The Drummer Boy Part 39

"George! O, George! I am here! Don't you see me?"

The dim eyes opened; but they saw not.

"Carry me up stairs! Let me die in the old room--our room, Frank."

It was evident his mind was wandering; he fancied himself once more at home, and wished to be laid in the little chamber where he used to sleep with Frank, as Frank had slept with Willie in later days.

"Kiss me, mother!" The ashen face smiled; then the light faded from it; and the lips, grown cold and numb, murmured softly, "It is growing dark--Good night!"

And he slept--the sleep of eternity.

When Frank rose up from the corpse he had mastered himself. Then Captain Edney saw, what none had noticed before, that blood was streaming down his arm--the same arm that had been grazed before; this time it had been shot through.

"You are wounded!"

"Yes--but not much. I must go--let me go and take care of At.w.a.ter!"

"But you need taking care of yourself!"--for he was deadly pale.

"No, sir--I--Abe, there----"

Even as the boy was speaking he grew dizzy and fell fainting in his captain's arms.

x.x.xII.

AFTER THE BATTLE.

It is over. The battle is ended, the victory won. The sun goes down upon conquerors and conquered, upon the living and the dead. And the evening comes, melancholy. The winds sigh in the pine-tops, the sullen waves dash upon the sh.o.r.e, the gloom of the cypresses lies dismal and dark on Roanoke Island.

Buildings suitable for the purpose, taken from the enemy, have been converted into hospitals, and the wounded are brought in.

There is Frank with his bandaged arm, and Ellis with his stump of a hand bound up, and others worse off than they. There is the surgeon of their regiment, active, skilful, kind. There, too, is Mr. Eggleston, the minister, proving his claim to that high t.i.tle, ministering in the truest sense to all who need him, holding to fevered lips the cup of medicine or soothing drink, and holding to fevered souls the still more precious drink.

There is Corporal Gray, a.s.sisting to arrange the hospital, and cheering his comrades with an account of the victory.

"The rebels ran like herds of deer after we got the battery. We tracked 'em by the traps they threw away. Guns, knapsacks, coats,--they flung off every thing, and skedaddled for dear life! We met an old negro woman, who told us where their camp was; but some of 'em had taken another direction, by a road that goes to the east side of the island. Our boys followed, and found 'em embarking in boats. We fired on 'em, and brought back two of their boats. In one we got Jennings Wise, of the Wise Legion, that we had the b.l.o.o.d.y fight with flanking the battery. He was wounded and dying.

"But our greatest haul was the camp the old negress pointed out The rebels rallied, and as we moved up, fired upon us, doing no damage. We returned the compliment, and dropped eight men. Then more running, of the same chivalrous sort, our boys after them; when out comes a flag of truce from the camp.

"'What terms will be granted us?' says the rebel officer.

"'No terms, but unconditional surrender,' says General Foster.

"'How long a time will be granted us to consider?'

"'Just time enough for you to go to your camp to convey the terms and return.'

"Off went the rebel. We waited fifteen minutes. Then we pushed on again.

That movement quickened their deliberations; and out came Colonel Shaw, the commander, and says to General Foster,--

"'I give up my sword, and surrender five thousand men!' For he didn't know some two thousand of his force had escaped. What we have got is about three thousand prisoners, and all their forts and quarters, which we call a pretty good bag."

The boys forgot their wounds, they forgot their dead and dying comrades, listening to this recital. But short-lived was the enthusiasm of one, at least. Scarce was Gray gone, when Frank saw four men with a stretcher, bringing upon it a grizzled, pallid old man.

"O, Mr. Sinjin! O, my dear, dear friend! You too!"

"Is it my boy?" said the veteran, with a wan smile. "Yes, I too! They have done for me, I fear."

"But n.o.body told me. How--where----" The boy's grief choked his voice.

"An impertinent cannon-ball interrupted my conversation with Mr.

Egglestone," said the old man, stifling his agony as the men removed him to a cot. "And took a--" he groaned in spite of himself--"a greedy mouthful out of my side--that's all."

Frank knew not what to say or what to do, he was so overcome.

"There, my boy," said the old man, to comfort him, "no tears for me! It is enough to see you again. They told me you were hurt--" looking at the lad's disabled arm. "I am glad it is no worse." And the wan veteran smiled content.

Frank, with his one hand, smoothed the pillow under the old gray head, struggling hard to keep back his sobs as he did so.

"Who is my neighbor there?" Mr. Sinjin cheerfully asked.

"At.w.a.ter," Frank managed to articulate.

"Is it? I am sorry! A bad wound?"

"The bullet went through a Bible he carried, then into his breast, beyond the reach of surgery, I am afraid," Mr. Egglestone answered for Frank.

"He lies in a stupor, just alive."

"Poor fellow!" said Mr. Sinjin, feelingly. "If Death must have one of us, let him for once be considerate, and take me. At.w.a.ter is young, just married,--he needs to live; but I--I am not of much account to any body, and can just as well be spared as not."

"O, no, O, no!" sobbed Frank; "I can't spare you! I can't let you die!"

"My boy," said the old man, deeply affected, "I would like to tarry a little longer in the world, if only for your sake. You have done so much for me--so much more than you can ever know! You have brought back to my old heart more of its youth and freshness than it had felt for years. I thank G.o.d for it. I thank you, my dear boy."

With these words still ringing in his ear, Frank was taken away by the thoughtful Mr. Egglestone and compelled to lie down.

"You must not agitate the old man, and you need repose yourself, Frank.

I fear the effects of all this excitement, together with that wound, on your slender const.i.tution."

"O, my wound is nothing!" Frank declared. "See that he and At.w.a.ter have every thing done for them--won't you, Mr. Egglestone?"

The minister promised, and Frank endeavored to settle his mind to rest.

But he could not sleep. Every five minutes he started up to inquire after his friends. Hour after hour pa.s.sed, and he still remained wakeful as a spirit doomed never to sleep again. His wounded arm pained him; and he had so many things to think of,--his suffering comrades, old Buckley shot out of the tree, his rebel brother, his folks at home, and all the whirling incidents and horrors of that dread day.