, as cold as it was. "He went srcross and sat and talked with the yankees till it was erbout time for the officers to come erround, and th=m he crossed back on his own side with plenty of sure enough coffee to give his mates a big tin cup full apiece, and they drank it with a relish that these folks who have never been shut_ off from coffee know nothing erbout. "The day rolled on cheerfully arter that, as cold and gloomy as it was, till jist erboat 12 oclock, when the confed erates were fixing to eat some poor beef and cornbread, this same yankee, who was talking in the morning, come down to the edge of the river and told em to hold, and that he would bring them over some of the good things that they had. "We didnt have to wait long: till here the yankee como down to the river on a horse, loaded down with things in his arms, and a long bag across the horses neck in front of him. He cS.me over and opened up what he had, and I know that thers was never a Thanksgiving dinner that was relished more, and 1 know that there was never a happi&r yankee than that one w-hen ke seed how the boys enjoyed it. "When dinner was over they all sot erroimd the fire and talked erbout home and their families, and the yankee had some picture? of his wife and his children, and he showed em and brassed i;u em, and a tear stood in his eye while he talked, and the confederate that went over in the morning run his hnnd erway down in the lining of his gray jacket and pulled out some pictures of two little children and a pretty woman that was his wife, and as they took each others hancl and said goodbye, the tears dropped from each of their eyes and mingled on their clasped hands.
********* "It warnt no great while till I was standing to the right of the battery on Maries Heights, down in front of Fredericksburg, er watching old Eurnsides soldiers trying to force their way over the rock fence that run erlong at the foot of "ihe ridge. I could hear the yankee officers down in the city

97 tell thsir soldiers that Maries Heights hnd to be taken, and that" they were the boys to fio it.
"I was in er position to watch two fellows that were acting as sharpshooters One on the confederate and the other on the yankee side. They were on the tops of houses that stood with their gable-ends to me, and I could see em as they would peep over the cones of these houses and shoot at each other. They kept it up while a yankee brigade made charge after charge ergin that rock fence. I could see their balls hit the shingles and splinter them right at each others heads, till at last I seed em tooth peep over the cone of the house erbout the same time and bang- erway, and at the flash or their guns I seed em both clutch the shingles for a minit, quiver, roll to the edge of the roof and fall to the ground.
us******** "I went to them houses arter the fight was over and at one I found the confederate who had dossed the river and got the coffee, and at the other I found the yankee that brought over the Thanksgiving dinner."
Old-Time Cornshucking.
"Dil you ever haul up corn with a yoke of oxen?" asked Plunkett, as he lit his pipe and took his seat in the corner.
"Gathering corn with oxen haint no easy job," continued the old man. as he settled back in his rocker. "You have to jerk and haw and gee to keep em from pulling their necks oft stretching out for eating on each side, and the man that can drive em under such circumstances and not cuss is a desarving man, for sure. Ive been driving for the boys today and my old bones ache and my throat is sore from jerking ar.d Whooping, and then, besides, corn gathering time is not what it used to be, and it dont bring the frolic and fun of the shucking like it used to, but I dont say a word, for T "know if I slid some of these youngsters would say the old mans liver haint flopped. So I just grin and bear it, and comfort myself by thinking of the clays when I was young and..of the good times we had then.
"Corn gathering, too, was a frolic, for we knowed tfcat a good time was coming. The corn wasnt throwed in the cribs in them days, but a big ipile was made in the lot and then the night was set for a shucking, and the settlement gathered in white and black and the corn was shucked, put in th crib and the shucks penned all in one night. Ive seed a pile of three thousand bushels, shucked and put up in one night, and there wasnt a tiard person in the crowd, for there was fun and frolic and songs and dances, and there was look ing for the Inst ear before anybody knowed it.
"Them old shunkings are things of the past, but the gen erations to come will never feast on melodies sweeter than the nigger songs of the old corn-shucking days. Ive sat at rtigh_t and listened to the crowrd as they were on their way to the corn pile. They always went in crowds and had their leaders, and the young masters would go along to protect them, and they felt as free and as grand as they have ever felt since the war. and there has never been a gang of sincethe-war niggers that were near so hapipy as those crowds as. they wen; across the fields singing:
"Old massa \ gave me - holloday, JTe says hell give me move;
I thanked him very kindly. As I slioved my boat from shore.

9S
Oh, my dearest May! Youre lovely as the day, Tour eyes so bright They shine at night. When the moon has gone away.
"And then over on the river youd hear the big chain lumber on the bottom ot the ferryboat, and as the ferryman pulled; out from shore youd hear fifty voices of another crowd join in chorus and sing:
"Then row away, row, Oer the waters so blae,
Like a feather well float, In our gum-tree canoe.
"Bat the climax was at the corn pile. With two ur three hundred niggers at the foot of a corn pile as big as a house, a leader would mount on top and start oft with 1 will start the holler, and the rest would come in with Buglelo. It ran thus:
"I will start the holler! Buglelo:
I will start the holler t Buglelo!
Oh, dont you hear me holler? Buglelo!
ilassas got a bugle. Buglelo!
A ten-cent bugle! Buglelo!
"And on and on that leader would call, and the crowd would answer till they would want a change which was in dicated by throwing corn at the caller, and it never failed to bring him down, and then another leader would mount the pile, and hed have something on the same style, but never the same tune. And thus the night would wear along and the jDile of unshucked corn diminish. The lively time would be when the pile begin to grow small, and theyd begin to yell:
"Looking for the last ear! Bangamalngo!
Looking for the last ear! Bangamalango!
Round up the corn, boys! Bangamalango!
Round up the corn pile! Bangamalango 1
"Then there was scrambling, for the work was over and the frolic begun. The crowd would gather around the owner of the corn and he was lifted on the shoulders of strong nig gers and all would follow behind singing in their own way ar- the march was continued to and. around the big house, and then to where a bountiful feast was in waitine on tables prepared in the yard.
"The tables were full, and the niggers woulfl eat awhile and sing awhile and return to eat again. Here would ,be a crowd patting and dancing; other crowds would wrestle and box* while others would gather on scats in the background and sing the songs they loved to sing. I love them old songs, and I loved them old-time niggers, for I never seed a singing nigger that was mean.
"The seasons are the same. The cotton patches grow

99
white as they used to; but the old-time nigger, as he rung across a belated watermelon in the grass around some stump and grabs it and breaks it open on his knee and scoops out the meat with his hand and thrusts it into a mouth that is always ready to smile, is not here. Corn gathering time gives no hope of a good time to come, and its work sure enough work-r-and business, business, all the time."
A True Story of the Life of a Drunkard.
"Old Jack Rawson was er drunkard." said Plunkett, as he drew his chair up nearer to the fire and dipped his pipe in the ashes.
"They called him Vagabond Jack, " continued the old man. "He never was knowed to do a thing exactly right in his life. He had a good woman for a wife and some mighty peart chi.dren and, pretty ones, too
"Old Jack had been on a spree for more than a week it was erlong in October, and when he come home early on Sunday morning his old Oman nor the children didnt know him. They knowed his voice when he knocked at the cabin door erbout daylight and opened for him, but when they seed him they all fell back in horror, and. the little ones wouldnt believe it was their daddy, and they shied erround him ai"i looked at him in wonder.
"There was not a word of reproach fell from the mouth ot n.A Jacks wife. She seed that the bad boys of the villasa had p.ut a whole box of blacking on his face while he lay in his drunken stupor of the night before, and never thought c-.~ blaming o.d Jack, but she went to work and warmed water and got him some clean clothes to put on, and as she walked erbout the room you could hear her say to herself, It will come home to em; it will come home to em. And then shed, wipe the tears away that would gather in her eyes, and turn to the performance of other duties.
"Old Jack didnt have a word to say, but went to work and rubbed and scrubbed to get the blacking often his face, and by the time he had done this and got on his clean clothes his wife had him some coffee and fried a little piece of meat and cooked a hoe cake of cornbread, which was the last thij-e was in the house. When old Jack got cleaned up and come out to eat er little, the children all knowed him, and they run to him and hushed him and kissed him .list like there hadnt been er thing wrong, and old Jack shed the first tear on that Satibath morning- that he had shed in many a year, and when his wife went to pour out his cup of coffee he began to cry worse, and left the table and all that was on it for the hungry little children that loved him so well.
"He look his s-ent bv the window and had a book up in his hand like If he was rtKJins, till his oldest gal tapped him ou the shoulder and said:
" Papa, drink this coffee; it will make you feel better, as she handed the cup and saucer to him.
" I^ucy, said old Jack, that coffee wT ould choke me. I dont deserve it, and I shant drink it.
"When old Jack begin to talk all the children gathered er round him and treated him jist like he had never seed er drop of liquor in his life, and when he looked at the poor little ragged things, he begin to cry ergin, and he got up and walk^ off down to the mill. Old Jack knowed there was nothing more to eat in the hous5. and when he met the mil ler hs took him off on a log and told him the circumstances. The miller was a ETOOC! ma?i. and he let Jack have mea] and meat. Sunday as It was, on his promise to pay for it in a few

days. Old Jack went back home, and when his folks seed hiai coming they run out to meet him, and took the meal and ieal and made" as much to do over it as if it had erbin a
, - storehouse, i

Monday morning old Jack went to work, and he was a good workman, ana you never seed a. family come out as fast in all Uie ctars of vour life. Folks quit calling him Vagabond Jack, :ind his little children looked neat and rosy, and went to Sunday school and sich like, and Jacks wife began to reap" the fruits of a virtuous, patient life, through which she had struggled as the wife of a drunkard.
"It was en the night before Thanksgiving- day, 1884, ana Jack and his little family had eat supper ana were gathered erround a blazing fire in the sitting room. The children had climbed upon Jacks lap as long as there was room for them, and the balance ware in n. circle about his chair.

" Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, said Jack, and we shall have a good tima.

"The children got jubilant, and this one wanted one thing

and "anothar something- else, and Jack kissed em all and

started for the village store to purchase things for Thanks

giving day. As Jack was on his way t the village the folks

ai home were discussing the good time to come nnxt day.

and not one of them ever thought erbout old Jack taking a

drink, for no matter what other folks thought of him, his

family loved him, and had grown to have great confidence in

hia power to resist strong drink.

