Gettysburg, Battle of, Gettysburg, Pa., 1863 -- Fiction; Pennsylvania -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Fiction; War stories
On Tuesday, Emmeline, sitting by the bedside of Bertha with her
patchwork in her hands, heard a thrilling sound--a bugle blast.
Forgetting Bertha, and dropping her patchwork and workbasket, she flew
to the window and stood entranced. Fate was again directing affairs in
Emmeline's way. A great body of soldiers was coming down the street.
They were all mounted soldiers--dusty, tanned, and weather-beaten,
but well clad and well fed. Above them floated a banner that Emmeline
knew,--stripes of crimson and of white, with white stars on a blue
ground, like the stars of heaven,--Emmeline's flag, Henry's flag.
For almost a minute Emmeline held herself in check; then
a black-slippered foot went over the window sill, and a
blue-and-white-pantaletted leg followed. Sitting on the sill, she
raised her voice in song.
"'Glory, glory, hallelujah!'" sang Emmeline, beginning with the chorus.
"'Glory, glory, hallelujah!'"
This time no one grasped Emmeline; there was no one near enough to
grasp her. The soldiers cheered her, and waved to her, and saluted her.
With her red cheeks, and her long braids, and her ruffled dress, she
was a quaint and lovely figure. After a long time her mother called to
her, and she clambered back into the room. The troops had passed, but
huzzas still filled the air. Out through the town the soldiers went,
and camped on Seminary Ridge.
To her keen disappointment Emmeline was not permitted to visit the
camp, but from her room that night she could see the camp-fires
glitter. It seemed to her that her heart would burst with excitement.
What would she see to-morrow? A battle?
But such good fortune could not last. When Emmeline opened her eyes the
next morning, she found her mother by her bed. Mrs. Willing looked as
if she had not slept.
"Get up, Emmeline," said she.
To Emmeline's dismay, she saw a little satchel in her mother's hand.
Emmeline's mind was quick.
"You are not--you are not going to send me _away_, mother!"
"You are to go out to grandfather's for a little visit."
"O _mother_!" wailed Emmeline.
"Yes, Emmeline. Get up and dress. Mrs. Schmidt is going to her
brother's, and you are to ride with her." Mrs. Willing was firm.
"Is there to be a battle?"
"We do not know." Mrs. Willing turned away.
"O mother!" wailed Emmeline a second time.
But no "O mother!" availed. Slowly, with a bitter heart, poor Emmeline
gloomily but obediently put on her striped dress.
CHAPTER II
EMMELINE AND THE SCHMIDTS TAKE A JOURNEY
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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