The Tree of AppomattoxAltsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
History
The Tree of Appomattox
Altsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Juvenile fiction
When his head became clear once more Harry believed that he had
wandered a long distance from that brief but fierce combat, but he did
not know in what direction his steps had taken him. Nearly all his
strength was gone, and his head ached fearfully. He had dropped his
rifle, but where he did not know nor care. He sat down on the ground
with his back against a tree, and put his right hand to his head. The
wound there had quit bleeding, clogged up with its own blood. He was
experienced enough to know that it was merely a flesh wound, and that
any possible scar would be hidden by his hair.
But the wound in his left shoulder was more serious. The bullet had
gone entirely through, for which he was glad, but the hurt was still
bleeding. He made shift to bandage it with strips torn from his
underclothing, and, after a long rest, he undertook to walk back to the
camp. He was not sure of the way, and after two or three hundred yards
he grew dizzy and sat down again. Then he shouted for help, but his
voice sounded so weak that he gave it up.
He was never sure, but he thought another period of unconsciousness
followed, because when he aroused himself the sun seemed to be much
farther down in the west. His head was still aching, though not quite
so badly as before, and he made a new effort to walk. He did not know
where he was going, but he must go somewhere. If he remained there in
the wilderness, and his comrades could not find him, he would die of
weakness and starvation. He shuddered. It would be the very irony of
fate that one who had gone through Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and all
the great battles in the East should be slain on his way home by a
roving guerrilla.
He rested again and summoned all his strength and courage, and he was
able to go several hundred yards farther. As he advanced the forest
seemed to thin and he was quite sure that he saw through it a valley
and open fields. The effect upon him was that of a great stimulant,
and he found increased strength. He tottered on, but stopped soon and
leaned against a tree. He dimly saw the valley, the fields, and a
distant roof, and then came something that gave him new strength. It
was a man's voice singing, a voice clear, powerful and wonderfully
mellow:
They bore him away when the day had fled,
And the storm was rolling high,
And they laid him down in his lonely bed
By the light of an angry sky.
The lightning flashed and the wild sea lashed
The shore with its foaming wave,
And the thunder passed on the rushing blast
As it howled o'er the rover's grave.
He knew that voice. He had heard it years ago, a century it seemed. It
was the voice of a friend, the voice of Sam Jarvis, the singer of the
mountains. He rushed forward, but overtaxing his strength, fell. He
pulled himself up by a bush and stood, trembling with weakness and
anxiety. Still came the voice, but the song had changed:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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