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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9d08b0c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #62026 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62026) diff --git a/old/62026-0.txt b/old/62026-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index dae5f22..0000000 --- a/old/62026-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4613 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's A Yankee Girl at Antietam, by Alice Turner Curtis - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: A Yankee Girl at Antietam - -Author: Alice Turner Curtis - -Illustrator: Nat Little - -Release Date: May 4, 2020 [EBook #62026] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A YANKEE GIRL AT ANTIETAM *** - - - - -Produced by Roger Frank and Sue Clark from page images -generously made available by The Internet Archive -(https://archive.org) - - - - - - - - - - A Yankee Girl at Antietam - - - - -[Illustration: ROXY WAS TOO SURPRISED TO MOVE] - - - - - A YANKEE GIRL - AT - ANTIETAM - - By - Alice Turner Curtis - - Author of - - “A Yankee Girl at Fort Sumter,” - “A Yankee Girl at Bull Run,” - “A Yankee Girl at Shiloh” - - Illustrated by NAT LITTLE - - THE PENN PUBLISHING - COMPANY PHILADELPHIA - 1923 - - - - - COPYRIGHT 1923 - BY THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY - - A Yankee Girl at Antietam - - Manufacturing Plant - Camden, N. J. - - Made in the U. S. A. - - - - - CONTENTS - - I. Roxy and Polly - II. Polly’s Return - III. A Paper Circus - IV. Signals - V. New Adventures - VI. Roxy Makes New Friends - VII. A Rainy Day - VIII. Following the Brook - IX. Under the Sycamore - X. Polly’s News - XI. A Triumphal Arch - XII. Startling News - XIII. September Sixth - XIV. Roxy Taken Prisoner - XV. Roxy’s Ride to Sharpsburg - XVI. The Battle of Antietam - XVII. Polly’s Plan - XVIII. A Visitor - - - - - Illustrations - - Roxy Was Too Surprised to Move - The Little Girl Looked from Her Mother to Her Grandmother - He Lifted Her to the Saddle in Front of Him - - - - - A Yankee Girl at Antietam - - - - - CHAPTER I - - ROXY AND POLLY - - -Roxana Delfield, wearing a dress of blue-checked gingham, stout leather -shoes and white stockings, and a broad-rimmed hat of rough straw, ran -down the narrow path that led from her Grandmother Miller’s farm to the -highway leading to the little village of Antietam, Maryland. - -The path curved about a rocky ledge, skirted a group of small cedar -trees and reached a stone wall where there was an opening just wide -enough for one person to squeeze through. Roxy thought it was a -fortunate thing that all the people at her Grandmother Miller’s were -thin enough to get through this opening, all except Dulcie, the negro -cook, who declared her weight “up’ards ob two hunderd pounds.” Dulcie, -however, seldom left the farm, and when she did was obliged to take the -longer way by the road. - -When Roxy reached the wall she climbed to its top and stood looking -anxiously along the gray road that skirted a wooded hill, and in a few -moments a brown horse, harnessed to a light wagon, and driven by a -bareheaded girl whose red hair gleamed in the June sunshine, trotted -into sight and came rapidly down the hill. - -“There she comes! There’s Polly!” exclaimed Roxy scrambling down the -rough wall, and hurrying across the little field to the side of the road -where she stood eagerly awaiting the approach of her new friend, Polly -Lawrence, and in a few minutes the brown horse stopped directly beside -her, and the red-haired girl called out: - -“Here we are, little Yankee girl; jump in,” and she reached down a -strong brown hand to help Roxy climb into the wagon. - -“This is splendid!” Roxy declared happily, as she pushed herself well -back on the broad seat, and looked up admiringly at the tall girl beside -her. - -Polly smiled, her white teeth reminding Roxy of the string of pearl -beads that her mother sometimes wore, and as she looked at her companion -she realized that everything about Polly seemed to hold the light and -the glimmer of sunshine. Not only did Polly’s waving hair hold golden -gleams, but there were twinkling lights in her blue eyes, and her skin -seemed to glow, and her teeth to shine. - -“Oh, Polly! I do like to look at you!” Roxy exclaimed ardently, and at -this the older girl laughed aloud, and responded: - -“Well, you can say as pleasant things as any Southern girl. Nobody would -think you were born in Massachusetts.” - -“Why not, Polly?” Roxy questioned, leaning forward to look eagerly into -her companion’s face. “Why wouldn’t anyone think I was born in -Massachusetts?” - -Polly continued to smile, but she answered quickly: - -“I suppose because you have such good manners. But of course your mother -was born in Maryland.” - -“Polly Lawrence! Stop this horse! Stop this minute!” demanded Roxy, -clutching at the reins and scrambling down from the wagon seat as if -meaning to jump to the ground. “I don’t want to ride with you. I guess -Maryland girls don’t have all the manners. I guess little girls in -Newburyport wouldn’t be s’prised to have other girls polite. I guess——” - -But before Roxy could say another word Polly’s arm was about her, and -Polly was saying: - -“Oh, Roxy! I did not mean to be rude. Truly, truly I didn’t. I only -meant to praise you!” - -“Stop the horse! I don’t want to go to Sharpsburg. I want to go home,” -persisted Roxy. “If my mother _was_ born in Maryland she went to school -in Massachusetts, and maybe that is where she learned good manners.” - -Polly’s arm released its hold on Roxy, and she brought the brown horse -to a standstill. - -“You can get out here, Roxy,” she said gravely. “It won’t be far for you -to walk home.” And without a word Roxy jumped from the wagon and turned -on her homeward way. - -“I don’t care,” she told herself. “Polly Lawrence talks as if people in -Massachusetts were not as good as Maryland people. She always calls me -‘Yankee’ as if I was an Indian or—or something!” and with a little sob, -Roxy trudged along the road over which she had only a brief time before -rode so happily; and on reaching the stone bridge she stopped and leaned -against its rough parapet, gazing down at the slow-moving waters of -Antietam River. - -For a little while Roxy could think only of her disappointment, and of -Polly’s unkindness, and wish herself back in her own home in -Newburyport, where she had never even heard the word “Yankee,” and where -there were streets of pleasant houses, each one with its own garden, and -where little girls visited each other every day, bringing their -patchwork to sew; or if it was a “special party” the little girls would -bring their fine dolls dressed in silk and muslin. - -Newburyport was very different from this hilly country where every -farmhouse was built of gray limestone, and stood on sloping field or -pasture, thought Roxy, turning her gaze to an opening in the distant -mountains where range upon range of blue heights rose against the sky. - -“I do wish we were home,” she whispered to herself. “I wish there wasn’t -any war!” For it was in the early summer of 1862, when Northern and -Southern States were in arms against each other, and when President -Abraham Lincoln had fully determined to declare the freedom of negroes -held in slavery. Roxy’s father was a soldier with the Northern Army in -Virginia, and Mrs. Delfield had taken her little daughter and come to -her old home in Maryland hoping that her husband might secure leave of -absence and join them. - -It was now nearly a month since Roxy had first seen Polly Lawrence, -whose father’s farm adjoined the Millers’. Polly had at once made -friends with the little Northern girl, and although she was nearly five -years older than Roxy, she seemed to enjoy her company and had taken the -little Northern girl on many a pleasant ride about the countryside, and -on walks over the pasture-lands that stretched up the slopes behind the -farms. It was Polly who told Roxy that the river had been named Antietam -for an Indian chief, and that years before the white men had settled in -this part of the country the Shawnee, Catawba and Delaware Indians, with -feathered heads, painted faces, and clad in the skins of wild animals, -had wandered along the banks of this placid stream and camped in the -near-by valleys. - -“But Polly has always called me ‘Yankee girl,’” Roxy told herself, -choking back a troublesome lump that came in her throat as she -remembered that she had quarrelled with Polly Lawrence; with Polly, who -was nearly fifteen years old, and who knew so many wonderful stories, -and who sang such beautiful songs, and who owned a horse! Oh! There -never was anyone like Polly, even if she did think Maryland people -better than the people of Massachusetts; and now Roxy leaned her head on -the rough stones of the parapet and sobbed aloud, and was so filled with -unhappiness that she did not hear the sound of horses’ hoofs or the -jingle of bridle reins until two horsemen clattered onto the bridge -close beside her; then she turned quickly and gazed up at them in -amazement. It was Roxy’s first sight of Confederate soldiers, and as she -looked at the two war-worn men, in shabby gray uniforms, mounted on fine -well-cared-for horses, it was no wonder that the little girl forgot her -own troubles. - -So far, in the summer of 1862, the war had not pressed hard on Maryland; -the state seemed chiefly a highway through which passed the Northern -troops; and Polly Lawrence had seen many marching men crossing that very -bridge. - -The two horsemen did not at first notice Roxy. One of them drew a paper -from his pocket, opened it and said: - -“This is the road to Sharpsburg. I’m sure of it,” and before he could -say more his companion exclaimed: - -“Well, little miss! You look surprised! Have you never seen a soldier -before?” and he smiled down at Roxy. - -“Oh, yes, sir! But all the soldiers I have seen wore blue clothes,” Roxy -answered. - -“And where were these blue-clothed soldiers?” continued the man, as he -swung himself from the saddle and stood beside the little girl. - -“They were in Washington,” replied Roxy, “but I saw my father’s regiment -when it marched down High Street in Newburyport!” - -The man looked at her as if puzzled, and repeated “Newburyport?” and -then glanced at his companion who now dismounted and stood near his -horse’s head. - -“That’s not a Maryland town, is it?” he questioned, and Roxy eagerly -replied: - -“Oh, no! Newburyport is in Massachusetts. That’s my home, but my mother -and I are visiting Grandma Miller!” - -The two men glanced at each other in evident surprise, and the man who -had first noticed Roxy said thoughtfully: - -“I see! A little Yankee girl!” And at this Roxy’s smile vanished. - -“‘Yankee girl!’ ‘Yankee girl!’ I wish I knew why you say that?” she -exclaimed, her gray eyes looking steadily at the tall, gray-clad -soldier. - -“Oh, only because your home is in the North! I reckon your father is -proud to be called a Yankee,” he replied kindly, and at this Roxy’s face -brightened. - -“Oh, thank you! Polly calls me ‘Yankee girl’ and I didn’t know why. But -I shan’t care now,” she said, with a friendly nod at the tall man. - -“We might take a road that leads through the hills here,” suggested the -second soldier, and for a few moments the two soldiers bent their heads -over a small map and seemed to forget the little girl, who stood -watching them wonderingly. - -“Good-bye,” said the good-natured soldier as he swung himself into the -saddle. “You will see more soldiers in gray clothes here before the end -of your visit, or I miss my guess; eh, Richard?” and he turned to his -companion. - -“True enough!” responded the man; “the stars and bars will cross this -bridge before many months!” - -“What is ‘stars and bars’?” asked Roxy. - -“The flag of the Confederate States,” answered the man, and waving their -hands in farewell they rode on. As they started one of the men began to -sing, and the refrain of his song, “Maryland, My Maryland,” came -drifting back to the little girl who stood looking after them. - -“I suppose I’d better go home now,” thought Roxy. “I guess my mother -will be surprised when I tell her about the soldiers. I suppose I will -have to tell her about Polly, too,” and sighing deeply Roxy went on her -way toward the narrow path that led to her Grandmother Miller’s. On a -farther slope the vivid green of young wheat ran up to meet the darker -green of forest trees; flowering dogwood and redbud grew along the stone -walls, and the purple blossom of the papaw showed here and there, and -Roxy looked at these blossoms admiringly, and wondered if they would -grow in her garden in Newburyport. - -She was only a short distance from the highway when she noticed -something moving behind a thickly growing bush of dogwood. The branches -bent forward, and Roxy stopped and gazed at it, half fearing that some -wild animal was sheltered there that might spring out and seize her. As -she stood ready to run the branches sprang back and a boyish figure -crawled out and slowly rose to his feet. - -He was bareheaded, and his brown hair was long and rough. He wore gray -shirt and trousers, and his shoes were so worn that they hardly covered -his feet. Roxy was too surprised to move, but as the young man gazed -toward her with a half-frightened, pleading look, she lost all sense of -fear. - -“Oh, what is the matter?” she asked. “What is it?” - -“I’m starving!” came the whispered answer, and the young man sank down -close to the bushes. “I can’t go another step! Were those soldiers after -me?” - -“No! No! I don’t believe so. Come up to my grandma’s and you can have -all you want to eat,” Roxy said eagerly. - -The young man shook his head. “I must not let anyone see me. You won’t -tell anyone about me. Promise!” he pleaded. “Promise not to tell a human -being that you have seen me; and can’t you get me something to eat? I -have a safe hiding-place near here.” - -Roxy gave her promise promptly, and the young man urged her to bring him -food as soon as possible, cautioning her not to let anyone know that she -had taken it, and telling her to leave whatever she brought under the -thicket of tangled vines and bushes behind which he had hidden. - -“Remember not to let any human being suspect that you have seen a -stranger,” he pleaded. “I haven’t strength to keep on without food!” - -“I won’t tell! Truly I won’t!” Roxy promised; “and I’ll come back as -soon as I can,” and before the young man could reply she had darted off -up the slope. For a moment the young man gazed after her, and then -crawled back to his hiding-place. - -Roxy slipped through the opening in the wall, and then stopped for a -moment and looked back. - -“I wonder what he is running away from?” she thought, and then -remembering the thin face and the pleading voice that had told her of -hunger and fear the little girl hurried on. “I’ll take him some of those -cakes Dulcie made this morning, and some milk, and some eggs, and -everything I can find, poor fellow,” she thought pitifully. “I know my -grandma would want me to take the things if she had seen him.” - -As Roxy ran across the yard Dulcie appeared in the kitchen door and -called out: - -“How be it you’s home so soon, missie? You ain’ been ter Sharpsburg, hab -you?” - -Roxy stopped and looked at Dulcie with so sober an expression that the -stout negro woman became alarmed. - -“Wha’s de matter?” she demanded. “You look’s if you’d seen a ghos’! -Wha’s happen’ to you, missie?” - -“Nothing!” Roxy replied sharply. “I thought you were taking a nap, -Dulcie.” - -Dulcie chuckled and nodded her turbaned head. - -“Dat’s so! Dat’s w’ot I plan ter do dis minit. I’se jes’ on de way!” and -with another nod she ambled down the path toward her own cabin, and Roxy -entered the kitchen. - - - - - CHAPTER II - - POLLY’S RETURN - - -There was not a sound in the quiet kitchen as Roxy entered. For a moment -the little girl stood still, listening intently, but the house itself -seemed to be taking a nap in the mid-afternoon quiet of the June day. - -“Mother and Grandma will be in their rooms now,” thought Roxy; “they -won’t expect me home before the last of the afternoon. I’ll have plenty -of time,” and she tiptoed across the well-scrubbed floor toward the -pantry. Before she tried the door she again looked about the room -cautiously, remembering her promise to the half-starved man who had -trusted her, and fearful that someone might enter the kitchen before she -could secure food and escape. Roxy knew that if her mother heard her -Mrs. Delfield would at once want to know why she had not gone to -Sharpsburg with Polly Lawrence, and even in the excitement of seeing the -Confederate soldiers, and of discovering the runaway, Roxy had resolved -not to mention her disagreement with Polly. Already she felt a little -ashamed, since the soldier had said her father would be proud to be -called a Yankee, that she had been so ready to be angry at Polly. - -But as she carefully opened the pantry door Roxy was thinking only of -the poor fellow hidden behind the dogwood, and of what she could take -him. - -There on the lower shelf of the pantry, covered with a white cloth, -stood a platter heaped with small round cakes that Dulcie had baked that -morning. Roxy carefully lifted the cloth and gazed at them admiringly. -“And there’s citron and currants in every one,” she whispered to -herself, and carefully chose three of the cakes, and replaced the cloth. - -“I’ll have to have something to carry things in,” she thought anxiously, -and her glance fell on Dulcie’s egg basket, where only three or four -eggs remained. - -“I’ll take that, and the eggs too,” she decided, and in a moment the -three cakes rested beside the eggs, and Roxy’s eyes searched the pantry -shelves for something more. - -The meat left from the midday meal would, she knew, be in the cool -cellar closet, and Roxy feared she could not reach the shelf on which it -was kept; but the bread jar was close at hand, and removing the cover -Roxy drew out an entire loaf of freshly baked bread. - -“Oh, dear! Just bread and cake and eggs isn’t enough,” she thought. “I -must get him some meat,” and she left the closet and ran across the -kitchen to the door that opened on the cellar stairway. - -A cool air came up from the dark cellar as Roxy groped her way down the -broad stone steps, and keeping close to the wall felt her way to the -deep closet where many household supplies were kept. - -It was hard work for the little girl to pull open the heavy door, but at -last she succeeded, and stepped in. Dulcie always brought a lighted -candle to the cellar, but Roxy had no light, and could only grope about. - -“I’ll take whatever I find,” she resolved, clutching at something -resting in a tin pan. “I’m sure this is the chicken Dulcie roasted this -morning to have sliced up cold for supper,” she thought delightedly, -thrusting it in with the bread and cakes. “That will be splendid; and -maybe it will be enough. I guess I won’t wait to get milk,” and Roxie -left the cellar cupboard, the door swinging to behind her with a sudden -bang that made the little girl jump with the fear that it might bring -someone hurrying down the cellar stairs. - -But no other sound was heard in the house; and now Roxie could see a dim -square of light at the far end of the cellar, and remembered that there -was a cellar door leading into the yard. - -“I’ll go out that way,” she decided, and made her careful way among -barrels and boxes to where another flight of broad stone steps led -directly up to the back yard, and in a moment she was again in the open -air. - -The negro farm-hands were all in the fields attending to their work; the -young colored woman who helped Dulcie in the work of the house had, as -Roxy knew, gone for an afternoon’s visit to a neighboring farm; Dulcie -was taking her usual afternoon nap in her cabin, and Grandma Miller and -Mrs. Delfield were resting in their own rooms. Roxy felt sure that no -one would see her as she now ran across the yard and down the rough -slope. - -She slipped through the narrow opening, and now walked more slowly, and -looked anxiously toward the road, fearful that some passer-by might see -her; and as she drew near the thicket behind which she knew the hungry -man lay hidden, she began to listen for some sound. Perhaps he would -call out to her, she thought. - -But there was now no movement among the blossoming branches of the -dogwood; and with a little sigh of disappointment Roxy set the basket -down where the man had told her to leave whatever she brought him. But -she stood close beside it until a long brown arm reached through the -underbrush and seized it. - -“Bless you, little girl,” came a whispered voice. - -And Roxy responded eagerly: “You are welcome.” - -“Don’t stand there! Run home. Somebody may see you,” said the voice -again. “And promise me again that you’ll be my friend and keep my -secret, and never tell anyone that you have seen me.” - -“I won’t tell; truly I won’t,” Roxy promised. “But what are you running -away from?” - -“From a southern prison. I’m a Yankee soldier. I was taken prisoner at -Manassas; and I’m sure those rebs on horseback were after me. Where is -this place, anyway?” and now the young man pushed his head and shoulders -out from behind the bushes, quite forgetting his cautions to his new -friend. - -“It’s Antietam,” replied Roxy; “where do you want to go?” - -“Anywhere where there are Yankees. I’ve been hiding in the woods and -swamps for days, and I’ve lost my bearings,” he replied, as he pulled a -leg from the chicken and began to eat ravenously. - -“I’m a Yankee, and so is my mother, and we are living up in that house,” -said Roxy, pointing toward the farmhouse. “You needn’t hide,” she -continued, “for I have heard my grandma say that Maryland is loyal to -the Union. You come up to our house and Grandma will give you better -things than cold chicken to eat; and—and”—Roxy hesitated a moment—“I -guess she could give you some clothes.” - -For a few moments the young man ate steadily; the greater part of the -chicken disappeared, and he had seized on the cakes before he spoke -again. - -“A Yankee girl, are you? Tell me your name.” - -“My name is Roxana Elizabeth Delfield, and I’m ’most ten,” Roxy replied, -and added quickly: “My father is a Yankee soldier,” and now the young -man fixed his glance upon her, and a little smile crept over his thin -face. - -“Seeing you is the first good luck I’ve had for months,” he said slowly, -and Roxy smiled happily. - -“Come up to Grandma’s,” she urged. “You can rest, and then you can get -some shoes; and then my mother will help you go wherever you want to. I -know she will.” - -But the young man shook his head. “I don’t dare take a chance. Someone -might be on the watch for me. You keep your promise, little Yankee girl. -Don’t speak of me!” and again Roxy promised. “I can’t go on before -to-morrow; I’m used up,” he added. “I’m only resting here. I’ll have to -find a safer place to sleep.” - -There was the sound of approaching wheels on the near-by road, and with -a quick word of caution the young man disappeared and Roxy turned to see -Polly driving the brown horse and light wagon coming rapidly down the -highway. Roxy ran toward the road so that Polly would not notice any -movement in the thicket; and as Polly saw her she drew rein, believing -that Roxy had waited to make friends again. - -“Oh, Roxy! Have you been waiting for me? Well, you are a dear! And have -you forgiven your Polly-Wolly for being so horrid? I’ll never call you -‘Yankee’ again.” And the smiling Polly leaned down to touch Roxy’s rough -straw hat. - -“Oh, Polly, I like to be called ‘Yankee’ now! Two Confederate soldiers -rode over the bridge and spoke to me, and one of them told me about -Yankees, so I don’t care now,” and Roxy, with her flushed face and eager -eyes, endeavored to return Polly’s good-natured smile. - -“Those soldiers passed me. They are after a Yankee soldier whom they had -held as a prisoner,” said Polly. “Poor chap! I hope they don’t find -him.” - -“They mustn’t! They mustn’t!” Roxy declared so seriously that Polly -wondered to herself why the little girl should look so unhappy over the -possible capture of a man she had never seen. - -“I reckon it’s because they are both Yankees,” thought the good-natured -girl, who was well pleased to be on friendly terms again with her small -neighbor. - -“Well, they said they were coming back. They might run into Northern -troops if they went beyond Sharpsburg. Here they come now,” and Polly -drew the brown horse well out of the road as the two mounted soldiers, -riding at a good pace, clattered over the bridge and stopped their -horses close beside Polly’s wagon. - -The men touched their hats smilingly, and the man who had told Roxy that -her father would be proud to be called a Yankee, said: - -“The Yank has fooled us and got well away, unless he’s hiding somewhere -near at hand. You haven’t seen any half-starved runaway soldier about -here, have you?” and he turned his sharp glance on the two girls. - -“Oh, no!” Polly answered. “We wouldn’t let any soldier starve in -Maryland. But I haven’t seen anyone since I met you on the road.” - -The man nodded and smiled, and was about to ride on when his companion -said gruffly: - -“What about that other girl? She’s a Yankee. Maybe she’s hiding the -fellow, or else her folks may be.” - -Roxy’s frightened glance convinced both the men that it might be -possible the speaker was right, and when she turned and fled up the -slope toward home they were sure of it, and in an instant both the men -were off their horses and after her. - -“If she reaches the house and warns him he’ll get away from us again,” -panted the short man as he found himself obliged to climb the wall. - -As Roxy neared home she began to call: “Mother! Mother!” at the top of -her voice, so that when she dashed into the yard with the two men close -behind her not only Mrs. Delfield but Grandma Miller, Dulcie and two -negroes from a near-by field were all hurrying to meet her. - -With her mother’s arms about her, and Grandma Miller facing her -pursuers, Roxy began to feel less frightened. She heard the strangers -tell their errand, and explain that Roxy had told them she was a Yankee -girl. - -“You are Southern soldiers and you will take the word of a Maryland -woman,” said Mrs. Miller, “and I assure you that neither I or any member -of my household have seen the runaway. Beside that, even if we sheltered -him, you have no authority to demand him at our hands, nor would we -permit such a thing. Gentlemen, Maryland is a loyal state,” and without -waiting for any response Grandma Miller turned toward the house followed -by Mrs. Delfield leading Roxy. - -The little group of negroes stood watching the two soldiers. - -“If you asks me I’d ’vise you to put off out ob dis paht of de lan’,” -said Dulcie. “Dar’s sojers in blue coats up Hagerstown way dis minute.” - -“Come on, Richard,” said the taller of the two men, “I reckon we’d -better take Mammy’s advice and let the Yank go,” and they made their way -down the slope, climbed the wall, and hurried to the highway. As they -ran past the thicket they both shouted in amazement and anger, for the -road was deserted. Not only had Polly and her brown horse disappeared -but the fine saddle-horses were gone. - -“That red-headed girl has made off with our horses, and for all we know -may bring a party of Yanks after us,” declared Richard; “we’d better -make for the Virginia line.” - -His companion promptly agreed, and they hurried across the bridge, -turned into a path that led by the river and disappeared. - - - - - CHAPTER III - - A PAPER CIRCUS - - -But it was not Polly who had made off with the two saddle-horses; for as -the two soldiers dashed up the slope after Roxy the runaway had appeared -from his hiding-place, carrying the loaf of bread in one hand, and had -hastened to where the two horses stood nibbling at the wayside grass; -without a word to Polly he slipped the bread into a big pocket of one of -the saddles, seized the swinging bridle reins and mounted the horse, and -leading the other, was off at a gallop down the road toward Sharpsburg. - -Polly stared after him until the sound of the hoofs of the speeding -horses died away in the distance, and then turned her horse toward home. -Her quick glance had noted the loaf of bread, and that something -resembling the frame of a chicken bulged from the young man’s pocket. - -“He must have been hiding there all the time. I wonder where he got the -bread?” thought the surprised girl, and she smiled at the thought of the -two men who were in search of him and who had been so cleverly misled. - -“If Roxy had known about the man and planned to help him she could not -have done anything better,” thought Polly. “Poor little Roxy! They -frightened her half out of her senses,” and Polly resolved to go over -that very evening and see her friend and tell her of the hidden man and -of his escape from his pursuers. - -But it was from Dulcie that Roxy first heard the news. Dulcie peering -over the wall had seen the young man as he ran toward the horses, -mounted and galloped out of sight, and when the gray-clad Confederate -soldiers dashed past her she had chuckled with delight. - -“Dey won’ be a-ridin’ off so gran’ as dey are spectin’ to,” she said. -“Wot dey mean anyway a-prospectin’ roun’ in Marylan’? Dis state ain’ fer -upsettin’ de United States Gubbermint. ’Deed it ain’t,” and Dulcie shook -her head disapprovingly over the idea that Southern soldiers should so -fearlessly enter a loyal state. Dulcie well knew that the great conflict -between North and South meant not only the freedom of the negroes, if -the Northern Armies were successful, but a united and undivided nation. -Mrs. Miller talked freely with her colored servants, and Dulcie was sure -that whatever “Ole Miss” said was true; and she now hurried back to the -farmhouse to tell the family what she had seen. - -Roxy and her mother were in the big sitting-room, and the little girl -was still greatly excited over her encounter with the soldiers; and -beside that she was fearful and anxious as to the safety of the Yankee -soldier. She had not mentioned him, remembering her promise, and her -mother and grandmother did not imagine that Roxy had ever