Shorty was sitting in front of the house bathing his aching feet.
The man stopped before him, and looked compa.s.sionately at his swollen pedals.
"Your feet are in a very bad way, my man," he said sadly.
"Yes, durn "em," said Shorty impatiently. "I don"t seem to git "em well nohow. Must"ve got "em pizened when I was runnin" through the briars."
"Probably some ivy or poison-oak, or nightshade among the briars.
Poison-oak is very bad, and nightshade is deadly. I knew a man once that had to have his hand amputated on account of getting poisoned by something that scratched him--nightshade, ivy, or poison-oak. I"m afraid your feet are beginning to mortify."
"Well, you are a Job"s comforter," thought Shorty.{124}
"You"d be nice to send for when a man"s sick. You"d scare him to death, even if there was no danger o" his dyin"."
"My friend," said the man, turning to his wagon, "I"ve here a nice pair of home-made socks, which I will give you, and which will come in nicely if you save your legs. If you don"t, give them to some needy man. Here are also some valuable tracts, full of religious consolation and advice, which it will do your soul good to peruse and study."
Shorty took the gift thankfully, and turned over the tracts with curiosity.
"On the Sin of Idolatry," he read the t.i.tle of the first.
"Now, why"d he give that? What graven image have I bin worshipin"? What G.o.ds of wood and stone have I bin bowin" down before in my blindness?
There"ve bin times when I thought a good deal more of a Commissary tent then I did of a church, but I got cured of that as soon as I got a square meal. I don"t see where I have bin guilty of idolatry.
"On the Folly of Self-Pride," he read from the next one. "Humph, there may be something in that that I oughter read. I am very liable to git stuck on myself, and think how purty I am, and how graceful, and how sweetly I talk, and what fine cloze I wear. Especially the cloze. I"ll put that tract in my pocket an" read it after awhile."
"On the Evils of Gluttony," he next read. "Well, that"s a timely tract, for a fact. I"m in the habit o" goin" around stuffin" myself, as this says, with delicate viands, and drinkin" fine wines--"makin" my belly a G.o.d." The man what wrote this must"ve bin{125} intimately acquainted with the sumptuous meals which Uncle Sam sets before his nephews. He must"ve knowed all about the delicate, apetizin" flavor of a slab o" fat pork four inches thick, taken off the side of the hog that"s uppermost when he"s laying on his back. And how I gormandize on hardtack baked in the first place for the Revolutioners, and kept over ever since.
That feller knows jest what he"s writin" about. I"d like to exchange photographs with him."
"Thou Shalt Not Swear." Shorty read a few words, got red in the face, whistled softly, crumpled the tract up, and threw it away.
"On the Sin of Dancing," Shorty yelled with laughter. "Me dance with these hoofs! And he thinks likely mortification"ll set in, and I"ll lose "em altogether. Well, he oughter be harnessed up with Thompson"s colt.
Which"d come out ahead in the race for the fool medal? But these seem to be nice socks. Fine yarn, well-knit, and by stretching a little I think I kin get "em on. I declare, they"re beauties. I"ll jest make Si sick with envy when I show "em to him. I do believe they lay over anything his mother ever sent him. h.e.l.lo, what"s this?"
He extracted from one of them a note in a small, white envelope, on one end of which was a blue Zouave, with red face, hands, cap and gaiters, brandishing a red sword in defense of a Star Spangled Banner which he held in his left hand.
"Must belong to the Army o" the Potomac," mused Shorty, studying the picture. "They wear all sorts o" outlandish uniforms there. That red-headed woodp.e.c.k.e.r"d be shot before he"d git a mile o" the rebels out here. All that hollyhock business"d jest be meat{126} for their sharpshooters. And what"s he doin" with that "ere sword? I wouldn"t give that Springfield rifle o" mine for all the swords that were ever hammered out. When I reach for a feller 600 or even 800 yards away I kin fetch him every time. He"s my meat unless he jumps behind a tree. But as for swords, I never could see no sense in "em except for officers to put on lugs with. I wouldn"t pack one a mile for a wagonload of "em."
He looked at the address on the envelope. Straight lines had been scratched across with a pin. On these was written, in a cramped, mincing hand:
"To the brave soljer who Gits these Socks."
"Humph," mused Shorty, "that"s probably for me. I"ve got the socks, and I"m a soldier. As to whether I"m brave or not"s a matter of opinion.
Sometimes I think I am; agin, when there"s a dozen rebel guns pinted at my head, not 10 feet away, I think I"m not. But we"ll play that I"m brave enough to have this intended for me, and I"ll open it."
On the sheet of paper inside was another valorous red-and-blue Zouave defending the flag with drawn sword. On it was written:
"Bad Ax, Wisconsin,
"Janooary the 14th, 1863.
