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Lg^1l^.^^8T? ^,11 ^ni^miunt Jfrati^ |gtffai^sperJm t^e ^rffmotimt^ VOL. 14. YOEKYILLE, 8. O., THTJH^AY, ATJQUBT SO, 1868. 3STO; ijT JU #rigittal ?toawUtt*.! < Written fbr the Yorkvflle Enquirer. 1 VICTOR: % j&qucl to |sokttt,% JtmaltSfS. i a BY J. WITHEBSPOON ERVEf. ' a CHAPTER IV. A battle-field?after the last shot bas been fired ' and the beaten party driven into flight, with the 1 conquerors following along t^erf track?presents a horrible and ghastly spectacle to a young soldier, 8 whose feelings have not been rendered callous by 1 familiarity with the revolting eights, which such a * scene most exhibit Bleeding and mutilated forms, faces horribly disfigured by ghastly wounds that ? haunt one for a life time, who has had the id cnanoe *' to behold them, and many a revolting image of ' death, which has oome upon the sufferer in its 1 most horrible form, meet the spectator wherever ? he may turn. On the faces of some, rest a sweet, jj soft smile, gentle as that of an infant slumbering upon its mother's breast, while the features of oth- * ere are marred, even in death, with the dark and . unholy passions that the excitement of the conflict 6 has aroused. Poor, perishing clay I Why should ? it return to its nothingnen and dust, with the im- ' press of a fallen world, and the seal of guilt stamp- * ed upon its brow ? Why should not the seal of that * innocence in which man was created, reappear up- u on his pale brow, when wrath, envy, hate, pride, ^ avarice and ambition, have all fled from his oold bosom, with the unholy spirit whose guilty passions * polluted the living temple ? Shuddering as he picked his-tray along the Hue, ? where the enemy had received the deadly volleys 11 fired into their ranks, and- scarcely daring to look P too curiously upon the forms, growing dusky in ? the twilight and encumbering his way, Victor " passed on slowly towards the rear, encountering, * now and then, some of the many scattered groups & returning from the pursuit of the diaoomfitted foe. The field of otrnage presented a horrible and j* ackcniog spectacle to him, a mere tyro in the deeds " of war. The groans and prayers of the wounded 11 and dying, heard on every side through the gathering darkness, would have caused him to quicken ? his pace, but that he feared to crush under foot, some poor, mutilated wretch, too much engrossed ~ with his pain and agony, to give airarning cry that j} might avert his danger. Slowly he mode his way ** to the rear, where the Confederate soldiers, exulting in their victoiy over the superior numbers of " the enemy, were gathering together as group after n group returned from the brief pursuit 01 Colonel Giles was not one of thoee who gave way ? to idle rejoicings at the result so unlooked for. He , was grave when he thought of the morrow and the fresh troops whieh the enemy would bring up to 8 renew the fight As his wearied soldiers returned, 84 they were ordered to take their places in Hne, that each man might sleep upon the spot where he would be needed in case of a sudden alarm. Pickets were thrown out for a considerable distance on every side, and not until this was done, did their . weary leader dismount front his horse, and enjoy a temporary rest from that anxiety which had sorely 1c oppressed him for many hours. By his gallant a and successful stand, he had, with six hundred brave men, thwarted the schemes which a heavy n corps had been sent to carry into effect He had h effected all that could have been expected of him, 0j and now he could repose in peace and satisfaction, \ knowing that by every train that clanked along the si iron road, the gallant soldiers of the South were H] hastening onwards to maintain the fight so gallant- * i_ i n? i.u _r ?m. ly DBgUD. UUB Uttli U1 ills uuugi;, nuu; wiu- y wand, stretched out like dim shadows on the tl ground, were already buried in sleep when their ? leader, having made all his depositions to repel a ST night attack, resigned his horse to his groom, and ft prepared to seek that rest which he so much needed. Sentinels, near at hand, were pacing their several beats around the camp, while at a distance h of a mile or more, vigilant And well-trained pickets v were guarding eveiy approach to the spot where n their wear}' comrades lay. * It was, perhaps, shortly past eight o'clock, when T a courier from the field of battle, came galloping ti through the streets of Petersburg, and the clang of 5 his horse's hoofs fell with painful distinctness upon tl the ears of the uneasy and anxious citizens. The n rumor of the fight had filled the city. The boom- si ing of the enemy's guns had marked the begin- li ning and progress of the fight, and when it ceased n to be heard, direful forebodings seized upon the ti minds of the excited citizens. As the solitary b horseman came clattering through the streets, he b seemed, to their excited imaginations, the forerunner of defeat?the first of a discomfited band es- fl caping from rout and carnage. Surely matters had d gone badly. It was foolish to have cherished such r hopes of success, as they had entertained but a few t hours before, founded upon a battalion?a mere part of a regiment of raw troops?from Charleston, n who had never been in a regular fight before, t They had been lying on the Carolina coast all p through the war, and bad never fired a gun except v against porpuses, and, indeed, in a little skirmish c with a negro regiment, that half a dozen good over- fc seers could have beaten off tbe island witn cow- y hides. Very true, they looked like game-cocks as c they rushed through the streets to meet the ene- 5 my, and their Sootch Irish and Huguenot Wood o showed itself in their features. Eagle-eyed and a eagle-nosed, with a world of endurance and hardi- y hood written in their determined faces, they had 1 come of pretty good stock?the next thing, indeed, 1 to the gentle blood of Virginia cavaliers. But r what of all that?they were only six hundred, and e the enemy like sands on the sea-shore. Ah! it a was a dreadful day. The firing was over, and ev- g erybody could tell what that meant Six hundred men could not be expected to fight long against ten e or twelve thousand. And the citizens, as they s talked together in groups, made significant nods \ with their heads, that gave a deeper meaning to s their words. t But that horseman! There was something so ominous in the very sound of his horse's tread, as i he galloped np the street, without so much as a i word to tell how the day had gone. The citizens c listened for other sonnds denoting the root they so 1 much apprehended. By-and-by?they thought? 