seen the man -for whom the two soldiers were searching. That she should be frightened -seemed only natural, although Grandma Miller carefully explained that -the soldiers would only, had they overtaken her, have questioned her -about the runaway. - -“I know it,” Roxy whimpered. “I wasn’t afraid of them. The tall one -looked like my father.” - -“What made you run then?” asked Mrs. Delfield, but before Roxy could -answer Dulcie, smiling and bobbing her turbaned head, appeared in the -doorway. - -“What is it, Dulcie?” Mrs. Miller questioned, wondering if the fleeing -Yankee had been overtaken. - -“De Yankee-man was hid up, Miss, down clus to de road; an’ when dose -sojers come a-racin’ up de slope de Yankee-man put out ob de bushes an’ -hists hisse’f on to one hoss, an’ he hoi’s on to de udder one and off he -goes!” and Dulcie flourished both hands to show how swiftly the fleeing -man had disappeared. - -“Oh, goody! Goody!” exclaimed Roxy, jumping up from the sofa where she -had been sitting beside her mother, and running toward Dulcie. “Which -road did he take? Was he out of sight before the men knew he was gone? -Did he get away?” she questioned eagerly. - -“For de lan’ sakes!” exclaimed the bewildered Dulcie. “W’ich one ob dose -questions you spect me ter reply to, Missy? You kinder be-willers me!” - -“Oh, Dulcie!” and Roxy jumped up and down in front of the old negress. -“Tell me if he got away.” - -“Ain’ I jes’ tole you? He got clare out ob sight, an’ he tuk de extra -hoss! Yas’m, he was right clever, dat Yankee feller was. I spect he’s in -Sharpsburg ’fore dis time.” - -Roxy smiled so radiantly as she turned toward her mother that Mrs. -Delfield smiled in response, well pleased that her little daughter -should forget the fear and excitement of her adventure. - -“What became of Polly Lawrence?” asked Mrs. Miller. - -“Oh! Miss Polly jes’ druv toward home. She didn’ wait fer de gray coats -to get back either,” and Dulcie went off chuckling with satisfaction. - -“Well, Roxy, I think the Yankee boy owes his escape to you,” declared -Mrs. Miller. “Your running off made the soldiers think you could tell -them of the escaped prisoner, and so they ran after you, and that gave -the man his chance.” - -“As if the child could know——” began Mrs. Delfield, but was interrupted -by an outcry from the cellar, and Dulcie’s complaining voice as she made -her heavy way up the stairs and came hurrying to the sitting-room. - -“What can be the matter now?” exclaimed Mrs. Miller, starting toward the -door. - -“Ole Miss—Ole Miss! We’s robbed! Yas’m!” exclaimed Dulcie, nearly -breathless. “My roas’ chicken bin stole. Yas’m! An’ I cayn’t lay eyes on -my egg baskit, an’ my bread am took!” and Dulcie stood rolling her -frightened eyes and trembling with excitement. - -“Why, Dulcie! It can’t be! I have never had a thing taken from the house -in all my life,” declared Mrs. Miller, and with Dulcie beside her she -hurried off to the kitchen. - -Roxy gave a little exclamation, and Mrs. Delfield hastened to assure her -that probably Dulcie was mistaken, and had forgotten where she had set -the food. But the little girl seemed so troubled, so grave and quiet, -that her mother felt anxious. - -“Don’t you want to finish the ‘Circus,’ dear?” she suggested. “You’ll -need a herd of camels, several elephants, beside lions and zebras.” - -But Roxy shook her head. Not even her beloved “Circus,” on which she had -worked several hours each day since her arrival at Grandma Miller’s, -seemed to interest her. When she had given the man the basket of food -she had not thought of the fact that it would be promptly missed, and -that Dulcie would make such an outcry over it. But, as no special person -was suspected of taking it, Roxy quickly decided that all was well. -Dulcie would scold and wonder about her loss, and Grandma Miller would -endeavor to find out who had really made off with the chicken, but no -real harm had been done, so in a little while Roxy was quite ready to -follow her mother’s suggestion and begin on the animals that were to be -a part of the “paper circus”; and when Mrs. Delfield followed Mrs. -Miller to the kitchen to find out what had really occurred Roxy was -happily at work near one of the wide windows that looked across the -green wheat field toward the distant mountains. - -A broad low table, that Grandma Miller said was Roxy’s table, stood near -this window. It had two deep wide drawers, and the straight-backed -cushioned chair in front of it was exactly the right height and size for -a little girl ten years old. Roxy could lean on her table and look out -over the pleasant countryside, and see a distant bend of the slow-moving -river. - -She opened the upper drawer of the table and took out some squares of -heavy brown paper, a pair of pointed scissors and a box of crayons; then -Roxy ran across the room to a closet and opened the door and from one of -the lower shelves she drew out a thick book and carried it to her table, -opened it and turned the leaves carefully. - -It was a wonderful book! On the very first page there was a picture of -an amiable lion, with his family resting peacefully about him. On the -next page were pictured a group of monkeys gathering cocoanuts, and -further on were shown camels journeying across a desert; there were -pictures of zebras, tigers, rhinoceros, and there were pages of -wonderful birds with all their fine plumage. - -Roxy turned to the page where a tall camel was pictured, and then taking -one of the sheets of brown paper and a freshly sharpened pencil she -began, very carefully, to draw the outlines of the strange animal. Its -queer head, long legs and humped back were easy to copy, and with a -little smile of satisfaction Roxy held up the drawing she had made, and -then, scissors in hand, she cut carefully into the paper following her -pencil marks until a paper camel lay on the table before her. - -“There! Now I can cut out two or three more from this one!” she said -aloud, and pulled open the lower drawer and placed the camel with a -number of other animals cut from the brown paper. Later on Roxy planned -to use all these paper figures in the “Paper Circus.” - -It was Grandma Miller who had suggested, during a week of rainy days -when Roxy and her mother had first arrived at the farm, that the little -girl should begin it, and told her that when her mother was a small girl -there was no game she enjoyed more. And Roxy’s mother had brought out -the “Animal Book” and shown Roxy how to trace the pictures. - -Grandma Miller had explained that the animals were only a part of the -circus; there would be a clown, who wore strange garments, men who must -be mounted on prancing horses, and all could be assembled in a -procession. - -Grandma Miller knew just how to make the figures stand upright with -clever little braces of stiff paper pasted on their backs; and Roxy’s -mother had suggested that Roxy could use her box of colored crayons to -color the lion’s mane, the stripes on the zebras, and to mark the eyes -of the monkeys. - -As Roxy added the camel to the pile of figures in the lower drawer she -thought happily that her paper menagerie was now nearly complete. - -“Then I’ll cut out clowns and circus-men,” she decided, “and then I can -get ready to surprise Grandma,” for Roxy was making a plan to celebrate -her grandmother’s birthday, that came in mid-July, by an entertainment -in which the “paper circus” was to have a prominent place. Polly had -promised to help Roxy with this plan, and no one else was to be in the -secret. - -For the moment Roxy had nearly forgotten the adventures of the -afternoon, but the sound of voices just outside the open windows made -her jump up from the table and run toward the door. - -“There’s Polly!” she exclaimed. “Oh, I hope it’s just as Dulcie said, -and that the Yankee soldier did really escape.” - -Polly was on the front porch talking to Roxy’s mother, and as Roxy -appeared she saw that Polly was carrying the missing egg basket, and -heard her explain that she had found it near a thicket of dogwood as she -came up the slope. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - SIGNALS - - -“Dat Yankee sojer took de chicken, _an’_ de bread, _an’_ de eggs; an’ -I’m right shuh dat some ob dose cakes were tuk!” declared Dulcie, as -Mrs. Delfield handed her the basket. - -“No, Dulcie! No, he didn’t!” exclaimed Roxy, who with Polly beside her -had followed Mrs. Delfield to the open door of the kitchen. - -Dulcie shook her head solemnly. “Den you tells me how cum dat basket -whar he hides hisse’f? An’ you tells me likewise who did make off wid -all my food?” and Dulcie gazed so sternly at Roxy that the little girl -began to feel sure that her secret had been discovered. - -“Of course the poor fellow must have been half starved,” said Grandma -Miller, “but if he had only asked we would have gladly befriended him. I -don’t like to think of any soldier slinking into a house in this -fashion!” - -“He didn’t! He didn’t!” again declared Roxy nearly ready to cry; for the -little girl realized that the young soldier need not have been so -hungry, so nearly starved, as he had declared, if he had been willing to -steal food; and Roxy felt it was unfair that he should be thought a -thief when she herself had taken the things. She well knew that she -would be praised for carrying him the food, but her promise to the -fleeing stranger that she would never tell anyone that she had seen him -now prevented her from protecting his honesty. - -“Why, Roxy, dear! Who else could have taken the food? He must have crept -in when Dulcie was in her cabin, and when you were riding with Polly,” -said Mrs. Delfield, putting her arm about her little daughter and -thinking Roxy had not yet wholly recovered from her fright. - -Roxy looking up met Polly’s questioning glance. “Oh! Polly looks as if -she knew all about it,” she thought, wondering if it could be possible; -but neither of the girls said a word as to the fact of their -disagreement or that Roxy had not, after all, gone to Sharpsburg that -afternoon. Dulcie had apparently forgotten Roxy’s early return, and now -reminded her mistress that suppertime was well past. - -“Yo’ suppah am ready. Dar ain’ so much as dar ought ter be ’count ob dat -Yankee a-stealin’ ob it; but I reckons you’ll make out,” she said -soberly, and Grandma Miller led the way to the dining-room. - -Polly declared that she had had her supper before leaving home, but she -sat at the table beside Roxy and nibbled at one of Dulcie’s cakes. - -Grandma Miller spoke again of the young soldier who had caused so much -excitement in her quiet home. - -“He is in safety by this time; with two good horses he can soon reach -Washington. I wonder if it was the Richmond prison from which he -escaped?” she said thoughtfully. - -“My father thought the Confederates very brave to ride on so near to -Sharpsburg in search of him,” said Polly; “he says they might easily -have been captured themselves by some body of Union troops on the -march.” - -“Oh, no one ever questions the courage of the Southern soldiers; I -should not be surprised to see an army of them, with General Robert Lee -at their head, come riding into Maryland any day,” said Mrs. Delfield, -but little imagining that before many months her prediction was to be -fulfilled, and the courageous Lee lead his brave troops to raise the -standard of revolt on Northern soil, and that along those peaceful -slopes and in the valley bordering the Antietam River would rage one of -the fiercest and most decisive battles of the Civil War. - -Nor could any one of the little group gathered that June evening about -the table in the peaceful room whose windows looked off toward South -Mountain imagine that the young Yankee soldier who Roxy had that day -helped on his way to safety would be one of the conquering army under -General McClellan. - -Now and then Roxy and Polly exchanged a friendly smile, both well -pleased that their disagreement of the early afternoon was forgotten, -and when they left the dining-room and sauntered from the porch to the -shade of a big butternut tree that stood a short distance from the -house, leaving Grandma Miller and Roxy’s mother, Mrs. Delfield said: - -“I am so glad Polly and Roxy are such good friends. Polly is such a -sweet-tempered, good girl.” - -“Indeed she is,” agreed Grandma Miller, “and just the right companion -for our impulsive Roxy who has not yet learned to think first before -acting on an impulse.” - -“But the child’s impulses are all good ones,” replied Mrs. Delfield, -“and I believe in letting her follow them.” - -Grandma Miller smiled wisely. “All the more reason, my dear, for being -glad that Roxy has Polly for her friend,” she said. - -While this conversation went on the two girls under the butternut tree -were making pleasant plans for the next day. Polly had made a wonderful -discovery and was eager to share it with Roxy. - -“Roxy, you know that from the end window in your chamber you can look -straight across the fields and see the end windows of our attic,” she -began. But Roxy shook her head. - -“I can see the top of your house, but I don’t remember about windows,” -she said thoughtfully. - -“I’m sure you can,” Polly insisted, “because I looked out from our attic -and I could see your window just as plain as could be; and the muslin -curtain blew out, back and forth, while I was looking, just as if -somebody was waving it,” and Polly smiled and nodded as if expecting -Roxy to discover some particular meaning in the waving curtain, but -Roxy’s gray eyes were fixed questioningly on her companion and she made -no response. - -“Oh, Roxy! What a little owl you are!” said Polly laughingly. “Don’t you -understand what the waving curtain means? Signals!” and at the last -word, Polly’s voice dropped to a whisper. But Roxy had sprung up, a -little angry flush showing on her brown cheeks. - -“I am not an ‘owl,’ Polly Lawrence,” but before Polly could say a word -Roxy had clasped the older girl’s arm, and was saying: “Oh, Polly, I’ll -be an owl if you want me to. I don’t know why I get mad so quickly!” - -Polly put her arm about the little girl and said smilingly: “An owl is -the wisest bird of all the birds, even if he can’t see in the daytime!” - -“Can’t an owl see in daytime?” questioned Roxy. “Why can’t he?” - -But at this question Polly shook her head. - -“You’ll have to ask Grandma Miller; she knows all about birds,” she -answered. “What I meant, Roxy-poxy, was that you did not see what I was -driving at about windows and curtains; if I can see your window-curtain -from my attic windows, why can’t we have signals? If, for instance, I -promise to come over here and can’t come I could fasten a white towel in -my attic window; you would see it from your window and then you wouldn’t -expect me.” - -Roxy’s face brightened with delight. “Oh, Polly! you think of the nicest -things! Why, we can have a lot of signals, can’t we?” - -“Of course we can,” Polly agreed; “we can have signals that mean ‘come -over this afternoon’ and a signal that means a ride or a walk.” - -Roxy was now all eagerness to carry out Polly’s plan; and before Polly -started for home the two girls had written out a set of “signals,” to be -carried out by white cloths fluttering from the upper windows of the -Miller and Lawrence houses. Beside this Polly had suggested that on the -following day they should go for a walk up the pasture slope beyond the -Lawrence house. - -“Maybe we can find a few late strawberries,” said Polly; “and young -wintergreen leaves are just right to gather now. Your grandma would like -you to bring her home some of those.” - -“Yes, indeed! Will we meet by the big sycamore?” rejoined Roxy. - -“Yes, I’ll be there at ten o’clock,” said Polly, and Roxy, sure that -nothing would prevent her being there at the time, agreed promptly. - -The big sycamore was on the further slope from the Miller house that led -up toward the Lawrence farm. It was a huge tree, that leaned -protectively over a clear little brook that ran down the hills to empty -into the Antietam, or as Dulcie called it, the “Anti-eatem” River. This -tree was about half-way distant between the two places, and was a -favorite meeting place for the two girls. There was a little hollow -among the big roots well cushioned with soft, green moss where they -often rested, and from this pleasant seat they could see two of the -stone bridges that spanned the river. - -After a few more words about their “signals,” and deciding that they -would keep it a secret, Polly said good-night and ran down the path, -while Roxy walked slowly toward the house, thinking over all the -wonderful events of the day. - -The long June day had come to an end; the sun had set, and long -rose-colored clouds lay along the western horizon; one faint star shone -in the evening sky, and the fragrance of the white roses that grew about -the porch filled the air with sweetness. Mrs. Delfield was on the porch -steps and as Roxy came toward her she heard her mother singing: - - “For life or death, for woe or weal, - Thy peerless chivalry reveal, - And gird thy beauteous limbs with steel, - Maryland, my Maryland.” - -As Roxy heard the words of the song she exclaimed: - -“Oh, Mother! The soldiers in gray were singing that very tune.” - -“Were they, dear? Well, perhaps all the South is singing it by this -time,” said Mrs. Delfield, a little sorrowfully, for her Virginia -cousins were in the Confederate Army while her husband and friends -fought for the Union. The song “Maryland, my Maryland,” by James R. -Randall, had been published the previous year, and its haunting cadences -appealed to all. - -“Mother! I hope the Yankee soldier is safe, don’t you?” said Roxy, as -they went indoors. - -“If he is he ought to be grateful to you, my dear,” replied Mrs. -Delfield, and a little smile came over Roxy’s face. She thought it was a -fine thing if she had really helped a Yankee soldier to win his freedom -and reach safety. But Roxy was not altogether happy as she remembered -that she had permitted the young soldier to be thought a thief. - -“I know he’d want me to tell now,” she thought. “It isn’t fair not to,” -and in a moment she was telling her mother the story of the afternoon: -her anger toward Polly, the first meeting with the mounted soldiers on -the bridge, and the hungry runaway’s plea for help. - -Mrs. Delfield listened in amazement. - -“I had to tell, didn’t I, Mother?” and her mother promptly agreed. - -“Of course you did, dear child; and I think Grandma and Dulcie must be -told at once so that they may know the young man did not take the food. -You did just right, Roxy,” and Mrs. Delfield smiled so approvingly that -the little girl was no longer troubled, and went happily to bed with -thoughts of all she would have to tell to Polly on the following day. - - - - - CHAPTER V - - NEW ADVENTURES - - -Dulcie chuckled over the story of Roxy’s carrying the food to the -runaway, and Grandma Miller was well pleased that her little -granddaughter had realized the importance of telling what had really -occurred; and Roxy was now eager to tell Polly, who she was sure -suspected the truth about who had secured the food for the hungry -soldier. - -“Polly didn’t say anything about luncheon, but perhaps I’d better take -something to eat in my basket?” Roxy suggested on the following morning, -as she put on the wide-rimmed hat of rough straw, and went to the closet -for the small covered basket that she often carried in her walks with -Polly. - -“Dar ain’ no col’ chicken, Missy,” Dulcie reminded her, “but I reckon I -kin fin’ somt’in’ ter gib you,” and she took the basket and started for -the pantry, and Roxy was confident the little basket would be well -filled. - -Roxy, basket in hand, trudged happily off across the pasture turning to -wave a good-bye to Grandma Miller who stood on the side porch looking -after her; a few minutes later the little girl was out of sight as she -went down the slope toward the big sycamore. - -A little cloud of yellow butterflies floated over her head and Roxy -stopped to watch their wavering flight until they settled over a -hedgerow of bittersweet. She had started in good season, and realized -that she would reach the big sycamore long before Polly; so she lingered -along her way, stopping to gather a bunch of the orange-colored blossoms -of butterfly-weed, one of the most gorgeous of the wild flowers of -Maryland. - -The June morning was growing very warm and Roxy was glad to reach the -shade of the wide-spreading branches of the sycamore, and taking off her -hat she tucked the butterfly-weed blossoms under its ribbon band and -gazed at them admiringly. “I wish Amy Fletcher could see them, and the -blue mountains, and the bridges,” she thought a little wistfully. For -Amy Fletcher had lived next door to the Delfields in Newburyport, and -the two little girls were fast friends, and Roxy often wrote to Amy -telling her of all the adventures that befell her among the hills of -Maryland. “I guess Amy will think it is almost like a story when I write -her about what happened yesterday,” she thought, well pleased at having -so real an adventure to describe; and at the sound of Polly’s well-known -call: “To-who-to-whoo!” she called back: “Who-to-whoo.” Roxy smiled -happily, thinking that no one except Polly and herself knew the real -meaning of these calls. To any chance listener it would, the girls -thought, mean the note of a bewildered young owl, but the first call: -“To-who-to-whoo,” really meant: “I’m on the way,” while “Who-to-whoo” -meant: “I am waiting.” - -Polly now came in sight, her red hair shining as the light flickered -upon it. - -“Oh, Polly! How can you go bareheaded when the sun is so hot?” was -Roxy’s greeting. - -“I like it,” replied Polly as she flung herself down on the soft moss -beside her friend. - -“Polly, you always look just right,” declared the admiring Roxy as she -touched the loose sleeve of Polly’s tan-colored linen dress. - -“If I look just right you talk just right, little Yank—I mean -Roxy-poxy,” responded Polly. - -“You needn’t have stopped at ‘Yank,’” laughed Roxy. “I like it, since -the soldier told me my father would be proud to be called Yankee. And I -liked the tall soldier too, even if he did run after me. Oh, Polly! It -was I who carried the basket of food to the runaway man!” - -Polly’s smile vanished, and her blue eyes regarded Roxy sternly. “And -you let Dulcie call him a thief! And you let your grandmother think that -he crept into her house and stole! I wouldn’t have believed it,” she -said. - -In a second Roxy was on her feet and had grabbed up her hat and basket. - -“You are hateful, Polly Lawrence! Yes, you are! I don’t care if you are -handsome. I _couldn’t_ tell because I’d promised not to; but then I did -tell because I knew I must! So there now!” exclaimed the angry girl, and -without giving Polly a chance to speak she dashed off toward home. - -But in a breath the long-legged Polly was after her and Roxy ran her -best, resolved not to be overtaken. But Roxy’s eyes were clouded by -angry tears, and she stumbled over a trailing vine and went headlong, -her basket flying in one direction and her hat in another, as the -prickly vines caught at her cotton dress and her outstretched hands were -scratched and hurt by their thorns. - -“Oh, Roxy! Roxy! I am so sorry,” exclaimed Polly, endeavoring to pull -away the clutching vines and lift the little girl to her feet; but Roxy -struggled against her, sobbing with pain and anger: “Go away! Go away!” -until Polly could only stand back and let her alone. - -“I am so sorry, Roxy! Do let me help you!” she pleaded, as Roxy now -scrambled to her feet and looked about for her hat and basket. For the -moment she did not notice her scratched hands and the long tear in her -skirt. - -Polly picked up the basket, whose contents had been saved by its cover -from being spilled, and Roxy grabbed it from her before Polly could -offer it, seized her hat from the thick growth of wild rose bushes where -it had landed, and without a word or look toward Polly rushed down the -path. - -Polly stood watching her for a moment, and then with a little sigh -turned toward home. She told herself that she was the one to blame; that -she had been unfair to Roxy, and that Roxy was right in resenting her -words. - -“Roxy is only a little girl; I forget that I am nearly five years older -than she is,” she thought, and resolved that in future she would be more -careful and patient toward this little girl from far-off New England. - -While Polly was making these resolutions Roxy had run down the path -bordering the brook, hardly noticing the direction she had taken until -she found herself beside a quiet pool where the brook widened. On the -further side there was a thick growth of hazel-bushes, while the path -ended at the edge of the pool, and just along the water’s edge beyond -the path grew tall water-weeds and waving grass. - -A willow-tree leaned over the water, and Roxy, hot, tired and angry, sat -down in its shade and leaned her head against its rough trunk. - -“Polly spoils everything!” she thought. “She spoiled my ride yesterday, -and now she has spoiled to-day! Oh, dear,” and the little girl began to -whimper unhappily. - -But after she had bathed her hot face and scratched hands in the cool -water, she began to feel less unhappy; and as she noticed her lunch -basket a little smile crept over her face. - -“I’m sure there are plum tarts in it,” she said aloud. “Dulcie always -makes plum tarts on Thursday mornings.” - -In order to find out Roxy lifted the cover of the basket, drew out the -white napkin that was so carefully folded over the contents, and looked -in. - -“Yes, indeed! Two apiece!” she exclaimed. - -“Well, Polly can’t have even a taste!” she said, and helped herself to -one of the flaky puffs that was well filled with delicious plum jelly. -It was so good that Roxy promptly began on a second and had soon -finished a third, then remembering that it was not yet the middle of the -morning and, unless she went directly home, she would soon be hungry -again, she reluctantly pushed the basket away, and now her unhappy -thoughts about Polly again filled her mind. - -“I wish there was another girl to play with,” she thought a little -mournfully, and suddenly exclaimed: “Oh! There are other girls! There’s -the three little Hinham girls! And their father asked me to come and see -them. I’ll go now!” And Roxy jumped up and seized her hat. “I guess it -wouldn’t look very polite to carry a lunch,” she decided, and so ate the -remaining plum tart and one of the spice-cookies. - -“I’ll come after the basket on my way home,” she resolved, and turned -back and crossed the pasture to the highway. She knew where the Hinham -house stood, a low, rambling building with shabby barns, nearly a mile -below the bridge where she had encountered the mounted soldiers, but she -had never seen the three little girls whom she had now set out to visit; -but their father had come to the Miller farm one day on business, and on -seeing Roxy had said that he had three little girls and that Roxy must -come and see them; and Grandma Miller had politely responded that she -hoped the three little Hinham girls would come and visit Roxy. - -As Roxy now trudged along the road, keeping on the shady side, she -remembered this, and told herself that Grandma Miller would be pleased -when she heard of the visit. - -“Maybe I’ll ask the little Hinham girls to come to Grandma’s birthday -party, and I can tell them about my paper circus. I guess Polly Lawrence -will find I don’t have to play with her,” she thought, but someway even -the prospect of three new little girls as possible friends and playmates -did not make Roxy wholly happy. The remembrance of Polly’s radiant -smile, of the plan of signalling from the upper windows, all the jokes -they shared together and that no one else knew, crept into her mind and -made the distance to the Hinham house seem very long, and when Roxy came -in sight of the lane that led up to the farm buildings she was not only -tired but very hot and thirsty. - -“Oh, dear! I hope they’ll ask me if I don’t want a drink of water,” she -whispered to herself, as she left the highway and started up the lane. - -But Roxy had gone only a little way when the sharp bark of a dog, -quickly echoed by several others, made her stop suddenly and as she -looked up the lane she saw a number of dogs come dashing toward her. -Their barks sounded very threatening to the tired little girl, and for a -moment Roxy was tempted to turn and run, but she was too tired, and she -quickly remembered that these dogs must belong to the Hinhams and, as -there were three little girls in the family, the dogs would not be -surprised to see another little girl, so Roxy walked bravely on toward -them. