From a pointed aspen beside the road a
wild grapevine let down a fringe of purple clusters, but Big Abel, with a
full stomach, passed them by indifferently. A huge buzzard, rising suddenly
from the pasture, sailed slowly across the sky, its heavy shadow skimming
the field beneath. As yet the flames of war had not blown over this quiet
spot; in the early morning dew it lay as fresh as the world in its
beginning.
At the end of the lane, when they came out upon the turnpike, they met an
old farmer riding a mule home from the market.
"Can you tell me if McClellan has crossed the Potomac?" asked Dan, as he
came up with him. "I was in the hospital at Shepherdstown, and I left it
for fear of capture. No news has reached me, but I am on my way to rejoin
the army."
"Naw, suh, you might as well have stayed whar you were," responded the old
man, eying him with the suspicion which always met a soldier out of ranks.
"McClellan didn't do no harm on this side of the river--he jest set up a
battery on Douglas hill and scolded General Lee for leaving Maryland so
soon. You needn't worry no mo' 'bout the Yankees gittin' on this side--thar
ain't none of 'em left to come, they're all dead. Why, General Lee cut 'em
all up into little pieces, that's what he did. Hooray! it was jest like
Bible times come back agin."
Then, as Dan moved on, the farmer raised himself in his stirrups and called
loudly after him. "Keep to the Scriptures, young man, and remember Joshua,
Smite them hip an' thigh, as the Bible says.
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