Atwood Hammond High School - Post Yearbook (Atwood, IL)

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ask food of this lady who, I confess, had undone me more than an armed Rebel would have done. She answered me with a naughty air, which she showed to be affected by occasionally resting her eyes on the ground: “Sir, it is as much my duty as it is that of my brothers to treat those persons as my enemies who glory in the destruction of the honor, fortune, and happiness of my family ” “O'.i! but—I—you know—” I got no farther and, feeling, as guilty as if f had done all that she had said, I dropped my head, determining to continue on my way. I lifted my eyes once more and thinking that they would never again, behold this charming maiden, I gazed long and steadily upon her. A deep blush mounted her cheeks. “I 11—w a i t—I ’ 11 sen d—so in e-thing down by Lee. Oh! Sir. I have forgotten that there are some worthy men in the North. Perhaps you are sincere in— As she stopped I saw the color leave her face. Glancing to my right, I beheld a young man pointing his gun at me. “What! Jenny, conversing with a Yankee!” ‘Oh! but Hugh, he is so hungry!” “Jenny! you (lou t mean you were going to feed him! I reckon I've been about starved myself but I never met a northern beauty who turned traitor to satisfy my appetite.” At these words Virginia’s southern blood was evidently stirred up, for, leading the bewildered Dinah avray, she abandoned me to the mercy of the young gentleman, who made me precede him through the wood. After a short walk we came toasloping strip of open land on the summit of which stood a stately old brick house, with a colonial porch on its front. We followed a gravel path which led to a brick cellar with half of its walls reaching aboveground. This was to be my prison until aid arrived to carry me captivity to the Con-frrates. The door, the only opening was guarded by day by a slave called Washington, and by night by another, who as I found out, was Dinah's son and the boy whom Virginia had mentioned as Lee. On the second day of my arrival, I was handed my dinner as usual and proceded to enjoy it, when, beneath the cloth over it I discovered this letter. Mr. Churchill paused to search for it among the others and pass it to Jack who read it as follows: “its the old colored woman you met with miss Virginia wlios ritin to you mister i reckon us all rit to fit an starv to free us black folks masses been and to mi lint im gona let you out to sav othr nigers whu aint so fotunat im gona get mv boy lee tu let you out tu nite be redie kid dis’ After reading it through the though struck me that it was written too smoothly to come from one so ignorant. I thought that perhaps the young gentle man was merely fooling me and that I might be disappointed should I try to escape.

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A STORY OF THE REBELLION BY TED MERRITT “What are you reading, grand pa? ,asked a young man of about eighteen as he entered the library in which his grandfather was seated. The grandfather was a gray-haired, venerable-looking, old gentleman of about sixty with dark, piercing eyes set beneath heavy brows. “Nothing, nothing, son,” he said, folding up the piece of paper which he held. At Mr. Churchill s reply Jack’s curosity was heightened all the more. After being questioned for some time Mr. Churchill answered in a subdued voice, “Lelters, my boy.” ‘Letters from whom?”,queried Jack. “From your genile grandmother.” Jack never tired of hearing Mr. Churchill’s experiences in the Civil War, especially hisro mantic ones with Mrs. hurchill and asked his grandfather to tell them once more. “Well, sonny, I’ll start with my journey from Richmond to the Federal lines after my escape from Libby Prison. I got out during the early part of the night, f tramped only at night and rested, through the day beneath the underbrush in the dense woods through which I was passing. I was unarmed and consequently my only hope of avoiding recapture was to keep hidden during the day. At the end of the second day of my flight I was unable to sleep ror hunger, for about forty-eight hours had passed since I had enjoyed the Rebel’s coarse fare. T was therefore determined to risk captivity for a bite to eat. As I lay beneath the hollow trunk of a fallen tree, covered over with shrubbery and vines, endeavoring to thii k out a plan whijch I might pursue, I was startled by a sound which seemed to come from a point but a few feet away. As I listened closely, I heard an old southern melody, sung in .he negro dialect. I decided that this was as good a chance for getting something to rat as I could possibly meet with. “I imufdiately spiarg fiom my hiding place and found that an old colored woman was standing not more than seventy feet away. On seeing my uniform she threw up her hands in amazement and exclaimed, ‘Laud o’massy! if dar aint a Yank!’ As J advanced toward her, she screamed out, “yo’ done come fur ’nough! Fo’ Laud sake, Miss Virginia, come heal)!’ “Turning around to find Miss Virgina, my eyes met the steady gaze of a young lady just emerging from a thicket nearby. Her complexion was of exactly the same hue as the light cream-colored gown which she wore. Her cheeks seemed like petals from the pale pink rose which she carried. “Come, Dinah,” she said in a tremulous voice which betrayed he; alarm at coming upon me so suddenly. It took all the courage that I could arouse to

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“I was often allowed, under guard, to roam about the plantation and, on the afternoon of the day on which I received the note, I came across Dinah in the garden. I decided to find out whether or not she was the author of the missive and I asked her if she would interpret a letter for me, since I was unable to read. “Laudy no!”, she exclaimed. “I can’t make out no reading s’cept my name and Lee’s and mv ole man’s.” I anxiously waited until almost midnight that night before I heard a sound. The door opened and Lee entered. After being assured of my safety, I followed him and was once more a free man. Yet I was badly puzzled and my mind was not cleared of the question of my liberation until three years later. “A few weeks after your grandmother and I first met in Pennsylvania, I was relating this adventure, among others, to her. It was the first time she had heard it, I noticed that she was unusually attentive as I recited the details of the occurrence. I observed that her face was remarkably bright for one who was just recovering from a long and severe illness, for, as I had learned, she had been ill since her family had been forced to leave their old Virginian plantation and to move to Pennsylvania. It seemed that her whole expression was changed and that she revived in that one moment. ‘‘After I had finished, she inquired, excitedly, “And what was the name of the young lady who so fascinated you?” “It was the same as yours— Virginia.” “A happy smile spread over her lovely face and she cried out, “And it was not only the same name but the same Virginia! Do you know why I have hesitated? Becauss I could not rid my memory of the noble Yankee whose liberty I brought about.” THE AWAKENING OF AN OLD WORLD By Lora Biggs. China is one of the oldest, the most exclusive, and the most populous countries in the world. The early history of China is wrapped in mystery for though some authors say that her civilization dates back for several thousand years, not until the twenty-seventh century before the Christian era have we a record of any ruler. From her earliest days China has shown an aversion to intercourse with other countries, so that her inhabitants thought o the world as consisting of China with her eighteen provinces. However, in 1834 England forced her to admit a representative of British merchants into her vast country, and since then she has had more dealings with other nations. China is indeed one of the most populous countries in the world, for in her 4,200,000 square miles of territory she has a population of 428,000,000 people.