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - ROXY MAKES NEW FRIENDS - - -A sharp whistle brought the dogs to a standstill, and Roxy saw a tall -boy come hurrying toward her. - -“Lucky I was close by,” he muttered; “those dogs don’t like strangers! -Say!” and he smiled approvingly on Roxy. “You had some courage to walk -right along toward ’em! How’d you know they wouldn’t eat you up?” - -“I guess I was too tired to run away,” confessed Roxy, and before she -could say that she had come to visit the little Hinham girls the tall -boy exclaimed: - -“I’ll bet you’re the little Yankee girl, ain’t you?” - -Roxy nodded. She was almost too tired to speak. - -“Well, we’re sure glad you came over,” the boy continued, his black eyes -twinkling with friendliness as he clasped Roxy’s hand and led her up the -rough lane. - -“My name is Roland,” he announced, “Roland Hinham, and I’m the oldest of -the family, nearly fifteen,” and he smiled again; and the tired Roxy -thought the tall boy must be very good-natured; he seemed always -smiling. - -“My name is Roxana Elizabeth Delfield,” she responded, “and I’m ten -years old.” - -“You’re older than my sisters. Jasmine isn’t nine yet, and Myrtle is -seven, and Ivy about five. They are all little girls,” replied Roland. - -“What pretty names!” exclaimed Roxy admiringly, but before she could say -anything more the three little Hinham girls came out on the porch of the -house and stood looking at their brother and the little girl who clung -to his hand. - -“I’ve brought you a visitor,” Roland called, and in a moment Roxy found -herself at the porch steps, and heard Roland say: “Jasmine, this is Miss -Roxana Elizabeth Delfield, come to visit us,” and instantly the three -little girls, each one of whom was dressed in a stiffly starched white -muslin dress, made a curtsy to the newcomer and announced in soft -musical voices: “We’re right pleased to see you,” and Jasmine, whose -eyes and hair were as black as Roland’s, drew forward a small -rush-bottomed rocking-chair and with a smile as friendly as her -brother’s said: “Won’t you sit down?” and Roxy, too tired to say a word -in response, sank into the comfortable chair while the three dark-haired -girls in their white dresses gathered about her, and looked at her a -little wonderingly. - -Roland had disappeared, and Roxy began to feel that she ought to explain -her torn skirt. “I fell down and my skirt caught in some briers and -tore,” she said soberly, holding up the skirt of her pink cambric dress, -and looking at it a little sorrowfully. “I guess my hands are not very -clean,” she continued apologetically, noticing how neat and trim were -the little girls beside her. - -Jasmine whispered to Myrtle who promptly ran indoors, followed by little -Ivy, and Jasmine drew a chair close beside Roxy’s and said softly: “Did -you hurt you when you fell?” - -“Not much,” replied Roxy, feeling an uncomfortable lump in her throat, -and beginning to wish herself safely home in her own chamber where she -could rest, “but I guess I’m tired. You see, I walked all the way from -Grandma Miller’s. Your father asked me to come,” she explained. - -Jasmine nodded. “He told us about you; we were coming to see you as soon -as our mother gets home from Sharpsburg,” she said, and at the sound of -approaching steps she turned toward the open door that led into a big -cool room. - -“Here’s Nonny!” she exclaimed, and a young colored woman closely -followed by Myrtle and Ivy came out on the porch carrying a small tray -that held a blue pitcher and a lustre mug. - -“Maybe you’d like a drink, Missy?” said the negro, and filling the glass -with foamy milk handed it to Roxy who drank eagerly. - -“Now if Missy’ll jes’ step in de house I’ll fix dat skirt,” suggested -Nonny, and with Jasmine close beside her Roxy went in, and followed -Nonny up a broad flight of stairs to a pleasant chamber, where Jasmine -and Nonny quickly persuaded her to slip off the torn dress and take off -her shoes and stockings. - -Nonny bathed Roxy’s tired feet, as well as her face and hands, brushed -out the tangles of the wavy brown hair, and Roxy, curled up in a big -cushioned chair, with her three new friends gathered around her while -Nonny carried off the pink dress to press out its wrinkles, began to be -well pleased that she had decided to visit the Hinham family. - -Little Ivy had brought a family of dolls to entertain the unexpected -guest; Myrtle had opened the lower drawer of the bureau and taken out -her fine new leghorn hat trimmed with a wreath of pink rosebuds for Roxy -to admire, while Jasmine sat close beside her new friend, watching Roxy -with admiring eyes. - -“Your hair is so pretty,” Jasmine declared; “it has little waves all -through it, and you have a dimple in your chin, just as Ivy has.” - -This was very pleasant to Roxy, and when Nonny brought back the pink -cambric dress, neatly mended and pressed, and she found herself being -led downstairs to luncheon Roxy had almost forgotten her quarrel with -Polly Lawrence, and was thoroughly enjoying herself. - -“Father is away so Roland is taking care of things!” said Jasmine, as -Nonny said luncheon was waiting, and Roland came into the dining-room -and lifted Ivy to her seat at the table. - -Roxy was sure it was the best luncheon that she had ever eaten: the -golden omelette, the delicious cold ham and creamed potatoes, the early -peas, the plum jam and hot biscuit, and the glass of cool milk were all -delicious to the hungry girl, and she did not give a thought to the -basket she had left beneath the sycamore. - -After luncheon Jasmine was eager for Roxy to try their swing under the -big oak tree, and Roland was ready to send them swinging through the air -until they declared themselves tired. Roland listened gravely when Roxy -told of the two Confederate soldiers whom she had encountered on the -previous day. Roland knew well that the Union Army of the Potomac was -making preparations for its grand assault on Richmond; he had heard his -father declare that at any time Union and Confederate forces might meet -on Maryland soil and a serious battle ensue; and as Roxy told of the -fleeing Union soldier and the pursuing Confederates the boy wondered if -the Southern Army might not be planning to enter Maryland. - -But Jasmine was greatly excited over her friend’s adventure. - -“Why, it was really you, Roxy, who helped the man escape!” she declared, -looking at her new friend with admiring eyes. “What do you s’pose his -name was?” she added thoughtfully. - -Roxy shook her head. “I didn’t think about his name,” she replied. - -“Maybe it was the Richmond prison from which he escaped,” suggested -Roland, but Myrtle had begun to sing and Roxy was listening so eagerly -that for the moment she entirely forgot the Yankee soldier. - - “A-swinging, a-swinging, - Under a rose-tree swinging— - I saw a green fairy - Who wore a gold crown. - I heard fairy bells ringing, - And fairies were singing, - And dancing and bringing - Fairy honey to the one - Who wore the gold crown!” - -As Myrtle sang she danced about the swing, followed by little Ivy; and -in a moment Jasmine laughingly followed, all three of the girls joining -in the song as they circled about the swing where Roxy sat smiling -delightedly. - -“Sing some more!” she exclaimed, as she left the swing and danced on -behind the others, and Jasmine nodded, and began: - - “Every leaf on every bough - Dances now, dances now.” - -As the girls danced they bowed to the left and right, with graceful -movements that Roxy endeavored to imitate, and the group made a pretty -picture. - -Roland had returned to his work, and when the girls tired of dancing -Myrtle suggested that perhaps Roxy would like to see the flock of -bantams, and led the way to the group of farm buildings at some distance -from the house where Roxy exclaimed over the tiny bantam chickens. - -“You can have a pair if you want them,” said Myrtle. “When we come over -to see you we’ll bring you a pair,” she promised. - -Roxy’s face flushed with pleasure as she thanked her new friend; and -when they all wandered to the pasture that Roxy might see the three gray -ponies that belonged to the little Hinham girls Roxy told herself that -Jasmine and Myrtle and Ivy were the most fortunate girls in the world. - -“You have everything,” she declared admiringly, as they returned to the -shady porch where Nonny promptly brought them glasses of raspberry shrub -and tiny frosted cakes. - -“Yes, indeed!” said Jasmine, and Myrtle and Ivy both nodded and smiled. -They felt rather sorry for their visitor because she did not have a -brother like Roland and small sisters to play with. - -The tall clock in the front room struck four, and, with a little -exclamation of surprise, Roxy said she must at once start for home. - -“Roland is going to drive you over; he said he would,” Jasmine told her, -and in a short time the two gray ponies harnessed to a pretty -basket-phaeton trotted up to the porch and Roland helped Roxy to a seat -beside him, while Jasmine, Myrtle and Ivy all promised to return her -visit as soon as their mother came home. - -“It’s the nicest visit I ever had!” Roxy called back to them, as the -ponies trotted briskly off toward the highway. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - A RAINY DAY - - -“If you please I will get out at the bridge,” Roxy had told Roland, as -the gray ponies trotted swiftly over the road that had seemed so endless -a distance to Roxy only a few hours earlier. “I left a basket near the -brook, and I can go home across the pasture,” she explained; and at the -bridge Roland bade her good-bye, promising that his sisters would soon -return her visit. - -Roxy found her basket, and now hurried up the slope eager to tell her -mother about the three little girls with such beautiful names: “Jasmine, -Myrtle, Ivy,” and Roxy repeated them over admiringly. Then the swing -under the apple trees, the bantam chickens! But suddenly Roxy’s happy -smile vanished as she remembered that she would have to explain how she -happened to leave Polly and walk the long distance to visit three little -girls whom she had never seen. - -And now Roxy remembered something even more important, and exclaimed -aloud: - -“I promised Grandma not to go beyond the bridge unless someone was with -me!” And at the remembrance of this Roxy sank down on the hillside. - -“How could I forget it!” she whispered. “And what will Grandma say? Oh, -I can’t tell her!” And now Roxy instantly resolved to say nothing of her -visit to the Hinham girls or of her running away from Polly. - -“I’ll wait and tell Mother first,” she thought, and now went soberly on -toward the house, stopping to empty her lunch basket for the benefit of -a flock of chickens that were running about the slope. - -It was now late in the afternoon, but no anxiety had been felt over -Roxy’s absence. Believing her to be with Polly Lawrence, Mrs. Delfield -had not been troubled, and when she saw Roxy coming slowly up the slope -came to the door to welcome her; but before Roxy had reached the house -one of the negro field-hands was seen running across the yard and Roxy -heard him call out: - -“Sojers! Sojers! A’ army. Missus! Marchin’ down de road!” and the little -girl turned and looked eagerly toward the highway and saw a group of -mounted soldiers, in blue uniforms, as they rode swiftly down the road -that led toward Harper’s Ferry. - -It was the 27th of June, 1862, and on that very day General Lee had -driven the Union forces under General Porter across the Chickahominy, -putting General McClellan on the defensive, and creating alarm as to the -security of Washington; and the little group of Union soldiers that Roxy -now watched so eagerly were riding to join McClellan’s forces that were -so soon to prove their unfaltering courage on the field of battle. - -“My lan’! Ain’ we be’n seein’ sojers all de spring!” declared Dulcie. -“’Tain’ no great sight on dese roads; an’ so long as de blue coats don’ -run ’cross de gray coats I guess ’tain’ much ’count! But jes’ s’pose dey -happens to meet up wid one ’nudder some day long de Anti-eatem!” and -Dulcie shook her head solemnly, as Roxy stood on the porch looking after -the soldiers. - -But the passing of the “blue coats” had reminded Mrs. Delfield and her -mother of how near they were to the scenes of the great conflict, and -their faces grew sad as they spoke of the threatening advance of -Jackson’s Confederate army in the Shenandoah Valley, of the recent -battle at Fair Oaks, and of the new Commander-in-Chief of the Southern -forces, General Robert E. Lee, an officer honored by every American, and -fitted for the greatest command. - -Talking of these things they paid but little attention to Roxy, who went -slowly up to her chamber and kneeling down on the window-seat looked off -wistfully toward the Lawrence farm, and began to wish that she was on -the old friendly terms with Polly Lawrence. - -“Perhaps Polly is looking over this way now. I wish we had thought of a -signal that meant ‘I’m sorry,’” and Roxy sighed deeply. Then she sprang -up and ran to the corner of the room, seized a towel and hurried back to -the window. She leaned out and waved it, and then fastened it to the -green wooden shutter. - -“That means ‘Come over the minute you see this,’ and Polly will come. -I’m sure she will. Polly never stays angry,” thought Roxy, and when her -mother called her to supper she ran down sure that her quarrel with -Polly was over. - -But it was hard for Roxy not to speak of all that had happened, and she -was so quiet at supper, so ready to go to bed at an early hour that her -mother thought she must be tired out by the long day wandering about -with Polly. - -The next morning Roxy was awake at an early hour. She could hear the -sleepy notes of nesting birds in the trees near the house, and the -voices of the negro farm-hands as they started off to the fields. Her -first waking thought was the “signal,” and in a moment she was out of -bed running to the open window. - -“There it is! There it is!” she whispered joyfully, as she saw the white -signals fluttering from the attic window of Polly’s home. - -“That means that Polly will come over as soon as she can,” Roxy thought -happily, and when her mother came in at the usual hour she found Roxy -dressed and ready for breakfast. - -She had put on a fresh gingham dress, and now remembered the torn pink -cambric. For a moment she wondered what her mother would say to the neat -stitches that Nonny had set, but the sound of horses’ hoofs in the yard -sent her flying to the window and at the sight of Polly on horseback she -forgot all about the pink dress and ran down the stairs and out to meet -her friend. - -Polly smiled down at the little girl and said quickly: - -“Everything all right, Roxy? Or did you want me for something special?” - -“Just to be friends!” said Roxy soberly. “Can you not come in to -breakfast, Polly? Do!” she pleaded, and Polly instantly slipped from the -saddle and said: - -“I told Mother I might spend the day, for it is cloudy all along the -mountains and that means rain; and it will be just the day to work on -your circus.” - -A negro boy led the brown horse to the stable and Polly and Roxy went in -the house. - -“Polly’s going to spend the day,” Roxy announced, and her visitor was -warmly welcomed, and Dulcie brought in plates of steaming waffles, and -Polly declared that Mrs. Miller’s bees made the best honey in Maryland -as she accepted a liberal helping. - -Before breakfast was over it had begun to rain. - -“A fine day to put my quilt into the frames,” declared Grandma Miller, -“and Roxy can have her first lesson in quilting; there’ll be time for -your paper animals this afternoon.” - -“Yes, indeed!” Roxy eagerly agreed, “and may I help you mark the -pattern, Grandma?” - -Grandma Miller nodded. “I think we’ll mark a ‘Rising Sun,’” she said -thoughtfully; and as Dulcie now brought the wooden quilting frames into -the dining-room, and Mrs. Miller started upstairs for the bed-quilt she -had pieced of bits of gingham, calico and cambric, the two girls looked -at each other smilingly. - -“It will be fun to help quilt,” Polly said, and Roxy watched her -admiringly as she helped Mrs. Miller and Dulcie fasten the pretty quilt -to the frames, that rested on the backs of four straight-backed chairs. - -“Now for the ‘Rising Sun,’” said Grandma, who held a ball of twine which -she began to rub with white chalk. “Polly, fasten the end of this twine -in that corner,” she directed, and Polly promptly obeyed. “You shall -‘snap’ the chalked twine, Roxy,” Grandma Miller continued, as she drew -the twine cornerwise across the quilt, and in a few moments Roxy was -running from one side of the quilt to the other, “snapping” the taut -chalked twine as Grandma directed, and which left white lines behind -each “snap.” These lines ran from the corners and sides of the quilt to -the centre, and made a pattern known as the “Rising Sun.” - -When the marking was finished a thimble was found for Polly and she took -her seat beside Mrs. Delfield on one side of the quilt, while Grandma -Miller and Roxy were seated on the other side, and Roxy’s first lesson -in quilting began. - -“Put your left hand under the quilt, my dear; now take as small stitches -as you can directly along the chalk-line,” said Grandma, and Roxy began, -thinking this was even more fun than cutting out paper animals. But Mrs. -Delfield did not let the girls “quilt” long. She knew that Roxy’s arms -would easily tire, and in a little while she asked Roxy and Polly if -they would not like to go to the kitchen and ask Dulcie to make a -honey-cake for dinner, and the girls were quite ready to do this. - -“Can’t we help make the cake, Dulcie?” asked Polly, and Dulcie nodded. - -“I reckons yo’ can. De eggs has to be beat consid’bul fer honey-cake. -Firs’ de whites has ter be all ob a foam, an’ den de yolks has ter be -smoof as silk, an’ den yo’ has ter beat de butter so’s it mo’ like honey -dan butter, an’ den——” - -“Oh, Dulcie! Let me beat the whites! They bubble up so much like -soap-bubbles,” said Roxy, and Dulcie brought out the egg basket and two -big yellow bowls. - -“Jes’ fetch two ob de biggest silver spoons, Miss Roxy. I don’ mak’ no -cake wid common spoon,” she said, beginning to break the eggs, while the -girls hastened to bring the spoons. - -The big kitchen was a pleasant place that morning, and while Roxy and -Polly beat the eggs and creamed the butter for the honey-cake Dulcie -prepared vegetables and a chicken pie for the midday meal, and at last -declared herself ready to “mix up de cake.” - -“I can hardly wait to taste it,” Roxy said, as she watched Dulcie set -the cake in the oven. - -Before it was taken out Mrs. Miller and Roxy’s mother called the girls -to come and help them roll up the quilt on its frames and set it in the -hall. - -“By the time you are ready for dinner the cake will be baked,” said -Grandma, as the two girls ran upstairs to brush their hair and wash -their hands. - -“We will work on the ‘Circus’ after dinner,” said Polly. “It is only two -weeks before your Grandma’s birthday, and there is a lot to do before -the ‘Circus’ will be finished.” - -“Polly! I know who I’ll ask to come to my ‘surprise’ for Grandma. I’ll -ask the little Hinham girls and their brother!” said Roxy eagerly, -“Don’t you think their names are lovely?” - -“Yes,” responded Polly, wondering a little how it was that Roxy knew the -names of the little Hinham girls. “Have they been over to see you?” she -asked. - -Roxy shook her head. She wanted to tell Polly all about her visit, but -felt a little ashamed because she had started off so angry at Polly. -Dulcie’s voice calling them to dinner sent them hurrying downstairs, and -Polly asked no more questions. - -After dinner the rain gradually ceased, and the two girls, sitting by -Roxy’s table near the front window, were so busy with scissors and -water-color paints, and with their plan for a birthday surprise party -for Grandma Miller that they did not think about the weather until Polly -suddenly jumped up and said: - -“Roxy—Roxy! Here’s the sun shining, and the day nearly over. I must be -off!” and with Roxy running beside her Polly started for the yard to ask -one of the negro boys to saddle “Brownie.” - -“I’m glad it rained!” said Roxy, as Polly swung herself to the saddle. -“And our signals are splendid, aren’t they, Polly?” - -“Splendid!” replied Polly, and with a smiling good-bye she sent -“Brownie” off at a swift trot, and Roxy stood looking after her. - -“Nobody, no other girl, is like Polly,” she thought, remembering Polly’s -unfailing good nature. “Maybe it’s because she is almost grown up.” And -then Roxy’s smile vanished. A whole day had passed and she had not yet -found courage to tell her mother that she had forgotten about her -promise not to go beyond the bridge, and had visited three little girls -without being invited! - -“I guess I had better tell her now!” Roxy decided. “It isn’t going to be -any easier to wait,” and she went slowly toward the front porch where -her mother and grandmother were sitting. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - - FOLLOWING THE BROOK - - -“And when are the little Hinham girls coming to visit you?” asked -Grandma Miller, as Roxy finished her story. - -“I think we could have a swing fixed on that big branch of the butternut -tree,” said Roxy’s mother thoughtfully, for Roxy had described the swing -as one of the chief delights of the visit with her new friends. - -The little girl, leaning against the arm of her mother’s chair, looked -wonderingly from her mother to her grandmother. Neither of them had said -a word of blame; and Grandma Miller even nodded and smiled when Roxy had -explained that she did not remember her promise about not going beyond -the bridge. - -“Of course you forgot it, my dear, or you would not have gone,” she -said, and Roxy gave a sigh of relief. - -[Illustration: THE LITTLE GIRL LOOKED FROM HER MOTHER TO HER -GRANDMOTHER] - -“Oh, I am glad it isn’t a secret any longer. I’ll tell Polly to-morrow!” -she exclaimed, as her mother drew her down into her lap. - -Then there was a little more talk about the swing, and Roxy told her -mother about the tiny bantam chickens, and that Roland had brought her -as far as the bridge with the gray ponies. “I won’t forget about the -bridge again,” she declared earnestly, and her mother said: - -“No one means to forget a promise; but we must think of some way to -remind you of this one.” - -“I know a way!” declared Grandma Miller. “Just wait a moment,” and she -went briskly across the porch into the house. - -“What way do you suppose Grandma means?” questioned Roxy; but her mother -declared that she could not imagine. “Unless Grandma means to tie a very -long string to you,” and at this Roxy laughed happily. - -“Here is something, Roxy, that will make you remember not to go beyond -the bridge, and to keep whatever promise you make! Hold out your left -hand,” said Grandma Miller, and Roxy promptly obeyed, and Grandma -slipped a gold ring on the little girl’s forefinger. “It just fits!” she -said smilingly. “I thought it would! Now, Roxana,” and Grandma Miller’s -voice grew serious, “whenever you look at that ring remember that it -means a number of things: first of all it means: keep a promise; and -besides that it means keep your temper; it is always a silly thing to -get angry.” - -“Yes’m! It’s a lovely ring!” said Roxy, sliding from her mother’s lap, -and standing close beside Grandma Miller. “I’ve wanted a ring, and this -is so pretty!” and she held out her hand and looked admiringly at the -gold ring with its chased pattern of roses. “Thank you, Grandma; I -couldn’t forget now,” she added; and when a little later she went -upstairs she again fastened the white signal, meaning “Come over as soon -as you can,” to the green shutter, and went happily to bed eager for the -morning to come when she could tell Polly about the Hinham girls and -show her this wonderful ring that was to help Roxy remember her promises -and keep her temper. - -Polly appeared in good season the next morning, and listened smilingly -to the story of Roxy’s visit, admired the pretty chased ring, and asked -Mrs. Delfield’s permission to take Roxy on a fishing excursion. - -“I have brought a luncheon, and we will be home early in the afternoon,” -she promised, and in a little while Roxy was ready to start, and the two -girls went off across the pasture toward the brook. - -“Roxy, why don’t you have your ‘circus’ party under the big sycamore? It -would be a splendid place. We could fix up a tent close by, just like a -real circus, and have a picnic dinner, and plan it all without your -grandma guessing a word about it!” suggested Polly, as they came in -sight of the big tree. - -Roxy eagerly agreed, and Polly pointed out a fine place for a tent, and -said she was sure that her father would help them put it up. - -Then they followed the brook on up the slope and came to a thick growth -of hazelwood, where Polly stopped to cut a couple of hazel-rods. - -“I have some white moths for bait, and some fishing-lines; and there are -always trout in this stream,” she told Roxy. “We’ll have to keep quiet, -though, when we begin to fish.” - -Roxy smiled happily. Polly had long promised her this fishing excursion, -and she was now sure that it was going to be a wonderful day. - -“We’ll build a fire and cook the trout, won’t we, Polly?” she said, and -Polly promised, and began singing: - - “I went into the hazelwood, - Because a plan was in my head, - To cut and peel a hazel-rod, - And put a berry on a thread. - - “And when the birds are on the wing, - And flowers, like stars, are shining out, - I’ll drop the berry in the stream, - And catch a little silver trout.” - -Roxy stood watching Polly and listened eagerly. “I wish I could sing -that, Polly,” she said. - -“Try!” responded Polly; and she slowly sang the first words over and -Roxy repeated them, so that by the time the hazel-rods were cut and -trimmed and Polly had fastened the lines, both the girls were singing -the old song. - -Then they made their way to the brook, and swung their lines into the -clear water and in a short time Polly had caught “a little silver -trout,” and almost at the same moment there was a pull on Roxy’s line -and she, too, had caught a fine speckled trout. - -It was Polly who re-baited their hooks, and when they each had landed -another fish declared they had enough. - -“We’ll find a good place for a fire and cook them,” she said, and Roxy -was quite ready to do this. The shining gold ring on her forefinger made -her resolve that she would do whatever Polly wanted to do, and she was -sure that she would never again be angry at Polly. - -The rough pasture slope had many places where a fire could safely be -lighted, and they selected the shady side of a towering ledge and Polly -built up a three-sided oven of flat stones with another flat stone on -top on which she put the trout. Then the fire was started and carefully -watched; the fish were cautiously turned from time to time and when -Polly declared them nearly cooked the fire was allowed to die. - -Polly’s lunch basket was well filled. There were cream-of-tartar -biscuits, ginger-cakes, a tumbler of strawberry-jam, and a bottle of -milk, and the two girls feasted happily. But Roxy could not forget the -plum tarts she had so selfishly devoured, and she resolved to ask Dulcie -to make some specially for Polly. - -The two friends now made further plans for Roxy’s circus. - -“You must ask Mr. Greaves, Roxy, because he is the minister, and Mrs. -Greaves is your grandma’s best friend,” said Polly. “You and I will take -‘Brownie’ and drive about and ask whoever you want.” - -“All the Hinhams,” said Roxy promptly. - -“Of course,” Polly agreed. - -“And you and your father and mother,” continued Roxy. - -Polly nodded. - -“And who else?” questioned Roxy, adding quickly: “I do wish my father -could come.” - -“Perhaps he will,” responded Polly, “but I think with the Hinhams and -Mr. and Mrs. Greaves it will be a real party. Where is your father, -Roxy?” - -Roxy’s face grew sober. “We don’t know,” she replied. “Mother thinks he -may be with General Pope near Culpepper, and she is hoping to hear any -day that he can come and see us.” - -Polly made no reply; she had heard her father say, that very morning, -that news had come that Confederate soldiers commanded by General -Jackson were advancing against General Pope, and that a battle might -follow. Polly knew that the city of Washington was believed to be in -danger of an attack by the Confederates, but she did not speak of this -to Roxy. - -“Do you suppose the Yankee boy that I found is safe now?” Roxy -questioned, and Polly assured her that the young soldier must have -reached the Union lines. - -“When your father comes you can tell him how you helped a Yankee -soldier,” said Polly; “it isn’t every girl who has a chance. I wish I -could do something.” - -“Well, Polly, perhaps you can. Grandma says that maybe the war may come -right into Maryland,” Roxy replied, and the two girls looked at each -other with sober faces; for even ten-year-old Roxy realized that the -approach of a battle between Northern and Southern troops was indeed a -terrible thing. - -“I promised to come home early,” said Polly, “so we had better start;” -and, making sure that the fire was out, the two girls started across the -pasture toward the big sycamore where they bade each other good-bye. - -“I’ll stop for you about three to-morrow afternoon, and we will drive -over and invite Mr. and Mrs. Greaves,” said Polly. - -“Yes, and the Hinhams,” agreed Roxy, smiling at the thought of the party -under the big sycamore. - -As she followed the brook a short distance on her way toward home, her -thoughts were of all that must be done to make the “circus” complete. -She resolved to spend the rest of the afternoon in arranging the paper -animals, and cutting out the ones that were not yet ready. - -But as she went through the opening in the wall and looked up toward the -house she gave a little exclamation of surprise and entirely forgot -about Grandmother Miller’s birthday surprise as she ran up the slope; -for there were the gray ponies and phaeton standing in the yard, and on -the porch she could see the three small girls in white dresses and a -tall boy talking to her mother. - -“The Hinhams! The Hinhams!” she whispered happily, and ran swiftly -toward the house eager to welcome them. