The Shades of the Wilderness: A Story of Lee's Great StandAltsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
History
The Shades of the Wilderness: A Story of Lee's Great Stand
Altsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Juvenile fiction
Harry and Dalton left their horses with an orderly and came back to the
edge of the great grove, in which the meeting was being held. They had
expected to find St. Clair and Happy Tom there, but not seeing them,
wandered on and finally drifted apart. Harry stood alone for a while
on the outskirts of the throng. They were all singing again, and the
mighty volume of sound rolled through the wood. It was not only a
singular, it was a majestic scene also to Harry. How like unto little
children young soldiers were! and how varied and perplexing were the
problems of human nature! They were singing with the utmost fervor of
Him who had preached continuously of peace, who was willing to turn one
cheek when the other was smitten, and because of their religious zeal
they would rush the very next day into battle, if need be, with
increased fire and zeal.
He saw a heavily built, powerful man on the outskirts, but some
distance away, singing in a deep rolling voice, but something vaguely
familiar in the figure drew his glance again. He looked long and well
and then began to edge quietly toward the singer, who was clothed in
the faded butternut uniform that so many of the Confederate soldiers
wore.
The fervor of the singer did not decrease, but Harry noticed that he
too was moving, moving slowly toward the eastern end of the grove, the
same direction that Harry was pursuing. Now he was sure. He would
have called out, but his voice would not have been heard above the vast
volume of sound. He might have pointed out the singer to others, but,
although he felt sure, he did not wish to be laughed at in case of
mistake. But strongest of all was the feeling that it had become a duel
between Shepard and himself.
He walked slowly on, keeping the man in view, but Shepard, although he
never ceased singing, moved away at about the same pace. Harry
inferred at once that Shepard had seen him and was taking precautions.
The temptation to cry out at the top of his voice that the most
dangerous of all spies was among them was almost irresistible, but it
would only create an uproar in which Shepard could escape easily,
leaving to him a load of ridicule.
He continued his singular pursuit. Shepard was about a hundred yards
away, and they had made half the circuit of this huge congregation.
Then the spy passed into a narrow belt of pines, and when Harry moved
forward to see him emerge on the other side he failed to reappear. He
hastened to the pines, which led some distance down a little gully, and
he was sure that Shepard had gone that way. He followed fast, but he
could discover no sign. He had vanished utterly, like thin smoke swept
away by a breeze.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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