1 there wiJ be other horsemen galloping up the ? street, then broken lines of infantry streaming by, 1 panting, panic-stricken, bleeding and fleeing from I fierce pursuers like seaweed driving before the ? roaring waves that sweeps it away. Hearts grew f sad and faces grew pale, along the street where the * solitary horseman passed, as if he was some fell t spirit, scattering pallor and disease along his path. The city was in suspense and terror, but reinforce- 1 ments would come up during the night, and they ? would all turn out on the morrow and die for their * homes and altars. If the enemy would only sleep i on the battle-field, they would retrieve the misfor- ' tunes of this sad day. The rider galloped up to the telegraph office, > around which a silent and anxious crowd had gath- * ered, and flinging himself from his horse, made ' his way through the crowd with the air of a privi- < leged person, ascended the steps of the office and placed a slip in the hands of the operator. 1 "Send this, immediately," was his brief direo- i tioo. * 1 The operator seated himself, with an impassible < ace, at his battery; and cities, far away by the sea borer, by the lake, and by the mountain, heard th< dick of his instrument,' and burst into glad rejoi Aga "Hate you heard anything from Walthal Juno ion?" asked a citizen, timidly, as the oourier re ippearedontheside-walk. "I am just from there," replied the courier, a fe gathered np the reins and pat his foot in th< itirrup. "How is the fight going ?" asked another, wit! i sinking heart, fearful of hearing evil tidings. "We have whipped the enemy badly?killed anc rounded fire or six hundred, and rooted nine reg menta" The excited crowd, electrified by the joyfbl news o unexpected, were, for a moment, hashed into i irofonnd stillness. Amazement rendered then oiceless for awhile, but ere the laconic horsemar ? ^ ?-** iY\A?A wonf o mnwmni HU VBUilOU illlU UiS DOUU1C) UUU(I a wwaw f surprise through the crowd, and then as tbej joked into one another's faces and realized the Appy result, then joy found vent in a loud exulantjcheer that startled the city. Men, after a brie; ongratolation, hurried off to spread the joyful ti ings among their friends and acquaintances; load, earty and cheerful voices were heard in the streets; nd soon from every steeple and belfry, the churcl ells were ringing forth their joyful peals, calling my household to rejoioe over a great victory wot gainst fearful odds. Lights flashed about cheerif in the hospitable homes of the "Cockade City," nd fair maidens with faces beaming with joy, flitsd like auspicious stars, from one gladdened home j another, to tell and hear of the great victory heir brave countrymen had won. > In one home, at least, fear and apprehension tere mingled with their heartfelt joy. "It is a splendid victory 1 Our boys fought like partans," said old Mr. Danvers, settling himself >to his easy arm chair, after having p&caj the aartment, excitedly, for some seconds?"butTherlopybe left only the bones and the memory of her iree hundred, and I fear.we shall to-morrow see long, black?black list of the killed and woundi" * ' ' "Why, father"?interposed his daughter, a eautifal maiden of seventeen?"they say our loss as been quite small, only about fifty killed and ounded.'' "Don't believe it, Sue," replied the old gentlelan, with an incredulous shake of the head. Victories cost human limbs and human lives, [any a poor fellow who went by our door at noon, ill of life and health, lies oold and stark on the eld this night They went to their fate like game it? w_ i 1. ??i.Am. T Uo. U1UWB. i'l/ ilCttl t OVUCU IU1 UIV1U, 1V1 X auvn rare was a deeper sleep for many of them thif ight, than ever they fonnd on a mother's bosom r a bed of down. As they went by, I thought oi hat Byron says of the poor fellows?brave EngBh bloods?who sleep at Waterloo;" and with is hands resting on his gold-headed pane, the lately old Virginian repeated aloud, as if to himilf: "And Ardenne* wave* abort them her green leaver, Dewy, with nature'* tear drop* as they pass, Grieving, if aught inanimate e'er grieve*, Over the unreturning brave?alas! Ere evening to be trodden like the grnas Which now beneath them, bat above shall grow, In it* next verdure, when this flery mass Of living valor rolling on the foe. And burning with high hope, shall moulder cold and low." "That iB beautiful!" exclaimed his daughter, ?oking the pleasure, which the recital of the lines [Forded her. "It is simply horrible," replied the old gentlelan, with emphasis. "It is terrible to one who as a son in the melee. You see only the poetry P battle, Sue; but I look at it in its prosaic light. iThat if those two fine youths who halted on the de-walk at noon, are to-Dight lying on the field, mattered corpses ? I thought of them and their idowed mothers when I heard the booming of le guns. I would give half I am worth to know ley came out safe. That boy?Victor, I think he died himself?has gentle blood in him. I am ire of that Did he not promise to let us hear om him when the fight was over?" "I think he did, sir," replied Susan Danvers. "He saved your cousin Nellie's life, and we owe im every kindness and attention," said Mr. Danera. "I think I shall ride out to camp, to-mor>w, and see how it has gone with him. By the ay, Sue, to-morrow will be a busy day with you. here will be wounded men coming in by the first rain, and we must not let them be neglected. Io! no! no! Tho best we have is too poor foi ae man who offers his life for his country. You ?? ' v 1 n vr_ n 3 'Ill nave to DO Dusy, oue. HO nags auu pruuooloos now. nA11 that is past. Ambulances and nt and bandages and good nursiDg are the card: ow. You girls think a battle is a magnificenl hing, and so it is when it is a hundred miles away, >ut when it oomes to your door, it is a very horri; le and ghastly affair." The old gentleman arose and slowly paced the loor of his apartment, winding up his watch as he lid so. The hands showed the usual hour for hie etiriDg, but his thoughts were too busy and exci ed to permit him to seek repose. "I am going to take a short walk, Sue, but yoi ieed not sit up to bid me good night when I re urn. I shall