Blue Birds' Winter Nest

by Lillian Elizabeth Roy

  CHAPTER IX

  HOW THE YANKEES TOOK POSSESSION

  "I think the rest of this story is the most interesting of all,"murmured Aunt Selina, as she permitted her memory to roam in years longgone.

  The children waited patiently for Aunt Selina to begin and, after ashort moment, she sat up erect, looking fearfully out over the lawn, andspoke hurriedly.

  "Right there before our very eyes we saw the Yankee regiment tear downthe lane and swerve toward the road just taken by the Southern boys.They were still to be seen making for the woods just over the slope ofthe hill toward Nashville.

  "We heard the captain shout, 'Halt! Aim! Fire!' and, as a volley rangout, many of the ladies on the piazza screamed or fainted, while Rebeccaand I stood petrified at the result of that happy dinner.

  "Almost at the same time the Yankees fired there came the rattle ofmusketry from the woods which the boys had reached.

  "From the veranda I saw several of the Yankees' horses leap up and twoof them rolled over on the ground. One man threw up his hands, fell overon his horse's neck, and dropped his gun. The horse, frightened, startedgalloping directly toward the house. Tim, who was coming down the sidesteps, ran forward and caught hold of the bridle. Mr. Crudup and some ofhis friends lifted the young soldier from the saddle and carefullycarried him up the piazza steps, and placed him on the floor.

  "While much of my attention was distracted by this incident, the companyof Yankees spurred their horses on toward the patch of woods where theSoutherners were hidden.

  "The firing continued for half an hour, while everyone at the housewaited, fearing the worst and hoping against hope that their boys hadgotten away to Nashville.

  "Rebecca's two brothers, cousins and old friends were all in thathandful of men, and naturally those gathered at the house would waituntil the outcome of the skirmish could be known.

  "They had not long to wait, for, just as twilight deepened into night,the negroes came in with the report that all of the boys had beencaptured and were being taken as prisoners to the old school-house. Inanother half-hour the officers rode up to the door, followed byorderlies and an ambulance corps bringing in the wounded. Slaves weredispatched here and there for hot water, bandages, beds, bedding andmedicine. We all hastened to prepare a place for those who needed ourcare and attention so sorely.

  "As the wounded were carried up the steps and past the neighbors, whostood by watching for their own, Rebecca's mother saw her youngest boylying unconscious with his face white as death and his hair matted withblood that oozed from a wound in his neck. She almost fainted, butRebecca held her firm, saying, 'Mother, now is the time to brace up andtake care of Newell that he may soon recover.'

  "Of the Yankees, one was killed outright and five badly wounded, whilethe Southern boys sustained more serious injuries. Two were killed andnine wounded. The house was immediately turned into a hospital, bothsides receiving the same attention.

  "The officers were very considerate but insisted upon having theirrights observed. When it was found that some foraging parties were inthe neighborhood, the captain sent an orderly to say that the CrudupPlantation was well supplied. The Yankees, receiving the message, rodeover, took what was needed, food, cattle and horses, and went away.

  "Mr. Crudup spared his family the harrowing details of the raid, butlooked upon it as the fortune of war and thanked heaven that so much ofhis property was safely buried.

  "When the store-rooms, linen-presses, blanket-trunks, and cellars werefound almost empty, the officer in charged looked surprised and wonderedaloud.

  "'Most unusual to find so large an establishment short of all supplies,and a retinue of servants to feed, to say nothing of the droves ofneighbors always coming in for supper.'

  "Mr. Crudup overheard the soliloquy and replied courteously.

  "'Sir, do not forget that your company is not the first to stop hereand demand my hospitality. Naturally, we would lavish our all upon ourown men, you know.'

  "The officers were very polite and interesting young men, but Rebeccaand I had to go about the plantation very warily, for we never knew whenwe might be spied upon. Imp had to be cared for daily, so we foundplenty of amusement in eluding the Yankees.

  "The youngest of the officers was a handsome boy and it was not longbefore we became very friendly. When he learned that I was a Yankee andhow I happened to be South, he insisted upon my returning home at once,saying that the neighborhood about Nashville soon would be an impossibleplace to live.

  "When he found that my home was at Happy Hills he was greatly pleased.

