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قراءة كتاب The Young Sharpshooter at Antietam
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The Young Sharpshooter at Antietam
tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">The Carpet-Bag
ILLUSTRATIONS
| They were falling by Scores (page 303) | Frontispiece |
| "Dey say yo' hab Hawns" | 58 |
| Noel heard the Bullet as it whistled past | 152 |
| "Who's in there?" | 200 |
From drawings by George Avison
THE YOUNG SHARPSHOOTER AT ANTIETAM
CHAPTER I
THE IRISHMAN AND HIS PIG
"You're too noisy, Dennis."
"What's the harm?" replied Dennis O'Hara as he stopped a moment and looked all about him. "There are no Johnnies around here."
"You don't know whether there are or not," retorted Noel Curtis sharply, as he too glanced in either direction along the dusty road over which the two young soldiers were tramping that September day in 1862. Both were clad in the uniform of the Union army, and the manner in which they carried their rifles gave evidence of the fact that both young soldiers were well known in the army of General McClellan for their skill as sharpshooters.
"'Tis nothing I'm afraid of now," said Dennis gleefully, as he shifted from one shoulder to the other the body of a small pig which he had secured in his foraging expedition with his companions.
The day was one to stir the souls of both young men, who were thoroughly wearied by the routine of the camp life at Harper's Ferry, where they had been stationed with about eight thousand other Union soldiers. There was a haze in the distance that covered the summits of the hills and even the waters of the near-by stream seemed to be subdued as they rushed on their way to join the Potomac.
"'Tis a fine day," exclaimed Dennis; and at once he began to sing,—
Taken from porkers three
Thousand years old;
And hard-tack cut and dried
Long before Noah died,—
From what wars left aside
Ne'er can be told."
"What do you mean by 'S.B.'?" laughed Noel.
"Sometimes 'tis said to mean 'salt bacon,' and then again maybe 'tis 'salt beef,' and sometimes we call it 'soaked beans.' Whatever it is I have had my fill of it. Shure, Noel, me boy, it's you and I that will be feasting ourselves on some roast pork before to-morrow mornin'."
"Look at those pickaninnies!" exclaimed Noel, as he pointed to a little hut from which a stream of black-faced urchins appeared, who were rushing to join their companions in the road and watch the two approaching Union soldiers.
"Wait 'til I sing them a song, too," exclaimed Dennis; and once more he began to sing,—
De darkies stay, ho! ho!
It must be now dat de kingdom's comin'
And de year of Jubilo."
In addition to the crowd of dusky-faced children several older negroes now joined the group to watch the passing Union soldiers. The boys in blue were still such a novelty to many of the slaves that their appearance usually served to summon speedily a band of the admiring dusky spectators.
Dennis, unfamiliar with the colored people and their ways, had never ceased to express his dislike of them. Many a time in the camp when the soldier boys had wanted to have a little sport they would call upon Dennis to "cuss the niggers," by which term they described Dennis's oratorical efforts. Standing upon the head of a barrel, or mounting some box near the quarters of the sutler, with his ready tongue Dennis promptly poured forth a steady stream of almost meaningless words that were supposed to be descriptive of his feeling of antipathy toward the people for whose liberty he was fighting.
In the company of negroes at this time assembled to watch the passing of the