"At the village old Jaek met his old mates, anfi they

bragged on him and rated him to the sky for being a good

fellow, and followed him wherever he went in his rounds for

making his purchases. Time and again they tempted him to

be sociable and just take one drink, tout he wouldnt, and di

rectly he had hia basket full of little things for the dinner

and a flr.e dressed turkey in one had. He started on his way

fconfe, but, his old mates were still with him, and they had

flattered Jack till he decided it would be too bad to not set

em iip one time, so when they got to the last bar on his

route, he stepped in with them ani culled for lemonade for

himself and whisky for the balance. The four young men

who had put ths blacking on his face the- last night he was

drumk were in the bar, and they were cronies to the bar

tender; so they were determined that Jack should have a

little whisky, and they gave the bartender the wink, and

that individual dashed the lemonade with a little French

brandy, and as soon as old Jack put the lemonade to his

lips the old mania for drink came back, and in less than an

"hour he had fergotten his loved ones at home and was as

drunk as whisky could make him. The crowd filled bottles at

old Jacks expense, took the turkey in a restaurant near by

amd had it revelry.

cooked,

and

the

night

was

passed

on

in

drunken

"Daylight found old Jack laying- in the mud at foot of the

hill that led to his house as dead as a mackerel and- frozen

stiff, and Thanksgiving day was a day of sorrow in the house

of poor old Jack, the vagabond drunkard.

"Jacks wife never was seen to smile ergin. Folks gol

to calling her crazy, and the little children were drug away

from home and bound out to different persons, and when they

were iparted it was worse than anything I ever seed in the

days of slavery, and the poor old mother jist went erbout

after that and picked up rags and waste cotton in the street?

of I he village and was always shaking her head and mut

tering:

" It will come home to 'em; it will ceme home to em.

"At last they took her up and sent her to the asylum,

where she died:, and her last words were:

" It will come home to em; it will come home to em. *********
"This is a true story," said Plunkett, after a pause, "and it did not end here. Them four young men and that bar tender who thought it such a good joke to put whisky in Jacks lemonade and to black him and sich like have all come to bad ends. Thay have died terrible deaths, and with their boots on. all five of them, and thars erhcap of folks who believe it was a curse for the way they did old Jack, the vagabond drunkard, and a fulfillment ofthe prophetic words of a heart-broken drunkards wife that it will come home to em; it will come home to em. "
Crossing the Blue Ridge.
"There is mighty few folks who think about how hard it was for soldiers to keep clothes durin o the war," said Plunkett. as he fixed himself to begin his story.
"There was never a knapsack in .Lees army after the seven days fight erround Richmond," continued the old man. "Soldiers found out mighty quick that it wouldnt do to try to carry a load, an they soon learned that to roll a shirt up in their blankets an swing it over their necks was all that they could make the long marches with, an so the knap sack went out o use. an in consequence soldiers found it mighty hard.to get a change often, and more especially when they went.over into Marylan an Pennsylvany."
"I knowed men to wear one shirt eight weeks," spoke up Brown, "an Ive knowed em to go eight weeks without any shirt at all, an its no wonder they all had "greybacks, anj the itch."
"If you hear a fellow say that he went through the war without getting graybacks an without havin the itch." re sumed Plunkett. "you may iput him down for a liar, or not much o a soldier. These sort o things is what you dont learn by readin books an looking at pictures, an thats what makes me say that you cant "earn nothin about war till you get into it.
"When the army was on a march, if youd stop em by a stream, the first thing was to jerk off their shirts an go to washin em. T have known it to be weeks, though, bofore they would even have time to do this much.
"But it was mighty hard to get ahead o a soldier, an when it got so that they couldnt bile their clothes, they found another way o makin it lively for pests that got into "em." As soon as the fires was kindled at night youd see cm skin off their shirts an hold em up over the blaze, an pretty soon theyd be a puffin out like a balloon, and then, wncn the shirt was just as hot as it could stand without scorchin, and graybacks er changin from one foot to the other at the rate of a mile a minit, the old soldier would give a quick shake, an into the fire would drop the graybacks.
TJick Jones burned up the last shirt he had at tills one night near Winchester, and he had lost his jacket a week before a crossin the Potomac river, an so ne wns ieft with out anything to wear. Dick went over to the place where they killed beeves an 'got him a cow hide an worked on it till he got it fixed on him for a coat, an then he came down into camps on his all-fours a pawJn dirt an a bcllowr.r. and some of the big officers lowed he was gain' crazy, an were about to have him put under arrest when one of them that happened to have two shirts give Dick one of em, an this got him stopped.
"Dick got crazy after that once. He wanted to go home mighty bad, for hed been mighty sick an was in the hos-

pital, but they wouldnt give him no furloughs. DlcKd lay

on his bunk in the hospital an wouldnt notice nothin . They

had to feed him with a spoon, he got so bad. He fixed him

self a ipin for a hook an put a line to it, an got him a little

pole, an lay there an fished the same as if he was on the

bank of a river. He went on this way for eight or ten days.

till at last the doctors decided that his mind was plum done,

an so they fixed him up a discharge. They give it to Dick

where he lay on his bunk, an told him what it was. JJic^

didnt let on. He kept on fishin, an a ftshin, an took the

discharge and stuck his pin through it an had it holding ii:

out like a fish. Dick was all right, an then he went on fish-

in agin till all of a sudden he jerked it up an lowed:

" Ive been fishing for you a long time, an d n you, Ive

got you at last.

,

*#*** ***

"tides army left like they wefc startin" home when they left the galley to cross the Blue Ridge. But gittin across that Blue Ridge with an army, with the wagon trains in front, was no small thing.
" Forard! an the soldiers would pick up one foot an stop, an then theyd raise the other, an hered come the line bumpin back agin em, an theyd have to take three or tour stejis backard a darn sight faster than they moved forard. Then theyd stand, first on one foot an then on tother, an then theyd move ofT at a trot, an all o a sudden the line would stop and the men would bump up agin one nother the sames car boxes when the engine stops.
"This was hard marchin hardern to go right straight ahead but it was this way all day while goin up the Blue Ridge.
"But when the wagons got to the top an started down. then came times to the wagon trains. Id rather go into bat tle tnan be a driver goin down the Blue Ridge, i he turns in the roads were mighty quick, but if you didnt make it. over a precipice youd do team, wagon an all. lumbrin down hundreds of feet, startin rocks from theirplaces and roarin the same as thunder as the mass tumbled an bounced an rolled to the bottom. ""I never shall forget two little red mules that I seed go over one o the precipices comin down the ridge. The drivers were mighty particlar, an theyd take good strong rails or poles an run em through the sipokes on each hind wheel o their wagons, an Ihus lock both wheels, an woe to the team that got unlocked as they were goin down these places.
"1 watched one team o six mules as they went up the ridge, and I fell in love with the two little reds that worked in the lead. They were fat little fellows, an quick, an so willin to pull every time the word was given. The big le:low that was drivin hadnt shaved since the war begun, I know, an he looked like he couldve picked one o the little leaders up an held him out at arms length. He rode two big "wheelers thatd throw emselves back when the words given, an wouldve let the wagon run over em before theyd have went forard. This driver had great confidence in the powers o his wheelers one o which he rode, an he had great confidence in the peartness o his little red lenders in helpnv him "to make the quick turns. This confidence made him a little -.careless erbout his lockin an lost him his life an de stroyed his team.
"This fellow, when they started down, got a rail an run it through the hind wheels, s was required by the regula tions; but he wasnt -no ways particular about gittin one that: was strong an sound, for he said. 1 can hold my wagon without a scotch.
The team moved off, an down they went, the two hind wheels o each wagon slidin an the wheelers leanin bacK.

103 The big fellow was whistlin an now an then crackin tils whip, where he could sit on his mule an look flown hunrefls o feet, when a stumble o his saddle mulff or a variation o a~ footd have throwed him to the bottom mashed into a jelly.
"There was a quick turn an a close drive just in front o him. an I seed him grasp the line that worked on the leader with a tight grip, and catch the rein o his off-wheel mule \ind "speak up kind o gruff to his little red leaders, that made em Throw up their heads an tighten their traces.
"The critical time came to make the turn, an he spoke out with a loud voice a he jerked his line for a gee pull.
" Look at you, Mike? "These were the last words that fellow ever spoke. The rail that scotched the wheels broke, the wagon rushed upon the wheelers; they throwed themselves back with all their might, but it was no use. "Over the precipice the wagon shoved the driver an his wheelers, an as he went down, I seed him gra;b the names, clinch his teeth and shut his eyes. The little red leaders were jerked ba.ck, an s they went over they squealed the sames folks; but down! down! down! the whole team went, lumbrin anbouncin to the bottom."
Plunkett Thinks there is too Much Schooling.
"I dont know where this school business is going to stop," said Plunkett. as he leaned back in his chair and iput on his philosophical look.
"Theyve got so now," continued the old man, "that they try to make farmers at their schools, and they learn girls to do housework at em, and they propose to turn out mechanics at em. and the country will he full of educated men and women skilled in the business that they are to follow.
"T dont believe you can do it, for Ive watched these youngsters that have been trained in these agricultural sctioolsj and its my notion that it gives em sich .big ideas that its harder for em to learn what it really takes to make a suc cess where a fellow bas but little money to back him up than it would have done had he never seed a college and had hired out on a farm and worked half the year for money to pay his tuition, the other half in some good old log-house school in the settlement.
"One of these agricultural college youngsters come into this settlement a few years ago. and he done mighty well as long as his daddy sent him money and implements and horses and wagons, and when he got behind in his work would come over with fifteen or twenty good hands and catch him up, but when he had broke the old man at sich foolishness and he had to depend on what they learned him at the college, he soon got so he didnt do er thing but talk erbout the poor land of Georgia and the fine land of Texas, and the last time I seed him he had come down to an oldfashioned two-wheeled ox cart and he had gathered up every thing in the way o corn and potatoes and sich like and waa on his way to market when the axle of the old cart broke atid he was flat in the road and five miles from a shop. lie was sitting down on a rock studying- when me and Brown walked up to him and he lowed that the college hadnt learned him how he could leave his cart and go to the shop for a new axle and at tire same time keep cattle and hogs from eating up what he had in the cart while he was away. Brown jist smiled er little and picked up an ax that had been fastened