  "'Why, I have called at your home many times; my sister and yours areschool friends.' He described his home and how his sister looked whenshe came to visit us, and I faintly recalled seeing him with the otherswho were some years my senior.

  "From that day he became the sworn ally of Rebecca and myself. Heunderstood there was a secret between us and often managed to screen uswhen we left the house to creep to the cavern to look after Imp.

  "The wounded were getting along beautifully, and nothing exciting hadoccurred for a fortnight. Foraging parties that stopped at the house andfound Yankees in possession moved on. It seemed more like a house-party.

  "But a change soon took place.

  "It was afterward learned that Ed Crudup escaped during the transfer ofthe prisoners from the school-house to the army; he found out from someof the Crudup slaves that the Yankees who shot his brother andimprisoned himself were holding the premises until further orders fromHeadquarters. So he raised a small company at Nashville and drilled themfor a few days, planning to surprise the men at the house and take themprisoners.

  "One day, while some of the Yankees were out foraging, Ed and his mencame upon them suddenly and a skirmish ensued.

  "Ed was shot down and so was our young officer who was in command of theforagers that day. The others fought like madmen, hand to hand, untilthe men at the house, hearing the shots, ran out to their assistance.

  "The Southerners, outnumbered, took flight, but were pursued andcaptured.

  "The two men, Ed and Vernon, lay still as death in the tall grass, andno one missed them at the time of the pursuit.

  "Tim, however, on his way to water Imp, found his young master shotthrough the heart, and the young Yankee unconscious. In his faithfulloyalty to the family, he decided to make a prisoner of the Yankee, sohe dragged Vernon over to the waterfall, carried him through the spray,and laid him down on the mattress in the cave. The cold water which hadfallen upon Vernon's face had partially revived him, and he moaned as ifin pain.

  "Tim lighted the lantern and examined him. He found a clean bullet holein his chest, but very little bleeding. He decided the best thing to dowould be to notify the master. So, after attending to Imp, he crept outof the cave and went over to the remains of the young master. He managedto carry him until he met some of the slaves, then had them improvise astretcher to carry the body to the house.

  "There was great sorrow in the household, and his death changed theattitude of the Crudups toward the Yankee officers.

  "When it was found that young Vernon was missing, with no trace of himanywhere, it was thought that he had been taken captive by a few of theConfederates who got away. Rebecca and I felt dreadfully lonesome afterour friend was missing, and I wished, for the first time since I cameSouth, that I could go home.

  "Then one morning, Rebecca and I decided to go through the hole in thelive-oak tree and crawl to the cave to see Imp. We had not dared tovisit him for some days, as a Yankee sentry was stationed in the woodsby the waterfall.

  "Rebecca hid a small lantern under her cloak and we strolledunconcernedly down the lane toward the dell. We looked carefully aboutto make sure no spies were watching, and in another minute both of usdisappeared. We groped along until we reached the opening into the caveand as we crawled out near Imp's bed, he greeted us with a joyfulwhinny. Rebecca ran over and placed her hand over his mouth, so she didnot see the apparition that stared at me from the ma
ttress. Had I heldthe lantern I would have dropped it. As it was, I almost dropped myself,so frightened was I.

  "I clutched Rebecca's arm and she turned about to see what ailed me. Ina second she recognized Vernon and ran over with the lantern. As hecould not tell us how he came there, but confided that Tim and Mr.Crudup came daily to attend to him, we learned that they knew of hiswhereabouts. Rebecca snapped her teeth close and her eyes blazed at thethought of her father keeping this man a prisoner in such a suffocatingplace.

  "While we were there, Tim and Mr. Crudup crept through the tunnel andfound us talking to the sick man.

  "'Becky, better leave this business to us,' suggested Mr. Crudup.

  "'Father, how could you keep this man in such a place?' cried Rebecca,unguardedly.

  "'Ssh!' warned Tim, apprehensively.

  "Mr. Crudup told Rebecca how Tim had carried Vernon here to squareaccounts for Ed's death; how he had shown Tim the folly of the deed,and that being done, it had to be made the best of, or disclose thesecret of the cave. Tim was so repentant that he agreed to remain in thecave and nurse the prisoner.

  "After our discovery, Rebecca spent several hours with Vernon each dayreading or talking to him, while Imp began to show his fondness forVernon in every way a horse can.