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - - UNDER THE SYCAMORE - - -The Hinham girls had brought the pair of bantams they promised Roxy, and -Dulcie took charge of them with many exclamations of admiration and -approval, as much pleased as Roxy herself, and said they should have a -yard and house to themselves not too far from the kitchen for her to -keep an eye on them. - -Roxy, looking admiringly at the white dresses of her little visitors, -again decided that Jasmine and Myrtle and Ivy were the prettiest little -girls she had ever seen. - -“Our mother came home from Sharpsburg this morning, and she brought each -one of us a ring!” said the smiling Jasmine, and each of the sisters -held out their left hand; on each tiny forefinger shone a chased gold -ring. - -“Oh! And my grandmother gave me one yesterday! Look!” exclaimed the -delighted Roxy; and when it was discovered that her ring was exactly the -same pattern as Jasmine’s, Grandma Miller smilingly explained it by -saying that she had purchased Roxy’s ring in Sharpsburg, and that -probably all the rings came from the same shop. - -“There’s a secret about our rings,” Jasmine whispered to Roxy. “Every -time we look at them we are to remember something.” - -“And I have to remember something every time I look at mine!” declared -Roxy, wishing that she knew what Jasmine’s secret was. The two girls -smiled at each other thinking it very remarkable that not only their -rings were alike but that each of them had a secret. - -“Perhaps some day you can tell me what your ring means,” suggested Roxy. -“I’d just as soon tell you that Grandmother gave me my ring so I would -remember to keep promises and not to get angry. You see,” Roxy continued -soberly, “I get angry before I know it,” and she looked at Jasmine as if -expecting her new friend to be greatly surprised; but Jasmine nodded and -smiled as if she had heard the best of news. - -“Oh, Roxy! That’s just what I do!” she confessed, and at this they both -began laughing so that Myrtle and Ivy ran toward them to know what the -fun was about. But the two older girls decided to keep this for their -special secret. - -While the little girls amused themselves Roland had been telling Mrs. -Delfield of the news that his mother and father had brought from -Sharpsburg: of the battle of Malvern Hill where General McClellan had -repulsed an attack by the Confederates. - -“General Lee retreated toward Richmond,” said Roland, “and my father -said there were rumors that General Lee might march on to Washington.” - -“That would mean bringing the war into Maryland,” responded Mrs. -Delfield, and Roxy wondered if that would not mean also that her father -would come. - -Roland said it was time for them to start for home, and no more was said -of war. Roxy found a chance to tell Jasmine something of the birthday -party as she bade her good-bye, and promised to see her on the following -day. - -As Roxy stood looking after the phaeton she happened to glance down and -exclaimed: - -“Oh! My dress is all gray and my stockings too!” and she suddenly -realized that her blue-checked gingham was dirty, that her hair was -untidy, and that it was the second time the little Hinham girls had seen -her in that condition. “And they are always in perfectly clean white -dresses, and look just right,” she whispered to herself, and now made a -resolve that the next time the little Hinham girls saw her she would be -as neatly dressed as it was possible for a girl to be. - -Mr. and Mrs. Greaves and the Hinhams all accepted Roxy’s invitation to -come to the surprise party for Grandmother Miller’s birthday, and -Polly’s mother and father also promised to attend, and for the week -following the fishing excursion Roxy was very busy. Mrs. Delfield and -Dulcie were taken into the secret, and if Grandma Miller sometimes -wondered at Dulcie’s chuckles and mysterious nods and winks over her -cake-baking she did not really imagine the reason. - -Every day Roxy was busy from early morning until late in the afternoon, -either at work with scissors and water-color paints, or running down to -the big sycamore to plan just where the tent should stand, and decide on -the best place for Grandma Miller. - -“There ought to be a special seat for Grandma,” she said on the day -before the party, as she and her mother walked up the path to the -sycamore. - -“Of course,” Mrs. Delfield agreed; “and if it was right here against the -tree she could see the guests as they came up the path and be ready to -welcome them. We could make a seat of moss.” - -“So we could!” exclaimed Roxy. “There’s quantities of nice gray moss -along the ledges and under the beech trees! Can’t we make it now, -Mother?” - -“Of course we can,” said Mrs. Delfield, and they at once started off up -the pasture slope and gathered armfuls of the clean gray moss from the -ledges and under the beech trees and heaped it up to make a comfortable -seat under the sycamore; and when they had finished Roxy felt she could -hardly wait for the next morning to come when Polly and her father were -to put up a small white tent for the circus. - -The morning of July twentieth was clear and pleasant, and Roxy was up at -an early hour and ran to her grandma’s room to wish her a happy -birthday. At breakfast time Mrs. Delfield gave her mother a pretty lace -collar, and Roxy presented her with a frilled white apron that she had -made, and Mrs. Miller declared that it was the happiest birthday -breakfast she had ever had. - -“But I can’t imagine what ails Dulcie this morning,” she said. “She has -been talking to herself and chuckling as if something wonderful was -about to happen!” - -It was difficult for Roxy to keep quiet, and as soon as breakfast was -over she ran up to her room for the boxes that held the paper animals -and then hurried off toward the sycamore where she found Polly and Mr. -Lawrence awaiting her. Mr. Lawrence had brought the white canvas tent -and set it up on the smooth field just beyond the big tree. - -It was not a very large tent, and the girls decided to leave one side -open. - -“Then everyone can see in,” said Roxy. Mr. Lawrence set two flat boxes -at the closed end of the tent, and Polly and Roxy brought ferns and wild -flowers and fastened them over the rough sides and ends, leaving the -tops of the boxes uncovered; for the paper animals were to be set out in -a “procession.” - -After Mr. Lawrence had set the boxes in the tent he bade the girls -good-bye, promising to return in the afternoon, and now Roxy and Polly -set to work on the circus that was to entertain Grandmother Miller and -her birthday guests. - -The big elephants were to lead the procession, and following these came -four camels, several lions and tigers, zebras, a number of ostrich, and -then a group of monkeys. Beside all these Roxy had cut out and colored -several parrots, a bird of paradise and two peacocks with wide-spreading -tails. - -“We might fix a tree for the birds,” suggested Polly; and they made a -fairy-like tree from the stout green brakes that grew near the brook. On -the top of this tree they fixed the parrots, while the peacocks were -placed at the foot. - -When it was all arranged the circus made a very attractive sight, and -the two girls gazed at it admiringly. - -“Roxy! It would be a good idea for you to dress up and be the manager of -the show, and tell where all the animals were captured. That ‘Animal -Book’ tells, doesn’t it?” said Polly, her blue eyes eager at the thought -of an added interest for Roxy’s “circus.” - -Roxy jumped about, delighted at this suggestion. - -“What will I dress up in, Polly?” she asked. - -For a moment Polly did not answer; then she said: - -“There are some things in our attic that will be just what we want. -There is a tall white hat, and a long blue coat with big brass buttons! -And, Roxy! We can make whiskers and a moustache for you out of yarn and -tie them on. Then you must have a long stick and stand here,” and Polly -placed herself at one end of the procession of animals, “and you must -begin like this: ‘Ladies and gentlemen. First come the largest elephants -in the world. I captured them in Africa——’” - -“Oh, Polly! Polly!” shouted Roxy, hardly able to speak because of -laughter, “that will be splendid.” - -“You must be serious and not laugh, remember!” Polly warned her. “I’ll -go home now and get the things. We must have everything ready by three -o’clock.” - -It was nearly noon when Roxy returned home and whispered to Dulcie that -she must be sure to have the birthday cake at the big sycamore by four -o’clock, and Dulcie chuckling with delight promised to be in good time. - -As soon as dinner was over Mrs. Delfield reminded her mother that they -were to go for a drive, and had better start at once; and Mrs. Miller -was surprised to find that her white horse was already harnessed to the -tall buggy and at the door, and with a smiling word to Roxy, Mrs. -Delfield helped her mother into the carriage and they drove off. - -And now Roxy ran up to her own room quickly followed by Dulcie with a -big pitcher of hot water. - -“W’ile yo’ is a bathin’ I’ll fetch yo’ white muslin dress. De ruffles -all sets out as fine as kin be,” said Dulcie. - -“And bring my bronze slippers and blue sash,” called Roxy, for she was -resolved that to-day the little Hinham girls should see her in a dress -as white as their own. - -“Of course I’ll have to cover it all up for the circus, but when they -come they’ll see me looking just as nice as they look themselves,” she -thought, as she brushed her wavy brown hair until it crinkled and shone, -and when Dulcie had tied it with a wide blue ribbon and fastened Roxy’s -sash she exclaimed admiringly: - -“Yo’ suttin’ly do look fine, Missy Roxy. Yo’ looks jes’ as if yo’ might -a bin born in Marylan’! Yo’ sho’ does!” And Dulcie was sure no one could -expect or receive higher praise than this. “Now step keerful, chile!” -she warned the little girl, as Roxy put on a pretty leghorn hat trimmed -with blue flowers, and started off for the sycamore. - -Mrs. Delfield had promised to bring Grandma Miller to the big tree at -exactly three o’clock, and at that time everything was in readiness. - -The guests had been told to follow the path leading from the stone -bridge beside the brook, and Polly, wearing a blue dimity dress with -white collar and sash, and Roxy were ready to meet and welcome them and -lead them to the seat where Grandma Miller would receive them. - -The guests, however, all arrived before Grandma Miller; and when Roxy -led her up the path followed by Mrs. Delfield and Polly, and the smiling -group greeted her with a chorus of “Happy birthday,” she was as much -surprised as Roxy had expected her to be, and seated herself on the -cushion-like moss declaring that it was well worth while to be sixty -years old to have so glorious a birthday. - -The tent was behind the tree and had not been noticed by anyone but -Roland, and when Roxy and Polly suddenly disappeared Roland was the only -one who suspected that a real surprise was in store for the members of -the birthday party. - -It was Polly who announced the “circus.” Making a pretty curtsy to Mrs. -Miller and then to the guests, she said: - -“In honor of Mrs. Miller’s birthday I have the pleasure of announcing -that Signor Delroxana has brought his menagerie of trained beasts and -birds. If you will kindly follow me,” and taking Grandma Miller by the -hand Polly led the way to the open tent where a strange little figure in -a tall white hat, a blue coat that trailed on the ground, and whose face -was nearly covered with a beard of curly brown yarn, stood ready to -introduce the animals and tell of their capture in far-off lands. - -Roxy did not laugh once, as in a gruff voice she named each group of -animals and birds; but her listeners found it difficult to keep quiet, -and Roland whispered to his mother that it was the funniest thing he had -ever seen, and the minister said it was very instructive as well as -amusing, while Grandma Miller laughed until she had to wipe the tears -from her eyes. - -Dulcie, standing near the little Hinham girls, was the only sober person -in the audience. - -“Dat ruffle-muslin; I reckons it look like a rag ’fore dis! My lan’! Wot -good fer Missy Roxy to kiver up her fine clo’es dis way,” she muttered -disapprovingly. - -After Roxy had finished and taken off the coat, hat and whiskers, her -grandmother said that her little granddaughter must sit beside her on -the fine seat of moss; and Dulcie brought the huge birthday cake which -Grandma cut, and Roxy was delighted to carry the plates to the smiling -guests who were gathered in the shade of the big sycamore. There were -pitchers filled with raspberry shrub, and various sorts of tempting -cakes handed about by a smiling negro girl who had come to help Dulcie; -and when Roxy saw the abundance of plum tarts, exactly like the ones she -had eaten on the day she had quarrelled with Polly, she smiled happily, -and felt that nothing was lacking. - -It was sunset before the guests started for home, and as Roxy, hand in -hand with Grandma Miller, walked up the slope toward home she thought it -had been the happiest day she remembered. - -“Everybody had a good time, didn’t they, Grandma?” she asked eagerly, as -they sat down on the porch. - -“Indeed they did, Roxy; and I was proud indeed that my little -granddaughter could plan and carry out so fine an entertainment.” - -Roxy’s face flushed happily. It was pleasant to have Grandmother praise -her. - -“Polly!” she exclaimed suddenly, remembering all Polly’s suggestions and -help. “It was Polly did the best of the circus!” - -“I am sure Polly helped what she could,” replied Grandma Miller. - - - - - CHAPTER X - - POLLY’S NEWS - - -A few days after the birthday party one of the negro servants brought a -stout rope from the storehouse and fixed a swing from the branch of the -big butternut tree that grew near the house. A smooth board for a seat -was notched and fitted to the rope, and Grandma Miller came out to give -Roxy the first swing. - -As Roxy found herself flying through the air so that her feet touched -the leaves of the tree’s lofty branches she laughed with delight; and as -the swing slowed down and only moved evenly back and forth she called: - -“Grandma, I can see way down to the river. Grandma, where does the river -come from?” - -“It rises in Pennsylvania, and empties into the Potomac just below -Sharpsburg,” replied Mrs. Miller, who had seated herself at the foot of -the big tree and now looked off toward the peaceful Antietam, the slopes -of South Mountain, and the fields of growing wheat. Grandma Miller knew -many stories of this valley, and had told Roxy of the days of the French -and Indian War when the settlers along the Antietam were raided by the -Indian allies of the French until they fled to Fredericktown for -protection, and for years the fertile fields were deserted. - -Braddock’s army had passed through this valley; and, before the American -Revolution, settlers returned to their homes, and farms again prospered, -and people lived in safety. But Grandma Miller was not thinking of those -far-off wars; for, as the summer of 1862 advanced, the people of -Maryland knew that the national capital was in danger, that at any time -Southern troops might sweep into Maryland; and as Mrs. Miller looked -toward South Mountain she wondered how long this safety and peace would -continue, and where Roxy’s father was on that August morning. - -She said nothing to Roxy of these matters, but the little girl knew how -anxiously her mother awaited news from her soldier father, and now as -she noticed how grave her grandma’s face was as she looked off across -the fields Roxy became sure that Grandma Miller was thinking of the war, -and of her father, and she said softly: - -“Grandma, don’t you s’pose my father is ever coming to see us?” and she -let the swing come nearly to a standstill. - -“I hope so, Roxy! But we cannot get news of him. The last we heard was -that his regiment was with General Pope. But that was weeks ago. It is -August now, and we hear only rumors. It may be that some day your father -will come riding over the bridge and tell us all his adventures.” - -“I wish he would come soon,” said Roxy soberly, and she resolved to -watch the bridge so that she might be the first one to see her father. - -“I believe it would be a good plan to have a seat built around this -tree,” said Grandma Miller, as she started to return to the house. “It -is cooler here than on the porch, and it would be a good place for you -to bring your dolls for tea-parties.” - -“Yes, indeed,” replied Roxy, “and I could have my ‘circus’ animals march -right around the tree. Perhaps I could have a doll’s party, and ask the -little Hinham girls to bring all their dolls!” - -“You could indeed, my dear, and I will have Jacob make the seat this -very day. We will have a good wide seat,” said Grandma, and with a -smiling nod she went toward the house. - -Roxy, looking after her, told herself that Grandma Miller was exactly -the kind of a grandmother that every little girl ought to have. - -“She doesn’t put things off until next year; she has them done right -away,” Roxy thought approvingly. - -The shining gold ring on her forefinger reminded her again of Grandma’s -warning that it was usually “silly to be angry,” and Roxy smiled, for -only yesterday the little ring had prevented her from again being vexed -at Polly. - -“I’m never going to quarrel with Polly; she never quarrels back,” she -said aloud. - -“That’s because she is fourteen years old,” came the laughing response, -and the surprised Roxy nearly fell from the swing when she found Polly -standing close beside her. - -“Oh, Polly! I am going to be just like you when I am fourteen!” declared -Roxy, but Polly shook her head. - -“You won’t have red hair,” she responded; “but what a fine swing!” and -she looked at the long stout ropes, and then off across the quiet -valley, and Roxy noticed that her friend’s face was very sober. - -“What’s the matter, Polly?” she asked. - -“Oh, Roxy! My father has started to join McClellan’s army, and Mr. -Greaves has gone with him and Mr. Hinham. They went early this morning. -There is news that the Confederate soldiers under General Jackson are -advancing against General Pope’s army, and——” - -But before Polly could say another word Roxy was out of the swing -exclaiming: - -“My father is with General Pope! Oh, Polly!” - -Polly’s arm was about Roxy’s shoulders and for a moment the little -Yankee girl and the Maryland girl stood looking into each other’s eyes. - -“Yes, Roxy. But isn’t it splendid that our fathers are both fighting in -the Union Army?” said Polly. “I came over to tell you about it.” - -The two girls turned silently toward the house, and Roxy’s thoughts were -no longer about a doll’s party under the big tree; she could think only -of her soldier father. - -“It’s no use for me to watch the bridge now, is it, Polly? I don’t -suppose my father will come for weeks and weeks!” she said mournfully. - -“Perhaps he will come any day,” declared Polly. “Anyway you had better -watch.” - -Neither Mrs. Miller nor Mrs. Delfield seemed surprised by Polly’s news. -In fact on the day of the surprise party Mr. Greaves had told them that -a number of Antietam men were preparing to start for Alexandria where -McClellan’s forces were encamped; and they now encouraged Polly to -believe that her father and his friends would not be in immediate -danger. - -Polly could not stay long. - -“Now Father is gone I’ll have to work more steadily,” she said gravely. -“I am to help in the garden and look after the chickens, so I can’t come -over very often.” - -Roxy looked so mournful at this that Polly promptly added: “But we can -signal to each other every morning, Roxy; so if I have time we can meet -at the big sycamore,” and at this Roxy’s face brightened. - -“Couldn’t I come over and help you, Polly?” she asked hopefully. - -But Mrs. Miller declared that Roxy could not be spared. - -“We must finish the quilt, and start a box of things for the soldiers -and you can help a great deal,” she said; and that afternoon the -quilting-frame was again set up in the dining-room, and Roxy, seated -beside Grandma Miller, did her best to set every stitch evenly, and was -well pleased when her mother praised her work, saying that Roxy could -quilt as well as her own mother. - -While Roxy had been helping on the quilt Jacob had been busy making the -wide seat around the butternut tree, and when the little girl came out -on the porch in the late afternoon he called to her to come and see it. - -Jacob was Dulcie’s husband, a good-natured negro who had charge of the -farm work, and who could do many useful things; and when Roxy ran toward -the tree he pointed to the wide seat he had just finished and said -proudly: - -“Dar! Dat seat am as solid as dis earth. Dat am a fine seat, Missy.” - -“Yes, indeed, Jacob! And I am going to bring my circus animals out and -have them march around the tree,” said Roxy. “Wait a minute, Jacob, and -I’ll fetch them.” - -“I should admire ter see dat circus, an’ so’d all de niggers!” responded -the man eagerly. “If yo’ ain’ no objection, Missy, I’d like ter hab -Dulcie an’ May-Rose an’ de men wot helps me, step up here an’ see yo’ -animals, an’ hear yo’ tell ’bout ’em?” and Jacob looked pleadingly -toward Roxy. - -“Yes, Jacob! Ask them all to come,” replied Roxy, running toward the -house, while Jacob hurried off toward the cabins where the negroes lived -to tell them of the entertainment in store for them. - -Roxy carried the boxes containing the paper animals to the wide seat and -had them all arranged in a procession when she heard the chatter of the -negroes as they came toward the tree. - -Jacob was a little in advance of the others; and although Dulcie -announced that by rights she ought to have charge of “dis gatherin’,” -Jacob paid no attention to her remarks, and told each one of the -servants where they were to stand. - -“We’s all ready, Missy,” he announced, smiling delightedly as his glance -rested on the “circus.” - -Roxy smiled in response, as she stood by the seat holding the same -hazel-rod that she had used on the day of the party. - -“We will begin with the elephants,” she said, “and as I go around the -tree please follow me.” - -“Yas, yas, indeed, Missy Roxy,” came the reply from the delighted -negroes, and Roxy pointed out elephants, camels and zebras, and told -briefly where such animals lived, and something of their habits that she -had learned from the big red-covered book in Grandma’s book-closet. - -There were many exclamations of wonder and surprise, and, when Roxy -finished, a chorus of thanks, and Grandma Miller and Roxy’s mother came -down from the porch and told Dulcie to serve everyone with an extra good -supper that night. “And remember it is a treat from Miss Roxy,” she -added smilingly; and Roxy again thought that her grandmother was a -pattern for all grandmothers to follow, as the well-pleased negroes -followed Dulcie toward the kitchen. - -“It was fun to show them the circus,” Roxy declared, her eyes shining -with delight, as her mother helped her gather up the animals and put -them in the boxes. “And I don’t see why slaves are not as happy as other -people,” she added thoughtfully. “I’m sure Jacob and Dulcie are happy.” - -“They are not slaves, my dear. Your grandfather gave all his negroes -their freedom, and that is what many Southern people have done and many -more were planning to do so before this war began,” replied Grandma -Miller. - -“When the war is over every negro will be free, won’t they, Grandma?” -questioned Roxy, as they all walked up the slope. - -“If the Union Army conquers the Confederates there will be no more -slavery in America,” Mrs. Miller replied gravely. - -Roxy set her boxes on the porch steps, and stood looking off toward the -bridge, remembering that Polly had told her that, after all, her father -might secure leave of absence and appear at any time. - -It had been a happy day, even if Polly’s news had been discouraging, she -thought, as her glance rested on the glimpse of quiet river, the stretch -of gray road, and the distant bridge. - -And as she looked Roxy’s heart began to beat more quickly, for she could -see a figure on horseback coming across the bridge; as it drew near she -saw that the rider’s coat was blue. - -“It’s Father! It’s Father!” she exclaimed, and raced down the slope to -the opening in the wall that led to the highway. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - - A TRIUMPHAL ARCH - - -The blue clad figure on horseback came on so slowly that Roxy had -reached the road long before the horseman was near enough for her to be -sure that it was really her long expected father; and when he drew rein -and called, “Roxy!” and smiled down at her the little girl, looking up -at the thin worn face, cried out: “Oh, Father! You’re sick,” and Captain -Delfield nodded. “Pretty well used up, my dear. Run back to the house -and tell your mother I’m coming,” and he turned his horse into the lane -leading to the house while Roxy raced across the slope and ran into the -house calling: “Mother! Mother! Mother!” until Mrs. Delfield and Grandma -Miller both came hurrying to know what had happened. - -“Father has come! Father is here!” said the little girl, rushing through -the house to the yard where Jacob was tenderly helping Captain Delfield -from the tired horse. - -Roxy’s father was not only worn out by his long journey on horseback; he -had not yet recovered from a wound received some weeks earlier on the -slopes of Malvern where the Union forces had repulsed the Confederates -and driven Lee’s army toward Richmond. - -For the week after his arrival Captain Delfield was in bed, and Roxy -spent a part of each day in the big front chamber where her father’s bed -was drawn near the windows so that he could look off across the valley -to the distant hills. - -He wanted to hear all that she could tell him about her friend Polly and -the little Hinham girls, and when she told of her discovery of the -Yankee soldier who had escaped from Richmond prison he listened eagerly -and smiled over Roxy’s description of Dulcie’s discovery that her food -had been taken. - -“Helping that boy will help win the war, Roxy; and you helped the Yankee -Army without knowing it,” he said. - -“But, Father, if it had been a Confederate boy I would have taken him -food just the same,” Roxy responded, half fearing that her father, -wounded by a Confederate bullet, might not agree with her in this; but -Captain Delfield answered approvingly: - -“Of course, dear child. The Confederate soldiers are a worthy foe. Of -course you would have helped any starving man.” - -Roxy searched the fields for wild flowers for her father’s room; she -brought up her dolls to keep him company, and one day, to Dulcie’s -horror, Roxy was discovered bringing the squawking bantams through the -kitchen, and in spite of all Dulcie’s exclamations and warnings the -little girl carried the surprised fowl up to her father’s chamber and -set the covered basket down near his bed. - -“What have you named them?” he asked, leaning over to admire their -shining feathers and bright eyes; and Roxy confessed that she had not -thought of naming them. - -“Why not call them Napoleon and Josephine?” he suggested. “You see, -Napoleon was small but he was as brave and noisy as this small bantam; -and Josephine was beautiful, and so is Madame Bantam!” - -Roxy laughed happily. Now that her father could sit up the greater part -of each day and was always ready to tell her stories, and to hear -whatever she had to say, Roxy felt that all was well; and to have him -give the bantams such fine names made her once more eager for a visit -from Polly that she might tell her friend all that had happened in the -week since her father’s arrival; for Polly no longer came every day. She -was keeping her promise to her father, and worked in the garden and in -the house, and the two girls’ signals each morning was all they knew of -each other. - -Roxy was looking forward to the day when her father would come down to -the porch; her mother said they would have a celebration on that day, -and Roxy signalled for Polly to come over, and greatly to her delight -Polly’s answering signal was “yes,” and Roxy hastened to the kitchen to -ask a special favor of Dulcie. - -“Dulcie, I expect my father will come downstairs to-morrow,” she began. - -“Now, ain’ dat good news, Missy!” exclaimed Dulcie. “I reckons I’d -better hab fried chicken, an’ new peas, an’ co’n fritters”—and with her -hands on her hips and her eyes fixed far above Roxy’s head Dulcie named -over a list of tempting dishes, to which Roxy listened a little -impatiently and before she had finished interrupted by exclaiming: - -“Yes! Yes, Dulcie! And plum tarts! I specially want plum tarts.” - -“Does yo’ so, Missy Roxy? Den I’ll hev ter make de pastry ter-day. -Pastry dat ain’ set de day ’fore it’s e’t ain’ wuth nothin’!” and Dulcie -shook her head smilingly as she watched the little girl hurry off to the -garden to gather the tall yellow lilies that blossomed near the stone -wall. - -Roxy carried these to her father’s room and found him sitting near the -window. - -“Polly’s coming to-morrow, and Dulcie’s going to have the best dinner, -Father!” she exclaimed. “And you can try my swing!” - -“That is what I mean to do,” Captain Delfield said, and in a few moments -Roxy bade him good-bye and ran downstairs for she was planning that her -father’s first day downstairs should be a real celebration, and she was -eager to talk it over with Grandma Miller, who listened approvingly. - -“Grandma, I have a plan!” she said, following Mrs. Miller to the dairy, -a square building of stone near the house. The dairy was always cool, -even on these hot August days. Its floor was of stone, and there was a -bubbling spring of cool water in one corner. - -There were shelves on two sides of the dairy holding big blue and yellow -bowls and shining tins filled with milk. There were two churns, that -stood near the spring, and a broad stone shelf where Grandma worked the -golden butter and stamped the squares with a beautiful rose. - -Roxy always liked to visit the dairy, and to help Grandma make butter; -but to-day as she sat down on the small three-legged stool in one corner -of the room and watched her grandmother skimming the heavy yellow cream -from the pans of milk her thoughts were not of butter. - -“Grandma! I want to make an arch, a triumphal arch, for my father! I -read about it in a story about George Washington. When heroes come back -from war people put up triumphal arches, and my father is a hero,” -declared Roxy. - -“Why, I think that is a very good idea,” replied Grandmother, “and where -do you want the arch?” - -“In front of the porch,” replied Roxy, smiling happily that Grandma had -so quickly agreed to her plan. “And I want to have it all green leaves, -laurel and hazel branches, with yellow lilies mixed in; and I want Polly -to sing when Father comes out on the porch!” - -Grandma nodded approvingly and smiled at Roxy. “Your father will think -he has won the war,” she said, “and I am glad you thought of so good a -plan. You can ask Jacob to help you to-morrow morning, and you had best -be up early so that the arch will be ready when your father comes down.” - -“Oh, yes, Grandma, I will be up at daylight,” Roxy promised, and now -started off to the brook to get branches of laurel for the arch. She was -busy all the afternoon bringing armfuls of the shining green laurel, and -graceful branches of hazel, and when she bade her father good-night she -was more tired than she had been since the day of her walk to visit the -Hinhams. - -But she awoke very early. No one else in the house was astir, and