on to the cart tongue by an old-time nigger and stepped out into the Crashes ana cut down a ,pine sapiing, and it wasnt more than thirty minutes before the college chap was ready to go on his way, and he never came back any more. The next time 1 heard of him he was in the legislature, and I guess hes doing pretty well, for he wont have to do nothing but talk there.
"And these girls that are learned house work at these schools wouldnt Vno^- rn more crbout walking- the floor at -ipht with a coliky baby and stumbling erround in er dark room feeling iur ine paregoric bottle arid geti-ng down on their all fours trying; to kindle a fire, than this fellow did erbout fixing his axle.
"But that haint all. Every trade there is can be learned something ertoout in the schools what they call technolog ical.; 1 went through them nigger colleges in Atlanta and they had students learning to make tables and chairs ana sofas and tintky work of every description, and iron work and brick work, and a printing office was fixed up for em, and every darned one of em that were setting type were ijisl learning the business so as they could be superintendents and managing editors. That is the way. These fellows have an eye to holding- he positions, and when there are so many of em turned out that there is not positions enough, then they will be talking erbout what a ipoor country Georgia is, and nine times outen ten they will spend their lives sitting erround on water plugs in the cities grumbling erbout wages and mean capitalists and sich like.
"it used to be that a fellow that got a trade had to serve an apprenticeship, and the first principle that was instuiea intojiini was to watch his proprietors interest and to lioia sacred any secret? of his emipioyer that he might learn in the performance of his duties and contract. This kind of train ing W-iuld bring more good to proprietors than they will ever derive from the power to menace by keeping the supply so much greater than the demand.
"An old-time printer brought up under the old system of apprenticeship would think no more of betraying the secrets of a printing office than he would of sticking his head, in the fire. This will apply to all trades, they tell me.
"Thars too much schooling- these days that a fellow dont have to souffle for. These technological schools will turn out mechanics ancl farmers and cooks and housekeepers with a keen sense of niceties, but their heads will be full of flneky notions that they cant back up in practical life, and dissat isfaction will be the order of the day.
"Mechanics turned out from these schools will have none of the clannish feelings of their fellow tradesmen, they will have no attachments for proprietors and have no feelings of obligation; they will want the world, and are more than apt to wind tup as labor agitators or go to the legislature."
Ben Hill and the Yanks.
"Harrison is elected, but there is no use in our crossing the bridge before we get to it," said Pltmkelt. as he crossed his leg arid threw his paper to one side.
"Thars er hear, of folks mighty gloomy over this election bjjt I tell em that its nothing like as bad as it was just after the war, and that it aint er gwine to be.
"There was er time when every man in Georgia hung his head and was scared that our lands and mules and cattle would be taken from us just like the niggers were. They wont acknowledge it now, hut most everybody expected the yankees to confiscate what we had and they had erbout made

I05
up their minds to give it up without a -word and go off and starve to death, but Ben Hill was here then, "and he was great and brave, and he opened his mouth and encouraged tne B,<-Ople and then he made .a big speech at Atlanta, ana iletty soon you could see the men raise, their heads and straighten up the same as youve seed droughty crops under the touch of refreshing showers, and through all the years of republican rule they never drooped ergin, till at last Cleveland. got to the white house, and now, as he must get outen there, they may wilt e-rlittle, but it will only take the encourage ment of some brave, strong man to refresh them ergin, ana make them vigorous for the campaign of 1892.
Things dont seem, near so gloomy now as it did when Giant bent Seymour, and I say that it dont matter what old HarHson may do, he cant get us in no worser fix than they had when the freedmans bureau ruled the south and er sol dier was ready to drag you off to prison if you squinted jour eye at er nigger. That is the way I look at it, and that is what makes me say there is no use in crossing the bridge before we get to it.
"We got er young generation of niggers ermong us now and theyve got to learn the republicans jist like their daddys .did. They will rind out in time that they haint ergwlne .o R i.-t forty acres and er mule every time they cast their vote for er \ankee, and arter awhile they wonL care whether they vote at all, and if they will behave ."emselves, 1 dont care much, lor sometimes I think these northern democrats have played that forty acres and a mule business on us the same as the republicans have on the niggers, but nor exactly in the s.iii.e way. For thirty years Ive been hearing- of what these northern democrats were going to do for the southern folks and weve went solid for em ever since the war. and during of the war we watched and yearned for ern to helip us ! : Hitie, but they didnt come then and it looks to me like they are sorter erfraid to keep company with us, for you cant get em to put no southern man on their tickets for th high offices, and Im sorter tired having- the scraps throwed over to our fellows after they do the biggest part of the work and the most of the voting.
"Thar was er few northern democrats that stood up before eld Sumner and Thad Stevens and Morton and Conkling- and B.aiiie and old Ben Butler and sich fellows, but if Ben Hill hadnt er went there and pulled off his coat and rolled up his sleeves and put er chip on his head and dared em 10 knocK it "off, theyd erbln giving us bringer till this day erbout An-, aersoiivllle and sich like, and now I look for them to try it ergin.
"If Ben Hill was here I wouldnt be scared erbit. It may be mean, but when I think of Ben Hill being dead and the chills of fear begin to run up and down by backbone, it coinfans me to think old Stunner is dead, too, and Thad Stevens and Morton and Conkling and .Butler is nearly as old as I is, and Blame is outen the senate, and they will have to tram another .-vt io viliify the south, and maybe that while they are doing this we can train er little ourselves and be ready to meet em.
"Im too old now to fool with sich things, but sometimes I feel like that I would like to see the time corne ergin when wed raise the liberty poles and have big speakings and big barbecues and two good parties in the south. This solid south business dont develop such men as Cobb and Stevens and Toombs and Hill there must be some friction to brighten things, and the nigger is in the way. We are forced to be solid as long as the nigger is ?olicl, nnd I doubt it its healthy.
"But hog killing time will soon be here; the rocks are piled up at the pen and wood is being hauled to heat em; ths

To6
first weather that comes that is cold enough I will get up before day and go down and hang a dozen three-hundredpounders to the gambling sticks, and as I sit by the fire with a pone of cornbread and broil belts on the coals for my breakfast, I wont care for politics nor for presidents nor for niggers nor the devil, hut I do wish we had some smart men like we used to have."
A Christmas Story.
"It was Christmas night, 18-1 ," continued Plunkettj,"when I first seed Peter Simpson, though it had been norated erround for some time that there was ei:_tranger in the settle ment, and that he was erkin to old Billy Brooks, and was ergwlno to settle ermong us if he could find er place to suit him."
Brown drew his chair up closer to the old man and re marked:
"Them war the days when you played the fiddle, and I haint much to brag on myself nor on my kin. but i never seed no music that come up to Sugar in the Gourd when I was er handling the straws, and you was er pulling of the bow."
"Ive seed the day I could fairly make er fiddle talk." nodded Plunkett, and "then continued:
"On the Christmas night of 184 thar was a party at old man Jimmie Lawrences, and u-ed all gathered, and the younsj folks had played er game er two of sich as ThimMe, and Timothy Tuberbutin and Snap Out, till at last they gathered partners and begin to walk erround1 and erround, and Peter, he was there, a stranger, and he didnt have no partner and wasnt er having nothing to do with the walking erround. Sn Lucy Goats, as good er girl as ever lived in Georgia, wanted to make him feel at home, and so she axed him to be tha middle fellow.
"Thats the way the play is. They all have partners but one. The DI..I one gets in the middle ns they all walk erround and sing, and when they git to the part in the song where it say_s right here Ill find her, they all change partners, and the middle- man has the right to jump beside some of the girls, if he is quick enough, and then that fellow that loses his %irl gets in the middle, and so it goes."
"Oh. I know that old- play," spoke Brown, at the same time drawing his chair a little nearer to the old man.
"Well," continued Plunkett, "Peter he got in the middle, and the youngsters walked erround and erround. er singing; so as you could er hered em er mile:
" It rains and it hails, and itc cold, stormy weather, Along comes the farmer drinking all the cider;
Ill reap the oats and wholl be the binder: I lost my true love and right here Ill find her.
"And then the change come, and Peter he throwed him self erround and got by the side of Lucy, and he has told me since that he loved her from that very minit."
Old man Brown was unable to contain himself longer, and he remarked:
"And Lucy made him as good er wife as ever er man had." Plunkett frowned at being disturbed, but soon continued: "The young folks went on with their playing first one

thing and then another tCll pretty soon they got partners and went walking fifround and erround ergin, singing:
" Very well done, said Johnny Brown, This is the w:ay to London town, Standi you still, stand you by. Till you hear the watchman cry.
" On this carpet you must kneel, Kiss your true love in the field, Kiss the one that you love best Just before she goes to rest.
"Pretty soon," continued Plunkett, "they cried out, Seat your partners, and Peter and Lucy were right close to me, and Lucy, she turned and lowed:
" Mr. Plunkett, let me make you acquainted with Mr. Simpson.
"Then Peter he shook hands erlong with me and took er tfeat by me,, and it warnt no time till me and him was jist like old friends, and he lived by me erlong time and I never had er truer friend or better neighbor, and Christmas makes me think erbout these old times and these old neighbors that have passed away forever.
"Well," continued Plunkett, "Peter and Lucy married dur ing of the year 184 , and thats what I want to tell you trbctut.
"In that old hewed log house that you passed on the road where the moss is er growing on the roof lives er nigger man by the name of old Tom that was the nrst nigger that ever Peter and Lucy had. Tom was some eighteen years old wneii Peters dada give him to them, and old Tom and Peter naa been brought up tog-ether, and Peter done just as much work as he required Tom to do, and they made good crops and in two or three years Peter had er right smart money layed up, and sq_he bought some more land, alter that he bought an other nigger or two, and they helped him, and soon paid for themselves, and Tom and Lucy got ambitious to be rich and they went into debt, thinking they could work and pay out, and so things were moving erlong when old Tom, over yon der on the road, went to his young master and mistress and told em he wanted to marry one of old Squire Crawfords nigger gals. Toms master was willing for him to marry t ne gal that he loved, but the old Squire he fixed up and before anybody thought-cFbout It hed sold out his plantation and put out fpr Texas. Folks were crazy on Texas them days, and it didnt take er fellow long to git. off for them parts when the fever once struck em.
"After Squire Crawford went off to Texas old Tom never was the same fellow. He didnt sing and dance errounJ like he always had, and hed set erround by himself ana wouldnt have much to do with anybody, and Peter and Lucy noticed it, and triad to git him to forget the girl that went off to Texas, but they couldnt, and old Tom he begin to talk erround ermong the other niggers that slavery was wrong, and that hed rather De dead than suDmlt to it. Things went ovlong this way till Tom he got worse and worse, till at last one night when the niggers hail gathered out in their yards and were er playing and er singing under a pig oak ou the grass, Tom he jest set out on er horse-
l