  "Matters at the house became troublesome, for the larder was empty, andthere was no way to get at the great store-rooms dug out of the groundwithout letting the Yankees into the secret.

  "Tim had been very meek since he found the serious blunder he had madewith Vernon, and he was eager to make amends in any way.

  "From the time that Tim heard of the threatened famine he was seldomseen about the place. Now and then, one of the family would meet himcoming from the basement with his face and hands smeared with black, buthe never confided in anyone as to his work or whereabouts, and being anaged favored man, Mr. Crudup never questioned him.

  "One morning the cook entered the room where the family was gatheredand announced: 'There ain't no aigs fer brekfus.'

  "'Have plain ham or bacon,' suggested Mrs. Crudup.

  "'De ham an' bacon done all et up, too,' said cook.

  "Mrs. Crudup looked deeply concerned, but said: 'Then we'll have justcoffee and muffins.'

  "'Done used all de flour yistiddy--not a smitch lef'.'

  "Here, indeed, was a quandary! Nothing to eat!

  "This was Tim's opportunity.

  "He came in, bowed with old hat in his hand, and turned to the cook withthe request, 'You please 'scuse yo-se'f fum de room whiles I conflab widde missus?'

  "Cook tossed her head and went out, followed by everyone except Mr. andMrs. Crudup.

  "Tim turned his hat about in his hands for a time and then looked upsmilingly and said: 'I done squared myself wid you all fer makin' datblunner 'bout the Yank. I done gone and dug a tunnel fru fum de coalcellah to the fust storehouse on de fiel'. I fixed a doh to the cellaran' heah's de key to de padlock.'

  "'You what!' exclaimed Mr. Crudup, in amazement.

  "'Yas'm, das whad I did!' said Tim.

  "Mr. Crudup threw back his head and laughed while he slapped Tim on theback and said, 'Tim, it will take more than a company of Yankees tostarve us out while you are about!'

  "But Mrs. Crudup took Tim's hand and thanked him with tears in her eyes.

  "The supply question was easily solved after that. No one but Tim knewwhere the tunnel was, for Mr. Crudup never allowed anyone to be aboutwhen the old servant started his daily trip to the undergroundstore-rooms. Oftentimes, the officers expressed their wonder as to howSouthern cooks could manage the way they did, with so little on hand tocook with. If they suspected the truth they never hinted at it.

  "The secret of Vernon's prison had been kept, and several weeks afterthe fight that disabled him, his company was ordered to join the mainarmy. The moment the place was entirely freed from the Yankees, Mr.Crudup ordered one of the guest-rooms prepared, and, to the surprise ofMrs. Crudup, told her he had a prisoner to bring in. That night Vernonwas blindfolded, placed upon a stretcher, and taken to the house.

  "As soon as he could sit up and come down upon the veranda, we wonderedwhat to do with him. He was our prisoner but we had no use for him.Everyone liked him and disliked sending him to the dirty barrack-jail inNashville.

  "Suddenly Rebecca was inspired with a brilliant plan.

  "When the Yankee officers left the place they took the convalescentprisoners with them. Now Rebecca suggested that negotiations be startedto exchange Vernon for Newell.

  "Mr. Crudup immediately sent Tim to Nashville to see if this could bedone, and friends there promised to attend to it without delay.Consequently, in a few days, a number of soldiers from Nashville rode tothe Crudup house and carried away the prisoner, giving Mrs. Crudup theslip of paper that stated that Newell's freedom would be granted uponthe return of Vernon.

  "We all felt sorry about losing Vernon, but he promised to visit me atHappy Hills when the war was over."

  Aunt Selina stopped and the children began plying questions.

  "Aunt Selina, what became of Imp?" asked Dot.

  "We kept him in the cave for a few days more, and then, one morning, thenegroes all turned green with fear when they saw Rebecca riding Imp downthe road from the paddock, for they believed Imp to have been taken withthe other horses, and were sure that this was a ghost of the real Imp."And Aunt Selina laughed as she recalled Rebecca's mad ride down the laneand the high wall Imp vaulted before he stopped stock still in front ofthe quaking, superstitious slaves.

  "Did Newell come back home?" asked Betty, whose sympathy was all for themother who lost one boy and then had the other one taken prisoner.

  "We received word of his transfer from the Yankee army to his own. Hewent into active service again and fought all through the rest of thewar. He won many honors for bravery before the Confederate Army wasdisbanded."