go down to the depot to learn all the particulars of the fight, as they come in. I sbal rant a glass of cold punch when I return. Yoi an have it sent up to my bed-room, that it maj ?e ready for me, but don't wear the roses fron: oar face, keeping late hours on my acoount 1 an take care of myself very well. Good night, lue. Don't sit up?lean give you all the new: ver our breakfast." Thus saying, with a prouc ,nd elastic step, and bearing himself as erect as i outh of twenty, the hale old gentleman left th< muse, and twirling his gold-headed cane in hii land as he went, stalled leisurely off towards th< ailroad depot, where an anxious crowd had gath tred to glean every particular of the day's fight ,nd to discuss the prospectsof the morrow's strug ;le. The city was wide awake and full of rumors an< ixcitement, but the heroes who had made the da; o memorable, were mostly buried in sleep. Then vere still, however, a few whom the heavy respon ibilities resting upon them, did not suffer to seel he repose so much needed. Among that number was Colonel Giles, who .n+mtWondinir the brilliant action iust fouaht vas Dot so blinded by his victory, as to rest, in fan :icd security, on the laurels he had won. He wel mew that when the morrow dawned, he 'woul< lave to contend with an overwhelming force of th memy, rendered but the more cautious by defeat He well knew all the difficulties and hazards of hi >osition, and was aware that the enemy would taki tdvantage of the night to re-organize his force or the approaching conflict, and that fresh troop vould be led up to open the attack against him 01 he morrow, with renewed energy and spirit. At an early hour, so soon in fact as his picket lad been posted, he unrolled his blanket unde tome wide spreading trees, and stretching his wca y form at length, gathered around him a smal p-oup of trusted officers, to take counsel as to th uorrow's work. Among those who had been summoned to thi nformal council, was Captain Carberry, who, al though usually prone to make a jest of the sobe business of life, was yet a clear headed and saga nous counsellor in an emergency like the present As yet reinforcements, though hourly expected bad failed to come up, and the question which thi small group was earnestly discussing was, whethe they should venture, in case no reinforcement same up dozing the night, to hold their presen - position, or whether they should retire until a sufe ficient foroe was gathered to withstand the attack, i It was finally resolved to hold the position as long i as there remained a hope of aid, to watch the en- i - emy closely, and should he come down upon them 1 - in foroe, to fall back .to Swift Creek, a line some 1 three miles in their roar, and endeavor to !Ik>M it i s at every risk. In the meantime, it was determined I 3 to send out scouts, to ascertain every fact in regard I to the enemy that might be attainable. i Full instructions were given to Captain Ctrbeny 1 in regard to detailing a scouting party and furnish- < 1 ing them with directions for their guidance, and 1 the officers withdrew to their several poets. I Half an hour afterwards, a small party of men, 1 , accompanied by Captain Car berry, might have ' i been seen stealing; like shadows, from the camp, 1 i and advancing along the turnpike towards the quar- 1 . tor ruhnro tho onomv Inv Thft Knfl of nioketfl WaS ' r soon reached, and giving the countersign for the 1 r night, the Captain conducted his detachment along 1 i the gloomy road, until passing a small streamlet 1 ' and ascending a high hill, the party came to a 1 P broad and open plateau, where the solemn trees no 1 - longer covered them with their dense shadows. ( , Here Captain Carbeny, who had 6rders to return 1 , to camp, halted the party and gave them their final ' i instructions. * r This scouting party, thrown out to ascertain the t position of the enemy, oonsisted of old acquaint- 1 . ances whom we have met before. Volunteers * 1 readily offered themselves for this dangerous ser- 1 . vice, but Captain Carbeny assigned the duty to 1 t members of his own company, whom he well knew, 1 ' and upon whose zeal and fidelity he could implicit- [ ly rely. To Sergeant Haley was assigned the com- 1 i maud of this party, which consisted of Qiles Short- 8 er, Robin Lassiter, Victor Garnett and Hany 1 i Prescott. * c f It was a delicate and hazardous duty, tut one which it was neoessary should be performed by \ men of courage ^nd intelligence, who," to a good knowledge of woodcraft joined that shrewdness of 8 i intellect which enables one in circumstanoes of . danger and peril, to turn every incident to a profitable account ^ i "Now, boys, I will leave you here," said Capi tain Carberry, baiting under the shadowy trees on I the hill top. C4I have given all the instructions you . require, but again, I will press upon you the fact . that you cannot be too cautious. Scouting in this region to night is as ticklish a business as I would , like to be engaged at Keep your eyes and ears open. You may run into the midst of the enemy 1 i where vou least expect it. You will, perhaps; find ] i parties of them encamped in the darkness, without - even a watch-fire to give yon warning of their i presence. Be careful you don't fall into their i hands." f "We can tell, easy enough, when we get in their neighborhood, Captain," answered Robin Lassiter, i "if the wind only be fair." i "If you had theno9eofa hound, you might, Robin," replied his Captain ; "but you don't pretend to that gift, I presume?" "Look here, Captain," replied Robiu; "maybe you'll remember it as well as I do, the night the Yankees charged our lines in front of Battery Wagener, we knew they was a coming long before we saw them or heard a sound. Don't you remember that?" "I do not remember it, Robin" replied his Captain. "Well, maybe there is a good reason you don't," responded Robin, with a grim smile, that passed unseen in the darkness; "but that night the wind came up fair from the South, where the enemy lay, and brought with it a smell of whiskey, that got stronger and stronger until we could hear the clatter of the enemy's muskets, and hear them , marching like a herd of buffaloes. They found us all ready that time, thanks to the whiskey." "I have heard several of the boys speak of it, Robin, but I did not remark the smell of whiskey, myself," replied the Captain. "Maybe you had taken a little yourself, Captain," replied