:o8
block and whittled with his knife and looked down at tar ground, till he hered the niggers sing the old song:
" Old massa gave me holler-day, He said hed give me more,
And I thanked him very kindly, And I shoved my boat from shore. Its oh, my dearest May! Youre lovely as the day, Tour eyes so bright They shine at night,
When the moon has gone away. "And from across the branch come the plaintive sound ot negro voices from Freemans quarter, and as Tom listener! his heart seemed to go out in sympathy to the singers, lor as they progressed he slowly raised his head and leaned for ward, as if to catch the sound, and his lips moved in unison as the words:
" I took her hand within my own, A tear was in her eye,
I asked her if she would be mine, Her answer was a sigh. Oh, Emma, dear, dear Emma, From the Mississippi Vale, In all this wide world over, Theres none HXe Emma Dade.
swelled upon (he breezes, and at the finish he arose from his seat and walked toward the woods.
"When the niggers got through with their 1rolicK, Tom was gone, and the next morning when the other niggers went to work thar warnt no Tom there, and it was soon Known that Tom was a runaway.
""Peter and Lucy wouldnt hear to putting- hounas alter Tom, and so he was not heard from any more, and they had quit talking about lum on the place. Thus it went on tor a year. The crops were sorry and Peter failed to Pay any thing on his thousand dollar note to old man Smilh, but had to renew and borrow a little more. Peter was continent ana Lucy was cheerful, and so they pitched another crop and re solved to economize and work hard, never thinking that luck had turned ergin em.
"Erlong in June, though," continued FlunKett, "the nig gers that Peter had bought got the smallpox crmong them, and all three of them died and ihe crop was lost, but ij eter rolled iw his sleeves and worked the harder, and Uicy she was jist the fame good little woman, and they made er pretty good crop and got it housed, and I dont think ary one of em ever thought erbout luck being ergin em.
"But," continued the old man, "on the 3d day of Uecember on the night of that day I never would forget if 1 were to live er thousand years, Peters barn ketched er fire ana burned up his whole crop and all three of his horses, and tne very next morning old Smith was over there er pressing him for the 81,200, and said he had to have it or hed take possession of the farm. The money would be due on the 25th day of December, and old Smith wanted his money or possession on that day. The prospects for a happy Christmas war mighty gloomy for Peter, but -Lucy said:
" Well. Peter, youve got me and the children yet. " Yes, said Peter, and youve never herd me complain, but I do hate to give up the home. "That was erbout as much to do as there was eroout H, until at last Christmas eve night rolled around, and the little children hung up their stockings and talked themselves to

log -sleep about old Santa Claus, and Peter and L-ucy listened with hidden "tears, and all through the long- night they sat until the haads on the clock pointed to the hour of three, and then Peter raised his head and lowed:
" Lucy, we will have to give up our home to Smith. "Before Lucy could answer, a soft, cat-UKe trea was heard uyon the porch, and the latch-string- was pulled, and as the, door opened there was revealed to the sight of the as tonished pair: "Old Tom, the run-away! "Tse worth 82,000 of any mans money and that will pay oft .old Smiths mortgage, said old Tom, as he unslung a clean pillow case from his shoulder that was lined wltn goodies for the little ons, and that soon swelled the nttio stockings that hung on the mantel.
********* "With the rturn of old Tom came prosperity to Peter and Lucy, lor when old Smith found that Tom had returned, and if put up for sale would pay the mortgage, he made terms that enabled Peter ond old Tom to go to work upon the farm and not only get out of debt, but grew rich, and Tom was set free long fore any yankeeg knowed him, an* Peter he went out to Texas and found old Snuire Crawtord and bought the woman, what Tom loved and brought her back to Georgia on Christmas day, 184 , and give her to Tom for his Uhnstmas present, and they live at yonder moss-covered log- house. and I wish them a merry, merry Christmas."
A Mountain Still.
We had just forded the Tallapoosa, and the rivers water was yet dripping from the wheels of the wagon as we rouea slowly up to the mountain, and Plunkett pulled oack tne wagon sheet and pointed to a road that branched off to tne right and wound around the mountain.
- "See that sign on that tree?" said Plunkett. Looking up we observed a four-foot board nailed to a large
oak that stood in the forks of tne road, upon which was written, in large letters:
TO MOKELAMDS STILL,. Whisky Exchanged for Corn.
"That board has been there for many years," said Plun kett as he bit vigorously at his tobacco and settled back on the fodder that lay in the bed of the wagon.
"Old Moreland used to run er still erround the Dend ot the mountain thar, and for years that road that you see growe^J up now was traveled the same as er big roaa, and Ive heard it said that Morelands whisky was the best that was ever made in these mountains, and he made er fortune and loaned money and bought up all the land errounfl here, and he stood as a clever fellow and a liberal fellow to help erlong the schools and churches in the settlement, and his folks went in style that was equal to town loiks, ana prosperity smiled upon him and hisn till everybody In these -mountains were willing to stand up and call ftim blest, ana .yet Ive lived to see the day when there is not a man nor

no woman in all these mountains who would exchange places with him for all that he has, or all that he has ever haa.
"Moreland had two children Tom and L,ucy and as good a wife as ever a man was blessed with.
"The boy was the oldest, and little Tom Atoretand, as he was called, was a head and shoulders erbove any Doy of his age in the settlement in the way of sense and thoug-h he was raised right up> in. the still, he was never~known to have been drunk when he got to be er man, and folks would point at him. and low that that was / the way to raise em let em be erround it and have it when they want it, and theyll never make drunkards. But you neednt make no calculation oii-what a fellows going to be till hes dead
"When little Tom growed up to be er man his daddy set him up in business, and everybody called him er business man, and up to the time he was twenty-three year.* old there had .never been a splcion even by his daddy and mammy that he evfr drank any more whisky thnn just" a drink in the mQrhings, sometimes before breakfast, but they didnt know little Tom had been drinking it so lone and so much of it till it didnt show on him, and he could walk straight ant! be polite when he had whisky enough under his vest to make the average mountaineer as wild as a Commanche Indian.
"The tirst hint that little Toms folks got of his being a hard drinker wasnt no hint at all, but it come like as if a bombshell had crashed through the house and bursted right upon the hearthstone.
"iloreland and his wife and his daughter, Lucy, was set ting erround the fire talking arter supper, and the nrst tfling they knowed they heard the dogs er tearing, and then iney heard a lumbering on the porch, and then the front door crashed through, and little Tom fell in the room, while every dog on the place covered him. TheV didnt know it was Tom at first, for he had on mighty few clothes and hed run ergin snags and through Briar patches and brush heaps till ne didnt have much skin on him, nother. Tom had delirium trcmens.
"You ought to have seed that family when they found it was their pet boy! They got him up and held him and sent for er doctor, but his screams echoed over the hills and down the valleys. Snakes were twining themselves erround him, and he was writhing and tearing them from erround his legs and nrms, and then hed scream and struggle, as hed clutch one that had slipped into his bosom and was gnawing at his ribs. And then he.d listen like, and hed hear chains er rattling, and demons were at the windows and doors trying to make their way in.
"It was a terrible night at ilorelands still, but there was a more terrible night yet to come, for, upon the very nest night, when they thought they had Tom quieted down, he suddenly sprang from his bed. and grabbing a pitcher, he dashed his own little sisters brains erround the room.
"Tom died, and him and his sister were hauled to the burying ground in the same wagon.
"Old Moreland went home from the Dunal and knocked tte heads outen his whisky barrels and cursed the stuff as it flowed off down the valley; he set fire to the still-house and scattered the ashes, and from that day to this him and his old oman have shut themselves off from the world, ana people wonder."
"Ive had er touch of that delirium tremmon business, my self," remarked Brown, as he tightened the lines over tne mules and cast his eyes erround to see that he was not disturgring Plunkett.
"It was during the war," continued -Brown, "and I had been drinking this sorghum whisky that they had them days, and it didnt take much of it to do er fellow up. Tne nfst

JII
spicion I had that the devils were nrter me, was one nigrjt just after supper I went in to the tire anf sac down, waiting for the old ornan and the gals to get tnrougn washing up the dishes, and I hadnt moren got settled down in the chair by the fire till this chunk of wood and tother chunk of wood" beg-in to take the shape of first one thing- and then another, and pretty soon the coals turned to a mass ol squirming worms, lizards and scorpions; then, thinks I to myself, Ill quit looking- in the fire, my liver is outen order; thatsWhat I thought it was my liver and so I ups and goes back in the dining room with the rest of em, and 1 stayed there till they got through cleaning up, then we all went in to the fire together.
"The old oman got her knitting and tile gals went to sewing, and I pulled out my tobacco and went to cuttivr some to put in my pipe, and when I got enomgh out I was go ing to rub it between my hands to make it hner, as 1 has always done, and no sooner that I raised the hand that the toibacco wasi in than every piece jot It turned to bugs and spiders, and 1 drapt it and drapt it quick, and I didnt care to smoke just then, Xone o em didnt notice my capers, ana so i just set still and wondered what ailed things, and directly 1 begin to look at the old oman^as she fairly made the knitting needles fly, and I hadnt looked moren er minu till the thread that run up from the ual] on her la.p turned to a. long black shake, and before I knowed it I slapped at it, and into the fl.ro it went, and the old oman dodged and [trapped her sp_ecks and in the scuffle f stepped on em and broke ern; that ;?01 her ire up and sue begun to quarrel erDout tne lose ofher thread and specks, and she kept me pretty warm tor a little while; but directly she broke out in er laugh and lowed that she was wrong- for getting mud with me for she ougnt Ho be Rlad to see me in IT humor to cut a few pranks, lor I hadnt cut none since the conscript business had got so not 1 wa.s playing off at that time wii- the rheumatics, and my back to keep em from getting me. I thought Id Detter go to sleep, and so I got up and hobbled over to the bed anj laid (Town, and f hadnt moren got still good till er great i)ig black cat lit upon the bed by me and begin to strike at my eyes with its paws. I hauled back with my right hand and struck with all my might at the cat and took all the skin often my knuckles ergin the wall. I lit up from tnere, ana the old oinan lowed:
" Billie, what in the name of goodness are you doing. "I didnt say er word, but dressed and took er chair and went on the prch and hadnt moren set down good till here come er black yearling bull that we kept in the yard and made for me right up on the porch with all his might. He come er bulging, and thinks. I to myself, darn you, Ill swallow you, and as he come I grabbed him by the ears and opened my mouth and down he went. It didnt take me fls. long to swallow that yearling as it does to tell it. But there was a terrible scrambling erround on the porch be twixt me and the chair and the Iloor, and I hadnt moren got the bull down till the whole family were out there an.3 the old Oman had me by the collar er shaking me and the gals were trembling, for they lowed I was going crazy. The old oman thought it was ernother scheme I w7as getting up on the conscript officers, and she shook me pretty lively ana ,lowed for me to let em into the secret if it was one of my schemes. I didnt say er word, but I felt of myself and chugged myself with my thumb and I was certain that 1 felt the calf in me, and so f walked in to the glass and looked at myself to see how I looked. Arter Id stood before the glass er minit I turned to the old oman and axed her if she seed any difference in my size. She said she didnt, and