  "Do you know what became of him afterwards?" asked Don, interested insuch a fighter.

  "He married and settled out West upon a large ranch. Now and thenRebecca's daughter has a letter from him, giving news of his children orthe grandchildren."

  "Oh, then, Rebecca married too. Did you know who it was?" asked severalcurious voices.

  "Yes," smiled Aunt Selina. "She married the very beau she had selectedfor me."

  "I am so anxious to know if that fine old house is still there and if wecould find the cave and underground store-rooms if we ever went there?"asked Norma.

  "No, dear; the beautiful old mansion was entirely destroyed by firestarted from a shell during the time the battle line closed aboutNashville. I was not there at the time, but Rebecca wrote and told me ofthe dreadful scenes. Almost every family for miles about was lefthomeless and destitute. The Pines, Rebecca's home, stood as long as anyand sheltered every homeless Southerner round about."

  "I guess Rebecca liked to remember that, didn't she?" said Ruth.

  "Yes, indeed, Fluff."

  "Aunt Selina, you didn't tell us what became of Imp and Rebecca thatday she rode up to the house," reminded Ned.

  "Rebecca laughed at the servants' fear and rode Imp over to the steps ofthe piazza. We stood watching her as she jumped off and led Imp right upto the rail. 'Lady,' said she to me, 'this horse just told me that hewas going North on a little visit. As there is no one here but you whocan take him there, I believe he intends taking you home.' AlthoughRebecca's eyes filled with tears and her voice trembled, we all laughedand made a great fuss over Imp.

  "Later, she confided to me that she had entrusted Vernon with therequest to secure a passport for Selina Talmage and her horse, Imp,going home to Happy Hills, Pennsylvania. The passport came that day in aletter for Rebecca explaining how I was to go and to whom I was toentrust myself. A note for me was inclosed in the letter, and I read itwith a smile. Vernon said he would demand payment for the favor given meas soon as he reached Happy Hills. Rebecca teased me about that note andsaid that she knew what the favor would be, for Vernon was in love withme. I pooh-poohed the
suggestion but felt very glad to pack my clothesfor home. In a few days word came that I was to ride to a certain townwhere an escort would meet me and conduct me to the nearest railroad.And so Imp and I went home."

  "And now tell us, Aunt Selina, did Vernon come home and ask that favor?"wondered Norma, interested in a love-story.

  "Oh, yes! He had leave of absence for several months to fully recoverfrom the wound that had partially punctured a lung. He used to ride overto Happy Hills every day, and I tell you we missed him when he returnedto his regiment."

  "Where is he now, Aunt Selina?" asked Ruth.

  "Gone--his name is carved on the monument at Washington for bravery inthe Battle of Bull Run," whispered Aunt Selina.

  "Oh, oh, Aunt Selina! Is _he_ the same one you told me about lastspring?" gasped Ruth.

  Aunt Selina dabbed her tear-moistened eyes and tried to smile as shesaid, "The same, Honey."

  "What's that--tell us, Aunt Selina; we never heard about it," criedseveral children.

  "Well, Vernon came back North about a year after his leave of absenceexpired with important letters for a general in Philadelphia. Afterdelivering the letters he was to have two days' leave in which to gohome and see his folks. He rode over to our house one evening and askedmy father and mother if he might pay court to me when the war was over.My parents were delighted, for they knew him and liked him. Vernon and Iwalked out to the very summer house that Ruth was in when she thought ofthe farm plan, and there he told me what he had said to my parents. Hewould not bind me, for he said he might never come back. But I said itwould make no difference to me--if he never returned I would wait justthe same. We exchanged rings--one which had been given me for mybirthday and one he had received on his twenty-first birthday. When heleft that night mother gave him a paper, but I never knew what was in ituntil later. When news of his bravery and death came home, the lettercontained a ring and a small daguerreotype picture of me. Then mothersaid he had asked for it the night he went away."

  "Oh, Aunt Selina, how lovely of you!" cried several little girls asthey crowded about the old lady and hugged her.

  "Rebecca did not return to school again, but as soon as the war was overwe wrote and invited Mr. and Mrs. Crudup to bring Rebecca North to visitus. The elders were too heart-sore to come to a country they blamed forall their losses, but Rebecca came and stayed a long time."