"Braiv Soljer: I doant know who you air, or whair you may bee; I only know that you air serving your country, and that is enuf to ent.i.tle to the grat.i.tude and afl"ection of every man and woman who has the breath of patriotism in their bodies.
"I am anxious to do something all the time, very little though it may be, to help in some way the men{127} who air fiting the awful battles for me, and for every man and woman in the country.
"I send these socks now as my latest contribution. They aint much, but I"ve put my best work on them, and I hoap they will be useful and comfortable to some good, braiv man.
"How good you may be I doant know, but you air sertingly a much better man than you would be if you was not fiting for the Union. I hoap you air a regler, consistent Christian.
Ide prefer you to be a Methodist Episcopal, but any church is much better than none.
"He be glad to heer that you have received these things all rite.
"Sincerely your friend and well-wisher,
"Jerusha Ellen Briggs."
Although Shorty was little inclined to any form of reading, and disliked handwriting about as much as he did work on the fortifications, he read the letter over several times, until he had every word in it and every feature of the labored, cramped penmanship thoroughly imprinted on his mind. Then he held it off at arm"s length for some time, and studied it with growing admiration. It seemed to him the most wonderful epistle that ever emanated from any human hand. A faint scent of roses came from it to help the fascination.
"I"ll jest bet my head agin a big red apple," he soliloquized, "the woman that writ that"s the purtiest girl in the State o" Wisconsin. I"ll bet there"s nothin" in Injianny to hold a candle to her, purty as Si thinks his Annabel is. And smart--my! Jest look at that letter. That tells it. Every word spelled correckly,{128} and the grammar away up in G. Annabel"s a mighty nice girl, and purty, too, but I"ve noticed she makes mistakes in spelling, and her grammar"s the Wabash kind--home-made."
He drew down his eyebrows, pursed his lips, and a.s.sumed a severely critical look for a reperusal of the letter and judgment upon it according to the highest literary standards.
"No, sir," he said, with an air of satisfaction, "not a blamed mistake in it, from beginnin" to end. Every word spelled jest right, the grammar straight as the Ten Commandments, every t crossed and i dotted accordin"
to regulashuns and the Const.i.tushun of the United States. She must be a school-teacher, and yit a school-teacher couldn"t knit sich socks as them. She"s a lady, every inch of her. Religious, too. Belongs to the Methodist Church. Si"s father"s a Baptist, and so"s my folks, but I always did think a heap o" the Methodists. I think they have a little nicer girls than the Baptists. I think I"d like to marry a Methodist wife."
Then he blushed vividly, all to himself, to think how fast his thoughts had traveled. He returned to the letter, to cover his confusion.
"Bad Ax, Wis. What a queer name for a place. Never heard of it before.
Wonder where in time it is? I"d like awfully to know. There"s the 1st and 21st Wis. in Rousseau"s Division, and the 10th Wis. Battery in Palmer"s Division. I might go over there and ask some o" them. Mebbe some of "em are right from there. I"ll bet it"s a mighty nice place."
He turned to the signature with increased interest.
"Jerusha Ellen Briggs. Why, the name itself is{129} reg"lar poetry.
Jerusha is awful purty. Your Mollies and Sallies and Emmies can"t hold a candle to it. And Annabel--pshaw! Ellen--why that"s my mother"s name.
Briggs? I knowed some Briggses once a?? way-up, awfully nice people.
Seems to me they wuz Presbyterians, though, and I always thought that Presbyterians wuz stuck-up, but they wuzzent stuck-up a mite. I wonder if Miss Jerusha Ellen Briggs--she must be a Miss--haint some beau? But she can"t have. If he wuzzent in the army she wouldn"t have him; and if he was in the army she"d be sending the socks to him, instead of to whom it may concern."
This brilliant bit of logic disposed of a sudden fear which had been clutching at his heart. It tickled him so much that he jumped up, slapped his breast, and grinned delightedly and triumphantly at the whole landscape.
"What"s pleasin" you so mightily. Shorty?" asked Si, who had just come up. "Got a new system for beatin" chuck-a-luck, or bin promoted?"
"No, nothin"! Nothin"s happened," said Shorty curtly, as he hastily shoved the letter into his blouse pocket. "Will you watch them beans bilin" while I go down to the spring and git some water?"
He picked up the camp-kettle and started. He wanted to be utterly alone, even from Si, with his new-born thought. He did not go directly to the spring, but took another way to a clump of pawpaw bushes, which would hide him from the observation of everyone. There he sat down, pulled out the letter again, and read it over carefully, word by word.
"Wants me to write whether I got the socks," he{130} mused. "You jest bet I will. I"ve a great mind to ask for a furlough to go up to Wisconsin, and find out Bad Ax. I wonder how fur it is. I"ll go over to the Suiter"s and git some paper and envelopes, and write to her this very afternoon."
He carried his camp-kettle back to the house, set it down, and making some excuse, set off for the Sutler"s shop.