第25章

AfterhegotthroughhewentbacktoGrower,examinedhiswound,andtoldhimthathecouldonlyliveafewhours。Growerreceivedthenewstranquilly,hadtheDoctorwritealettertohiswife,andgavehimhisthingstosendher,andthengraspingtheDoctor\'shand,hesaid:

"Doctor,I\'vejustonemorefavortoask;willyougrantit？\'

"TheDoctorsaid,\'Certainly;whatisit？\'

"YousayIcan\'tlivebutafewhours？\'

"Yes;thatistrue。\'

"AndthatIwilllikelybeingreatpain！\'

"Iamsorrytosayso。\'

"Well,then,dogivememorphiaenoughtoputmetosleep,sothatIwillwakeuponlyinanotherworld。\'

"TheDoctordidso;ColonelGrowerthankedhim;wrunghishand,badehimgood—by,andwenttosleeptowakenomore。"

"Doyoubelieveinpresentimentsandsuperstitions？"saidanotheroftheFourteenth。TherewasFisherPray,OrderlySergeantofCompanyI。HecamefromWaterville,O。,wherehisfolksarenowliving。Thedaybeforewestartedouthehadapresentimentthatweweregoingintoafight,andthathewouldbekilled。Hecouldn\'tshakeitoff。HetoldtheLieutenant,andsomeoftheboysaboutit,andtheytriedtoridiculehimoutofit,butitwasnogood。Whenthesharpfiringbrokeoutinfrontsomeoftheboyssaid,\'Fisher,Idobelieveyouareright,\'andhenoddedhisheadmournfully。Whenwewerepilingknapsacksforthecharge,theLieutenant,whowasagreatfriendofFisher\'s,said:

"Fisher,youstayhereandguardtheknapsacks。\'

"Fisher\'sfaceblazedinaninstant。

"No,sir,\'saidhe;Inevershirkedafightyet,andIwon\'tbeginnow。\'

"Sohewentintothefight,andwaskilled,asheknewhewouldbe。Now,that\'swhatIcallnerve。"

"ThesamethingwastrueofSergeantArthurTarbox,ofCompanyA,"saidthenarrator;"hehadapresentiment,too;heknewhewasgoingtobekilled,ifhewentin,andhewasofferedanhonorablechancetostayout,buthewouldnottakeit,andwentinandwaskilled。"

"Well,westaidtherethenextday,buriedourdead,tookcareofourwounded,andgathereduptheplunderwehadtakenfromtheJohnnies。

Therestofthearmywentoff,\'hotblocks,\'afterHardeeandtherestofHood\'sarmy,whichitwashopedwouldbecaughtoutsideofentrenchments。

ButHoodhadtoomuchthestart,andgotintotheworksatLovejoy,aheadofourfellows。Thenightbeforeweheardseveralveryloudexplosionsuptothenorth。Weguessedwhatthatmeant,andsodidtheTwentiethCorps,whowerelyingbackattheChattahoochee,andthenextmorningtheGeneralcommanding——Slocum——sentoutareconnaissance。ItwasmetbytheMayorofAtlanta,whosaidthattheRebelshadblownuptheirstoresandretreated。TheTwentiethCorpsthencameinandtook\'possessionoftheCity,andthenextday——the3d——Shermancamein,andissuedanorderdeclaringthecampaignatanend,andthatwewouldrestawhileandrefit。

"WelaidaroundAtlantaagoodwhile,andthingsquieteddownsothatitseemedalmostlikepeace,afterthefourmonthsofcontinualfightingwehadgonethrough。Wehadbeenunderastrainsolongthatnowweboyswentintheotherdirection,andbecametoocareless,andthat\'showwegotpickedup。Wewentoutaboutfivemilesonenightafteralotofnicesmokedhamsthataniggertolduswerestoredinanoldcottonpress,andwhichweknewwouldbeenoughsightbettereatingforCompanyC,thanthecommissaryporkwehadlivedonsolong。Wefoundthecottonpress,andthehams,justastheniggertoldus,andwehitchedupateamtotakethemintocamp。Aswehadn\'tseenanyJohnnysignsanywhere,wesetourgunsdowntohelploadthemeat,andjustasweallcamestringingouttothewagonwithasmuchmeataswecouldcarry,acompanyofFerguson\'sCavalrypoppedoutofthewoodsaboutonehundredyardsinfrontofusandwereontopofusbeforewecouldsayIscat。Youseethey\'dheardofthemeat,too。"