when -Roxy entered the kitchen Dulcie was just crossing the yard from her -cabin. - -“Gwine ter be a drea’ful hot day,” Dulcie declared. “Yo’ sit up ter dis -lille roun’ table clus ter de winder, Missy Roxy, an’ I’ll spread out -somet’ing fer yo’ ter eat. ’Twill be nigh an hour ’fore break’us!” And -Dulcie drew a small table to an open window, covered it with a white -cloth and brought a blue pitcher filled with milk, a blue bowl, and a -plate of corn bread. - -“Now, jes’ he’p yo’se’f, honey,” she said. “Jacob’ll be ready time yo’ -finished.” - -Roxy was quite ready to obey, and as she ate the excellent corn bread -and drank the cool milk she looked out of the window toward where the -tall yellow lilies blossomed, and thought happily of her father’s -surprise when he saw the “triumphal” arch. - -“Dulcie, I am going to ask Polly to sing,” she said, when she was ready -to leave the kitchen. - -Dulcie chuckled and smiled, as she usually did at whatever Roxy might -say. - -“W’y don’ yo’ hab Jacob an’ de odder niggers sing? Dey know sum right -fine songs. I reckon yo’ pa be right pleased, Missy Roxy, ter hear ’em!” -she said. - -The little girl clapped her hands in delight. - -“That will be splendid, Dulcie! Splendid!” she exclaimed. “Oh! It’s -really going to be a celebration.” - -“Yo’ jes’ speak to yo’ grandma ’bout it!” said the well-pleased Dulcie. - -“Grandma always says ‘yes,’” declared Roxy happily, and started off to -tell Jacob just where to fix the tall willow saplings that he had cut as -a frame for Roxy’s arch. - -She selected a place half-way between the porch and the big butternut -tree, and Jacob drove the saplings firmly into the ground, and drew -their tops together in a graceful arch. He brought a step-ladder for -Roxy to stand on and a ball of twine, and showed her how to fasten the -branches of laurel and hazel leaves about the arched poles; and Roxy was -busily at work when Polly, riding the little brown horse, trotted into -the yard. - -Polly was eager to help, and gathered an armful of the yellow lilies and -helped Roxy put them in place at the top of the arch, where they glowed -among the glossy laurel leaves, and, as Dulcie admiringly declared, -“Look jes’ like stars.” - -While the girls worked Roxy described her plan for her father’s -pleasure, and Polly laughingly consented to sing whatever Roxy wanted -her to sing, and thought Dulcie’s idea of having the negroes sing would -be sure to please Captain Delfield, as indeed it did, when a few hours -later he stepped out on the porch and saw the beautiful arch, and Roxy -announced: - -“Father! That’s your triumphal arch! And Polly’s going to sing,” and he -saw a tall girl in a tan-colored linen dress with shining red hair -standing near the flowery arch, who with a smiling greeting made him a -low curtsy and sang: - - “Hail to the Chief, who in triumph advances! - Honored and blessed be the ever-green pine! - Long may the tree, in his banner that glances, - Flourish, the shelter and grace of our line!” - -And then with another curtsy, Polly came up to stand beside Roxy on the -upper step, and before Captain Delfield could thank her for the song, -Jacob, followed by the other negro servants, came around the corner of -the house, and with smiling greetings to the Captain began singing: - - “Nebber yo’ fear— - W’en de corn am growin’, - Nebber yo’ fear - W’en de flowers am’ blowin’. - Nebber yo’ fear de dreadful soun’ - Risin’, risin’ out de groun’ - Ob armies marchin’, marchin’ roun’.” - -As the men sang they swayed back and forth in time to the tune, and -finally disappeared behind the house in a solemn march as the song -ended. - -But Roxy ran after them and called them back and Captain Delfield -thanked them heartily. - -Then Roxy led her father under the arch to the swing, where he admired -the wide seat around the tree, and declared that General McClellan -himself could not have had a finer welcome. - -It proved a day that the little group would long remember; not alone on -account of Roxy’s celebration for her father, but because it was the -29th of August, 1862, the day when General Pope found himself facing -Stonewall Jackson, the great Confederate general, on the battlefield of -Bull Run. A battle where the Union forces were driven from the field -with great loss, and were pursued by Lee’s army until, at Chantilly, Lee -gave up the pursuit, and the broken battalions of the Union Army -struggled back to Washington. - -It was Roland Hinham who brought this news, several days later. Captain -Delfield and Roxy were on the broad seat under the butternut when Roxy -exclaimed: “Here comes Roland Hinham on horseback!” - -“What is he riding like that for? His horse is coming at a gallop,” said -Captain Delfield, rising to his feet and watching Roland as the boy -urged his horse up the slope. - -The tired horse came to a standstill in the yard and Roland swung -himself from the saddle and ran toward Captain Delfield and hurriedly -told him the news of the battle of Bull Run. “And that isn’t all, sir,” -continued the excited boy. “General Lee’s troops are marching into -Maryland.” - - - - - CHAPTER XII - - STARTLING NEWS - - -“Will the Southern soldiers come here?” Roxy asked, clinging to her -father’s arm, but Captain Delfield did not reply; he was questioning -Roland for news of the advancing army, and hearing that President -Lincoln had given the command of the Army of the Potomac to General -George B. McClellan. - -“Then there is some hope of saving the Union,” declared Captain -Delfield; “but if Confederate troops are moving into Maryland they will -seize horses and cattle wherever they find them. We must drive our stock -into the mountains and keep them out of sight until the danger is over.” - -“What danger?” questioned Mrs. Miller, who had come down from the house -to greet Roland, and Roxy again heard Roland tell the story of the -rumors of advancing armies. - -Captain Delfield encouraged them all by saying that these hillside farms -were too far from the direct routes of travel to make it likely that -marching armies would trouble them; but Mrs. Miller nevertheless at once -started Jacob and the other negroes to harvest the wheat, and to gather -every crop in the fields bordering the highway. - -Roland said that his mother and little sisters were going to Sharpsburg, -and that he and some of the negroes meant, that very day, to start into -the mountains with their horses, ponies and cows; and he bade them all -good-bye, promising to let them know of the family’s return home when -the trouble was over. - -Captain Delfield and Roxy walked slowly toward the house, and Roxy knew -that her soldier father was wishing himself able to again join his -regiment; but while he was better he was not yet able to sit up all day, -and was easily tired, and there could be no question of his leaving home -at present. - -There were two fine gray mules belonging to Grandma Miller, and one -driving horse, beside Captain Delfield’s fine saddle-horse that had -brought him safely on his long journey. - -“The mules cannot be spared until the crops are harvested, and I do not -mean to start the cattle off until I see soldiers coming over the -bridge,” decided Mrs. Miller. - -It seemed to Roxy that Roland’s news had changed everything. No one now -seemed to remember her, she thought, as she heard her father and mother -talking of General McClellan and General Lee. She heard her father say -that before the war began these two great generals had known each other -well, and regarded each other highly. They had served together under the -American flag in Mexico. - -Roxy did not stay to hear more but went into the kitchen to find Dulcie -sitting in the big rocking-chair, with her apron over her head, rocking -vigorously back and forth and groaning with every breath. - -“Stop, Dulcie! Whatever is the matter?” demanded Roxy, taking hold of -the blue-checked apron and drawing it from Dulcie’s face. - -“We’s all gwine ter be druv off into slav’ree; or mebbe we’s all gwine -ter be kill’t!” declared the frightened woman. - -For the first time that day Roxy laughed; and at the sight of the little -girl’s smiling face Dulcie began to regain a little courage. “Ain’ we, -Missy Roxy?” she half whispered. - -“Of course not! Who said so?” asked Roxy. - -“Jacob!” and Dulcie was promptly on her feet. “Does yo’ means ter tell -me dat de Southern sojers ain’ a-marchin’ dis way?” she questioned. - -“Oh, Dulcie! They won’t hurt _us_! Whoever said they would? And here it -is ’most supper time and you haven’t begun anything,” and leaving the -puzzled Dulcie Roxy went out to the yard. She visited “Napoleon” and -“Josephine,” and promised not to let the invading army capture them, and -then wandered down the slope to the wall and leaning against it stood -looking off toward the Lawrence farm. - -“I wonder if Polly knows?” she thought, and remembered that there were -only two negro servants at the Lawrence place. “I’ll go over now and -tell her,” she resolved, and ran down the slope toward the old sycamore, -and climbed the pasture path leading to Polly’s home. - -It was a long walk and Roxy was warm and tired when she discovered -Polly, who was leading “Brownie” toward the stables. - -“Did you signal that you were coming, Roxy?” called Polly. - -Roxy shook her head. “I didn’t think about signals,” she said. “Polly, -General Lee is marching into Maryland!” - -Polly laughed delightedly. - -“Oh, Roxy-Doxy! Have you made up a new game?” - -Roxy stamped her foot angrily, forgetting the gold ring and her promise. - -“Well, Polly Lawrence! I ran and ran, and I am as tired as I can be, and -it isn’t a game. I came to tell you so you could save your horses,” she -said, thinking angrily that she would now go straight home and never -speak to Polly again. - -But Polly’s face was grave and she at once began asking Roxy questions, -so that in a few moments Roxy no longer remembered to be angry, and was -telling Polly all that she knew about the advance of Lee’s soldiers, and -of what her father had said about driving the horses into some hidden -valley among the hills where they would be safe. - -“If the Confederates find your father they will take him prisoner,” -Polly suddenly announced. “Of course they will, for they will see by his -uniform that he is a Union soldier!” - -“Oh, Polly!” exclaimed Roxy. “I don’t believe my father thought about -that,” and her gray eyes widened with fear. - -But Polly assured her that of course Captain Delfield had thought of it, -and would prepare to avoid capture. - -“If we could only have some warning before the soldiers get here perhaps -no great harm would be done; we could drive off the stock, and go away -ourselves, if that seemed best,” Polly said thoughtfully. “Anyway, I’m -not going to have ‘Brownie’ go until I do,” and she patted the little -brown horse lovingly. - -“I guess I must go now,” Roxy said. “You will signal every morning, -won’t you, Polly?” - -Polly promised, and Roxy started for home, her thoughts filled with a -new fear: that the Confederates might discover her father and take him -prisoner. She remembered what Polly had said about being warned of the -approach of the invading army; and before Roxy had reached the old -sycamore she had made a firm resolve that she would watch the broad -turnpike that led up from Virginia and warn her father and Polly at the -first sight of marching troops; and the little girl at once began to -plan how she could carry out this resolve. It would mean, she knew, that -she must be on the alert constantly, and that she must not let her -mother, father or Grandmother Miller discover what she meant to do. - -In the high pasture beyond the sycamore towered a rocky ledge where -Polly and Roxy had often eaten their picnic luncheons, and the little -girl now remembered that from the top of this mass of rock one could -look off far beyond the bridge to where two roads met; one of these -roads led off through the mountains, the other was the highway that led -on past the Miller farm toward Sharpsburg. - -“That’s just the place. I’ll go there every day and watch,” Roxy -resolved quickly; and suddenly realizing that the sun was nearly out of -sight behind the western hills, Roxy hurried toward home, and found the -family at the supper table. - -“Father, would the Confederates take you prisoner?” she asked eagerly, -standing close beside her father’s chair. - -“They would have to catch me first, my dear. If I see them first I’ll be -safe enough,” he replied, and Roxy gave a little sigh of satisfaction as -she sat down beside him. - -“I’ll tell you the minute I see them,” she promised soberly, and Roxy -thought to herself how wonderful it would be if she could really do -something to help her soldier father: perhaps save him from that dreaded -prison from which the Yankee boy had escaped. - -That night the talk was of invading armies, and of the danger that -seemed to threaten Washington; and Roxy, curled up on the old sofa in -the sitting-room, again resolved that she would not fail in her plan to -be at the ledge at an early hour the next morning. She began to wish -that she had told Polly of her plan. - -“Polly always thinks of things that I don’t: of signals, and all sorts -of things,” thought Roxy; and at the remembrance of signals a new idea -flashed into her mind. She must tell Polly as soon as she could, and she -could signal Polly from the ledge. That would be splendid. Roxy no -longer felt tired or sleepy. She jumped up from the sofa and if at that -very moment her mother had not said: “Bedtime and past, Roxy,” the -little girl would have been eager to start off across the pastures to -tell her friend of the new plan. - -“Why, Roxy! Your eyes are shining, and your face is flushed; are you -ill?” exclaimed Mrs. Delfield as the little girl stood beside her. - -“No, only I wish it was morning. I want to tell Polly something. I am -going to get up at daylight and go over to Polly’s; may I?” Roxy asked. - -“Why, yes. And ask Polly if she and her mother mean to stay at home. -Tell her to come here at any time if we can help them.” - -“Yes, Mother! Polly can signal if she wants me,” Roxy answered. - -“‘Signal’?” questioned Captain Delfield, and listened to Roxy’s -description of the signals the two girls had arranged from their upper -windows. - -“Better not let any soldiers discover your signals,” he said smilingly. -“You know that is the way armies direct attacks, by signals.” - -But Captain Delfield did not for a moment imagine that within a few days -these very signals that Roxy described were to involve his little -daughter in real danger. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - - SEPTEMBER SIXTH - - -Roxy was up as the first rays of the September sun came through her -eastern window; but early as it was she found Dulcie busy in the -kitchen, and could see Jacob starting off to the fields with the mule -team. - -“Yo’ gran’ma says ebery grain ob wheat and ebery ear ob co’n mus’ be out -er de fields ’fore de marchin’ armies comes dis way,” said Dulcie -solemnly, as she gave Roxy a plate of freshly baked corn bread, and bade -her run to the dairy for a pitcher of milk. - -“I want my lunch basket filled, please, Dulcie,” said Roxy. “I may be -gone all day.” - -“Don’ yo’ go near de roads, Missy Roxy,” warned Dulcie, “an’ yo’ tells -Missy Polly Lawrence not ter go ridin’ off lik’ she does. ’Tain’ gwine -ter be safe,” and the negro woman shook her head solemnly, as she -started toward the pantry to fill the little covered basket. - -Roxy put on the big straw hat that she always wore in her tramps about -the pastures, and promising Dulcie to keep away from the roads she set -forth. As she ran down the slope her thoughts were of the lookout she -meant to keep from the top of the high ledge, and of the signals that -should tell Polly that marching soldiers could be seen in the distance. - -“I’ll have to fix a pole on the ledge,” she decided, “and Polly will -give me some strips of white cloth.” - -The early September morning was cool and pleasant, and the air was -fragrant with ripening fruit and the scent of autumn flowers. Along the -wall the grapes were turning purple, and Roxy noticed the yellow stubble -of the wheat fields. - -As she neared the brook she saw bunches of purple thistles growing among -the silvery-like young willows on the borders of the stream, and the -little girl lingered to admire the beauty spread before her. - -But she was too eager to see Polly to stay long near the quiet stream. -And as she climbed the pasture slope she decided that it would be a good -plan to leave her lunch basket at the foot of the ledge where she could -get it on her return; and she set it carefully on a shelf of rock that -she could easily reach, and then hurried on. - -Polly, busy in the hillside orchard gathering apples, had seen Roxy as -she came toward the farm, and came running to meet her, her red hair -dancing about her face. - -“What is it, Roxy?” she asked a little anxiously, putting her arm about -Roxy’s shoulders, and Roxy told of her plan to climb the ledge and keep -watch of the distant highway. - -“And then, Polly, when I signalled that soldiers were coming you could -start off with your horses and cows for the hills, and I could run home -and tell Grandma.” - -Polly listened gravely. - -“It’s a splendid plan, Roxy. I think you were clever to think of it. And -the ledge is just the place. What did your father say about it? Was he -not proud that you had thought of it?” she asked. - -“Oh, Polly! I didn’t tell him. I was afraid they would not let me do it. -And, Polly, you won’t tell, will you?” pleaded Roxy. “I want to keep it -secret until I do see the soliders. Perhaps, after all, they won’t -come.” - -Polly agreed, and the two girls decided that the moment Roxy should see -any sign of advancing troops she should fasten the strip of white cloth, -that Polly would give her, to a stout pole and wave it from the top of -the ledge. - -“But of course after you wave it you had better fix the pole firmly -among the rocks and start for home,” said Polly; “there are a lot of -sticks near the ledge that will do for a flagpole,” she added, and after -a little more talk of Roxy’s plan the friends said good-bye and Roxy -turned back toward the ledge, well pleased that Polly had so promptly -approved of her plan. - -It was rather a difficult matter for the little girl to reach the top of -the mass of rocks that rose from the rough pasture. To carry her basket -and the slender pole that she had found, and to climb along the slippery -ledges without losing her footing made it very slow work. Roxy at last -poked the flag-stick as far ahead of her as she could, then, reaching -up, she set the basket on some outstanding rock, and this left her hands -free to seize at bushes and rocks and pull herself up to where the -basket and flag-stick rested, and in this way she finally reached the -top, where masses of rough stone, scrubby laurel-bushes, and one twisted -little oak tree covered the surface. - -Roxy was glad to rest in the scanty shade of the little oak tree. -Sitting there she could look over the peaceful countryside and the quiet -Antietam as it flowed under its arched bridges and made its way to the -Potomac. - -Turning her glance to the highway she could see the road like a gray -ribbon in the distance, and realized that no horsemen could approach -without her seeing them when they were yet miles distant, and Roxy -smiled happily to think how well she was carrying out her plan. - -But after she had rested from her scramble up the ledge, she began to -look about for something to amuse her, and to realize that an entire day -by herself on the top of this ledge was a very long time. She wished -that she had brought the big rag doll, “Dinah,” that she had had ever -since she could remember, for company; and she wondered what little -Indian girls did for toys. - -“I’ll bring Dinah to-morrow,” she resolved, and just then a gray -squirrel poked his head over a near-by rock and fixed his bright, -startled glance on Roxy, and an instant later another gray head appeared -beside the first squirrel and they watched her for a brief moment and -then vanished. - -“Oh!” Roxy whispered softly, and noiselessly opening her lunch basket -she drew out a fat molasses cooky dotted with raisins and tiny nuts, and -breaking off little bits she threw them toward the place where the -squirrels had appeared, and it was not long before the little creatures -again ventured out and seized upon these unexpected dainties. - -Very softly Roxy began to speak to them, at the same time tossing bits -of the cooky in their direction. - -“You must be Confederates because you wear gray clothes,” she said. “Lee -and Jackson, I’ll call you, because Father says they are as brave as any -Yankee soldier, and you are brave to come so near,” and Roxy held the -last crumbs of the cooky in her outstretched hand tempting her new -friends. - -All the morning she found amusement in watching the squirrels and trying -to make friends with them, although she did not forget to keep a sharp -outlook toward the distant road; and when she saw the sun in mid-heaven -she ate a part of the contents of her lunch basket, and again fed the -squirrels with scraps of food, and was delighted when one of them boldly -perched himself on her foot. - -This first day that Roxy spent on the pasture ledge was September 6th, -1862, the very day on which the Confederates, under General Jackson, -made their entry into the town of Frederick, Maryland. They had expected -to be welcomed, but they were disappointed in this. - -Jackson’s army of shoeless soldiers clad in tattered uniforms were not -received as “liberators,” as Lee had expected. There was but little -secessionist element in Western Maryland; and loyal women in Frederick -dared to throw out the flag of the Union from their windows. McClellan’s -army was marching to meet the invading foe, and a few days later the -Confederates left Frederick, moving westward beyond the mountains, and -McClellan’s troops riding into town on a bright Sunday morning were -warmly welcomed. - -People crowded about General McClellan, decking “Dan,” the fine horse he -rode, with wreaths and flowers, and the Union flag floated everywhere. - -But the people on the hillside farms above Sharpsburg did not know of -this for days afterward—not until a terrible battle had raged almost at -their very doors; and while General Jackson moved down the south side of -the Potomac toward Harper’s Ferry the farmers harvested their grain in -the fields along the Antietam and waited for news that might tell them -of the movement of Lee’s troops. - -Roxy did not mean to go to sleep that first day of her watch and when, -in mid-afternoon, she awakened suddenly, to find both of the gray -squirrels had settled themselves in her hat, that she had put down -beside her lunch basket, she wondered at herself, and looked anxiously -toward the road, fearful lest by sleeping she had risked her father’s -safety. - -But the road lay quiet and untraveled, and now a new question came into -Roxy’s thoughts. “Nights.” Perhaps the army might advance under cover of -the night, she thought. But the little girl finally decided there was -nothing she could do in that case. - -“I’ll just watch days; that’s all I can do,” she thought, and shared the -remainder of her luncheon with “Lee” and “Jackson.” - -It had seemed a very long day to Roxy, and when the sun began to -approach the western horizon she was glad to scramble down the ledge and -start for home. - -“I’ll bring ‘Dinah’ to-morrow,” she thought, as she ran down the slope -toward the sycamore. - -As Roxy came in sight of the big yard near the house she gave a sudden -exclamation. - -“It’s a gray pony!” she said, as if she could hardly believe it, and as -she entered the yard she again exclaimed: “It really is a gray pony,” -and she ran to where the pony was nibbling at the thick grass beside the -fence. - -“It looks just like one of the Hinhams’ ponies,” she said aloud, as she -stopped to look at it and wonder how it came to be in Grandma Miller’s -yard; and seeing Dulcie in the kitchen doorway she called: - -“Dulcie, where did this pony come from?” - -“Dat pony ’rive here dis mornin’, Missy Roxy. Young Massa Hinham lef’ -dat pony; an’ he say it were for Missy Roxy to hev ’til he comes ter -fetch it. I reckon dat’s yo’ pony, Missy,” and Dulcie beamed and nodded -as she saw Roxy’s delighted smile. “Young Massa Hinham say dat de pony’s -name am ‘Beauty,’” Dulcie added, and Roxy ventured to pat “Beauty’s” -neck, and found the pony well pleased by her attention. - -Jacob declared the newcomer as “tame as a kitten,” and after supper Roxy -came back to the yard, climbed to the pony’s back and, guiding it by -pulling on its mane and rapping her feet sharply against its fat sides, -she rode it about the yard, and for the time entirely forgot all about -the ledge and her task of watching a distant road. - -Grandma Miller said that she knew all about the gray pony: Roland, when -he was Roxy’s age, had trotted it up and down the country roads and -across fields and pastures, and Jasmine often rode on its fat back. - -“Roxy will be perfectly safe with ‘Beauty’ and she can ride over to see -Polly instead of walking,” said Mrs. Miller, greatly to Roxy’s delight, -who at once decided that on the following morning instead of climbing up -the slope to the ledge she would ride on “Beauty.” But she said nothing -of this to Grandma, and was ready to go to bed at an early hour after -her long day on the distant ledge. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - - ROXY TAKEN PRISONER - - -Everyone about the Miller farm was so busy that Roxy’s daily -disappearance did not attract much notice. With her well-filled lunch -basket she would run into the yard, slip bit and bridle over “Beauty’s” -head, seat herself on his broad back and trot off down the slope to the -ledge, and then leave “Beauty” to wander about the pasture until the -late afternoon. - -The pony never went far away. He would feed on the wild grasses, going -to the brook to drink the cool water, and come trotting back to the -shade of the ledge. Several times each day Roxy would leave her -watch-tower and go down to pat “Beauty” and keep him company for a few -moments. The little creature had always been with children, and was well -content to keep within hearing of Roxy’s voice. - -“Dinah,” the big rag doll, now lived permanently under the scrubby oak -tree on top of the ledge, and the two gray squirrels, “Lee” and -“Jackson,” became so tame that they would come running to watch Roxy -climb up the ledge, chittering and scolding noisily, and eager for bits -from the well-filled lunch basket. They were no longer afraid of the -little girl, and when they would perch themselves beside “Dinah” as if -expecting the big doll to feed them, watching her with sharp, bead-like -eyes, Roxy would laugh with delight. By the end of the third day of her -self-appointed task she found the time going very rapidly and thought -the top of the ledge the finest of playhouses. - -On the second day Polly had appeared at noonday bringing a fine ripe -melon and some peaches, and the two girls had feasted happily. - -“We might signal to each other just for fun,” Polly suggested. “You -could wave the signal three times at noon and again just before you -start for home, and I’ll watch for it. But if you set up the pole with -the signal fastened to it, and don’t wave at all, I’ll know that means -‘Soldiers on the road,’” said Polly. “You won’t be so lonely if you can -signal me,” she added; and Roxy promptly declared that she was not -lonely; that “Lee” and “Jackson” and “Dinah” were the best of company. - -“And having the pony makes a lot of difference, Polly. Just think when I -do see the soldiers I can get home so quickly and tell Father,” she -said; and then she showed Polly the tiny house she had made for “Dinah,” -building up three walls of flat stone and making a roof of twigs and -oak-leaves. “And the squirrels like it, too; they run in and out as if -they thought I had made it for them,” Roxy said; and Polly declared the -little house to be perfect, and again praised Roxy for keeping watch so -steadily. - -“It’s just like being a real soldier on guard, Roxy,” she said, and Roxy -smiled happily; but Polly’s next words made her smile vanish. “If the -armies don’t come at night,” Polly added thoughtfully. - -“You don’t suppose they will, Polly? Oh! What would we do?” said Roxy, -nearly ready to cry at the thought that, after all, she might not be of -any use to the Union cause or to her soldier father. - -“I suppose if the Confederates were on the march at night they’d ride -straight on toward Washington; they wouldn’t stop at all, and perhaps -that would be the best for all of us,” Polly said gravely. “But if they -march by day you’ll see them, Roxy, and signal me and Mother and I will -start off with the horses.” - -This satisfied Roxy, and she bade Polly a cheerful good-bye, and that -night waved her white signal as they had agreed before she mounted -“Beauty” and trotted down the slope toward home. - -For several days Roxy signalled as Polly had suggested, played with -“Dinah” and the squirrels, and won the friendship of a handsome -squawking blue jay who began to share her luncheon with the squirrels, -and would scold noisily if he was not promptly attended to. And then, on -the afternoon of September thirteenth, came the adventure that Roxy -would never forget. She was waving her good-night signal to Polly when a -firm grasp on her arm made her drop the stick to which the white signal -was fastened and call out in fear as she looked up to find a stranger in -worn butternut-colored clothing standing beside her. - -“What’s all this?” he asked gruffly. “I’ve had my eye on this signalling -for two days; what does it mean?” - -For a moment Roxy was too frightened to answer, and the man’s voice -softened as he realized that the little girl was staring at him in -evident terror. - -“Don’t be afraid. I only want to know why you come to this ledge every -day and signal. I reckon somebody is watching out for those signals, -eh?” and a little smile crept over his grim face as Roxy nodded in -response. - -“I thought so!” he declared, evidently well pleased. “Now tell me all -about it,” he continued in a more