Show by copyright 1903 david lowry AalT PT att 5 r by dald lowry PEAS HE widow lacy loyed sweet peas and it la of her great bank her monster wall of pas I 1 aw now as the locusts sons awella grows falot rises again antron gera then suddenly ceases just po it rose on eliat july morning when the earth trembled under the tread of the armed hosts that marched tow a id get tys burg there was a time when the neglected her flowers when on her porch with her sewing or unnoticed her hands lulng in her lap while he seemed to be gazing at nothing unless it yaa the line where the earth and sky pet in tha west the broad road crowed the hills there perhaps she was thinking ot her eon jack who was away somewhere bhe never knew exactly where jack vas in arching with the hosts that swelled the ranks of the union armalea but one day the widow received a letter tha t brought tears and brightness to her ace again jack was promoted it the money he wrote it was the honor he wag tha youngest captain in his division but above everything else it was the certainty that he would obtain a few days furlough it it was only tor one day he would hasten home to her set widow resumed lit again where it had apparently snapped off when jack in arched away everything and grew apace in her garden hy flowers were the envy ot all her but her awe et peael they were the marvel of all who passed that way in height and beauty they surpassed all that eyes had ever witnessed j it was archie hay an old flame odthe w ho said one day dashed it I 1 ever fee anything like them vines mr lacy must bo an uncommon groin th youve got weiyi B man coming along tie lana back there cant bee your houge ull he gets baag up against it id given nu I 1 wa 1 l hajj for fighting in mexico jural to get behind i screen ahat at wh it d mask battery nicety 1 f twenty od tle eri herlot her lot the tweet gewn stretched ae travelers on the great thoroughfare diw a mafla a blaze of lovely variegate var legate d color the gensea told her they were as delicate those rowers M acet and as fragile as the bat that taa lain in har anni br allm nil then were recalled by the giver of all bounty she rejoiced now that jack had laughingly put the trellis higher aart than whenn stift locusts began to sing that year the ayr pulsed quicker with wars alarms the vast under grant man CHED AWAY NEVER TO B i aad in the anhock of battle BO olten ti callb drank mens blood so frealy blat the most embittered alck ened of ade slaughter were dratted more enlist edana 11 marched away never to return saye when pow and then rome TV ceck stumped through ar niah came ack etli f om gatti ernp strength to begin anew jk sharpened the apprehension the scented clerk lof in the city and stood shoulder with the raw and country boy soe tt aa about n month wo ni wt iv was stooping scissors in hand in front ot her sweet peas As she looked lovingly on the wall of green dashed alth allta spray ot unfolding buds and full blawn flowers a low rumble fell herit was like the rumble ot a dying the widow listened atte nUver yes the sky looked dull over there where the sound came from there was ft something that foretold a change hy tho time her tails and mantels were adorned with fresh flowers the rumbling sound was alre distinct and so regular and that the widow walked out and looker UP and down the valley the meaning of the sounds she heard dawned upon her the mighty armies had met in battee the thick eky was only tho dust made by countless feet ashmen marched in battle array the rumbling bound was the boom boom of cannon A strange hush tell over nature the cowa stood anxious eyed in the brook the chickens moved about uncertainly in a wary manner while the geese stood stupidly in the middle of the dusty road with uplifted heads long before noon the rumble of artillery was alie dust rose in clouds dull red pillars ascended slowly bulged and swayed reflecting the suns rays warped and tyl sted themselves then melted away A strange sound a muffled sound like the faint snapping of sticks was watt ed across the hultti groups of listeners gathered on th mou opposite the widows houe then a fringe the merest fringe of men appeared athe horizon fifteen minute s later a stream of wounded federals hipped through the village the villagers were beside themselves with fear when the adjutant of brigade a young man in a new uniform rode through the village ordering the inhabitants 0 o retire or be caught between two jutres the widow looked on composedly she refused to leav no arr gu ments no no inducements or threats affected hr resolve if the federals were coming perhaps she would see her son abo suns rays on Blant lna inus keta resolved themselves nto shafts of white alre as wave after wava of alen passed in undulating bullowa ati muffled tread in dust ankle deep the shan ol 01 bright buttons the glitter of scabbards cab bards the glare of bright bacel danced along innumerable wave 0 infantry and cavalry it seemed as if the poll stead lly rounding the hill would never end this coll this relent lw con waa in r i 1 1 I 1 l j J deed the leash the rapidly loosening leash that held triet dogs of war they were treed from the mighty strain imposed by long inactivity soon they would be at the throat the alre that tipped their guns leaping from alle to file would soon be dimmed by the awful glare of battle suddenly a flash spilt the air in line with the widows vision A shriek that rent the heavens startled her she stood on her feet two more flashes two awful shrieks followed by a crash that seemed to lift the house from its foundations succeeded so swiftly that the widow shut her eyes and then his presence was simultaneous with the fla man with angry eyes and a bearded ace out among the soldiers now rushing past in a trot they paid no attention to her they were looking forward every man there had his head well up their eyes were fixed on something distant the bursting shell high overhead solved the riddle they were in the durec alon of the cannon the widow cast one look at her house an am mense hole was torn in the gable the roof dawned yawned over the cavity a shell made in its murderous mission in terror the widow sped to her low spring house it was scarcely higher than her AN ADJUTANT RODE THE VILLAGE bake oven standing there she strove to regain her self command the clamor 0 battle filled the summer air infantry cavalry artillery swarmed over the open space back of the woods they occupied all the ground a vast blurred the elope and away below her a long thin line of faint blue stretched far beyond the village the line moved but it remained unbroken it passed fences swept through orchards crossed the run its movements reminded the widow of the ripple a strong breeze makes in growing grass the blue line seemed to bow gracefully here and there as grass dips and eltta its head again there was a faint shimmer in the blue ine As