“Den young Marster ud take some o’ de dry gum in his fingers, kase it wouldn’t lay on de knife-blade, an’ when he’d make ’er shet ’er eyes he’d drap it in ’er mouf. Yes, suh, I kin ’member dat as plain as ef ’twas yesterday. “Well, when dey got de po’ droopy young man agin de tree, an’ yell at ’im to hold his haid up, all de big, strappin’ soldiers stand in front an’ de captain drilled um. All deir clothes looked so blue an’ deir buttons an shoulder straps flashed in de sun like a lookin’-glass in de light. Seem like I kin heer de same locust a-singin’ in de woods right now dat was singin’ den. De sky was blue, an’ wide open, des like Gawd Almighty done tore de clouds apart so Marse Eddie’s white soul could git away fum dat measly crowd o’ blood-thirsty cowards. I knowed I couldn’t do a thing to help ’im, an’ I tried to hold steady an’ take one las’ look at my young Marster, but I couldn’t see any plainer dan you kin thoo a frosty window. But when de captain say, ‘Raidy, take aim!’ I looked away. De guns all went off wid one crack, an’ when de smoke is ris’ a lill, I seed Marse Eddie settin’ on de groun’ agin de tree wid his haid down des fur de world like I seed ’im one day when he’d been watchin’ us cut wheat an’ got drowsy an’ fell asleep in de shade. “Dey tuck ’im off to bury ’im, an’ I went back to work; but I couldn’t do it jestice, an’ kept drappin’ de dishes an’ pans, I was so outdone thinkin’ ’bout de folks at home. Den de captain pass me an’ say: ‘Look heer, what you snifflin’ ’bout? Did you know dis young man?’ “An’ when I told ’im yesser, dat captain got mighty serious in de face an’ yell out to de rest um, ‘Why didn’t you-all had dis man testify?’ “But nobody wouldn’t answer. Den de captain set down nigh me an’ I could see his hands was tremblin’ powerful. He talked low like he was sorter ashamed. An’ he ax me: ‘Who is de young man? Whar do he live?’ “I told ’im Marse Eddie was my young Marster an’ at he was s’rounded in de mountains when he was tryin’ to git home on his furlough, wid his so’ arm, an’ sick an’ hungry. “Well, suh, I hain’t never had too much use fur Yankees, but dat one’s face cert’ney did look troubled. “‘Gawd furgive us,’ he say, dat’s what he said, ‘and we-all thought he was lyin’ to git free;’ an’ he most stagger as he walked off. Den I heer ’im order um not to bury Marse Eddie yit but to wait. Dey fixed ’im as nice as dey kin on a litter an’ put a new gray blanket on ’im an’ send ’im off to we-all’s place, kase I reckon dey lowed dey had done all de damage dey kin an’ thought it would be a kindness to old Miss to bury ’er own child.