friendly manner. “Something to do with -armies and soldiers, isn’t it?” he asked and again Roxy nodded. - -“Well, tell me who sends you up here? And what for?” he questioned, and -now Roxy regained her courage. Gruff and stern as the stranger seemed -Roxy was no longer afraid of him, and she now answered quickly: - -“Nobody sends me.” - -“That’s a likely story. A little girl like you perched up here day after -day waving a white flag at certain hours. Where is your home?” - -“Newburyport, Massachusetts,” replied Roxy. - -“A Yankee girl! And what are you doing here?” he asked, but Roxy did not -answer. She wished now that she had not answered any of his questions. - -“Where do you come from?” she now ventured, and at this unexpected -question the man laughed. - -“I don’t mind telling you that my home is in South Carolina, and I’d be -mighty glad to be there,” he answered; “but I’ve no time to stand here. -I want to know about this signalling. If you are a Yankee girl I reckon -you’re here to protect some sneaking Yankee soldiers who are hid up -along these mountains to fire on Lee’s soldiers!” and he fixed his sharp -glance on Roxy, and for a moment the little girl felt sure that he knew -all about her wounded soldier father; and she quickly realized that she -must not let this man know where she lived. - -“You’d better come with me,” he continued, looking about as if thinking -some enemy might be near, and he motioned for Roxy to start down the -ledge. Now and then he held out his hand to help her over some rough -place among the rocks, or where the soil was treacherously loose among -the tangle of roots, and when they reached the ground he said sternly: - -“Now is your chance. Tell me where the Yankee soldiers are and you can -go straight home. If you don’t tell me I’ll have to take you with me, -and I will say I don’t want to do that,” and he watched Roxy anxiously. - -But the little girl did not speak. Even if he did not carry her off, she -thought, she would not dare to go home for fear that he might follow her -and find her father. And suddenly a new fear took possession of Roxy’s -thoughts: the fear that her father might walk down the slope to meet her -as he sometimes did and that this Confederate soldier would see him. - -With a sudden resolve to go as far away from the Miller farm as possible -Roxy sprang forward and ran up the slope toward the woods, and instantly -the man was after her and she felt herself seized and lifted in his -arms. But she made no outcry, as the man, muttering angrily, turned down -the hillside and hurried on to a little travelled road that skirted the -mountain slope, and here he set the little girl down, and with a warning -word not to move a step, he disappeared behind a thicket of tall laurel -bushes. She wondered what was to happen, but he was back in a moment -leading a thin gray horse; he lifted Roxy to the saddle, swung himself -up behind her and sent the horse forward at a gallop; and Roxy comforted -her fears for her father’s safety as she realized they were going away -from the familiar slopes of the Miller farm. - -That very afternoon Roxy’s mother had determined that it would be better -for Roxy not to go, as she supposed the little girl did, to see Polly -every day, and she had decided that when “Beauty” should come trotting -into the yard bringing the smiling, happy Roxy home from her long day of -play she would tell her that after this she wanted her little daughter -at home. Mrs. Delfield had not the least thought that at that very -moment Roxy was miles away in a Confederate camp. - -The sun was setting when “Beauty” was seen coming up the slope, and when -it was discovered that Roxy was not with him Mrs. Delfield and Jacob -started at once to look for her, feeling sure the pony had run away from -Roxy, leaving her to walk home. - -But when they reached the Lawrence farm and discovered that Roxy had not -been there Mrs. Delfield was so alarmed that Polly told her the story of -Roxy’s plan to keep watch on top of the pasture ledge so that she could -warn her father if Confederate troops were seen on the highway. - -“And she signalled me good-night; she must be there now,” said Polly, -and went with Mrs. Delfield to the pasture and at the foot of the ledge -called “Roxy! Roxy!” But no answer came. - -They all climbed to the top and searched carefully, finding Roxy’s hat -and lunch basket, and being puzzled and alarmed that the little girl had -left these behind her. - -Jacob was sent to tell Roxy’s father and Grandma Miller that Roxy could -not be found; and until darkness settled over the hills and valleys they -searched slope and pasture for the missing girl; and all night long -Jacob and the other servants hunted along the brook and mountainside -calling Roxy’s name, while Grandma Miller and Mrs. Delfield wandered -down the highway and over the bridge, coming home tired and discouraged. - -Captain Delfield was the only one who came near guessing what had -befallen his little daughter. - -“I believe the signalling is at the bottom of her disappearance. Very -likely Confederate scouts have been sent ahead of the main army, and if -one of them discovered signalling going on they may have taken Roxy to -camp to question her; but no harm will befall her, be sure of that. No -Southern soldier would harm a child. When she tells her story she will -be brought home in safety,” he said. - -But Captain Delfield could not know that his loyal little daughter would -not tell her story, or even the place where she lived for fear that by -so doing she might endanger her father’s safety. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - - ROXY’S RIDE TO SHARPSBURG - - -The September twilight had settled into dusk when the Confederate -soldier left the country road, turning his horse into a grove of -sycamores that bordered the Antietam River several miles below the -Miller farm. - -The newcomers were instantly greeted by two other soldiers; and when -Roxy’s companion called out: “Here’s a Yankee prisoner, director of a -signalling corps,” they looked at him in amazement, and he set Roxy down -in front of them and continued: “Right here! This girl is a Yankee, and -she was stationed on a high ledge, has been there for days, keeping -watch on the road, and twice each day signalling, probably to some Yank, -so that at the first sight of Lee’s army he can be off to bring -McClellan after us,” and he frowned so fiercely that Roxy found it hard -to keep back her tears. - -The two other soldiers looked at her gravely, and the elder of the two -said kindly: - -“Well, she will probably tell us all about it, won’t you, little girl?” - -“No, sir!” Roxy replied, and at this the man who had brought her to the -camp laughed. - -“She’s well trained to keep the secret; not a word out of her,” he said. - -“I have broiled a couple of chickens over the coals, and have some -melons; we’ll have a bite to eat, and after supper I reckon little Miss -Yankee will tell us just what the signals mean, and then I’ll take her -home,” said the elderly soldier, smiling at Roxy. - -“Sit down,” said the other gruffly, pointing to a stump near by, and -Roxy obeyed. When one of the men brought her food she shook her head. -She was not hungry, and while she watched her companions eat she looked -around the little grove, and began to wonder if she could not escape and -make her way home; and the elder soldier, as if reading her thoughts, -shook his head at her smilingly. - -“No use, Miss Yankee girl; we’d catch you,” he said, and at this Roxy -began to be really frightened, and to feel herself a prisoner. - -The men paid no further attention to her, lighting their pipes, and -talking eagerly of the movements of Confederate troops. Roxy heard them -say that General Jackson was moving toward Harper’s Ferry, where he -would drive the Yanks from the place and move on to Hagerstown. And this -was really accomplished on the following day, as McClellan’s troops did -not arrive in time to prevent the surrender of the Union garrison of -eleven thousand men who became prisoners of war of the Confederates. - -Once again the soldiers turned to Roxy and endeavored to persuade her to -tell to whom she signalled, and why; but the little girl kept silent. -One of the men threatened that they would take her so far from home that -she would never find her way back, and at this Roxy’s eyes filled with -tears; but she remembered the Yankee soldier boy, and what he had said -of prison, and again she resolved that she must not let these men -discover that her father was a Union soldier or they would surely take -him prisoner. - -At last one of the men declared that he did not believe Roxy really knew -anything of the real meaning of her signals. “And if she does, we’ve -stopped it. Whoever put her there knows by this time that we’ve been on -the watch. It’s getting late. I’ll take the girl over to that cabin in -the field and tell them to keep her until morning and then carry her -back to the second bridge above here; she can see the ledge from there -and find her way home. We must move on,” he said, and the man who had -brought Roxy now led her across a shadowy field to a tumble-down cabin -where an evidently frightened negro woman opened the sagging door, and -promised to take care of the little girl and to obey the directions of -the soldier. - -“Good-bye, Miss Yankee girl,” the man said as he turned to go. “Reckon -I’ve put a stop to any good your signals could do. Do you hear that?” -And Roxy heard a dull booming sound, the echo of far-off artillery; the -little girl did not know this, but the soldier knew it was the far-off -guns of an attacking army, and with another warning to the negro woman -he hastened away. - -Roxy was so tired that she was glad to lie down on the rough cot in the -corner of the room, and, in spite of all her troubling thoughts, the -little girl realized that she was free and in a short time would be -safely at home, and was soon asleep. - -Before sunrise the next morning the negro woman awoke Roxy. “We’s got -ter be up an’ doin’, Missy,” she said anxiously. “Yo’ jes’ drink some -milk, an’ I’s got some co’n pone h’ar fer yo’, an’ we’ll be off. I ain’ -gwine ter come back h’ar, I ain’!” she continued. “Dar’s too many sojers -comin’ dis way. I reckon yo’ fo’ks’ll let me stay at yo’ place, Missy, -if I fetch yo’ safe back?” and the anxious, frightened negro fixed her -pleading glance on Roxy, who at once declared that she was sure her -grandmother would let Etta-Belle, as the negro woman called herself, -stay at the Miller farm. Roxy ate her breakfast hungrily, and was eager -to start for home, and at an early hour they were on their way. - -But Roxy was not to reach home that day; a new adventure was close at -hand, and before they had reached the highway Etta-Belle stopped -suddenly. - -“Look dar, Missy!” she exclaimed in a frightened whisper pointing toward -a distant slope. “Dar’s an army marchin’. Boun’ to Sharpsburg, shuh’s -yo’ born, Missy!” and Roxy’s glance followed Etta’s pointing finger and -she saw a long shining column of mounted soldiers, soldiers in blue -uniforms, coming on at a rapid pace; without waiting for Etta-Belle, -Roxy raced across the field into the highway and ran toward the -advancing soldiers. If she heard the negro woman’s frenzied cries she -paid no attention to them; here were men wearing the same uniform that -her father wore; she would, she quickly resolved, tell them about her -father, about the Confederate scouts and what she had heard them say, -and they would take her safely home. - -She stood in the road waving her arms and shouted: “Union soldiers! -Union soldiers!” and the two officers riding in advance of the troops -drew rein within a few feet of where she stood and gazed at her sternly, -in evident amazement that a ten-year-old girl should dare to halt a -regiment of soldiers. - -“She must be a messenger,” said one of the officers, swinging himself -from the saddle, and coming toward Roxy, who, bareheaded, and with her -face flushed from her run, her eyes shining with excitement, was indeed -a queer little person to bring a division of soldiers to a standstill. -But she told her story clearly and eagerly, repeating what she had heard -the Confederate scouts say of the movements of Jackson’s army. - -“And if you please, may I not ride home with you?” she concluded -breathlessly, for Roxy supposed the soldiers were on the road that led -by her Grandma Miller’s, but this was not the case. - -[Illustration: HE LIFTED HER TO THE SADDLE IN FRONT OF HIM] - -The soldiers were bound for Sharpsburg, and the officer, supposing the -little girl knew this, and that her home was near the town, promptly -agreed to Roxy’s request and lifting her to the saddle in front of him, -called a sharp word of command and they were off. - -Etta-Belle, hiding behind the bushes at the edge of the field, and -shaking with terror, watched until they were out of sight, and then -started off in the other direction toward the Miller farm. “I reckons -dey’ll wan’ news ob dat chile,” she muttered as she hurried along the -road. Roxy had told the woman where she lived, and Etta-Belle had heard -of the Miller farm, and toward noon she climbed the slope to the -farmhouse and the anxious family gathered to hear her story of what had -befallen Roxy. - -“An’ de lille gal rush right into de road an’ stop de army, an’ de sojer -set her on de hoss an’ de army go right on,” she concluded. - -Rejoiced as they were to have news of their little daughter, Captain and -Mrs. Delfield could not feel that she was safe until she was again at -home; and it was decided that Mrs. Delfield and Jacob should start at -once for Sharpsburg and endeavor to find Roxy. Grandma Miller’s horse -was quickly harnessed to the high buggy and they were off. Etta-Belle -had made friends with Dulcie, and Grandma Miller had said she might stay -at the farm. - -It was early twilight when Mrs. Delfield reached a friend’s house on the -outskirts of Sharpsburg, and was told that General Lee’s troops were -encamped a mile north of the town on the Hagerstown road near the Dunker -Church, a small stone building that stood near a body of woods, beyond -which was a field, and it was here that General Jackson’s troops were -posted, and it was here that the terrible battle of Antietam was to take -place. - -Mrs. Delfield’s friends told her that McClellan’s army was approaching, -that on the ridge above Sharpsburg Union batteries were already mounted, -and that probably Roxy was not far away; and within an hour of Mrs. -Delfield’s arrival the little girl was seen approaching the house. - -Roxy had a long story to tell. She had remembered that her mother’s -friend, Mrs. Davis, lived on the edge of the town, and the young officer -had brought her within sight of the house. - -“And, Mrs. Davis, he says that there is to be a battle, that General -Burnside’s soldiers are coming——” - -But Mrs. Delfield interrupted Roxy’s eager story to ask her the name of -the officer who had been kind to her, but Roxy shook her head. “I don’t -know, Mother,” she replied; “but he knows my father, and he gave me -these,” and Roxy drew two brass buttons from the pocket of her gingham -dress. “I’m going to keep them always,” she declared; “and he said I had -acted like a soldier!” and Roxy smiled happily. - -It was now too late, and Roxy was too tired, for them to start for home -that night; and, although Roxy slept peacefully, her mother could not -sleep. She knew that every hour marching troops were gathering for -battle, and in the dim morning hours Jacob had the horse harnessed and -waiting, and Roxy was again awakened before sunrise, and leaning -sleepily against her mother’s shoulder as Jacob turned toward home the -little girl whispered: - -“I guess Polly and I won’t signal any more,” and Mrs. Delfield smiled as -she responded: - -“Perhaps it will be better not to,” but she felt very proud of the -courage her little daughter had shown in refusing to tell the -Confederate scouts what the signals from the ledge meant, and that Roxy -had so faithfully kept watch, hoping to warn her father of possible -danger. To have her little girl safely beside her, and to realize that -the great battle would probably now be fought miles away from the -hillside farm made her indeed thankful. - -Roxy slept nearly all the way home, and as Grandma Miller came into the -yard and lifted the little girl from the buggy the first person Roxy’s -eyes rested on was the smiling Etta-Belle, neatly dressed in a freshly -washed calico. - -“I’se h’ar, Missy, an’ I’se gwine ter stay,” she announced, and a moment -later a tall girl came racing up the slope, the sun shining on her -dancing red hair, and Roxy ran to meet her calling: - -“Polly! Polly! I rode to Sharpsburg with the Union Army!” - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - - THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM - - -“Mother, how many bridges cross the Antietam River?” questioned Roxy, -the day after their return from the adventurous ride to Sharpsburg. Roxy -was in the swing under the big butternut tree, and Mrs. Delfield had -brought her sewing to the seat, resolved not to lose sight of her little -daughter. - -“Let me see. I think there are fourteen; the largest is near where the -Antietam empties into the Potomac,” Mrs. Delfield replied thoughtfully, -remembering that General Lee’s troops coming up from their triumph at -Harper’s Ferry had marched over this bridge to Sharpsburg, and knowing -that on this sunny September morning the Southern Army was posted near -the Dunker Church beyond Sharpsburg. - -On that very morning, September 15th, 1862, the Federal troops were -appearing over the crest of the hill which overlooks the Antietam from -the east; the great army of McClellan, ninety thousand strong, streamed -down the slopes and settled down in sight of the Confederates; and on -each side of the Antietam, six miles distant from the Miller farm, the -armies were now encamped, and ready for the terrible battle that was to -rage for three days. - -Mrs. Delfield was telling Roxy something of the story of the beautiful -arched bridges of stone that had been built many years ago across the -Antietam when Roxy jumped from the swing exclaiming: - -“Mother! Mother! Here are the Hinhams,” and ran toward the yard where -the Hinhams’ carryall drawn by a big brown horse had just arrived. - -Mrs. Hinham and her little daughters were warmly welcomed; they were on -their way home, as Mrs. Hinham said she was sure the farm was a much -safer place than Sharpsburg. - -Jasmine, Myrtle and Ivy went back to the swing with Roxy while Mrs. -Hinham and Mrs. Miller and the Delfields talked anxiously of the battle -that might begin any moment; and even as they stood there speaking of -Lee and Jackson, of McClellan and Burnside, the generals in command, the -rumble of distant artillery sounded upon the air. From time to time -during the day they heard these echoing guns, but it was not until the -next day, the 16th of September, that the great battle of Antietam -really began. - -Jasmine and Myrtle listened eagerly to the story of Roxy’s adventures -since they had last met, and when she told them of the ledge where she -had kept faithful watch, of the two squirrels that had become so tame, -and of the house she had built for “Dinah,” Jasmine and Myrtle both -exclaimed that they wished they could visit the ledge. - -“Perhaps we can; I’ll ask Mother,” said Roxy, and ran to the porch where -the family were gathered. - -“But the ledge is a mile from here; it will be too far for Myrtle and -Ivy to walk,” Mrs. Delfield said, but Roxy quickly responded: - -“Myrtle and Ivy can ride on ‘Beauty.’” - -“So they can; and I think Etta-Belle had better go with you,” said Mrs. -Delfield, who, since Roxy had been carried off by the scout, was -determined that some older person should always be near the little girl. - -“May we take a lunch, Mother?” Roxy whispered, and Mrs. Delfield replied -that she must ask Dulcie, and the little girl ran to the kitchen where -Dulcie and Etta-Belle were chattering about war and battles. - -“Dar won’ be no slaves w’en dis war end,” Roxy heard Etta-Belle declare; -“niggers’ll hev to look out fer derselves if Massa Linkum hev his way.” - -Dulcie went off to the pantry to prepare the luncheon and Etta-Belle was -well pleased to go with the girls to the distant ledge. - -“Beauty” whinnied in evident delight as Jasmine and Myrtle ran toward -him, and with Myrtle and Ivy mounted on his broad back and Jasmine and -Roxy walking beside him, while Etta-Belle carrying the basket of -luncheon followed on behind, the little party started down the lane, but -came to a sudden stop when Roxy heard her father calling: - -“Roxy! Roxy!” - -“Yes, Father?” she called back. - -“No signalling, remember!” - -“Oh, Father! May I not signal to Polly to come to the ledge?” - -“No, indeed.” Captain Delfield’s voice was firm. “Remember, Roxy: not a -signal. Promise.” - -“All right, Father. I won’t signal,” Roxy promised, but she was greatly -disappointed; she had told Jasmine that she would let her signal to -Polly, and Jasmine now said: - -“I can signal, can’t I, Roxy?” - -Roxy shook her head. “No, Father said: ‘No signalling’ so we can’t,” and -for a few moments the girls walked on in silence, while behind them -Etta-Belle sang: - - “De yam will grow, de cotton blow, - We’ll raise de rice an’ corn, - Oh! Nebber yo’ fear if nebber yo’ hear - De driver blow his horn.” - -Etta-Belle had been born a slave; her early home had been in South -Carolina, and she never told anyone how she had found her way to the -hills of Maryland. Dulcie was sure that Etta-Belle had run away from the -plantation where she had lived a slave; but the negro woman kept her -secret. She now declared that she was “gwine ter b’long ter Missy Roxy, -an’ take keer ob her,” and she smiled broadly whenever the little girls -turned to speak to her. - -The little party rested at the old sycamore, and then started up the -slope to the ledge. Jasmine and Myrtle climbed sturdily to the top, but -little Ivy had to be carried most of the way by Etta-Belle, and Roxy -dragged the basket of lunch, lifting it to rocks above her, or pulling -it up from shelving ledges over which she had climbed. - -They were all tired when they reached the scrubby oak tree, where they -found “Dinah” safely resting in her own house. The squirrels could be -heard scolding, and soon ventured from their hiding-places when Roxy -called their names and put bits of gingerbread where they could see it. - -Ivy was delighted when one of the squirrels was coaxed near enough to -nibble a piece of gingerbread that she held toward him on the end of a -stick, and wanted Roxy to catch him and carry him home. But Roxy shook -her head. - -“That would make him a prisoner, and I wouldn’t do that,” she said, and -told the story of the Yankee boy whom she had fed and helped on his way. -“The squirrel would hate being shut up just as much as that Yankee -soldier did,” she said soberly. - -“Oh, Roxy, what wonderful things happen to you!” exclaimed Jasmine -admiringly. “Just think, finding the Yankee soldier, and being taken -away from this ledge by a Confederate scout, and then riding to -Sharpsburg with Union soldiers!” and Jasmine gave a little sigh. “Why do -you s’pose, Roxy, so much happens to you?” - -But Roxy shook her head soberly; she was thinking that none of her -adventures had been very pleasant ones, excepting helping the Yankee -soldier. - -“I don’t know,” she replied, and as both the squirrels at that moment -made a flying leap to Jasmine’s shoulder the little girl was too well -entertained to ask any more questions; but Roxy wondered, as she often -did, if her Yankee soldier had reached safety and if she would ever see -him again. - -The little Hinham girls thought the ledge a fine playhouse, and when -Roxy opened the basket and spread the luncheon on a smooth rock near -Dinah’s house they danced around it happily, singing the song they had -sung on the day that Roxy had made her unexpected visit to the Hinham -place: - - “I heard fairy bells ringing— - And fairies were singing, - And dancing and bringing - Fairy honey to the one - Who wore the gold crown.” - -Etta-Belle looked on in smiling delight, thinking to herself that the -Confederate scouts had brought her good fortune when they brought Roxy -to her cabin. - -Before the girls had finished their luncheon they all noticed a huge -bird circling about high over their heads. - -“It’s an eagle,” said Roxy; and then Jasmine remembered that in the -spring an eagle had swooped down and carried off a young lamb from a -field near the Hinham house. - -“Roland says the eagles have nests on mountain tops, and that they are -the strongest and bravest birds in the world,” she added. - -“He keeps coming nearer and nearer!” exclaimed Myrtle, as the huge bird -circled in the air above them, his wide-spread wings seeming to cast a -shadow over the sunny ledge. - -A moment after Myrtle’s exclamation Etta-Belle gave a shriek of terror -and grabbed up the pole that Roxy had used for her signal flag; and she -was none too soon, for the eagle with a wide swoop now darted down -straight toward little Ivy, who with Dinah in her arms was looking up -toward this wonderful bird; but Etta-Belle’s strong sweep of the pole -struck the bird with sufficient force to send it from its course and its -sharp talons did not touch Ivy; and, evidently surprised by the -unexpected assault, the bird made no further attack upon the girls but -floated off toward the distant mountain top. - -“We’s gwine home dis instan’ minute,” Etta-Belle declared, her voice -trembling with fear, and the little girls scrambled down the ledge. Roxy -carried “Dinah,” for she feared the eagle might return and make off with -her treasured doll. - -“Beauty” was hurried toward home at a good pace, while Jasmine and Roxy -ran on behind him; now and then the little girls spoke of the danger Ivy -had escaped, and Roxy began to think that the ledge was not a very safe -place; and when they reached home and the older people heard the story -of the eagle Grandma Miller promptly declared that Roxy must not again -visit the ledge; and Roxy’s mother began to think that her little -daughter was in danger whenever she was out of her mother’s sight. - -In the late afternoon the Hinhams rode off toward home, telling Roxy -that the gray pony could remain at the Miller farm as long as Roxy -stayed there. - -“It’s just the same as if ‘Beauty’ was really your own pony, Roxy,” -Jasmine said smilingly, as the two little girls said good-bye. - -At that very moment, on the borders of the Antietam, his back toward the -Potomac, Lee was making ready to meet the army of McClellan; and on the -following morning, September 16th, 1862, the Confederates found -themselves facing the enemy who from the opposite side of the Antietam -River opened fire upon them. Equal in courage, Northern and Southern -Armies faced each other as the Union divisions, by bridge and ford, -crossed the Antietam and met the Confederates on the open field only to -be driven back with serious losses. The brave veteran, General -Mansfield, was killed, General Hooker severely wounded, and for a time -it seemed that Lee would win the battle. - -At the stone bridge across the Antietam General Burnside held back Lee’s -forces, and pressed forward to the heights, and nightfall brought the -battle to an end without either army having triumphed. - -All that day Roxy kept close at home. The sound of echoing guns told the -people of the hillside farms of the terrible battle, and they could -think of nothing else. - -On the next morning, September 18th, Lee resolved to retreat, and on the -night of the eighteenth he crossed the Potomac by the Shepardstown Ford -into Virginia. And now for a time the Union Army remained quiet near -Sharpsburg. - -It was on September 19th that Roland Hinham rode into the Miller yard -with the news that Lee’s troops were crossing the Potomac into Virginia, -and Grandma Miller and Mrs. Delfield at once began to pack baskets of -food, bandages for the wounded soldiers in the camps beyond Sharpsburg, -and packages of clothing upon which they had been at work all the -summer; Mrs. Miller and Jacob started off early that afternoon with a -well-filled wagon. - -“Can’t say when we’ll be back,” Grandma Miller had declared, and Roxy -went down to the stone wall and stood there until the wagon vanished in -the distance. - -She looked down at the old stone bridge, remembering the day in early -summer when she had quarrelled with Polly, and come running back to -discover the Yankee soldier. - -“That seems a long time ago,” thought Roxy, remembering all that had -happened since then. - -She was just turning back to the house when Polly, mounted on “Brownie,” -came trotting over the bridge, and Roxy’s solemn thoughts vanished as -she slipped through the opening in the wall and ran down the slope to -meet her. - -“Polly! Polly!” she called; “General Lee is driven back from Maryland!” - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - - POLLY’S PLAN - - -Polly had already heard the news from Sharpsburg, and as she brought -“Brownie” to a walking pace up the lane Roxy ran along beside her and -the two girls rejoiced that the armies had not come on the road leading -past their homes, and that the battle of the Antietam, as it was -henceforth called, had not been fought in these familiar fields. - -“Brownie” was left in the yard, and Polly and Roxy went to their -favorite seat under the big butternut tree, and Polly was amazed to hear -the story of the huge eagle that had swooped down so near to the top of -the ledge. - -“If it had got hold of Ivy the eagle would have carried her off!” Roxy -said solemnly, and then added: “And Grandma says I am not to go to the -top of the ledge again; and the squirrels will forget all about me,” and -Roxy’s smile vanished, for she had grown fond of “Lee” and “Jackson” and -was sorry that she could not see them again. - -But Polly’s thoughts were on the errand that had brought her to the -Miller farm, and for a moment she made no response to Roxy; then she -said: - -“Roxy, what did you do with your paper animals?” - -“They are in boxes in my closet,” replied the surprised Roxy, wondering -why Polly wanted to know. - -“Well, Roxy! All