第81章

messenger 'bout headquarters, but I'll come ter ye whenever I kin git a chance, an' keep ye posted."This was Friday night.All day Saturday, as long as the light lasted, Rachel stood at the window and watched with sinking heart the steady inflow of the Rebels from the north.That night she and Aunt Debby waited till midnight for Fortner, but he did not come.

All day Sunday she stood at her post, and watched the unabated pouring-in on the Nashville pike.Fortner did not come that night.She was downcast, but no shade disturbed the serenity of Aunt Debby's sweet hymning.So it was again on Monday and Tuesday.

The continually-swarming multitudes weighed down her spirits like a millstone.She seemed to be encompassed by millions of armed enemies.

They appeared more plentiful than the trees, or the rocks, or the leaves even.They filled the streets of the little town until it seemed impossible for another one to find standing room.Their cavalry blackened the faces of the long ranges of hills.Their artillery and wagons streamed along the roads in a never-ending train.Their camp-fires lighted up the country at night for miles, in all directions.

Just at dusk Tuesday night Fortner came in, and was warmly welcomed.

"There are such countless hosts of the Rebels," Rachel said to him after the first greetings were over, "that I quite despair of our men being able to do anything with them.It seems impossible that there can be gathered together anywhere else in the world as many men as they have.""I don't wonder ye think so, but ef ye'd been whar I wuz to-day ye'd think thet all the world wuz marchin' round in blue uniforms.

Over heah hit seems ez ef all the cedars on the hills hed suddintly turned inter Rebel soldiers.Three miles from heah the blue-coats are swarmin' thicker'n bees in a field o' buckwheat.""Three miles from here! Is our army within three miles of here?""Hit sartinly is, an' the Lord-awfullest crowd o' men an' guns an'

hosses thet ever tromped down the grass o' this ere airth.Why, hit jest dazed my eyes ter look at 'em.Come ter this other winder.

D' ye see thet furtherest line o' campfires, 'way on yander hill?

Well, them's Union.Ef ye could see far enuf ye'd see they're 'bout five miles long, an' they look purtier'n the stars in heaven.""But if they are so close the battle will begin immediately, will it not?""Hit ain't likely ter be put off very long, but thar's no tellin'

what'll happen in war, or when."

"When is my time to come?"

"Thet's what I've come furt ter tell ye.Ef we're agwine ter be of sarvice ter the Guv'MENT, we must do hit to-night, fur most likely the battle'll begin in the mornin'.Hit's not jest the way Iintended ter make use of ye, but hit can't be helped now.I hev information thet must reach Gineral Rosencrans afore daybreak.

The vict'ry may depend on hit.Ter make sure all on us must start with hit, fur gittin' through the lines is now mouty dangersome, an' somebody--mebbe several--is bound to git cotcht, mebbe wuss.

The men I expected ter help me are all gone.I hain't nobody now but ye an Aunt Debby.D'ye dar try an' make yer way through the lines to-night?"Rachel thought a minute upon the dreadful possibilities of the venture, and then replied firmly:

"Yes I dare.I will try anything that the rest of you will attempt.""Good.I knowed ye'd talk thet-a-way.Now we must waste no time in gittin' started, fur God on'y knows what diffikilties we'll meet on the way, an' Rosencrans can't hev the information enny too soon.Ev'ry minute hit's kep' away from him'll cost many vallerable lives--mebbe help defeat the army.""Tell me quickly, then, what I must do, that I may lose no time in undertaking it.""Well, heah's a plan of the position at sundown of the Rebels.

Hit's drawed out moughty roughly but hit'll show jest whar they all are, an' about the number there is at each place.Hit begins on the right, which is south of Stone River, with Breckenridge's men; then across the river is Withers, an' Cheatham, an' Cleburne, with McCown's division on the left, an' Wharton's cavalry on the flank.But the thing o' most importance is thet all day long they've been movin' men round ter ther left, ter fall on our right an' crush hit.They're hid in the cedar thickets over thar, an'

they'll come out to-morrow mornin' like a million yellin' devils, an' try ter sweep our right wing offen the face o' the arth.D'ye understand what I've tole ye?""Yes.Breckenridge's division is on their right, and south of Stone River.Withers, Cheatham, and Cleburne come next, on the north of the river, with McCown's division and Wharton's cavalry on the left, as shown in the sketch, and they are moving heavy forces around to their left, with the evident intention of falling overwhelmingly on our right early in the morning.""Thet's hit.Thet's hit.But lay all the stres ye kin on the movin' around ter ther left.Thar's mo' mischief in thet than all the rest.Say thet thar's 20,000 men gwine round thar this arternoon an' evening'.Say thet thar's the biggest thunder-cloud o' danger thet enny one ever seed.Say hit over an' over, tell everybody understands hit an' gits ready ter meet hit.Tell hit till ye've made ev'ry one on 'em understand thet thar can't be no mistake about hit, an' they must look out fur heeps o' trouble on ther right.Tell hit ez ye never tole anything afore in yer life.

Tell hit ez ye'd pray God Almighty fur the life o' the one thet ye love better then all the world beside.An' GIT THAR ter tell hit--git thru the Rebel lines--ef ye love yer God an' yer country, an' ye want ter see the brave men who are ter die tomorrer make their deaths count somethin' to'ard savin' this Union.Hit may be thet yore information'll save the army from defeat.Hit may be--hit's most likely--thet hit'll save the lives o' thousands o'