CHAPTERLVII。

AFAIRSACRIFICE——THESTORYOFONEBOYWHOWILLINGLYGAVEHISYOUNGLIFE

FORHISCOUNTRY。

CharleyBarbourwasoneofthetruest—heartedandbest—likedofmyschool—boychumsandfriends。Forseveraltermswesattogetheronthesameuncompromisinglyuncomfortablebench,worriedoverthesameboy—

maddeningproblemsin"Ray\'sArithmetic—PartIII。,"learnedthesamejargonofmeaninglessrulesfrom"Greene\'sGrammar,"ponderedover"Mitchell\'sGeographyandAtlas,"andtriedinvaintounderstandwhyProvidencemadethesurfaceofoneStateobtrusivelypinkandanotherultramarineblue;trodslowlyandpainfullyovertheruggedroad"Bullion"pointsoutforbeginnersinLatin,andbegantobelieveweshouldhateourselvesandeverybodyelse,ifweweregottenupafterthemannershownby"Cutter\'sPhysiology。"Wewerecaughttogetherinthesamelongseriesofschool—boyscrapes——andwereusuallyferruledtogetherbythesamestrong—armedteacher。Wesharednearlyeverything——ourfunandwork;enjoymentandannoyance——allweregenerallymetedouttoustogether。Wereadfromthesamebooksthestoryofthewonderfulworldweweregoingtoseeinthatbrightfuture"whenweweremen;"wespentourSaturdaysandvacationsintheminiatureexplorationsoftherockyhillsandcaves,anddarkcedarwoodsaroundourhomes,togatherocularhelpstoabettercomprehensionofthatmagicallandwhichwewereconvincedbeganjustbeyondourhorizon,andhadinit,visibletotheeyeofhimwhotraveledthroughitsenchantedbreadth,allthat"Gulliver\'sFables,"the"ArabianNights,"andahundredbooksoftravelandadventuretoldof。

Weimaginedthattheonlydullandcommonplacespotonearthwasthatwherewelived。Everywhereelselifewasagrandspectaculardrama,fullofthrillingeffects。

Braveandhandsomeyoungmenwererescuingdistresseddamsels,beautifulastheywerewealthy;bloodypiratesandswarthymurdererswerebeingfoiledbyquaintspokenbackwoodsmen,whocarriedunerringrifles;

gallantbutblunderingIrishmen,speakingthemostdelightfulbrogue,andmakingthefunniestmistakes,weredailythwartingcoolanddeterminedvillains;boldtarswereencounteringfearfulseaperils;

lionheartedadventurerswerecowingandquellingwholetribesofbarbarians;magicianswerecastingspells,misershoardinggold,scientistsmakingastonishingdiscoveries,poorandunknownboysachievingwealthandfameatasinglebound,hiddenmysteriescomingtolight,andsotheworldwasgoingon,makingreamsofhistorywitheachdiurnalrevolution,andfurnishingboundlessmaterialforthemostdelightfulbooks。

AttheageofthirteenaperusalofthelivesofBenjaminFranklinandHoraceGreeleyprecipitatedmydeterminationtonolongerhesitateinlaunchingmysmallbarkuponthegreatocean。Iranawayfromhomeinatrulyromanticway,andplacedmyfootonwhatIexpectedtobethefirstroundoftheladderoffame,bybecoming"devilboy"inaprintingofficeinadistantlargeCity。Charley\'sattachmenttohismotherandhishomewastoostrongtopermithimtotakethisstep,andwepartedinsorrow,mitigatedonmysidebyroseatedreamsofthefuture。

Sixyearspassed。OnehotAugustmorningImetanoldacquaintanceattheCreek,inAndersonville。Hetoldmetocometherethenextmorning,afterroll—call,andhewouldtakemetoseesomepersonwhowasveryanxioustomeetme。Iwaspromptattherendezvous,andwassoonjoinedbytheotherparty。Hethreadedhiswayslowlyforoverhalfanhourthroughtheclosely—jumbledmassoftentsandburrows,andatlengthstoppedinfrontofablanket—tentinthenorthwesterncorner。Theoccupantroseandtookmyhand。ForaninstantIwaspuzzled;thentheclear,blueeyes,andwell—rememberedsmilerecalledtomemyold—timecomrade,CharleyBarbour。Hisstorywassoontold。HewasaSergeantinaWesternVirginiacavalryregiment——theFourth,Ithink。AtthetimeHunterwasmakinghisretreatfromtheValleyofVirginia,itwasdecidedtomisleadtheenemybysendingoutacourierwithfalsedispatchestobecaptured。Therewasacallforavolunteerforthisservice。Charleywasthefirsttooffer,withthatspiritofgenerousself—sacrificethatwasoneofhispleasantesttraitswhenaboy。Heknewwhathehadtoexpect。CapturemeantimprisonmentatAndersonville;ourmenhadnowaprettyclearunderstandingofwhatthiswas。Charleytookthedispatchesandrodeintotheenemy\'slines。Hewastaken,andthefalseinformationproducedthedesiredeffect。OnhiswaytoAndersonvillehewasstrippedofallhisclothingbuthisshirtandpantaloons,andturnedintotheStockadeinthiscondition。WhenIsawhimhehadbeeninaweekormore。Hetoldhisstoryquietly——almostdiffidently——notseemingawarethathehaddonemorethanhissimpleduty。Ilefthimwiththepromiseandexpectationofreturningthenextday,butwhenIattemptedtofindhimagain,Iwaslostinthemazeoftentsandburrows。Ihadforgottentoaskthenumberofhisdetachment,andafterspendingseveraldaysinhuntingforhim,Iwasforcedtogivethesearchup。Heknewaslittleofmywhereabouts,andthoughwewereallthetimewithinseventeenhundredfeetofeachother,neitherwenorourcommonacquaintancecouldeve

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