Robin, with alow chuckle, "when of course, , jou couldn't smell it on others. I've fstood a charge from the enemy more than once, and every time, when the wind was fair, and the work before them was hard, they had spliced the main1 brace so often that you could tell which way it was swinging round, even in the dark." : "Well, Robin," rejoined Giles, "as for us poor fellows, we are like does in the yeaning seaf on?we don't leave any scent on the wind. We are a milk 1 and water set, on compulsion, but if I only had a " chance at some choice 'old Bourbon,' it would be ' well for us to run against the wind to-night, other* wise the Yankees would smell whiskey strong be^ fore we traveled far." 1 4 'It is well, then, you have it not boys,'' suggest' ed the Captain. "You need cool heads to-night, and senses wide awake. Sergeant, you can move ! on, according to instructions. Shohld you be lucky 5 enough to escape the pickets of the enemy, and 5 find your way back to camp, awake me to hear /I I _! A your report, as soon as you come in. uooa mgnc, and success attend you." 1 Thus saying, Captain Carberry returned on his J ' way to the camp, whilst Sergeant Haley, respectfully saluting his commander, put bis sqaad in mo' tion, and was soon lost in the darkness. ' i I i CHAPTER V. The night was dark and gloomy. There was no i i moon; and even the star-light was hidden by a i 3 thick and murky atmosphere, that hung over the I earth like a leaden canopy. There were no lights i 1 gleaming from cottages or mansions by the road- < 1 side, telling of cheerful households resting in do- ' 5 mestic tranquility after the labors of the day were i - over. The unlighted habitations were passed by i unseen, and even the watch-dogs, that might have i given evidences of their propinquity, startled by ! - the fearful sounds with which the day had. closed, i and by the ominous silence that had now succeeded 1 to the din, slunk away to some dark comer, and i 7 lay muttering low hoarse growls that betrayed far 3 more of uneasiness than of watchfulness or anger. 1 Far away in the distance the murky atmosphero i 7 reflected, here and there, a dull red glare, where the < rearward columns of the enemy, untouched by the < > panic that had seized his leading forces, had lighb> ed up their camp-fires, and, here and there, too, some four or five miles away, the dun atmosphere i 1 reflected a fiercer glare, as pleasant homesteads i 1 given up to the torch of the pitiless and mercenary i e invader, crackled and blazed, throwing their wild glare over terror-stricken families, where some tears less mother, wild-eyed and voiceless in her sorrow, i e cowered apart with her half-clad and terrified : e ' llAmA fKof VkO/l ? UTUUU (XX UUUU UCi y ttLIU UVUblU lUb UVU1V IfUUV UKU I s sheltered her, so long, reeling and tottering in the i J flames. The hearts of the scouts burned within them, s and their brows lowered darldy as they turned 4heir r gaze to the quarter dotted over with these red con- i - flagrations. In imagination they beheld the deeds 1 of cruelty?so wanton and unprovoked?that were i B perpetrated around those blazing fires, that swept ' away the labors of generations, and marked with j s blackened walls, and heaps of ashes, those ancient - old homesteads to which the love, the hopes and i r the sweet memories of several generations had at- ' r tached themselves. It gave a sterner determina- i tion to their thoughts, and quickened them in the < , performance of the duties they owed to their couns try, to know, that at this moment, there were i r scores of families rendered houseless, and reduced ' 8 to beggery and want along the route that day, tra- i t versed by the enemy with whom they were at war. If a sentiment of titter and vindictive hatred was stirred in the bosoms of Southern soldiers, who daily had befbre them evidence of the perpetration of such atrocities; and if than efteUed op in their heart* an. eager desire for Tengeanoe upon those irho violated all the rules of emitted and hanorible warfhre, sorely the Reootding Angel would blot oat the record of their transgression with a tear. The party had proceeded dearly three .miles rithool having met with a szagk individual or oblerved any signs of living beings. The ooontry teemed deserted. At last, .along a thickly wooded portion of the rood, where stood a primeval grove worthy of the Drnids, a ham asef voices arrested .1 . ?J m- ' S ? -1 rlra SWDBOD Ol WW tWVi .sum H?MM unu niuui aneously to halt The grove that overshadowed heir-road was deep and dark, ffttii was evident ? their sensee that, at a fair reds distance before hem, the road led through i?jfotpng of some exeat Misty and dark u the o^hflPw> they?jald tee from the tree tope dimly defined against the iky, that there vu a considerable dMmty before hem, and, after listening for some second*, they xmjeotnred that the sounds which awakened their uspicion and aroused their eantion, were bat the irawKng/inannare of some brook, flowing at the hot of the hilL There are strange Yoiees that seem to arise from raters hrawhng among rooks. The splashing sod xampBng of feet, low waitings of pain, and the nepy sounds of laughter with the deep hnm of a n altitude speaking in low under tones, all seem to ise from the ehannel where the sportive brook lashes in its flight, earning each rook or ledge that t touches with its flashing Briarean fingers to repond with some low -utterance, to complete the rOd and witching melody whioh it makes in its ourse. . Onoe or twice, the soouts thought they heard be trampling of horses' feet in the distaooe, when Jergeant Haley, posting them ooder the shadow of i huge oak a short distance from the roadside, tdvanced alone some distance down the road, and istened attentively. Hearing no sound, are now ind then a low marmoring, which . seemed to be he noise of some streamlet, he returned and cantoning his sqnad to follow him in sflenoe, again no ved forward. They had not advanced above a hunIred yards, when they came to a broad avenue lead ng off to the left, it right angles with the road, and it its farther extremity?soaroe two hundred yards rom the road?horned a dim fight just bright e?oagh to reveal the outlines of the window throogh vhieh it glimmered. All else was swallowed up n the gloom of the murky night save that one riodow standing oat like an opening throngh the )all of night. A good scout, such as Seigeant Haley