United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Juvenile fiction
In the package Tom found bread and chicken. At first he revolted at the
odor of food, then his appetite awoke and he wanted to wolf it down. But he
ate slowly, making his way toward the wood as Marjorie had said. He stopped
beside the stream, where he could watch for her.
Soon he caught a glimpse of her white dress, and he called. She hurried
toward him.
"I read all about it in the Atlanta paper," she said. "You were in the
railroad raid, weren't you?"
"Yes."
"I knew.... Oh, you're all wet. What happened to you? Oh, Tom!"
"Wet?" he said. "I've been wet for so long I've forgotten about it. You sit
down there where you can see if anyone is coming." He pointed to a log.
"I'll lie here and rest." He wrapped his cape about him, and stretched out
on the ground. "I didn't want to come here, Marjorie, for fear I'd get you
into trouble, but I was starved into it. Will you forgive me?"
[Illustration: "I didn't want to come here, Marjorie, for fear I'd get you
into trouble."]
"Oh, I'm glad you came. I've been worrying ever since you left. I didn't
know what you were going to do, and I was afraid you'd be caught. Then the
news of the raid and the stolen engine came. I knew that you were one of
the men. Uncle didn't guess it until yesterday when he read about it in the
Atlanta paper. Tell me about it--please!"
"What did your uncle say? How did he guess that I was one of them?"
"The paper said that some of the men were captured, and that they told the
story about coming from Kentucky. When Uncle read that, he ... he...."
"What did he do?"
"He swore terribly," answered Marjorie. "Aunty sent me from the room. But
tell me about it. Oh, what's the matter, Tom?"
He had risen on his elbows, then fallen back on the ground. "Nothing," he
said. "I'm dizzy, that's all. Every once in a while it strikes me. Wait a
second, and I'll be all right."
She knelt beside him and touched his forehead. "You're feverish," she said.
"Oh, Tom ... I ... can't I do anything?"
"Feverish!" exclaimed Tom. "I'm so cold that I can't move. I'm frozen!" His
teeth were chattering, and he commenced to shiver. "I'll be all right in a
minute. Guess I'd better get up." He arose, then sat down abruptly on the
log, for his legs felt too weak to support him. "I'm sorry, Marjorie," he
said. "I'm pretty tired."
She watched him, too alarmed to speak. She exclaimed: "But you are
feverish, Tom. Oh, I didn't know. I might have seen that you were sick...."
The rest of her words were lost in the great buzzing noise which filled his
head. Everything turned black before him--black filled with a thousand
shooting colors; then the world gave a vicious lurch which toppled him
over. He awoke, flat on the ground, with Marjorie leaning above him, crying
and dabbing his forehead with a wet handkerchief.
"Fainted!" he mumbled disgustedly. "Fool to faint!" He closed his eyes
again to rid himself of dizziness. "Big baby! Sorry, Marjorie."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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