those soldiers who were wounded are in houses and farms -and tents along the Antietam River; some of them will have to stay there -for days, maybe weeks, before they can get out; and nothing to amuse -them. And, Roxy, I thought perhaps you could take your circus over, and -dress up in the old white hat, and the blue coat and the yarn whiskers, -just as you did for your grandma’s birthday, and go to the tents and -tell the men about the animals. I know it would make them laugh and -cheer them up. It was so funny!” and Polly began to laugh as she -recalled the queer little figure Roxy had made as she told the story of -“capturing” the paper lions and elephants. - -“Would you go with me, Polly?” Roxy asked, wondering if she would have -courage to present the “circus” before strange soldiers. - -“Yes; and probably your grandma would go too, if your mother did not. -Let’s go ask your father what he thinks of my plan,” suggested Polly, -and the two girls ran indoors to find Captain Delfield, who was resting -on the old sofa in the sitting-room. - -He listened to Polly’s plan, and said that it was an excellent idea, and -praised her for thinking of it, and called Mrs. Delfield who also -declared that she believed the sick and wounded soldiers would welcome -Roxy and her “circus,” and that the little girl could in this way be of -real service. - -“When Grandma gets home she can tell us what she thinks about it; and if -she approves she will be the best one to take you girls and make -arrangements where Roxy shall take the ‘animals’ and tell how they were -‘captured,’” and a smile came over Mrs. Delfield’s face as she -remembered how amusing Roxy’s “circus” had been. - -Polly promised to ride over early the next morning, as the Delfields -felt sure Mrs. Miller would return that night, and said she would be -ready to start at once for Sharpsburg, and would bring the tall white -hat, blue coat and yarn “whiskers” for Roxy. - -Roxy went out to the yard to bid her friend good-bye. - -“Oh, Polly! I hope I can do it right,” she said a little fearfully as -Polly mounted the little brown horse and looked down from her seat in -the saddle at Roxy’s sober face. - -“Of course you’ll do it right, Roxy-Doxy. All you have to do is just -make believe that you have real animals, and that you really did capture -the lions in Africa, and the elephants in India! Oh, Roxy! I really want -to see it again myself,” and Polly’s gay little laugh made Roxy forget -her fears and smile happily. - -“I guess I can; I am going to fix the animals all up this afternoon so -they will be ready,” she said, and Polly nodded approvingly, promising -to be over in good season the next day, and “Brownie” trotted briskly -off. - -Roxy ran back to the house and brought the boxes of paper animals down -to the sitting-room, and seated at her little table with her box of -water-color paints she worked busily until dinnertime, and for the -greater part of the afternoon. - -Roxy’s thoughts travelled off to the scene of the recent battle, near -which the Union Army was encamped, and she began to wonder if she would -see any of the great generals of whom her father spoke: General -McClellan who her father said had saved the Union Army; General -Burnside, who had so bravely held the Antietam Bridge, over which at his -command the 51st Pennsylvania regiment and the 51st New York had rushed -at a double quick which the Confederates could not resist, and had -planted the Stars and Stripes on the opposite bank amid cheers from -every part of the battlefield from where they could be seen. - -The little Yankee girl began to realize that it would be a wonderful -thing if she could really do something to help the soldiers who had -faced such peril to protect the Union; and when early that evening -Grandma Miller and Jacob reached home Roxy was the first to welcome -them, and instantly began to tell Mrs. Miller of Polly’s plan for Roxy -to take her circus to the hospital tents along the Antietam. - -“I declare! Polly is a jewel! It will do a world of good! I wish I had -thought of it myself,” said Mrs. Miller. “Many of those soldiers must -lay in tents or in the near-by houses and barns, for long days with -nothing to cheer or amuse them. Roxy,” and Grandma Miller’s hand rested -gently on the little girl’s shoulder as they walked toward the house, -“it will be a beautiful thing if you can make these men smile and, for a -time, forget the cruelty of war,” she said. - -“Polly says that no one could help laughing because I look so funny in -the coat and hat and whiskers,” Roxy replied; and Mrs. Miller smiled and -owned that Polly was right. - -Mrs. Miller had that day visited several of the hospital tents, and she -was sure the officers in charge would welcome Roxy and her “circus,” and -it was decided that on the following day Grandma Miller should go with -Polly and Roxy to the Hagerstown road beyond Sharpsburg. - -Polly arrived in good season the next morning driving “Brownie,” -harnessed to the open wagon in which she had so often driven Roxy about -the country roads. Roxy’s circus costume, high hat, long blue coat and -“whiskers,” were in a box under the wagon seat, and Roxy brought out her -boxes containing the paper animals, and Grandma Miller had baskets of -fruit, freshly baked bread, and rolls of old cotton cloth, for hospital -use, that were packed in the back of the wagon; then Mrs. Miller and -Roxy seated themselves beside Polly and drove off. - -As they rode along Grandma Miller suggested that Roxy should repeat what -she meant to say to the soldiers as she pointed out the animals and told -of their capture; and as Roxy began her story of facing raging lions, -following camels across the desert, and taming elephants, both Mrs. -Miller and Polly laughed in delight. - -Polly suggested one or two amusing descriptions for Roxy to add to her -story, and so did Grandma Miller, and when they reached the historic -town of Sharpsburg, with its old houses of stone or brick, its arched -doorways and square porches with Colonial pillars, and began to see -Union soldiers everywhere, Roxy was gaining courage and began to feel -sure that she could describe imaginary dangers without even smiling at -them. - -Mrs. Miller directed Polly to follow the road leading north, toward -Hagerstown, and told her to stop near a group of tents where sentinels -paced slowly back and forth. One of these men smilingly answered Mrs. -Miller’s questions. - -“Yes,” he said, “General McClellan was in his tent,” and he would take -him any message the ladies might wish delivered. - -“Perhaps you will let my little granddaughter carry my message,” -suggested Grandma Miller, and the sentinel said the little girl could go -to the general’s tent with him, and helped the surprised Roxy from the -wagon. - -“You can tell the general your plan, Roxy, and ask his permission,” said -Mrs. Miller, and before Roxy had time to ask a question she was hand in -hand with the tall soldier walking toward a small tent in front of which -stood two more sentinels one of whom, at word from Roxy’s companion, -entered the tent; and a moment later Roxy found herself gazing up into -the kindly dark eyes of the great General George B. McClellan. - -“What can I do for you, little girl?” he asked kindly, and Roxy made her -best curtsy, and said: - -“If you please, sir, I have brought a circus to show the wounded -soldiers. I think,” she added quickly, “it would make them laugh!” - -“‘Make them laugh!’” repeated the general, and a little smile crept over -his grave face. - -“Well, my child, if you can do that for my poor boys you will be doing -me the greatest possible service. Come in and tell me about it,” and -Roxy followed him into the tent and eagerly began her story, to which -the war-worn and tired general listened with interest, and when Roxy -finished by asking anxiously if he thought her “circus” would not amuse -the men in the hospital tents, adding: “I guess I look funny enough in -the long blue coat and high white hat and whiskers to make anybody -laugh,” General McClellan answered quickly: “I would like to see the -circus myself, and I will go with you to the hospital tent near the -Dunker Church. But what is your name, little girl?” - -“Roxana Delfield. My father is a Union soldier, and he was wounded and -we are at Grandma Miller’s,” she replied, as she walked beside the -friendly soldier to where Grandma and Polly were anxiously waiting. - -“Where is your real home?” continued the general, and Roxy smilingly -responded: - -“I am a Yankee girl; that is what everybody calls me, because my home is -in Massachusetts.” Before the general could reply Grandma Miller came -hurrying to meet them, and Roxy heard the general thank her for her -thought for his suffering men, and tell her that they needed cheer and -entertainment as much as they needed care and medicine. - -“Brownie” was led off by one of the soldiers, and another took charge of -Roxy’s boxes, while Grandma Miller, Polly and Roxy, carrying the baskets -of fruit and food, followed General McClellan to the little stone church -near the woods. One of the army doctors came hurrying to meet them, and -quickly pointed out the tents where Roxy’s circus would be welcomed, and -Polly helped Roxy make ready. - -“Don’t be afraid, Roxy. Just make believe, remember, that you really did -capture the lions,” said Polly smilingly, as General McClellan pointed -out the first tent they were to enter. - -Polly and Roxy, carrying the boxes of paper animals, went in and General -McClellan gravely introduced Roxy as “Signor Delroxana, who has kindly -brought his troupe of wild animals to amuse you.” - -There was a murmur of laughter and exclamations of amusement from the -rough cots where the soldiers lay as Roxy, in her queer costume, bowed -to right and left, and, with Polly’s help, arranged her procession of -animals on a long narrow table. When she picked up the hazel stick, that -Polly had brought, and faced the eager-eyed men, who were all delighted -and amused by this unexpected entertainment, and when Roxy gravely -announced: “Gentlemen, these animals are not dangerous——” there was a -burst of laughter and applause that made it difficult for Roxy not to -laugh with them; but she remembered that would spoil it all, and she -went on with the story of her adventures, interrupted now and then by -the laughter of her listeners. - -That day Roxy visited a number of tents, and the circus was evidently -approved of by the soldiers, and by the anxious and tired doctors who -thanked the little Yankee girl, and urged her to come again. - -It was early twilight when Grandma Miller, Polly and Roxy, accompanied -by a young officer in whose care General McClellan had left them, stood -near the little stone church while “Brownie” was being harnessed. - -The young officer helped them into the wagon, and, raising his cap, -stood smiling up at Roxy. - -“You don’t remember me, do you, little Yankee girl?” he asked, and -Roxy’s face was for a moment grave and questioning, and then she smiled -radiantly. - -“Yes, yes, I do! You are the Yankee prisoner!” she declared. - -“Who you helped escape!” he added, and he then told them that his name -was Philip Carver, and he briefly described his flight to safety, and -earnestly thanked the little girl who had brought him food, and, as he -declared, saved his life. - -“I meant to get a day’s leave and ride over to your farm before leaving -here on purpose to thank you,” he added, and Mrs. Miller urged him to -visit the farm and he gladly promised; and now they bade him a friendly -good-bye and started for home. - -“It has been a wonderful day,” Polly declared, as “Brownie” trotted -swiftly through Sharpsburg along the road leading to the distant farm. -“Just think, General McClellan shook hands with us, and praised Roxy! We -will always remember to-day, won’t we, Roxy?” - -“He praised you too, Polly!” Roxy eagerly declared. “I told him it was -your plan to bring the circus, and he said you were a noble girl!” - -Polly laughed happily. “I will remember that,” she said. - -Roxy was tired out, and before they reached the farm she was nodding -with sleep, and when Etta-Belle came running to lift her from the wagon -Roxy was quite ready to let the negro woman carry her into the house. - -But once indoors before the open fire she became wide awake and eager to -tell her mother and father all the events of the exciting day: of -General McClellan, and his friendly message to her father, and of all -the laughter her “circus” had brought from the amused soldiers. - -“And best of all, Father, I found the Yankee prisoner. His name is -Philip Carver, and he is coming to spend the day,” she concluded -happily. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - - A VISITOR - - -It was now late September, and the fertile country along the Antietam -was in full autumn beauty. Harvests had been gathered, and fields of -yellow stubble were golden under the September sun, and the distant -mountains each day showed new shades of jewel-like blues when young -Lieutenant Carver kept his promise to visit the Miller farm, and sitting -on the porch beside Captain Delfield he pointed out the thicket of -laurel near the highway where he had concealed himself, and where Roxy -had brought him food; and he listened to the story of Roxy’s adventure -on the ledge when the Confederate scout had discovered her signalling, -and had tried to make the little girl tell the reason for her being -stationed on the top of the ledge day after day. - -“And I really think that Roxy may have saved me a good bit of trouble,” -said Captain Delfield. - -“If those Confederate scouts had discovered a Union soldier here they -might have carried me off to Richmond; but Roxy’s resolve not to let -them know her secret kept me out of danger,” and he smiled down at his -little daughter who was sitting on the porch steps, and had been -listening eagerly, and now felt that her long lonely days on the distant -ledge, her fears when carried away by the Confederate scout, had been -indeed worth while if they had saved her father from the danger of being -taken a prisoner. She remembered Etta-Belle’s rough cabin in the lonely -field, and that the negro woman had been friendless and alone until -Roxy’s coming had brought her to the Miller farm where she had found a -home and could remain in safety. And while Lieutenant Carver and Captain -Delfield talked of President Lincoln’s recent Proclamation of -Emancipation, that declared the freedom of all negroes held in slavery -in the United States, Roxy’s thoughts dwelt happily on all the events of -the past summer, and she resolved that she would that very day begin a -letter to Amy Fletcher, in far-off Newbury port, and tell her of all the -adventures that had befallen a little Yankee girl during her visit to -Antietam. - -When Dulcie came to say that dinner was ready the young lieutenant held -out his hand to Roxy and they walked into the dining-room together. - -It was the best dinner that Dulcie could prepare. There were fried -chicken, and creamed potatoes, late peas, and stewed corn. There were -three kinds of jelly, hot batter-bread and fresh butter; there was new -cider right from the press, and steamed apple dumplings with cream -sauce. It was no wonder that the young soldier, who had lived on camp -fare and who had known the hunger of a man in prison, declared it the -finest dinner he had ever tasted. “But,” he added laughingly, with a nod -toward Roxy, “nothing can ever again taste as good to me as that cold -chicken that this little Yankee girl brought me as I lay hidden behind -the laurels with my pursuers almost within reach of me.” - -In the afternoon Grandma Miller and Roxy walked to the ledge with -Lieutenant Carver, and from the top Roxy once more signalled to Polly, -who by good fortune happened to see the signal and waved in response, -and the soldier declared that he did not wonder the Confederate scouts -had been misled by Roxy’s signalling, and had believed her to have been -stationed there by Yankee soldiers. - -“Lee” and “Jackson,” the gray squirrels, were not to be seen, much to -Roxy’s disappointment; but Grandma Miller admired Dinah’s house, and -suggested that it would be a good plan for Roxy to build one like it, -only perhaps larger, under the butternut tree, and Roxy decided that she -would begin it on the following day. - -On their return to the house it was time for Lieutenant Carver to start -back for camp, and he bade them all a grateful good-bye, and again -declared that but for Roxy’s kindness and courage he could not have -evaded his pursuers and made his escape. - -They all stood on the porch and watched him ride away; and after Grandma -Miller and Roxy’s father and mother had entered the house the little -girl wandered down the slope and stood by the wall from which place she -could see the road stretching out like a gray ribbon toward the distant -hills. - -Roxy smiled to herself as she stood here, for she had only pleasant -things to think of as she remembered the delight of the wounded soldiers -in her “circus,” the words of praise the great general of the Union -Army, George B. McClellan, had given her, and, best of all, she thought -happily, was the fact that Philip Carver had said that but for her help -he would not have escaped. - -As she stood there Polly’s familiar call sounded from the highway -“Who-whoo-who!” and Roxy quickly responded and a moment later Polly came -running up the slope. - -“Here I am, Roxy-Doxy,” she called smilingly. “I came over to hear all -about the Yankee soldier.” And hand in hand the girl whose home was in -the Maryland hills, and the little Yankee girl walked toward the swing -under the big butternut tree. - - - - - The Stories in this Series are: - - A YANKEE GIRL AT FORT SUMTER - A YANKEE GIRL AT BULL RUN - A YANKEE GIRL AT SHILOH - A YANKEE GIRL AT ANTIETAM - A YANKEE GIRL AT GETTYSBURG (in press) - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A Yankee Girl at Antietam, by Alice Turner Curtis - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A YANKEE GIRL AT ANTIETAM *** - -***** This file should be named 62026-0.txt or 62026-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/0/2/62026/ - -Produced by Roger Frank and Sue Clark from page images -generously made available by The Internet Archive -(https://archive.org) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: A Yankee Girl at Antietam - -Author: Alice Turner Curtis - -Illustrator: Nat Little - -Release Date: May 4, 2020 [EBook #62026] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A YANKEE GIRL AT ANTIETAM *** - - - - -Produced by Roger Frank and Sue Clark from page images -generously made available by The Internet Archive -(https://archive.org) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<h1>A Yankee Girl at Antietam</h1> -<div id='frontis' class='figcenter' style='width:80%; max-width:483px;'> -<img src='images/frontis.jpg' alt='' style='width:100%;height:auto;' /> -<p class='caption'>ROXY WAS TOO SURPRISED TO MOVE</p> -</div> -<div class='section' /> -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;'> -<div style='font-size:1.6em;'>A YANKEE GIRL</div> -<div style='font-size:1.6em;'>AT</div> -<div style='font-size:1.6em;margin-bottom:1em;'>ANTIETAM</div> -<div>By</div> -<div style='font-size:1.2em;margin-bottom:1em;font-variant:small-caps;'>Alice Turner Curtis</div> -<div>Author of</div> -</div> -<div style='text-align:center; margin-top:0.5em; margin-bottom:0.5em'> -<div style='display:inline-block; text-align:left;'> -<div class='cbline'>“A Yankee Girl at Fort Sumter,”</div> -<div class='cbline'>“A Yankee Girl at Bull Run,”</div> -<div class='cbline'>“A Yankee Girl at Shiloh”</div> -</div> -</div> -<div class='figcenter' style='width:6em; max-width:200px;'> -<img src='images/title.jpg' alt='' style='width:100%;height:auto;' /> -</div> -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;'> -<div style='font-size:1.1em;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;'><i>Illustrated by</i> NAT LITTLE</div> -<div style='font-size:1.2em;'>THE PENN PUBLISHING</div> -<div style='font-size:1.2em;'>COMPANY PHILADELPHIA</div> -<div style='font-size:1.2em;'>1923</div> -</div> -<div class='section' /> -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;'> -<div>COPYRIGHT 1923</div> -<div>BY THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY</div> -</div> -<div class='figcenter' style='width:6em; max-width:200px;'> -<img src='images/verso.jpg' alt='' style='width:100%;height:auto;' /> -</div> -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;'> -<div style='font-size:0.9em;margin-top:0.7em;'>A Yankee Girl at Antietam</div> -<div style='font-size:0.9em;margin-top:0.7em;'>Manufacturing Plant</div> -<div style='font-size:0.9em;'>Camden, N. J.</div> -<div style='font-size:0.9em;margin-top:0.7em;'>Made in the U. S. A.</div> -</div> -<div class='section' /> -<table class='toc tcenter' summary="" style='margin-bottom:3em'> -<thead> -<tr> -<th colspan='2' style='font-weight:normal;padding-bottom:1em;'>CONTENTS</th> -</tr> -</thead> -<tbody> -<tr><td class='c1'>I.</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chI'>Roxy and Polly</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class='c1'>II.</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chII'>Polly’s Return</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class='c1'>III.</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chIII'>A Paper Circus</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class='c1'>IV.</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chIV'>Signals</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class='c1'>V.</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chV'>New Adventures</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class='c1'>VI.</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chVI'>Roxy Makes New Friends</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class='c1'>VII.</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chVII'>A Rainy Day</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class='c1'>VIII.</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chVIII'>Following the Brook</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class='c1'>IX.</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chIX'>Under the Sycamore</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class='c1'>X.</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chX'>Polly’s News</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class='c1'>XI.</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXI'>A Triumphal Arch</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class='c1'>XII.</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXII'>Startling News</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class='c1'>XIII.</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXIII'>September Sixth</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class='c1'>XIV.</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXIV'>Roxy Taken Prisoner</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class='c1'>XV.</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXV'>Roxy’s Ride to Sharpsburg</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class='c1'>XVI.</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXVI'>The Battle of Antietam</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class='c1'>XVII.</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXVII'>Polly’s Plan</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class='c1'>XVIII.</td><td class='c2'><a href='#chXVIII'>A Visitor</a></td></tr> -</tbody> -</table> -<div class='section' /> -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;'> -<div style='font-size:1.2em;margin-bottom:1em;'>Illustrations</div> -</div> -<ul style='list-style-type:none; display:table; margin: 0 auto;'> -<li><a href='#frontis'>Roxy Was Too Surprised to Move</a></li> -<li><a href='#illus-01'>The Little Girl Looked from Her Mother to Her Grandmother</a></li> -<li><a href='#illus-02'>He Lifted Her to the Saddle in Front of Him</a></li> -</ul> -<div class='section' /> -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;'> -<div style='font-size:1.4em;margin-top:4em;'>A Yankee Girl at Antietam</div> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chI' title='I: Roxy and Polly'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER I</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.0em'>ROXY AND POLLY</span> -</h2> -</div> -<p>Roxana Delfield, wearing a dress of blue-checked gingham, stout leather -shoes and white stockings, and a broad-rimmed hat of rough straw, ran -down the narrow path that led from her Grandmother Miller’s farm to the -highway leading to the little village of Antietam, Maryland.</p> -<p>The path curved about a rocky ledge, skirted a group of small cedar -trees and reached a stone wall where there was an opening just wide -enough for one person to squeeze through. Roxy thought it was a -fortunate thing that all the people at her Grandmother Miller’s were -thin enough to get through this opening, all except Dulcie, the negro -cook, who declared her weight “up’ards ob two hunderd pounds.” Dulcie, -however, seldom left the farm, and when she did was obliged to take the -longer way by the road.</p> -<p>When Roxy reached the wall she climbed to its top and stood looking -anxiously along the gray road that skirted a wooded hill, and in a few -moments a brown horse, harnessed to a light wagon, and driven by a -bareheaded girl whose red hair gleamed in the June sunshine, trotted -into sight and came rapidly down the hill.</p> -<p>“There she comes! There’s Polly!” exclaimed Roxy scrambling down the -rough wall, and hurrying across the little field to the side of the road -where she stood eagerly awaiting the approach of her new friend, Polly -Lawrence, and in a few minutes the brown horse stopped directly beside -her, and the red-haired girl called out:</p> -<p>“Here we are, little Yankee girl; jump in,” and she reached down a -strong brown hand to help Roxy climb into the wagon.</p> -<p>“This is splendid!” Roxy declared happily, as she pushed herself well -back on the broad seat, and looked up admiringly at the tall girl beside -her.</p> -<p>Polly smiled, her white teeth reminding Roxy of the string of pearl -beads that her mother sometimes wore, and as she looked at her companion -she realized that everything about Polly seemed to hold the light and -the glimmer of sunshine. Not only did Polly’s waving hair hold golden -gleams, but there were twinkling lights in her blue eyes, and her skin -seemed to glow, and her teeth to shine.</p> -<p>“Oh, Polly! I do like to look at you!” Roxy exclaimed ardently, and at -this the older girl laughed aloud, and responded:</p> -<p>“Well, you can say as pleasant things as any Southern girl. Nobody would -think you were born in Massachusetts.”</p> -<p>“Why not, Polly?” Roxy questioned, leaning forward to look eagerly into -her companion’s face. “Why wouldn’t anyone think I was born in -Massachusetts?”</p> -<p>Polly continued to smile, but she answered quickly:</p> -<p>“I suppose because you have such good manners. But of course your mother -was born in Maryland.”</p> -<p>“Polly Lawrence! Stop this horse! Stop this minute!” demanded Roxy, -clutching at the reins and scrambling down from the wagon seat as if -meaning to jump to the ground. “I don’t want to ride with you. I guess -Maryland girls don’t have all the manners. I guess little girls in -Newburyport wouldn’t be s’prised to have other girls polite. I guess——”</p> -<p>But before Roxy could say another word Polly’s arm was about her, and -Polly was saying:</p> -<p>“Oh, Roxy! I did not mean to be rude. Truly, truly I didn’t. I only -meant to praise you!”</p> -<p>“Stop the horse! I don’t want to go to Sharpsburg. I want to go home,” -persisted Roxy. “If my mother <i>was</i> born in Maryland she went to school -in Massachusetts, and maybe that is where she learned good manners.”</p> -<p>Polly’s arm released its hold on Roxy, and she brought the brown horse -to a standstill.</p> -<p>“You can get out here, Roxy,” she said gravely. “It won’t be far for you -to walk home.” And without a word Roxy jumped from the wagon and turned -on her homeward way.</p> -<p>“I don’t care,” she told herself. “Polly Lawrence talks as if people in -Massachusetts were not as good as Maryland people. She always calls me -‘Yankee’ as if I was an Indian or—or something!” and with a little sob, -Roxy trudged along the road over which she had only a brief time before -rode so happily; and on reaching the stone bridge she stopped and leaned -against its rough parapet, gazing down at the slow-moving waters of -Antietam River.</p> -<p>For a little while Roxy could think only of her disappointment, and of -Polly’s unkindness, and wish herself back in her own home in -Newburyport, where she had never even heard the word “Yankee,” and where -there were streets of pleasant houses, each one with its own garden, and -where little girls visited each other every day, bringing their -patchwork to sew; or if it was a “special party” the little girls would -bring their fine dolls dressed in silk and muslin.</p> -<p>Newburyport was very different from this hilly country where every -farmhouse was built of gray limestone, and stood on sloping field or -pasture, thought Roxy, turning her gaze to an opening in the distant -mountains where range upon range of blue heights rose against the sky.</p> -<p>“I do wish we were home,” she whispered to herself. “I wish there wasn’t -any war!” For it was in the early summer of 1862, when Northern and -Southern States were in arms against each other, and when President -Abraham Lincoln had fully determined to declare the freedom of negroes -held in slavery. Roxy’s father was a soldier with the Northern Army in -Virginia, and Mrs. Delfield had taken her little daughter and come to -her old home in Maryland hoping that her husband might secure leave of -absence and join them.