was, rould not. fail to employ the opportunity thus preented, for obtaining such information of the bality, and of the roads before him, as the inmates >f that dwelling by the road-side might afford. It vas even possible that they might furnish him with some information in regard to the enemy vhioh might bo turned to good aocount Halting lis squad under one of the low, spreading oaks, hat lined the avenue on either hand, he held a irief consultation with them. The result of the onfereDce was, that two of the party?and his ihoioe fell upon Harry Frescott and Victors-should x> sent- forward to visit the* house and gather vhatever information the inmates could give him n furtherance of their mission, while the remaiuler of the party were to await their return at the joint where the avenue entered the turnpike. The party drew back to a point where the shad>ws of the trees lay deepest on the ground, and Victor and Prescott, rejoicing in the doty assigned hem, Bet off on their mission. Only one light appeared, glimmering through ;he window of a chamber on the seoond story to he left, and now and then, as Victor turned his icarching eye towards it, as if to penetrate the nystery that seemed to enshroud it, a shadow jould be seen to flit across the window as of some person passing between it and the light "I don't understand what that light means,." laid Victor, $otlo voce, as he moved along with Presoott at his elbow. "Every chamber below is leserted, or at least darkened; I suspect there are lone but women at home, and that they have, in heir alarm, huddled together above stairs like a ?vey of partridges. I fear we shall give them a jreat fright." "I hone thev will rive us some buttermilk and oiscuit," was the indolently uttered rejoinder of Prescott, who was thinking more of his hanger and weariness, than of the flatter into which a snmnons at that hoar from armed men, would throw t bevy of timid and defenoeless women. "Pshaw, Prescott! how can you think of bntermilk and biscuit at snch a time as this!" reoined Victor, in a tone of reproof "Because I have missed my sapper," returned Prescott, "and this is the very hoar when bread ind butter naturally come uppermost in one's thoughts." "I verily believe, Prescott, you would set down to your dinner, with a keen appetite, under the ire of a battery, remarked Victor. "Hardly so bad as that, Victor," rejoined Prescott ; "I always like to eat my meals in peaoe." "And in war, too, equally as well, I wonld say from what I have seen of you," retorted Victor. "I like my bread and batter well-enough, too; but not when an enemy may swoop down upon me at iny moment" While Sergeant Haley and his squad are guarding the road, we can rest at onr ease, and be safe enough in this Castle Dismal," said Prescott, in his calm quiet way. "Warning will be given ns time enough to take-to the-joshes if an enemy should appear. Onr squad will keep wide awake." "It is always the safe course to run no risks," rejoined Victor; "we must gather what information we can, and hasten back to make our report [ don't fancy loitering in a boose at snch a time and place as this, even for ten minutes." "It would be a good enough coop for me," replied Prescott, if I only had a soft feather bed to roost in. There would be no crowing done, either,, on my roost, I assure yon, till good broad-day-light came with an ordor of hot muffins and coffee. That would be something then to crow over." "Suppose, Presoott," asked Victor, reverting to the subject uppermost in his mind, "we Bhonld ran upon a squad of Yankees at this house, what do you propose we should do t" "Give them buck and ball, and club our muskets and fight it out?" answered the young soldier, promptly?"if they should not be too many for us. If they should be more than we can manage, we can retreat in the dark with as little fuss as possible." The young soldiers had reached the gate, and were on the point of entering the yard. The building loomed up gloomily before them in darkness, save the one window from which the light shone. All the buildings lay in deep shadow, and but for the light that attracted their attention the plaoe would have seemed deserted. A suspicious looking lane seemed to lead off to the right, and Victor paused for a moment, and shook his head gravely as he dimly discerned this approach to the house, which Was unguarded. What if some straggling squad of the enemy, flanking the soouts, should come upon them from that unguarded quarter? Ee lifted the latch, however, and the two entered the gate. A few cautious aoiaelesB steps, along a walk bordered with shrubbery, and side by side, the two ascended the steps leading to the piaua. Victor advanoed across the floor and knocked gent ty at the front door. They waited near a minute when, their summons remaining unanswered, Victor knocked again, and, this time, so. loudly that the house rang again. Alter a brief period, footsteps were heard approaching, and through the key-hole, and the crevioes around the door, they discovered a light .in the apartment The door was unbolted from within, and a negro woman, beyond the middle age, and evidently belonging to the batter daas of hooseeervants, holding the candle above her head, cautiously opened the door, and thrust forth a suspicious and fearful free, to get a view of the visitors, whose coming, at such a time and under such circumstances, excited the keenest apprehension and alarm. The sable janitor started as her glanee feO upon the bright muskets and threadbare uniforms of the young men, which at onoe proclaimed that they belonged to a profession, the visits of whose members oftentimes, in those days, excited'in isolated: and retired houiehotdH; reteatkms veiy similar to tboee which are experienced in the barojrird, when die rapacious hawkmakes one of his harried morning calk. The candle nearly dropped from her hand) and her eyes opened still wider in her alarm, while her dark free assumed a leathery hue. She did not speak, but her glances flew from one to the other apprehensively, and, from their rude soldiers garb, to their frees. At a gesture, the least threatening, she would have sank down in her terror or fled from the spot ia'akraa. "Is there any of the frmily at home to-night, rnauma?" asked Vietor, in his blandest tones. "De Lord be praised t If I didn't think the dear bovs was Yankees!" exohumed the startled janitor, with alihost a yell of delight, while