112
then I ups and tells her that I had swallowed the yearling then she lowed:
" Look er here, Brown (she always calls me Brown when she means business*), you neednt think were going: to give you erway to the conscript officers, ana I dont want ni foolishness. If you are going to play the crazy dodge, say so, so the gals wont git scared.
"I didnt sny er word, tut went over to go to sleep ergm, n.nU as 1 iset down on the side of the bed and pulled off one boot. I seed three or four little soldiers with heads as big as pumkins dance into the back door, and I shuffled my toot at em and out they went, but as 1 raised my foot to pull oil the other boot cr whole company of the little devils came pranc ing in with guns on their shoulders, and I seed they were trying to surround me, and so I ups with one of my boots anfl let drive at em, and broke the looking glass all to flinders.
"Thats tile last I knowed for three weeks, lor the ou oman riz with a piece of Quilting frame and like to have broke every bone in my body, and when I got over the beatins she give me I was well of the delirium tremmens."
"I dont mind drinking a little onc:e in uwnile," said .fiunkettt as Brown closed, "but I would.t sell it nor make it, tor that brings bad luck and terrible sorrow, sooner or later."
Two Preachers.
"Dr. Tomie," said Plunketl, as he scratched his head ana seated, himself.
"It was along in Ihe fifties," continued the old man, when he had settled well back in his rocker "it was along in fifty-three or four when i overseed for old man Lee, and it was norated around the settlement that there was to oe n man from a theological seminary to preach at old Friendship meeting house, and it was lowed as how he was a, great scholar and was a great man at Ihe college for a long time, and that he was just coming over to Georgia for a rest, ana would visit the Presbyterian settlements and preach ana takeup small donations just to pay expenses ana get ac quainted, like. He came and preached, and they passes around the hat, and ho went home with old man i^ee at night.
"Dr. Tomie, as we called him, visited around among tne Kjiendship meeting- house folks, and they all said that lie was an uncommonly larnt man, and so the .Presbyterians .ever in Cowreta county heard of him and sent him an invite to visit their settlement, and he clecided to ^o, and notning would do old man Lee but that 1 must go with him aria bring the mule back that he was to ride.
"1 saddled two of the mules one for him and one tor me and we wer,. to jro over in the fork ot Line creek and flint . i-. er to stay all night so as to have an easy ride the nexi day.
"When the doctor came out to get on the rnule I larnt at once that he had never had anything to do with mules, and he spoke up and said that he had never been on a horse? back in his life. I didnt fay a word, but thinks i to my self:" Old Kit will get some of that starch outen you fore this trip is ended or my names not Plunkett.
"Kit was one of those mules that could whirl ana kick => cha\v of tobacco outen your mouth tore you could wink. I seed she wasnt ergwine to stand no foolishness, so I grab bed her by the bits and jerked her a time or two and cussed her a fd lines, low so low that the doctor couldnt hear m*.

i3
"Kit stood till the doctor got up on the blocK and went to throw his right leg over to mount in the saddle, when she give a snort and a jump, and the doctor hit the ground as solid as a rock.
"Id heard a good deal erbout what the Presbyterians called the doctors dignity, and that he was never known to relax^ but I can tell you that when the doctor found himselt on the ground ermong old Kits legs, he got up and he got P mighty quick, and there warnt no scraping and bowing and pulling- oft his hat in the matter.
"I seed there was no use trying to get the doctor on any more mules, so I hitched up a wagon and we started tnac way.
"We crossed over Flint river into the tork about an hour by sun, and as the doctor was kinder complaining, we stop ped at the first house, which, at that time, was old Bagwell Blakes. Old Blake was a good liver, had plenty, and liked company as well as any man. that ever lived. He was glad to see us, he said, and asked us to go in and make our selves at home while he attended to the stock.
"Pretty soon arter wed took our seats by the iire, old Blake come in from the lot and he lowed:
" The old oman and the children are shut up in the loom room, and Ill let em know youve all come, so as to get your names in the pot whats the strangers name, Plunketti"
" Mr. Blake, let me introduce you r>r. Tomie, said 1, and the doctor arose and bowed and scraped erround, in his dig nified way, when old Blake grabbed his hand with a hearty shake and lowed:
" Well, doctor. Im glad to see you, for the old omans been ailing fur some time, and Ive been thinking of physicking her, but it was so tarnal far to the doctors that weve put it off till shes mighty nigh got on the lift,
"The doctor turned red in the, face, and cleared up his throat and scraped1 erround, but before he could say a word old Blake was off to the loom room, and in a minit more he come in ergin with the old oman and nine childre-n right arter him, and he lowed:
" Old oman, this is a doctor, and Ill be dadshamed if you mustnt be zamined and get enough medicine to last a whole year, for Im tired of hearing you grunt erround.
"The doctor riz from his chair and begin to bow and clear his throat to say something, but before he could get a word out the nine children made a rush for the door, and in st&pped old Parson Smith, the Methodist circuit rider.
"Parson Smith was a different man from Dr. Tomie. He knowed better how to get about in the fork. and it warnt moren a minit till he had his right shoe off and warmin. hi* foot at the fire. Arter ha had warmed a minit and trimmed the nail on his right big toe, he settled back with the two smallest children in his lap and the balance flanging around him, and then he lowed:
" Suffer little children to come unto me. "Parson Smith was long and lank, wearing a wooden peg for his left leg- and was at home among the Methodists In the fork. "Dr. Tomie was short, straight and stiff, and was not at home anywhere without it was among the books at his sem inary. "The doctor sat there, and I think he was grieving, for he looked out at the window and said something about the beautiful trees that stood in the front yard. "Parson Smith lowed Yes. "This peemed to cheer the doctor, for he went on to talk, ing with a lot of highfalutin words and nobody said a word

till he mentioned something about the ruins of Pompeii, when eld Blake seemed, to understand, and he "lowed:
" I dont wonder at anything- being ruined if anybody named Pompy had( a hand in it. I had a nigger named Pompy that was so mean that I had to sell him for half price, and I was mighty glad to get that.
"The doctor turned red and begin to clear his throat, but he couldnt say a word, and things were quiet till supper tepfitig Parson Smith and the children.
"A little after dark the house begin to fill with young sters. \Ve all knowtd it was a surprise party but the doc tor, and he didnt know what it was nor what it meant.
"The young men went to pulling the beds down and mov ing- out lill they had everything outen the room -but the chairs, and they were placed around next to the wall, and the young folks formed a ring in the middle of the room and went to playing snap out.
"A great big, gauky fellow snapped his finger at Mary Harg and here they went, round and round, one after the other, the same as a race at the fair, till Marys shoes begin to get slick and as she made a quick curve around by the doc tor" her feet slid from under her the same as if she had er bin on ice. She got tangled up with the doctor as she, went down, and they both hit the floor together. The young fel low couldnt stop in time, and he stumbled over tho doctors legs and come down sprawling across the two. There was scrambling. Talk about, the don-tors dignity he relaxed and got about as peart us a boy in a yaller jackets nest.
"Things was straightened out after awhile and the doctor took his chair and went over in the corner behind the par son, and, the parson slapped his hands under his wooden leg, and -brought it up to a charge bayonet sort o way, and told the" youngsters to cut your pat chin, but if you run agin this leg] youll get snagged, and they didnt.
"It rained so that night that there was no getting out of the fork ihe next morning, so nothing would do but what everybody must go a driving for a deer.
"They placed a good double-barreled shotgun in the doc tors hand and placed him at a stand.
"Pretty soon could be heard the music of the hounds on a hot trail. Nearer and nearer they drew toward the doctors stand, until pretty soon here came the deer right for the doctor, and the hounds behind opening at every leap.
"As the deer nearcd the doctor, and just as everyone was expecting him to shoot, he threw the gun to the ground and clapped his hand and sang:
" Hallelujah, hallelujah! Oh, the old ship of Zion, halle lujah!
"And the deer was past and gone. "Parson Smith walked up to the. doctor, and when he found out what and who he was he took him by the hand and was after wards as tender with, him as with a flower. "In after yearsi the doctor came among us again it was after^old Sherman had run him out of the library and burnt up his towr. He had grown old, but was the same old stiff bundle of dignity. I walked with him through the grave

yard at the church, and when he come to a tombstone that had on it:
PARSON SMITH, Born 1788 Died 1853. A Faithful Minister and a Friend
To the Poor.
the doctor stood for a moment, wiped a tear from his eye an<5 wrote wiih his pencil upon the tomb:
" Xo poets pen, n.or towering shaft, Could point a nobler epitaph. 1 "The doctor turned and walked away., and I have never heard of him from that day to this. "Old Blake has long since passed away, and was never reconciled about the difference in a D.D. and an M.D."
Pranks at Old-Time Weddings.
"As soon as a young couple get married these days they think nothing- will do but that they must skin all erround the country on the carp." said Plunkett, as he knocked the ashes out of his pipe and laid it on the shelf.
"Yes," ventured Brown, "and theyd better take the money that they spend this way and lay it up, for the day is moren apt to come when they will wish they had. it."
"Thats the truth." spoke up Plunketts old "oman. "Yes," said. Brown, becoming animated, "moneys mighty necessary in married life, and it has a heap to do with the amount of pet names and hugs and kisses that a fellow gets. 1 notice that its papa this and papa tother when Ive just fetched money home, and its mother this and. mother tother when moneys scarce in my pockets." "A family of girls like youve raised need cr heap of money to- buy ribbons a.nd sich like. 1 remarked Mrs. Plunkett, "and my old man thinks, be has a hard time, but I tell him he dont know nothing erbout bother." "I tell you," said Brown, "children are mighty sweet, but theres a ding gone sight of draw back to have a whole reg iment of them like Ive got. Theres heap of human nature in them as soon as they get big enough to run and meet you when they see yoij coming. Ive watched mine, and its yon der comes papa, yonder comes papa, and here they come with beaming faces, breaking- their necks to be trie first to give me a hug and a kiss but the very next rninit ,t will ber Papa, give me a nickel, and when they find I haint g-ot none, the under lip will kinder drop down on their chin and theyll as good as say, You d n old fool, you d n old fool, and oft theyll put to swinging on their mammys i-kirts, and, the old man dont get much notice any more that night." Plunkett had sat quietly by and listened to Brown and

n6

his wife, but without taking notice of their remarks, he re

sumed:

"It used to be different in a great many ways to what il is now, when the youngsters got married. Thar warnt no

taking of these here tours as they call it, and there warnt

no going to the meeting house to make a show of finery, tout

the big pot was hung to the pot rack in. the kitchen of the

brides father, and there was cooking of cakes and pies and sich, like for a week before the weddin, and then the whole

settlement gathered without any writ invite and eat, drank

and made "There

merry. wasnt

no

rushing

to

the

railroad

and

taking

a

train and going- off among strangers to spend the first days

of married life, but there was frolic and fun and joking and teasing that made it amount to something when we did have

a weddin. "If. you were to try to carry out some of the customary

doings of the weddins of them days youd have a pistol drawed on you in or minit, and moren apt somebody would

get shot." " Youre right, ventured Brown. "For instance," said Plunkett, without giving Brown as

much as a look, "beds didnt have slats, like they do now. Beds were corded them days, and Ive knowed the settle

ment youngsters to cut the cords of the bridal bed in sach

a way that the young married couple would hit the floor cobump the first time ary one of em turned over to lay on the

other side if they warnt mighty careful how they turned, and

Ive knowed em to gather up all the sheep bells and cow bells in the settlement and slip into the room and tie em er-

hout the bed of the young married couple, and if a fellow wiggle his big toe some of the bells would tap; but it was

alT right. "Pranks of this kind were common them times, and the
girls and boys and ihe old and young enjoyed and aided in

the sport, and nobody never thought of getting mad, but it made a couple lay uncomfortably still all niglit.

