De run ain' far, and
when I gits ober dat de spooks on de side dis way cyant cross
arter me;" and he hastened toward the spot where he supposed the
Federals had been massed the most heavily, crossing an open field
and splashing through a shallow place in the river, that their
ghost-ships might be reminded of running water.
On the further slope were the same sad evidences of poor
mortality, graves here and there and often all too shallow, broken
muskets, bullet perforated canteens and torn knapsacks--the debris
of a pitched battle. Many trees and shrubs were so lacerated that
their foliage hung limp and wilting, while boughs with shrivelled
leaves strewed the ground. Nature's wounds indicated that men had
fought here and been mutilated as ruthlessly.
For a time nothing of value rewarded Jeff's search, and he began
to succumb to the grewsome associations of the place. At last he
resolved to examine one more thicket that bordered an old rail-
fence, and then make a long detour rather than go back by the
graveyard road over which he had come.
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