the sodden transition from fear to joy made her look at least a aoore of years younger. "De Lord be praised?they is oar own people l,r?and throwing the door open, "Victor and Preseott entered, whilst their voluble conductress, in the joy at finding they were not the dreaded Philistines of whose visits die had been so fearful, conld scarcely restrain herself from* throwing her arms around their necks. Their tone and the terms and manner of their address, especially that Southern term of confidence and kindness1-' 'manma''?satisfied her instincts that they were "Southern boys," and not the dreaded "Yankees." In the exuberance of her joy, her thoughts were borne away, and she gave no heed to Victor's enquiry, until a pause in her rapturous ejaculations gave him an opportunity to repeat it "Ah, yes! massa," said she, her tone and manner all at once changing to one of plaintive sadness, "the family is here, and here they'll have to stay, yankees or no yankees. Poor mass Tom, can't torn himself in bed yet" "Chill and fever?" asked Preseott "Ah I no, bless your heart, we don't have dem things here any time, specially in de Spring of de year; it's worser den dafc, my ohile, its a yankee bullet" "Have the Yankees been here yet, manma?" asked Preseott, again. "Bless yon, chile," said the old woman, "we bin free from dem all through de war till now. I see dem for de first time in my life, to-day, marchin' along de road?not die road by de house, bat de turnpike, way cross dem hills yonder?and I bless de Lord, or maybe it might bin de devil, my ehile, for pnttin' it into dere hearts to shy 'roun' massa's house, when he can't hardly turn himself in his bed. Bym' by I hear de big gun go boom, and de muskets rattle off like crackers in a barrel, and just about dark, I see dem yankees cornin' back like oxens from a hornet's nest Poor mossa conld hardly keep himself in bed when de guns set ap dere roarin'. He'd a bin on horseback and right among de yankees wid his sword, if we could only get him sot on horseback. Did yon see de tiimno mn?ifl ? and tros Ha vAnltAAfl whinned UQUV/ rr bad?"* "Yes mauma," answered Prescott?1"we gave them "Bringer"?if you know what that is?but J expect they will give us "Jessie," to-morrow." The old woman looked cnrionsly at Prescott, whose 'dang1 phrases lay Bke stamps in the road her volubility *was traveling, and checked her thoughts in their career. She paused to collect herself, and her mind went back to the starting point as she smoothed down her apron and took time to reflect "You want to see mossa ? He'll be glad to see you, I know. Take seats, gentlemen, and I'll step np and let him know you want to seelmn. Shall I give him your names ?" "If you please mauma," replied Victor, scrawling his own and Preecott's name, and that of their regiment, on a scrap of cartridge paper. "We are strangers here, but this will show him who we are." * "Soldiers never strangers in mossa's house," said the old woman proudly, as she deposited the candle on the mantel board, and received the impromptu carte de visile from Victor's hand. "I shall be back directly, gentlemen; take seats until I return." Old mauma Hannah, like many other persons, consisted of two individuals in one body.. Wo read somewhere of a cat changed by a powerful and benevolent fairy into a dashing and fashionable young lady, whose destiny it was to become the consort of a prince. The veritable history informs us that this charming princess conducted herself according to the usages and customs of the most refined class of her day, varying in no respect from the most thorough-bred princesses of her time. One might have almost sworn that she had regularly descended from some of those hard swearing, hard drinking old robber chieftains of Germany, whose descendants to this day, are imported into every kingdom and principality to keep up the bloodroyal of Europe. One to seeher gait, her dress and her hauteur of manner, would have sworn?were he a swearing man?that she had never descended from some grim old torn cat. who passed his days in sleep, and his nights in watching "for mice and -ii? _?l, om?ll rloor " hnt. nnfnrtnnatelv. when UiliCl OUUU Oliiw uw? ( ?w 9 ever a moose crept from behind the arras, this charming princess would horrify the whole court by her conduct, while her early instincts, and old habits returned upon her in full strength. Thus old maum Hannah, when startled from her reservo and thrown off her guard, had the hearty hilarity and free-and-easy manners of the cabin in which she had been reared; but when circumstances recalled her position and domestic station to her mind, she fell into the tone and manners of the dignified old Virginia serving women. The apartment in which she left the young soldiers awaiting her return, was that of a plain and soberly furnished oountry house. A fine rose-wood piano stood against the wall; the floor was softly carpeted, and the easy, old fashioned, carved, oaken chairs, around the apartment, seemed an heir-loom that had come down from a well-to-do and solid 10 v *- i 1- uneihlp JCiDgnsn BUWHiry wiiu pnucu tucui^i t vo people that they were?on furniture that would outlast a half dozen generations of their descendants. The heavy brass fire-dogs and fender cast their shimmer from the ample flre-plaoe where, in I wintry days, "Th? Are, with well dried log* (applied, Went roaring up the chimney wide," around which scores of cousins, to the fourth and fifth degree, were wont to meet, and draw still closer together, the ties of blood under the genial inflnenoes of a warm-hearted and almost prodigal hospitality. The old mahogany table, grotesquely carved and almost black with age, but still polished, until every curve and projection reflected 'he fight like * minor, seemed to be ft weO kept memoiji of oolonial times, when the oheqoft of ft Yirgift planter wis as good in Lomhasdy street as that c a Leeden-hall magnate. The glanee of Victor wandered from the ftmti tare to the portraits hanging on the wall, some o which, in longbodiedaod highly embroidered opat with-theu ooeked hatB aadewod eaaesoadv thai arms, earned him faaek to the days of George tb Urird. -' There were afew portraits of modern date, am on two of these his gbnoe at last rested. One o these was the po trait of a. man in his^outhfa prime, with a noble- and frank brow, on whki troth, courage Sod generosity had ask their mr? the other was that of a woman