"There was another custom them days that has gone out

of fashion that was universal in them times, and there was hut one way to escape, and that was to promise to buy the

peach brandy for the boys the first time you met at the crosa

road?.

"This was putting of the bride and groom to bed the night

of the marriage. The young girls would take the bride and

fix her snugly in bed and then they would leave her to lay and listen to the beats of her own heart till the young men

would begin to scuffle with the groom and take him in. This

was a tryin time, but I never knowed it to hurt the bride

nor groom, and I never knowed a fuss to grow out of it. One of these since-the-war youngsters would have a pistol

out in a minit ana the gals of these times would call it ter

rible, but I can tell you the gals of them days was jest as

pure as they are now, and they thought nofhin of it its all in the fashion.

"I got out of this putting to bed business," said Plunkett,

as he cut his eye at his old oman and the smiles played

among the wrinkles on his face. "I agreed to buy two gallons

of peach brandy the next day, and they let me off."

"Qut I had my trials that first night," continued the old man, as he winked at his wife. "The young wimmen had put

the bride to bed and went out of the room, and pretty soon I

went in to where she wap. She was mighty skittish, and as

frisky as a kildee. I always have thought that my old oman,

when she was a young gal, could move around and bounce about pearter tha.n any other female I ever seed.

"Bu-t thats neither here nor there," continued the old man,

after a pause. "I was in the room with the bride, and it was foolish to think crbout settin up all night, so I g-ot ready and tiptoed, up to the bed and there she lay, snug down in the feathers, and if she was breathing I couldnt see it, and my heart went to beatin the same as er horse with the thumps, and the clock er tickin sounded like sledge ham mers on the anvil, so quiet wag everything. Mary lay thar and IhtTe was, not a muscle that moved, but pretty s:>oti I heard her swallow like. 1 know shed been holdin har breath, and she stood it as long as she could, but in lien I hea"rdMhaeryr?swallow I kinder cleared up ray throat and lowed:
"Thar warnt no answer, but I heard her swallow ergin, andthen I said in a whisper like, as 1 leaned kinder over the" beMda:ry?
"Thar warnt no answer still, but I heard her swallow, and then I leaned over as far as 1 could, with my legs pressingtti gin the railin of the bed, and standing kinder on my tiptoeSj and then I lowed:
" Mary just then my feet slipped, back and I stumbled, the old bed screaked and Mary give one of her quick flounces and hit the floor covip.
"F" bounced over and picked her up, and from that minit to this she has never been skittish of me, and we look back )iow through all the years and think what fools we were/
A Plank Road and Toll Gates and a Sliding Rock.
"This is the old Mclntosh road," said Plunkett, as Brown pulled the team to the right and we rolled along in a wide, straight stretch of road.
"Thar*~s not many, many folks living now that remembers this oldi road as the Mclntosh road, but that is what it was called many years ergo.
"Old Mclntosh was an Indian chief, and his tribe occu pied country south of here; the Indian springs, in Lpson county, was included in their territory, and when they were treated with to give up the section they occupied, they started out and cut a road through the untraveled forest to the other side of the Chattahoochee, and it was the first road of a.ny kind through this section and went by the name of McIntoshs. road, and by that name it was known for many year?; but "the country has been settled up since then, and this road and that road and. tolher road has been built, and land lots have been laid off and fences run till its only now and then that you get to see any of the old original roads; but, see, its straight and wide wider than other roads, and, straight as an arrow. I like the old Mclntosh road because there haint so many turns and twists to it, and, besides, it stirs up the memories of long ergo, and while these may call for a tear for the fate of the brave and generous Creeks and Cherokees who blazed the trees by the setting sun to guide their journey westward, yet, there is ana will ever be in each life that runs as long1 as mine a gladness mixed, with sorrow in being reminded of the days long left behind."
"Youre right," ventured Brown, as he give the off mule a slap with the wagon line."
"Thar. now," said Plunkett, "see over across there see the srnoke, see them high church steeples thats Griffin.
"I can remember when the fellow that the town took its

name from stood upon a white oak stump at the corner of New Orleans and Broadway streets, and with a plat in his hand, made a speech, and sold, the lots, that were then in forest trees, to build the town upon. They were just fixing to build the railroad then that is known as the Central now."
"That makes, me think how sharp yankees are," said Brown, "that plank road from Griffin to Flint river."
"Yes. they built er plank road right er\vay from the town out to Flat Shoals, on Flint river," resumed Plunkett.
"That road would be a curious thing these days," con
tinued "the old man, "but it goes to show what a road will do for a country. Some yankees got er charter rrom the legislature, and they went to work and graded a road, nearly the same as er railroad, eighteen miles out toward the river, and laid down plank and put up toll gates erbout every six mile.? apart, and if you traveled on it you had to pay so much just like crossing one of these toll bridges and it wusni
long till the country erlong this road began to come out, and its been flourishing and has kept crhead of any other part of Georgia often the railroads from that day to this, although the to!] gates have been abandoned and the planks have been gpne for forty years. The road is still good, though, from be ing graded so well, and the Georgia farmers have profited one lime from the venture of enterprising yankees, and. besides, it stands as a verification of the old saying that good roads help a country.
"You dont have to go out of Georgia to find things that seems strange to this young generation. Old man Belhune had er nigger that they called Blind Tom. and the world made er big fuss over him because he could play on one of these here, piir.os; but old man Blanton used to have er nig ger that traveled over this plank road that Ive told yoa erbout that was just as strange as Blind Tom. and there haint never been no fuss made over him.
" Old Nenl, that was the niggers name, driv er six-mule team for old man Blanton for years, and there was1 not er nigger in Georgia that could tame er young mule quicker than Neal. He took er delight in breaking the wildest mule:* he could get er hold of, and, rnoren that, there was not a nigger in Georgia that would tackle him in ev fight, ana he had. neither hands nor legs,"
"He was er regular fiog," ventured Brown. "Yes, he was just like er frog," assented Plunkett, "but he answered every purpose in driving and handling mules aj any other nigger. "Neal had no hands, such as we call hands. His arms run down to a, point and he had no legs at all, ceptlng some lit tle gristle things erbout seven or eight inches long that looked more like the wings of bats than they did like legs.
"But he had er body equal to any nigger, and things that he could do by putting them two arms together like unto tongues, was strange, and Id be called er liar by this youn^ generation if 1 were to tell erbout it. but I can say that ho could grab them bridle reins between his teeth and take er whin...between them tong--ijke arms and frail thunder outsn
any mul 3 that didnt do to s.uit him. He traveled like er frog, and he could take er rock and throw nearly as strong as a youngcannon and as true to aim as er rifle, and thats the reason the niggers warnt anxious to tackle him. Old .Neal was a wonderful monstrosity.
"Over there, though." said the old man, pointing with his finger across the fields, "is a curious thing in the way of a rock. It is called the Indian Sliding Rock, and when I see pictures of these toboggans, as they call em, It makes me smileT for it brings to mind the times Ive seen sliding on this rock. "The r-jck was some seventy or eighty feet wide,

and run down like a hill for two hundred yards as smooth as gla-s and slicker than ice. The Indians had it cut up into streets or alleys, and erlong on the sides of these trenches they had holes pecked erbout as big and a little deeper than a cup. These holes were smoothly polished, and they were used as a kind of brake. A fellow could let his hands hang on each side and drag through these holes, and it regulated his speed.
"You didnt have no sleighs on them rocks like they have on these here toboggans; they undressed like going in er washing, and then went over and set down very cautious like on the rocks where the water wus running, and no sooner than you was d.own and turned erloose of the little cup places and kinder twitched your muscles, than zip, youd go clown the incline, over the rock and dumped into a pool of water fixed at the bottom some two or three hundred yards distant.
"The Indians used, to have a time on these rocks. The young Indian bucks would take their sweethearts and go to these rocks erlong in July and August, and theyd spend the day slide racing down and floundering; in the. pool at the fcot. For years the Indians old and young, male and fe male had line times sliding here, and there was no harm growed outen it, and there was not so much as a fiK leaf worn by. either sex; hut no sooner than the Indians were crowded out and the town boys from Griffin begin to take their places on the sliding rocks, trouble begun. A town boy is hard to beat when it comes to meanness, and it wasnt long till they would break up glass on the rocks and then hide in the bushes to see a fellow tear the skin often himself as he went sliding- over it.
"The little springs that furnished the water to run over these rocks and made em slick, have passed away, ugly holes have been blasted, in the rock to get stones for building pur poses^ and if the town boys could have been controlled in their devilment we couldnt have no sliding now like we used to have, for the rock is dry and the cruel hand of progress has brtijs.ed it and felled the trees that sheltered the back from the rays of the summers sun; and, things haint lik*they uster was, nohow."
A Woman 'Who Succeeded on a Farm.
"Thats the best fixed farm in this section," said Plunkett, as he pointed to the right of the road where lay fields of clover and Bermuda grass.
"The widow Johnston lives there," continued the old man, pointing to the residence, "and the^e yankee wimmin who have got pensions ever since the war, and thought they had a haxcl time at that, ought to come down here and see this woman and hear her struggles and take a view of the crown ing glory of her success.
"Henry Johnston, her husband, lost both his arms at Gettysburg, and when the war was over they found them selves as flat as could be in the way of anything to live upon. Henry was always a Jolly fellow, and was always in for having fun, if he didnt have no arms; so one day when his wife and children were lugging up wood from the woods, Henry thought he would make his wife laugh by suggesting to her to fix him up with sacks like the pack mules hed seed in the army and take him and load him up and let him tote the wood for her. Henrys wife didrit take, it as no joke, but her face brightened up. and it was no sooner said than she

was in for it to work

it, on

and she Henrys

got a big five-bushel meal shoulders, and the whole

bag and fixed family put oft

to the woods. The wife soon seed that Henry was too light-

hearted for folks in their fix, for nothing would do but what

he_, must run and snort erround and paw to do as much like

a hozse as it was possible for a man to do, and they couldnt

do a line

thing with him until to. drive him with, and

they then

fixed they

a bridle and had a time

got a going

plow down

to the woods, for he run away with em three or four times,

but at last they got there, and tied him to a sappling and

gathered, up bark and lightwood knots till they grot a load for

a horse, and thus it was that great hardships were taken, off

the mother and children from that day on.