it came nearer it too paused near a road behind a fence then it was tipped with alre the sharp leot musketry was borne to the widows ears from that moment on the air was filled the widows ears were deafened with the merciless rain of lead and iron hall that poured steadily unceasingly all that afternoon upon the ranks of men swaying advancing and retreating as they contender over four miles of ground that drank their blood greedily out of the dimness and vagueness of confused masses in tangled lines wherever she looked the widow slowly discerned a stream of wagons returning with the federal founded they moved eflowly at arst so slow that the road became blocked then the cries and oaths of the buffering the awful groans and moan of the dying drove the widow into the farthest part of her spring house in an ecstasy of tear and horror but the imagination of a terror stricken woman Is greater than contemplation of actual suffering soon the widow emerged from tha spring house again aoda sunlight as it was gods beautiful earth blasted torn ruthlessly as it was by wicked men was a blessed relief from the sensations she experienced while socking refuge in the earth so standing there in the door of her spring hous with tha never ending chill of tear at her heart now the widow lacy looked and listened like one in a day dream more frightful than a nightmare she could hear and distinguish voices now as question and answer follower vague apprehensions of defeat communicated themselves to the throng of men gathered on the roadway near her house A single expression aroused her Battery B with strained ear she hung an th response that followed captain lacys battery will ba here in an hour our orders are to remain here and aupp ort him la lacy allUri the widow clinched her hands ob tor tha strength that crowd of men and horses lie was all minutes ago jack her wa alive suddenly a cannon shot fairly cut its way through the throng leaving a quivering mafla lying on the ground where sturdy brave men stood a moment before the widow yaa shading her ayea with her hands trying ta banish the horrible vision athen the earth trembled under the sound 0 horab hoots and a buttery slope like B whirlwind to be checked behind her bank of bleet jeaa an rode rapidly along the edg 0 the broad road the way wu now tr A clear what ex postulations and ins and threats had failed to accod was accomplished only too well t the shot that maimed and killed escort the distance was not great ane wl ow beheld her son while the horses pawed and the battery that had leaped up the hi behind the sweet peas as if aped SHE STUMBLED AND FELL by joye sent shell after sheu intosh very midst of the confederates but lone before the earth rocked un der th explosions of IS p th flynne feet carried her toward her eon A trall lne vine 0 waa it rein caught her toot and th stumbled and fell when she eat up and looked around her she was shielded by a buffo bowl der its gray face rose out of the emerald ereen award like a wall behind which she now cowered trembling quivering in every nerve the tops of distant hills were all crowned with batteries in alon as far as the eye could reah the woods were flecked with flashes they leaped from the haze of low lylak like lightning straight across great fields lone lines of men moved until h runs on the top ot the hills vomited fire then the lines wavered swayed and disappeared in the woods which they had einer fed they came out of the woods lines they cover again in rag ced disordered masses sometimes they came out asala torn apart and melted away hi a the battle raged all nd her A far as eye could see the flash and bound of bursting fjells met tha eye and emote athe ear gazing noy at the rain of that air shrinking to the rock in the ot that chaos ot terror dounda ir jila tory the widow stared aa one paw not who heard noti like aneito lynom all sounds were a the had ben anve mortal hours when a motoe of awn and horses emerged from a franto aj wood fast below her the guna abar the widows house belched alre ta mass 0 men and horses advanced steadily another and another ams came after them until the entire slope was covered an aro ot alre from ta batteries above them smote the seething surging waves of humanity men and animals dashed each other in wild dismay and the declining bun seen through a yell of smoke seemed to bans motionless in the west as the wavering mutilated lines ot assault faded away in a mist then a silence a grim silence as fear ful as the uproar of all the f sounds fell on the scene the was oppressive birds notes were hushed the shrilling of insects caad all the earth as as silent aa burned out plant 4 aa far as the eye could RC the widow looked on broken fences crushed wa oos horses lains in uncouth shapes j vague specks that looked alko brokel and twisted fence posts these last lay singly and in cropps far apart froan each other and at all angleo they COT ered the slopes whichever way eh looked she was now the hill where gettysburg lay when another eust of musketry swept up th slope another followed and yet another taint er belll something pattered onta bare rock the leaves of the tree near her trembled then the rain that cama to the thirst of the wounded and descended waa it the sweet relief from th steady roar the confusion the multiplicity of scenes and sound and from that allecca that soothed and calmed the widow or did nature send solace and blessed eleey with the balot at all event the widow elect when she awoke with a start th earth was she rose on th instant all her faculties sharpened there was no rain of iron or lead now t was gods merciful gift to man that and sweetened the slopes one more she experienc edno difficulty in kaaa ing the weary battle worn ff uarda they scarcely turned to look at the al lent figure flitting past them she turned a bend in the road ther not yards distant ha faw her house A dull gleam of dynof embira told her gome one was lying there it was battery D As the neared th house shadowy forma them elves into tired men buried in bleed bleep the embers into neglected camp alrea but where were her bleet beast great rents were cut through the alnas A half at least had been trodden into fh ground by mens and horses feet yea and there was a cap she picked it up and beheld the letter B now aha was belted with a horrible trembling she put a hand over her heart and on on through her ruined plots and alnea not a sound if waa heard but the gentle plash plash 0 he early rain i what it jack were lying here sleep ine men were huddled near the dead and dying alrea she moved cautiously now ther just behind a clump of alnea left standing yes merciful a human tonn lay there she ran toward it the fao the wet gram waa turned up j there waa no cry not a moan as she rained kisses upon the cold alpa the ayea and cheeks ot the dawl maa the lying behind her sweet peas ji found hey aoa f |