in the fWl bloom o beauty. The features j)f both of them aesmec strangely fkmiliar to Victor, and, lismjr from hi chair, he stood earnestly gating upon the po trait and striving to recall to' mind the droamstanoei untowhiA ^ ponm? so jaunty reuuuueu ???. . While thus engaged, Presoott and himself si multancously started, as the sound of horee's feei suddenly burst upon their ears, advancing toward) the mansion. -They listened with that intense in terest which every sound will excite, in those whon life hangs on the chanoes of an hoar. It was no a solitary horseman, whose distinct tramp wai heard. It was an agglomeration of sounds thai startled them. There was that peculiar rufabh made by a troop of hone advancing along tiu road in order, and as they listened it increased u distinctness, until the rustling of leather, Um champing of bits, and the chinking of swotds ji their scabbards, could be distinguished. As tfyi youths listened, each gared into the eye'of th< other, inquiringly, and with painful apprehension. "Presoott!" exclaimed Victor, in a low tone? "my Kfe upon it, those are Yankees. 'Hey wil be upon us in two minutes." "There is the bade door," said Prescott, cahnly "we can get out of this snap, easy enough. Listen, there goes au alarm gun." "Harvey, had no need to expose his where* bouts," said Victor, "by firing a signal. Hal shot was from our own party. Hey will have t* travel out of the way fast enough now, and so wil we. Take up your gun, Prescott, and letYgo. W< have not a moment to lose." lvu)tr YiAwmmnn wuq if tk AJJ Villa I4UTO) VUV I/VMJ VI wtPVHivti nww WW WWgate and ready to dismount. It was, indeed, hig] time for the young soldiers to look oat for thei safety. They seised up theirguns and hurried in to a back room adjoining the parlor, in which the] sat There was no egresaJfrom this chamber save by a door which opened into a wide passage-way which divided the house. They tried the door bu it was locked, ard the key was on the outride Victor shattered the socket into which the bol worked, by a blow from the butt of his musket and hurrying through the passage, endeavored U make his escape by the back door r.t the end 0 the passage. This, too, was securely locked. 'Hm enemy were heard on the walk, leading to th steps?now they were heard ascending the sttps The situation was becoming dangerous. A candk left burning on a table in the passage way, threv its light upon them, and would serve to reveal then to the enemy the moment the front doof was open ed. A couple of strides from the bade door wa the foot of a Bight of steps, leading to the Uppe story. "Here, Prescott!" exclaimed Victor, springroj forward to the staircase. We may find some hi ding place above. Quick I there is not a momen to lose?the enemy are at the front door." "They shall not catch me in a mouse trap/' re plied Prescott, with admirable sangfroid, an dashing across the passage-way to the door of tb chamber, through which they had just oome, h disappeared in its darkness. Pausing for a moment on the lower stop of th stairway, Victor heard him raise a sash and th next moment fell lightly to the ground, then b had the satisfaction of bearing his rapidly recedinj footsteps, as he hastened away from the dangerou | spot It was now too late for Victor to follow hi example. The enemy had already entered throng! the front door. The chamber, through whicl Preacott bad made his escape, lay on the otbe side of the passage-way, and Victor could not noi cross it without being discovered and fired on b the enemy, who, fearing an ambuscade even h that retired country seat, held their trips in a po sition to fire upon any object which should axons their suspicion or their fear. He had lost his op portuuity of making his escape from the building and he could now only avail himself of any hiding place which it might afford. With a trouble* heart he began to mount the stairway rapidly, bu as stealthily as was consistent with his haste.. Th troopers were thro aging in to the hall, and the step of some of them were heard approaching the.foo of the stair-case. When he had nearly roadie* the landing place above, the door of the chambe to the right opened, and by the fight which stream ed through for a moment before it waa closed, h* saw a young woman come forth. Her face wa turned from him at the time the door was opened and though her features were unseen, yet fro pith passing glimpse which he caught of her form an* step, he divined that she must be youthful an* handsome. As she passed from the fight i streamed npon his own face. The door dosed al most instantly behind her, and the place was lei in deep obscurity." He conjectured that the youn woman, who had so suddenly passed Eke a fiasl before his eyes, was making her way to some o the other chambers, on the same floor. Ab h reached the upper landing, however, he was star tied by hearing a sweet soft voice near him. "Follow me," said the voice, in the most mud cal accents, "and fear nothing I wDl lead yoa ti a hiding place where, I trust, yqu will be safe You had a comrade with you, named ?" "Prescott," said Victor, seeing that his flu guide hesitated. "He leaped from the window and escaped. He is in safety by this time.'' Following the rustling of the light dress of hi guide, Victor found himself in a chamber on th same floor, but opposite to that from which sh had just issued. Turning towards the right, a she entered the door, she passed along to tne wan closely followed by Victor. Here she stoopo down, and Victor heard a pannel sliding in th< wall. "This is the loft above the piazza," said she, ii the same musical tone. "Go down in there, am yon will be safe for awhile. Give me your ham and I will guide you." Victor groped in the dark, and soon a soft am delicate hand met his own, and guided him aloagto th& aperture in the wall Guided, by her bapd am voice, and still clinging to his musket, Viator mad his way cautiously through the opening, which wt about two feet square, and letting himself dowi about three feet, he touohed a floor. "You will be safe here," said the Voice, "ifyoi remain qniet; I will draw this pannel to its place and this hiding plaoe will never be suspected. " "A thousand .thanks, madam," said Victor; "i is only mortifying to me that I must take wfugi here, when I would rejoice to lay down my life ft you, if it could serve you." "Bide your time," replied the voipe.. "On part now,-is to endure, mrt meekly but heroically The heel of the oooqueror is on our necks; wha he looks to see the agoqg of fear and deaih in oa eyes, let him find only soorn and defiance." The pannel was then drawn, agfiding step wa heard passing oat of the . chamber, and Vioto found himself alone ud in darkness. a Igtsfettatjeotts feattiii). & 1 ' i" CnfWytwlMtp tf jMXflr Tqr* WoM. k'j .