"But this warnt all. Henrys wife had been so hopeless of

eyer making anything on the farm without a critter to plow

with that Henrys horse actions inspired her, and nothing

would do but what they must try and tend a little ground-

she to in for

do the plowing and him to toe tho horse. anything that looked like devilment, and

Henry was it wasnt no

time till a light plowstock was fixed up and harness to ril

over Henrys shoulders, and it took a half er day to break

the fool, but he it. and humored

would hum,

have but

his pranks, before the

and day

his wife knowed was over, even

Henry got serious, for he seed that his wife was in earnest

and he was strong, and they turned over more dirt with thai

on plow than ten men could have spaded or dug up, and the

work of making a little crop with daddy as the horse was en

tered into with joy by the children and all seriousness by the

parents.

"You know that it was late in the year when the war

was ended, but them folks made enough money to run em

the next year, and to buy er chunk of a made the money to pay for that mule

mule. would

The way they sound curious

these days. Henry and the children went deserted camp of a yankee brigade, rumaging

over to erround

an to

old find

old crackers and shattered corn, for eating was mighty

scarce, and they seed a barrel with er whole lot of Irish po-

tato jjeelings in it, where the yankee cook had throwed em,

and they no sooner Went home and told the mother erbout it

than she ups and fixes Henrys sack upon his shoulders and

starts em back to get the peelings. They got em, and fixed

up ground, broke the peelings up with two or three eyes to

a piece, and from their labor they gathered ninety-six bush

els of Irish" potatoes, sold em for a good price, paid for the

mule and bought a cow with the money.

"The gathering of their crop was a regular Christmas

frolic, j:or by this time Henry and his wife had: got erhold. of

two old wheels and fixed it up for hauling, and then they

bought a yearling, and Henry Hitched in on one end of the yoke

and the

it was hard to bull; hut the

tell which crop was

was the biggest devil Henry or housed, and from tnen till now

that .family has been on the upgrade, and when I hear these

youngstr mouthing erround erbout farming being a failure

I always think of that woman and her nonarmed husband.

"It would do you good to talk to that woman and hear

her tell of her struggles after Henry died, for he took pneu

monia and died before the second planting time. The first

thing she done was to git rid of every dog (she had three)

and in twelve

their places she fed months she had plenty

three pigs, and at the end of of good meat and lard that had

been produced by just what the dogs would have eaten. She

got some good agricultural papers by selling eggs and chick

er.s, and tried to do as near like they said as she could, and

and at the end of the first year she had made mighty nigh as

much ergin asi any man in the settlement. Old man Dixon

heard of her and rid clear up here from Hancock county to

see ncr, and when he went back he sent her some sweeps

121
and other sorts of plows and seeds of grasses and cotton, and she handled em so well that money come In, and now shes got gals that can play on these pianos and boys that any mammy or daddy ought to be proud of.
""Thats her spring house down there; the water runs outen that little "bluff, and shes got It fixed so as to spread over a big flat rock, and on this rock she sets jars of milk and cans of butter, and you dont need no ice with it the hottest day in August. She never buys a thing in town in the way of hoe or ax handles, nor collars for horses, nor plowstocks cepting the two-horse plows. She cuts down little pine poles and skins em and lets em dry for hoe handles, and she says they are so much better than any hoe handle that the yankees make that she has er notion of shipping some up north; she gets the timber outen her woods for ax handles and plowstocks, and when she needs these things she just takes the amount of money that she would have to spend in town for the article and changes it from one pocket to the other buying from herself, as it were, and the money saved in this way she spends for books and papers on farming and stock raising and dairying, and thus she is always erhead of any thing in the settlement, and it dont really cost her a cent. Shes a flne old widow now, well preserved, and as spry as any of these young girls that trip erlong In high-heel shoes and1 a great hump behind."

Little Ben Burrow.

"Little Ben, thats what he was called," said .Plunkett, as

he settled back in his rocker and continued his story: "He was brought up in troublous times. He had watcnea

his mamma struggle and grieve. He had seed the soldiers

tear down the fences and burn the rails that fenced the farm

and strip the barn of the last ear of corn, and the smoke

house of all the meat and trample the growing crops under

their feet, and the last horse upon the place was hitched to

an army wagon and, driv off before his eyes, and the milk

cows had been killed and fed away to the soldiers, while his

mamma and little sister were almost starving. Such as tnis

had left traces of melancholy upon little Bens face, and he

moved erbout with his ears and seldom raised

daddys his eyes

old hat to look

pulled down over his above its broad brim,

and people said he was an old youngster got old before his

day.

"Little Ben had sawed him some wheels from often a

blackgum log, and made him a little wagon, and he had i

yearling that he had broke to drive, and this little pet was all

hut was left In the way of stock to a once prosperous coun

try home. li n and his little steer were companions in these

troublous days, and Ben took pains .to never let the soldiers

see him, and the family were posted to be on the watch and

give the alarm when soldiers were coming, and the boy and

calf would go skeltering to some place 06 concealment.

"One day Ben and the yearling were too late, and a tall

yankee seed "em as they passed over the hill at the back oT

the lot. The two yankees raised a yell and took after Ben

and his calf, and when he refused to halt at their com

mand, they raised their g\ms and fired, and the yearling drow

ned and the boy stumbled over him. and as he hit the sround

the tall yankee lowed:

" That settled em both!

"The yankees moved on to where Ben and his calf were

laying, and before they had taken ten steps the boy scram

bled, to his feet and was pulling at the plow line to get tila

122
calf up, but the calf was dead, and when little Ben seed it he fell down by it, and when the yankees come up the little fellow was crying like his heart would break, and the yankees stopped and watched him er minit. and then the tall fellow lowed:
" Im sorry we clone this. " Me, too, spoke up the other. " Well pay the boy what hes worth, said the tall fel low. Then it was that little Ben spoke for the first time, and told em he didiot want no pay. and begged em not to skin his calf, but tn let him have it and bury it. " -Theyve done took all we had, said little Ben betweer. his sobs, and this was my pet thats what makes me cry. Wont you let me bury him? " Yes, said the tall yankee. We are sorry we. done this: we will let you bury him and help you, too, and then he put his hand? under Bens arms and. raised him up and brush ed the dirt often his jacket. "It didnt take Ben long, with _tjie help of the yankees, to bury his yearling, and after it was over, he brushed the tears away, and the shado\v of melancholy settled on his face as he jerked his hat down on his head and walked with the soldiers to their horses. "The yankees mounted and started off in a lope, and. ju.it as they spurred into the big road a squad of confederates comeup over the. hill and they raised a yell and started after them, and when they refused to halt the confederates raised their guns and fired and both yankees fell to the ground. " Weve got em both! said a tall confederate, as he brush ed by little Ben up. to where the yankees had, fallen. "Little Ben followed on after the soldiers and he seed th fall confederate drop on, his knees beside the tall yankee am? felt of his pulse, and when he seed that the fellow was dead. he turned white, staggered back ergin a stump and ex claimed :
" My brother." "Little Ben helped to bury the yankees, and when it was over he stepped back and lowed: " Who would er thought it? "Things change mighty fast in war times.," Brown ven tured to remark. "Yes," wild Plunkett. "the very next day arter that little Ben went over to the millers house, to get a. little meal, ana as he passed erling the road he seed the tall confederate ly ing under a persimmon tree, cold in death. Arter the squad of confederate? had left him the day before they run up with a squad of vankee scouts, and the tall confederate lost his life Little Ben got the old miller and they went and buried the tall fellow." "Things are very changeful in war times." again spoke up BTown. "Yes." answered Plunkett, "when little Ben seed he could get no meal at the millers he started on to go over to the other side of Atlanta to see his granddadda and let him know what a fix they were in. As he went along a fine looking yan kee officer came dashing up tile road and passed, by with only a. cut of his sharp eye at little Ben. The little fellow brushed the broad brim of his old hat back and watched the dashi/ig fellow with feelings of envy, and when the officer got outen sight Ben fell down on a little moss-covered place to rest and ho dropped off in a doze to be awakened Dy tn firing of cannon and muskets. He-had only sat listening to the roar and rattle of the guns for a few minutes when he seed four men file outen the woods into the big road with a fellow on a litter, and when he looked at him sharp he seed

723
it was the dashing officer that had passed him a short time before, and. he had heard a soldier say it was General McPherson, andi from thaL minil the shadow of melancholy passed from Bens face and hes said ever since t-hat a fellow dont know what is beat for him."
"Changes come mighty pert," said Brown with a nod or his head and a wink of his eye.
"Yes," agreed Plunkett, "after the war they built a mon ument on the spot where" this officer fell, and the last time they had this dedicating of the soldiers1 graves up at Atlanta. I was there, ancli my friends driy me out to see McPherson monument, and when we got to it the children of General Gordon and his neighbors children were there hanging wreaths of flowers erbout on it. 1 didnt say much, but as w> clriv into Atlanta, and 1 looked upon the pretty country home of General Gordon I couldnt help from reflect ing that the confederate general could set in his front porch and view the ground that had swallowed UP the blood of the dashing yankee."
Reverence for Courts in Old Times.
"Tliars er heap of this mobbing of folks these days," said Plunkett, as he chunked the fire and laid his pipe in the corner.
"They will tell you that it is brought erbout by the slow process, and uncertainty of courts in bringing criminals, to justice. They blame the courts. This is kinder like the yankees blaming Jeff Davis for us having a Southern Confed eracy. The courts are run in conformity with this young generations idea of progress, and a fellow that would start out to run to fill any offices of the courts on a platform that would revolute things back to the old way wotiid haye the pint madie ergin him of being an old fogy and superstitious and sich like, and he wouldnt got er dozen votes in er county. The officers of the courts, are only to. blame in proportion to their influence as citizens in holding up these progressive notions.
"Court week use to be next to camp meeting times. Every fellow put on his best Joans suit and went to the county seat and when they entered court it was with a reverential feeling like untp^that of going into a pla.ce of worship. What would this young generation think of opening court by calling upon the Lord to save the state and honorable court. Theyd call it old fogy, and yet it used to be that the court was never called to order or dismissed but what a. bailiff or a sheriff would announce from a window of the court room and call with a loud voice, Lord, save the state, and honorable court- This young generation havent got time nor disposition like that, and if the gr pat men who go to make up Georgias legislature were working by the job instead, of by the day 1 doubt if we would hear anything like er prayer in the open. inj? f th.eir sessions-.
"Besides this slowness of the courts might be put tne frequency in these days of horrible crimes, I never heard of 3. tramp in Georgia till since the war, and a white man who Vould have strolled up and down a country then as. they do these days, would have been looked upon as an abolitionist or some other kindi of a devil, and would have had mighty little chance to have done any devilment, for by the time hed crook his finger hed er been nabbed, for it was everybodys business to watch. The same thing should be now. Its everybodys business -to watch now, and if theres any mob-

I 24
bnigj to be done, ]et it be clone before the innocent people are murdered. This tramping business is; tinsouthern, and I wish the yankees would keep it on their own side, and if we wou.d go to work and have it understood that these tramps wertj always shadowed the frequency of these crimes; might cease and the occurrence of mob display done away with.
"This young general ion dont know nothing ernout pateroiiing. A pateroller was a terror to a strolling nigger, and when I hear "of these whitccap.s up north it makes me think of old pateroiiing d^iys, there wasn t no killing in them, though; they just whipped, but er nigger knowed he was watched, and there is more crimes committed by niggers in one day now than in five- years before the war. A nigger had to carry a passTthem days to show he was all right, andj think it would be a ,good thing to make cm carry recommendations or passes or something" these days, and the same should, apply to wnttp" trarnps. They tell me that up in Xew England and across the ocean that neither men nor wimin pretend to go ervound looking for work without an honorable discharge from ihcii1 former employers, and it is with the people to have the same
"Kimaway niggers were horrors to little school children, and timmed wimmin in the days of slavery, and there was a.3wavs more or less of them in the woods, but it was mighty thing here. seldom that these committed any heinous crimes, for helpless females were scared of em, and children were scared of em, and th . runaways knowed" every mans eye was skint and they were- afraid to be bold, and its my opinion that we will have to instil the same feelings of fear and caution and watchfulness into this since-the-war generation if this tramp ing and vagabondism is not put a stop to in some way.
"Speaking of runaway niggers, though," continued Flunkett, utter a pause, as a smile flitted across his face, "re minds me of the races we used to have in catching em. This young generation may talk erbout the fox hunt and the cun ning display and capacity for running by the red fox, but a fox aint nowhere to an old-fashioned runaway nigger. I Wave seen one nigger run for forty-eight hours on a stretch and a new pack o hounds, put on every three or four hours andi new horses for the men. and then not catch him. They practiced all the cunning o circles and doubling back, and besides they would take to the streams, and wade to tua rivers and swim, and then when the dogs got to pushing em too close they would stop erlong and leave little piles of snuff or beat tobacco in their tracks, and while the dogs would take up their time sneezing, the nigger had got erway off on some high place where he could see for a long distance every v.ay and s;it down and cross his legs and eat some chicksn what he would have erlong and smile bigger than any sincfrthe-war nigger that ever come under my notice.
"But," said the old man as a Serious expression gathered over his face, "we have got to get back to old times and sim ple faiths if we want to have good laws and executors of tne law. If all the theology of the world was a fraud and a snare, we could have better government by cultivating a reveren tial spirit in matters of grave imy>ort than by an open disre gard, of the standard1 give to use from the Bible. Open courts and close em too by calling on the f^ord, to save the state and the honorable court "
A Wife for an Hour.
"Im not much on love tales." said Plunkett, as he took his seat by the side of his "ole oman," as he calls her; "for 1 never had no foolishness, when 1 was a courtin, and 1 can prove that by the old oman herself."
"I warnt so easy got as youd make out," spoke up tne

"5 wife of Plunkett, as she run a knitting needle back ot her ear and laid the unfinished sock on her lap.
"Ill tell you." resumed the old man, as a smile played over his face, "she was kind o independent like in our courtln. days, and I begin to think once that she warnt gwine ter have me at all, and I got tired foolin with her, for there, was another girl in the settlement that I knowed would have me at the drop o a hat, and I had just about made up my mind that I warnt a givine to wear narry notber pair o shoes out running after sirls fore I got married, and so one Sunday as Iwftnt home with the old oman here from singin she seed 1 was 11 little braver than common before we got outen sight the meetin house, and she begin to kind o pout like, and 1 lowed, I did,, Now I want this thing settled.
"She didnt say nothin. and just walked along the roaa silent, and I seed the foot-log in front about two Hundred yards1 off, and 1 "thought to myself, Now, 's soons I git across that foot-log Ill make her pint the day, or Ill know the rea son why. When we got to the foot-los I took her hand: ter help her across, and I no sooner got a hold o her hand than all my brave feeling were gone, and I begin ter tell her about how much I thought o her, and I was jist s humble s a dog. She seed she had me, and pretty soon she jerked her hauu erway and begin ter pout agin, and walked alongs silent s a graveyard for about a quarter o a mile; but every once ana awhile I could see her cut her eye from under her bonnet at ihe. and I begin ter decide that she was kind o makin run o me, and I got braver than she had ever seed me up ter tnai time, and I lowed:
" Mary, you see yonder big! pine tree alongside o the road?
" Yes, Bob, said she. " Well, Mary, said I, if you dont say youll marry me fore we pass that tree Ill never fool with you agin. "ghe didnt say a word, and we walked along some lutle piece, and I was studyin all the time about somethin ter say ter her, but my throat chocked up and 1 couldnt say a wc;M till I ca.ught her smilin, and then I lowed:
If you dont want ter say nothin you can Jist give me your hand and I will take that as "yes," but if we pass that tree Im gone, and gone forever.
"She seed rivas in earnest, but she didnt let on, ami we walked along side by side till we got pretty close ter the tree, and thinks I ter myself, Im a goner, and I begin ter think erbout the other girl.
"We had gone erlong till we were in ten steps o the -Dig tree, and I had to give it up, when all o a sudden 1 seeo Mary pull her bonnet down and look the other way from me, and then I knowd I was a goner, for t warnt moren tflrep steps to the tree; but .list then she begin ter jab her nami out in front o me quick, and nervouslj holdin her bonnet over her face with 1he other hand,, and looking the othov way. I stopped, for I knowd what stie meant, and I tooK hold1 o that hand and I held it till she looked erround at me. andi then I pushed her bonnet back andi s she looked up at me I stopped and kissed her. Weve been married now goin 1 on fifty-three years, and I have never been sorry, and I hope she has not."
"You dont waste much time tellin me o your love these days, though," said the old lady as she took the knittingneedle from behind her ear and resumed her knitting.
"But what I was goin ter tell you about," saioJ.Jriunkett, without taking notice of his wifes remark, "was the oman that .you seed1 pass along the road awhile a~go.
"When the war broke out that was as pretty ana rosvcheeked a girl as you ever seed, and she had more larnln than any other girl in these parts. She was the daughter o

126
a fine old widow lady, and had four brothers. She was jist passing through her courtin days when Georgia seceded, and twas narrated around that she and John Wilmot was gwine ter be married poon.
"The war broke out, and the weddin day was put off two months, for John jined: one o the first companies chat went ter Virginia, and back ter the settlement, all dressed up in a fine gray uniform, ter bid us goodby.
"i seed that young girl when she sauntered off down ter the big gate so s she would not be before the crowd whtn she told John goodby. They both looked fine as they walk ed off down the road talkin, John leadin his, horse along. ~i watched em as they stopped and talked Jlsit before he mount ed to leave. It warnt long till I seed John on his horse lop- ing- up the road, and the girl Stood and watched him till he passed over the hill, and. then she come on hack ter Ntne house. She tried ter srTiile, but I could see the tears, and 1 thought it was, foolish ter cry, for the war would be over in sixty days, and then everything would be all right.
"Pretty soon her oldest brother took a notion "ter gc ter the war, and he went ter the same compny s John. There was a big fight, soon after he got there, and everybody gath ered at the postoftice ter hear from their friends.
"A letter came: for that girl; it was from her sweet heart. John was safe, but the brother had been killed. That was vhe first blow ot" the %var that fell upon the settlement. John brought the brother home to be buried, and his return m a, few days made the second parting, which was far more serious than the first.
"The young girl didnt try ter hide her tears this time; she .list lei the tears flow.
"Tears got tor be mighty common in the south. You could meet wimmen and childen in the big road any day, _cryin and wringin their hands, and, the grievln hasn i sto"pped * yet, *s is v* erified* by *that s*ad-fac*ed w*oman.*" "Well." resumed the old man after a. pause, "all that girls brothers went ter the war before it was over, and they were all killed. She begun ter fade, and her old mother passed, away under the grief. "The war kept on, and the only thing she had to give her comfort was a letter now and then from her sweetheart. John had never been hurt, and it was her hope that he would not be. "After awhile John got a furlough and come home, It was a sad meeting between the lovers, and it was a Joyful one, too. "In a few days I went over to see this young couple mar. riexJ. They had waited long enough for the war ter clos<=, and it looked like it W7as not going1 ter do it, so it was ar ranged, and the neighbors, gathered in ter the weddin. "There was no display at weddings them days. "The bride wore homespun that she had woved herself and the groom wore jeans. "The ceremony was performed and the crowd had jist got through shakin hands with the young couple and had sort o settled down, when in rushed an old nigger and lowed that the yankees were comin. The men had ter get away. The groom o an hour had ter flee and leave his bride or be taken a prisoner by old Shermans men. "This made the third and last parting. "John was cut off from his home and from his young wife. He made his way back to Virginia, and was killedi on the very da.y that he jined his command. "The Oman has never smiled from that day ter this, and people that do not know her, think that she is crabbed and mean; but its grief the fruit of a cruel war!"
THE END.