-.i'. noiCOLVMBlA. *. f i Columbia, 8. C., AujuaiS.?No more dijgtafr? in* bortrnqoe oa bo lifei 1, r thaa'liprmented iitta PblaettoOtpittJtfrdtf. B Northern tmrelere Coot who bAve tarried bore long eooagb to lookMyitfjpti. ; h?yoa?idtoiM;'^M^woBodrnk We did f intend tevnte ftrOnnt But ttia iW k dilr. * geetiH, triohii??<if allthMiadear tft*. 1 white man, an otrtnfott A nwn diflitirtaj and we can rote for aw party Qmt BHtiSm-tL" And if every inii immHi of tlin TYiliaan eniW teire ' W&ofSk eSMnTbHto ftaHy-ea9 Hcmae, to farthtt- effort WocttbeitatifW ttfadat * the Radicals in Kovembef, home, foot asd dttv * ^iiif-T fV" ifrti? ; A resolution his been adopted gbin$ to each ^ of the amdini committee? a clerk with a heavy , per diem, a meaosre rendered neceamry, not by . any peae of baroe*! buHy Aaipwaaeedtf Jlhe i, ,, ? ? - ? QHnfl DcrV)' ADOlfltT ZmlMifl )HVV1UB|*V W for each delegate failed, ahbooghffctt propriety of sachcfaiealufetj^ta^l^li<)b! tbAxaw I .11 ' .t.?L . tj. _LL LL ' And the Governor Li allowed a private Secretary, withawdatydf iiihUi hndnd help hia within* wrft^. > Many of the member^ art'pfttie tea! plantation | negro order, and some of hoth white and black delegates are actuary on fcafl to itabd their trial . ?+%&? t oait Judges! These aw facta. Doybfrneidafcf' ) (Mftfiwi ?;? vm*"?. W.i *ewj ik-? 1 There is pftto nidi eodUsi btlw>abied3 ion. Onooeotf thew occasions, mulatto DeLawe, rTo nil.wr ^1^^-wr uom vBlfrtfOPf flWI'tt jgUHHflt/: HPMMA b wfledout: 'Tun n ?lhw imwiii line mm i one she." DeLarge ngoias: ?Y?? *?*** r fool!" The ipdigniuit msmhw rsspondsr"fFT - had to fbrtrish ten fool* for h?I, you woaki-be 7 taken for the whole!" Tim is related Josfc asH , occurred, and such .chaste goflngnlas are If no , means unfreqtait.. Urn in Congress nob. kat gaage woaki cafl forth, some aBasiao to piftiHe i taiy proprietiee?botheie ftisi ?I tfotbewai*tfsa? ??? ) Nash is the }>M[ front Rkftuahd (iftuch r includes. this cspM;: 1^ U befced te W, & escaped a long .penitentiaiy experience at the s North; Hashhknows to ham twnrtlnteriid : bootblack at Htntf# hotel m M #**. Th* J quarrel ra the 8enate. 8ajrB Leslie to Nasfi: "Yes, ' d?o yon; yon ought to be wbfcfeytw were in i 1861?carrying my trunks.'' Says Nash to 1mlively, and the epithets by no means select r Early in July, the World contained a bog; letter ' from Charleston, describing a brace c? oarpet-baggers, vnd of whose via Randolph, a lostfhl n?" ting H. U. G. That letter was re-pthHshgd in i it^ -f^kevLuiiMi fluaTes rLJ|untJf cue L naneston lsatty rraor, uonunDia z naoax, 6 and other papers, copied from the fFor& It was 0 read to Randolph, who ia hoe as senator Hob Orangeburg?read to him in the Senate Chaaaher, e by one of his brother senators, and ao far from de0 nying its horrible exhibit of depta-fity and beaatial0 ity, he langhed at it aft ai an evidence t/bk ?> UCBB) MM orareuca^ rcwncu uq ma cun^m <jgr s charging them with similar lewdr** and villainy, 8 which th?y in tent wete.eqoally unable to deny. 1 Letters cent from the Sooth, dearrihn^ theebar1 acteri and aeede of the n?n who oowruteaa noble r but subdual white populism, might seem to year r readew alnxnt febakra, buta6 &r from bring eif aggertded, there istealfr nalawpsagi whisk mn 1 do jwtfaetothe rtitiii And the frsagllwi fad* dentiagiven aaanevidenoeof the tdefitynf reB porta not VOUL * - '* yvitv?pi?^ywi s*) . * The word "reH" shoald nevertoose.be applied ' to the white mm etSaaA OeaeBne, Bngmt \ Demoertfe i atilsfouu fetfhg?Wiltr >Whit dressed acre oj aanipcoo, J&ttaonw soa otnafTeB oently, wis held jn the open air, in the very ttddst 8 of the rmntflreided kr Sherman's tfmy?m iat mense opening in the way heart of the city still i covered with fimeoemd walk and ehimnej* as the* r victorious irny left it. hm known dntBhir commanded the ikmoas Seventeenth Oorpe which * swept Columbia, end- yet this week assemblage of B uaronna i boot, lnonKung Hampton, wnose own home is among the mine, zest the air wi&d^oer B after cheer ftr Seymour end Bfeir. Why ? Bej canae Blair fowght fbra Quito iturii?1 Utriaw, id j oot for military negro government He ie itfthe . *n? Union still, tod these people having the re- . i salts of the war, now jtaad on his platform, tnd t ask no more'than constitutional liberty. Wfflthe people refuse to restore them this? F. b ?? ? ? ?i , . f CmccLAnoN of Lwtdob Niwhpahwm.?the Timet is believed to dranhte aboat sia? dn?ni copies daily, selling them to thetrndeet two penoehalf-penny each. The DaHy Tdegraphtxanvuxa, . in hluf letters, five feet long, on the 3 bas "the mad to oaehaadndaiid fesU <H?i fenfr. The Standard, whioh adverttoa each week above its leading article, its average, daflycireolaticsi daring the previows week, ahawam total ofabontooe hundred' and twenty thonsaod, bat thia includes the * Evening Standard and the Morning Bsndd, and of these totals a vast number are returned on their e i J- Tk? nnmluM ?nn *,M iJu* mmkm aimt. USUUO. m 8 ed, which is a rety different thing from the nami ben sold. The Datfy Mam, which hntefhHm rodaced to a penny a copy, selb shout 50,000 etch day, and its proprietors are sanguine thaih wlBbe , st the heed before mmy months hare passed. ] The Marrdng vAEcamg && ?& together sheet j 26,000 daily. The Moemag Fttt (high .priced) scarcely reaches 4,000 s day; the Morning Adcer1 Urn, 6,000; the JBeprew, evening peper (the ptopj ertj of the Dcrikg Mam,) is aboet 15,000; the i Ml MaB Gazette, 12,000; sod (he GhOe, WOO. j Of the weeklies the Saturday Rene* probably K does not circulate 10,000 6opies1 sod the Spccta} fcr a*/berated at about 7,000.' i Maeriacw akd Diyobcx nt Saxoh Ibots,? * swtessseseasestpsar: t this ste?' meyiba taeee4 aedosdiag to the Motk, s to Sexton times, for ertry 8erdo ledf had a r 'tetebdn," *gamrfte, wife* whom oeoesnt " febe eocdd not be onsried., TheSaaom rapetied r mxrimottf ?i itufcllninwliyiit " tin mW. A *! * "^1^* * ? Widow, might many. *?*> 5 ^ duttdb, r thoqghitdidDOtpre^^ggniaym.qs^tois tehhlfc^^ frer ted, wen otiateieB|tei teamengtbs Sterne in England.