</p> -<p>It was now nearly a month since Roxy had first seen Polly Lawrence, -whose father’s farm adjoined the Millers’. Polly had at once made -friends with the little Northern girl, and although she was nearly five -years older than Roxy, she seemed to enjoy her company and had taken the -little Northern girl on many a pleasant ride about the countryside, and -on walks over the pasture-lands that stretched up the slopes behind the -farms. It was Polly who told Roxy that the river had been named Antietam -for an Indian chief, and that years before the white men had settled in -this part of the country the Shawnee, Catawba and Delaware Indians, with -feathered heads, painted faces, and clad in the skins of wild animals, -had wandered along the banks of this placid stream and camped in the -near-by valleys.</p> -<p>“But Polly has always called me ‘Yankee girl,’” Roxy told herself, -choking back a troublesome lump that came in her throat as she -remembered that she had quarrelled with Polly Lawrence; with Polly, who -was nearly fifteen years old, and who knew so many wonderful stories, -and who sang such beautiful songs, and who owned a horse! Oh! There -never was anyone like Polly, even if she did think Maryland people -better than the people of Massachusetts; and now Roxy leaned her head on -the rough stones of the parapet and sobbed aloud, and was so filled with -unhappiness that she did not hear the sound of horses’ hoofs or the -jingle of bridle reins until two horsemen clattered onto the bridge -close beside her; then she turned quickly and gazed up at them in -amazement. It was Roxy’s first sight of Confederate soldiers, and as she -looked at the two war-worn men, in shabby gray uniforms, mounted on fine -well-cared-for horses, it was no wonder that the little girl forgot her -own troubles.</p> -<p>So far, in the summer of 1862, the war had not pressed hard on Maryland; -the state seemed chiefly a highway through which passed the Northern -troops; and Polly Lawrence had seen many marching men crossing that very -bridge.</p> -<p>The two horsemen did not at first notice Roxy. One of them drew a paper -from his pocket, opened it and said:</p> -<p>“This is the road to Sharpsburg. I’m sure of it,” and before he could -say more his companion exclaimed:</p> -<p>“Well, little miss! You look surprised! Have you never seen a soldier -before?” and he smiled down at Roxy.</p> -<p>“Oh, yes, sir! But all the soldiers I have seen wore blue clothes,” Roxy -answered.</p> -<p>“And where were these blue-clothed soldiers?” continued the man, as he -swung himself from the saddle and stood beside the little girl.</p> -<p>“They were in Washington,” replied Roxy, “but I saw my father’s regiment -when it marched down High Street in Newburyport!”</p> -<p>The man looked at her as if puzzled, and repeated “Newburyport?” and -then glanced at his companion who now dismounted and stood near his -horse’s head.</p> -<p>“That’s not a Maryland town, is it?” he questioned, and Roxy eagerly -replied:</p> -<p>“Oh, no! Newburyport is in Massachusetts. That’s my home, but my mother -and I are visiting Grandma Miller!”</p> -<p>The two men glanced at each other in evident surprise, and the man who -had first noticed Roxy said thoughtfully:</p> -<p>“I see! A little Yankee girl!” And at this Roxy’s smile vanished.</p> -<p>“‘Yankee girl!’ ‘Yankee girl!’ I wish I knew why you say that?” she -exclaimed, her gray eyes looking steadily at the tall, gray-clad -soldier.</p> -<p>“Oh, only because your home is in the North! I reckon your father is -proud to be called a Yankee,” he replied kindly, and at this Roxy’s face -brightened.</p> -<p>“Oh, thank you! Polly calls me ‘Yankee girl’ and I didn’t know why. But -I shan’t care now,” she said, with a friendly nod at the tall man.</p> -<p>“We might take a road that leads through the hills here,” suggested the -second soldier, and for a few moments the two soldiers bent their heads -over a small map and seemed to forget the little girl, who stood -watching them wonderingly.</p> -<p>“Good-bye,” said the good-natured soldier as he swung himself into the -saddle. “You will see more soldiers in gray clothes here before the end -of your visit, or I miss my guess; eh, Richard?” and he turned to his -companion.</p> -<p>“True enough!” responded the man; “the stars and bars will cross this -bridge before many months!”</p> -<p>“What is ‘stars and bars’?” asked Roxy.</p> -<p>“The flag of the Confederate States,” answered the man, and waving their -hands in farewell they rode on. As they started one of the men began to -sing, and the refrain of his song, “Maryland, My Maryland,” came -drifting back to the little girl who stood looking after them.</p> -<p>“I suppose I’d better go home now,” thought Roxy. “I guess my mother -will be surprised when I tell her about the soldiers. I suppose I will -have to tell her about Polly, too,” and sighing deeply Roxy went on her -way toward the narrow path that led to her Grandmother Miller’s. On a -farther slope the vivid green of young wheat ran up to meet the darker -green of forest trees; flowering dogwood and redbud grew along the stone -walls, and the purple blossom of the papaw showed here and there, and -Roxy looked at these blossoms admiringly, and wondered if they would -grow in her garden in Newburyport.</p> -<p>She was only a short distance from the highway when she noticed -something moving behind a thickly growing bush of dogwood. The branches -bent forward, and Roxy stopped and gazed at it, half fearing that some -wild animal was sheltered there that might spring out and seize her. As -she stood ready to run the branches sprang back and a boyish figure -crawled out and slowly rose to his feet.</p> -<p>He was bareheaded, and his brown hair was long and rough. He wore gray -shirt and trousers, and his shoes were so worn that they hardly covered -his feet. Roxy was too surprised to move, but as the young man gazed -toward her with a half-frightened, pleading look, she lost all sense of -fear.</p> -<p>“Oh, what is the matter?” she asked. “What is it?”</p> -<p>“I’m starving!” came the whispered answer, and the young man sank down -close to the bushes. “I can’t go another step! Were those soldiers after -me?”</p> -<p>“No! No! I don’t believe so. Come up to my grandma’s and you can have -all you want to eat,” Roxy said eagerly.</p> -<p>The young man shook his head. “I must not let anyone see me. You won’t -tell anyone about me. Promise!” he pleaded. “Promise not to tell a human -being that you have seen me; and can’t you get me something to eat? I -have a safe hiding-place near here.”</p> -<p>Roxy gave her promise promptly, and the young man urged her to bring him -food as soon as possible, cautioning her not to let anyone know that she -had taken it, and telling her to leave whatever she brought under the -thicket of tangled vines and bushes behind which he had hidden.</p> -<p>“Remember not to let any human being suspect that you have seen a -stranger,” he pleaded. “I haven’t strength to keep on without food!”</p> -<p>“I won’t tell! Truly I won’t!” Roxy promised; “and I’ll come back as -soon as I can,” and before the young man could reply she had darted off -up the slope. For a moment the young man gazed after her, and then -crawled back to his hiding-place.</p> -<p>Roxy slipped through the opening in the wall, and then stopped for a -moment and looked back.</p> -<p>“I wonder what he is running away from?” she thought, and then -remembering the thin face and the pleading voice that had told her of -hunger and fear the little girl hurried on. “I’ll take him some of those -cakes Dulcie made this morning, and some milk, and some eggs, and -everything I can find, poor fellow,” she thought pitifully. “I know my -grandma would want me to take the things if she had seen him.”</p> -<p>As Roxy ran across the yard Dulcie appeared in the kitchen door and -called out:</p> -<p>“How be it you’s home so soon, missie? You ain’ been ter Sharpsburg, hab -you?”</p> -<p>Roxy stopped and looked at Dulcie with so sober an expression that the -stout negro woman became alarmed.</p> -<p>“Wha’s de matter?” she demanded. “You look’s if you’d seen a ghos’! -Wha’s happen’ to you, missie?”</p> -<p>“Nothing!” Roxy replied sharply. “I thought you were taking a nap, -Dulcie.”</p> -<p>Dulcie chuckled and nodded her turbaned head.</p> -<p>“Dat’s so! Dat’s w’ot I plan ter do dis minit. I’se jes’ on de way!” and -with another nod she ambled down the path toward her own cabin, and Roxy -entered the kitchen.</p> -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chII' title='II: Polly’s Return'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER II</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.0em'>POLLY’S RETURN</span> -</h2> -</div> -<p>There was not a sound in the quiet kitchen as Roxy entered. For a moment -the little girl stood still, listening intently, but the house itself -seemed to be taking a nap in the mid-afternoon quiet of the June day.</p> -<p>“Mother and Grandma will be in their rooms now,” thought Roxy; “they -won’t expect me home before the last of the afternoon. I’ll have plenty -of time,” and she tiptoed across the well-scrubbed floor toward the -pantry. Before she tried the door she again looked about the room -cautiously, remembering her promise to the half-starved man who had -trusted her, and fearful that someone might enter the kitchen before she -could secure food and escape. Roxy knew that if her mother heard her -Mrs. Delfield would at once want to know why she had not gone to -Sharpsburg with Polly Lawrence, and even in the excitement of seeing the -Confederate soldiers, and of discovering the runaway, Roxy had resolved -not to mention her disagreement with Polly. Already she felt a little -ashamed, since the soldier had said her father would be proud to be -called a Yankee, that she had been so ready to be angry at Polly.</p> -<p>But as she carefully opened the pantry door Roxy was thinking only of -the poor fellow hidden behind the dogwood, and of what she could take -him.</p> -<p>There on the lower shelf of the pantry, covered with a white cloth, -stood a platter heaped with small round cakes that Dulcie had baked that -morning. Roxy carefully lifted the cloth and gazed at them admiringly. -“And there’s citron and currants in every one,” she whispered to -herself, and carefully chose three of the cakes, and replaced the cloth.</p> -<p>“I’ll have to have something to carry things in,” she thought anxiously, -and her glance fell on Dulcie’s egg basket, where only three or four -eggs remained.</p> -<p>“I’ll take that, and the eggs too,” she decided, and in a moment the -three cakes rested beside the eggs, and Roxy’s eyes searched the pantry -shelves for something more.</p> -<p>The meat left from the midday meal would, she knew, be in the cool -cellar closet, and Roxy feared she could not reach the shelf on which it -was kept; but the bread jar was close at hand, and removing the cover -Roxy drew out an entire loaf of freshly baked bread.</p> -<p>“Oh, dear! Just bread and cake and eggs isn’t enough,” she thought. “I -must get him some meat,” and she left the closet and ran across the -kitchen to the door that opened on the cellar stairway.</p> -<p>A cool air came up from the dark cellar as Roxy groped her way down the -broad stone steps, and keeping close to the wall felt her way to the -deep closet where many household supplies were kept.</p> -<p>It was hard work for the little girl to pull open the heavy door, but at -last she succeeded, and stepped in. Dulcie always brought a lighted -candle to the cellar, but Roxy had no light, and could only grope about.</p> -<p>“I’ll take whatever I find,” she resolved, clutching at something -resting in a tin pan. “I’m sure this is the chicken Dulcie roasted this -morning to have sliced up cold for supper,” she thought delightedly, -thrusting it in with the bread and cakes. “That will be splendid; and -maybe it will be enough. I guess I won’t wait to get milk,” and Roxie -left the cellar cupboard, the door swinging to behind her with a sudden -bang that made the little girl jump with the fear that it might bring -someone hurrying down the cellar stairs.</p> -<p>But no other sound was heard in the house; and now Roxie could see a dim -square of light at the far end of the cellar, and remembered that there -was a cellar door leading into the yard.</p> -<p>“I’ll go out that way,” she decided, and made her careful way among -barrels and boxes to where another flight of broad stone steps led -directly up to the back yard, and in a moment she was again in the open -air.</p> -<p>The negro farm-hands were all in the fields attending to their work; the -young colored woman who helped Dulcie in the work of the house had, as -Roxy knew, gone for an afternoon’s visit to a neighboring farm; Dulcie -was taking her usual afternoon nap in her cabin, and Grandma Miller and -Mrs. Delfield were resting in their own rooms. Roxy felt sure that no -one would see her as she now ran across the yard and down the rough -slope.</p> -<p>She slipped through the narrow opening, and now walked more slowly, and -looked anxiously toward the road, fearful that some passer-by might see -her; and as she drew near the thicket behind which she knew the hungry -man lay hidden, she began to listen for some sound. Perhaps he would -call out to her, she thought.</p> -<p>But there was now no movement among the blossoming branches of the -dogwood; and with a little sigh of disappointment Roxy set the basket -down where the man had told her to leave whatever she brought him. But -she stood close beside it until a long brown arm reached through the -underbrush and seized it.</p> -<p>“Bless you, little girl,” came a whispered voice.</p> -<p>And Roxy responded eagerly: “You are welcome.”</p> -<p>“Don’t stand there! Run home. Somebody may see you,” said the voice -again. “And promise me again that you’ll be my friend and keep my -secret, and never tell anyone that you have seen me.”</p> -<p>“I won’t tell; truly I won’t,” Roxy promised. “But what are you running -away from?”</p> -<p>“From a southern prison. I’m a Yankee soldier. I was taken prisoner at -Manassas; and I’m sure those rebs on horseback were after me. Where is -this place, anyway?” and now the young man pushed his head and shoulders -out from behind the bushes, quite forgetting his cautions to his new -friend.</p> -<p>“It’s Antietam,” replied Roxy; “where do you want to go?”</p> -<p>“Anywhere where there are Yankees. I’ve been hiding in the woods and -swamps for days, and I’ve lost my bearings,” he replied, as he pulled a -leg from the chicken and began to eat ravenously.</p> -<p>“I’m a Yankee, and so is my mother, and we are living up in that house,” -said Roxy, pointing toward the farmhouse. “You needn’t hide,” she -continued, “for I have heard my grandma say that Maryland is loyal to -the Union. You come up to our house and Grandma will give you better -things than cold chicken to eat; and—and”—Roxy hesitated a moment—“I -guess she could give you some clothes.”</p> -<p>For a few moments the young man ate steadily; the greater part of the -chicken disappeared, and he had seized on the cakes before he spoke -again.</p> -<p>“A Yankee girl, are you? Tell me your name.”</p> -<p>“My name is Roxana Elizabeth Delfield, and I’m ’most ten,” Roxy replied, -and added quickly: “My father is a Yankee soldier,” and now the young -man fixed his glance upon her, and a little smile crept over his thin -face.</p> -<p>“Seeing you is the first good luck I’ve had for months,” he said slowly, -and Roxy smiled happily.</p> -<p>“Come up to Grandma’s,” she urged. “You can rest, and then you can get -some shoes; and then my mother will help you go wherever you want to. I -know she will.”</p> -<p>But the young man shook his head. “I don’t dare take a chance. Someone -might be on the watch for me. You keep your promise, little Yankee girl. -Don’t speak of me!” and again Roxy promised. “I can’t go on before -to-morrow; I’m used up,” he added. “I’m only resting here. I’ll have to -find a safer place to sleep.”</p> -<p>There was the sound of approaching wheels on the near-by road, and with -a quick word of caution the young man disappeared and Roxy turned to see -Polly driving the brown horse and light wagon coming rapidly down the -highway. Roxy ran toward the road so that Polly would not notice any -movement in the thicket; and as Polly saw her she drew rein, believing -that Roxy had waited to make friends again.</p> -<p>“Oh, Roxy! Have you been waiting for me? Well, you are a dear! And have -you forgiven your Polly-Wolly for being so horrid? I’ll never call you -‘Yankee’ again.” And the smiling Polly leaned down to touch Roxy’s rough -straw hat.</p> -<p>“Oh, Polly, I like to be called ‘Yankee’ now! Two Confederate soldiers -rode over the bridge and spoke to me, and one of them told me about -Yankees, so I don’t care now,” and Roxy, with her flushed face and eager -eyes, endeavored to return Polly’s good-natured smile.</p> -<p>“Those soldiers passed me. They are after a Yankee soldier whom they had -held as a prisoner,” said Polly. “Poor chap! I hope they don’t find -him.”</p> -<p>“They mustn’t! They mustn’t!” Roxy declared so seriously that Polly -wondered to herself why the little girl should look so unhappy over the -possible capture of a man she had never seen.</p> -<p>“I reckon it’s because they are both Yankees,” thought the good-natured -girl, who was well pleased to be on friendly terms again with her small -neighbor.</p> -<p>“Well, they said they were coming back. They might run into Northern -troops if they went beyond Sharpsburg. Here they come now,” and Polly -drew the brown horse well out of the road as the two mounted soldiers, -riding at a good pace, clattered over the bridge and stopped their -horses close beside Polly’s wagon.</p> -<p>The men touched their hats smilingly, and the man who had told Roxy that -her father would be proud to be called a Yankee, said:</p> -<p>“The Yank has fooled us and got well away, unless he’s hiding somewhere -near at hand. You haven’t seen any half-starved runaway soldier about -here, have you?” and he turned his sharp glance on the two girls.</p> -<p>“Oh, no!” Polly answered. “We wouldn’t let any soldier starve in -Maryland. But I haven’t seen anyone since I met you on the road.”</p> -<p>The man nodded and smiled, and was about to ride on when his companion -said gruffly:</p> -<p>“What about that other girl? She’s a Yankee. Maybe she’s hiding the -fellow, or else her folks may be.”</p> -<p>Roxy’s frightened glance convinced both the men that it might be -possible the speaker was right, and when she turned and fled up the -slope toward home they were sure of it, and in an instant both the men -were off their horses and after her.</p> -<p>“If she reaches the house and warns him he’ll get away from us again,” -panted the short man as he found himself obliged to climb the wall.</p> -<p>As Roxy neared home she began to call: “Mother! Mother!” at the top of -her voice, so that when she dashed into the yard with the two men close -behind her not only Mrs. Delfield but Grandma Miller, Dulcie and two -negroes from a near-by field were all hurrying to meet her.</p> -<p>With her mother’s arms about her, and Grandma Miller facing her -pursuers, Roxy began to feel less frightened. She heard the strangers -tell their errand, and explain that Roxy had told them she was a Yankee -girl.</p> -<p>“You are Southern soldiers and you will take the word of a Maryland -woman,” said Mrs. Miller, “and I assure you that neither I or any member -of my household have seen the runaway. Beside that, even if we sheltered -him, you have no authority to demand him at our hands, nor would we -permit such a thing. Gentlemen, Maryland is a loyal state,” and without -waiting for any response Grandma Miller turned toward the house followed -by Mrs. Delfield leading Roxy.</p> -<p>The little group of negroes stood watching the two soldiers.</p> -<p>“If you asks me I’d ’vise you to put off out ob dis paht of de lan’,” -said Dulcie. “Dar’s sojers in blue coats up Hagerstown way dis minute.”</p> -<p>“Come on, Richard,” said the taller of the two men, “I reckon we’d -better take Mammy’s advice and let the Yank go,” and they made their way -down the slope, climbed the wall, and hurried to the highway. As they -ran past the thicket they both shouted in amazement and anger, for the -road was deserted. Not only had Polly and her brown horse disappeared -but the fine saddle-horses were gone.</p> -<p>“That red-headed girl has made off with our horses, and for all we know -may bring a party of Yanks after us,” declared Richard; “we’d better -make for the Virginia line.”</p> -<p>His companion promptly agreed, and they hurried across the bridge, -turned into a path that led by the river and disappeared.</p> -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chIII' title='III: A Paper Circus'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER III</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.0em'>A PAPER CIRCUS</span> -</h2> -</div> -<p>But it was not Polly who had made off with the two saddle-horses; for as -the two soldiers dashed up the slope after Roxy the runaway had appeared -from his hiding-place, carrying the loaf of bread in one hand, and had -hastened to where the two horses stood nibbling at the wayside grass; -without a word to Polly he slipped the bread into a big pocket of one of -the saddles, seized the swinging bridle reins and mounted the horse, and -leading the other, was off at a gallop down the road toward Sharpsburg.</p> -<p>Polly stared after him until the sound of the hoofs of the speeding -horses died away in the distance, and then turned her horse toward home. -Her quick glance had noted the loaf of bread, and that something -resembling the frame of a chicken bulged from the young man’s pocket.</p> -<p>“He must have been hiding there all the time. I wonder where he got the -bread?” thought the surprised girl, and she smiled at the thought of the -two men who were in search of him and who had been so cleverly misled.</p> -<p>“If Roxy had known about the man and planned to help him she could not -have done anything better,” thought Polly. “Poor little Roxy! They -frightened her half out of her senses,” and Polly resolved to go over -that very evening and see her friend and tell her of the hidden man and -of his escape from his pursuers.</p> -<p>But it was from Dulcie that Roxy first heard the news. Dulcie peering -over the wall had seen the young man as he ran toward the horses, -mounted and galloped out of sight, and when the gray-clad Confederate -soldiers dashed past her she had chuckled with delight.</p> -<p>“Dey won’ be a-ridin’ off so gran’ as dey are spectin’ to,” she said. -“Wot dey mean anyway a-prospectin’ roun’ in Marylan’? Dis state ain’ fer -upsettin’ de United States Gubbermint. ’Deed it ain’t,” and Dulcie shook -her head disapprovingly over the idea that Southern soldiers should so -fearlessly enter a loyal state. Dulcie well knew that the great conflict -between North and South meant not only the freedom of the negroes, if -the Northern Armies were successful, but a united and undivided nation. -Mrs. Miller talked freely with her colored servants, and Dulcie was sure -that whatever “Ole Miss” said was true; and she now hurried back to the -farmhouse to tell the family what she had seen.</p> -<p>Roxy and her mother were in the big sitting-room, and the little girl -was still greatly excited over her encounter with the soldiers; and -beside that she was fearful and anxious as to the safety of the Yankee -soldier. She had not mentioned him, remembering her promise, and her -mother and grandmother did not imagine that Roxy had ever seen the man -for whom the two soldiers were searching. That she should be frightened -seemed only natural, although Grandma Miller carefully explained that -the soldiers would only, had they overtaken her, have questioned her -about the runaway.</p> -<p>“I know it,” Roxy whimpered. “I wasn’t afraid of them. The tall one -looked like my father.”</p> -<p>“What made you run then?” asked Mrs. Delfield, but before Roxy could -answer Dulcie, smiling and bobbing her turbaned head, appeared in the -doorway.</p> -<p>“What is it, Dulcie?” Mrs. Miller questioned, wondering if the fleeing -Yankee had been overtaken.</p> -<p>“De Yankee-man was hid up, Miss, down clus to de road; an’ when dose -sojers come a-racin’ up de slope de Yankee-man put out ob de bushes an’ -hists hisse’f on to one hoss, an’ he hoi’s on to de udder one and off he -goes!” and Dulcie flourished both hands to show how swiftly the fleeing -man had disappeared.</p> -<p>“Oh, goody! Goody!” exclaimed Roxy, jumping up from the sofa where she -had been sitting beside her mother, and running toward Dulcie. “Which -road did he take? Was he out of sight before the men knew he was gone? -Did he get away?” she questioned eagerly.</p> -<p>“For de lan’ sakes!” exclaimed the bewildered Dulcie. “W’ich one ob dose -questions you spect me ter reply to, Missy? You kinder be-willers me!”</p> -<p>“Oh, Dulcie!” and Roxy jumped up and down in front of the old negress. -“Tell me if he got away.”</p> -<p>“Ain’ I jes’ tole you? He got clare out ob sight, an’ he tuk de extra -hoss! Yas’m, he was right clever, dat Yankee feller was. I spect he’s in -Sharpsburg ’fore dis time.”</p> -<p>Roxy smiled so radiantly as she turned toward her mother that Mrs. -Delfield smiled in response, well pleased that her little daughter -should forget the fear and excitement of her adventure.</p> -<p>“What became of Polly Lawrence?” asked Mrs. Miller.</p> -<p>“Oh! Miss Polly jes’ druv toward home. She didn’ wait fer de gray coats -to get back either,” and Dulcie went off chuckling with satisfaction.</p> -<p>“Well, Roxy, I think the Yankee boy owes his escape to you,” declared -Mrs. Miller. “Your running off made the soldiers think you could tell -them of the escaped prisoner, and so they ran after you, and that gave -the man his chance.”</p> -<p>“As if the child could know——” began Mrs. Delfield, but was interrupted -by an outcry from the cellar, and Dulcie’s complaining voice as she made -her heavy way up the stairs and came hurrying to the sitting-room.</p> -<p>“What can be the matter now?” exclaimed Mrs. Miller, starting toward the -door.</p> -<p>“Ole Miss—Ole Miss! We’s robbed! Yas’m!” exclaimed Dulcie, nearly -breathless. “My roas’ chicken bin stole. Yas’m! An’ I cayn’t lay eyes on -my egg baskit, an’ my bread am took!” and Dulcie stood rolling her -frightened eyes and trembling with excitement.</p> -<p>“Why, Dulcie! It can’t be! I have never had a thing taken from the house -in all my life,” declared Mrs. Miller, and with Dulcie beside her she -hurried off to the kitchen.</p> -<p>Roxy gave a little exclamation, and Mrs. Delfield hastened to assure her -that probably Dulcie was mistaken, and had forgotten where she had set -the food. But the little girl seemed so troubled, so grave and quiet, -that her mother felt anxious.</p> -<p>“Don’t you want to finish the ‘Circus,’ dear?” she suggested. “You’ll -need a herd of camels, several elephants, beside lions and zebras.”</p> -<p>But Roxy shook her head. Not even her beloved “Circus,” on which she had -worked several hours each day since her arrival at Grandma Miller’s, -seemed to interest her. When she had given the man the basket of food -she had not thought of the fact that it would be promptly missed, and -that Dulcie would make such an outcry over it. But, as no special person -was suspected of taking it, Roxy quickly decided that all was well. -Dulcie would scold and wonder about her loss, and Grandma Miller would -endeavor to find out who had really made off with the chicken, but no -real harm had been done, so in a little while Roxy was quite ready to -follow her mother’s suggestion and begin on the animals that were to be -a part of the “paper circus”; and when Mrs. Delfield followed Mrs. -Miller to the kitchen to find out what had really occurred Roxy was -happily at work near one of the wide windows that looked across the -green wheat field toward the distant mountains.</p> -<p>A broad low table, that Grandma Miller said was Roxy’s table, stood near -this window. It had two deep wide drawers, and the straight-backed -cushioned chair in front of it was exactly the right height and size for -a little girl ten years old. Roxy could lean on her table and look out -over the pleasant countryside, and see a distant bend of the slow-moving -river.</p> -<p>She opened the upper drawer of the table and took out some squares of -heavy brown paper, a pair of pointed scissors and a box of crayons; then -Roxy ran across the room to a closet and opened the door and from one of -the lower shelves she drew out a thick book and carried it to her table, -opened it and turned the leaves carefully.</p> -<p>It was a wonderful book! On the very first page there was a picture of -an amiable lion, with his family resting peacefully about him. On the -next page were pictured a group of monkeys gathering cocoanuts, and -further on were shown camels journeying across a desert; there were -pictures of zebras, tigers, rhinoceros, and there were pages of -wonderful birds with all their fine plumage.</p> -<p>Roxy turned to the page where a tall camel was pictured, and then taking -one of the sheets of brown paper and a freshly sharpened pencil she -began, very carefully, to draw the outlines of the strange animal. Its -queer head, long legs and humped back were easy to copy, and with a -little smile of satisfaction Roxy held up the drawing she had made, and -then, scissors in hand, she cut carefully into the paper following her -pencil marks until a paper camel lay on the table before her.</p> -<p>“There! Now I can cut out two or three more from this one!” she said -aloud, and pulled open the lower drawer and placed the camel with a -number of other animals cut from the brown paper. Later on Roxy planned -to use all these paper figures in the “Paper Circus.”</p> -<p>It was Grandma Miller who had suggested, during a week of rainy days -when Roxy and her mother had first arrived at the farm, that the little -girl should begin it, and told her that when her mother was a small girl -there was no game she enjoyed more. And Roxy’s mother had brought out -the “Animal Book” and shown Roxy how to trace the pictures.</p> -<p>Grandma Miller had explained that the animals were only a part of the -circus; there would be a clown, who wore strange garments, men who must -be mounted on prancing horses, and all could be assembled in a -procession.</p> -<p>Grandma Miller knew just how to make the figures stand upright with -clever little braces of stiff paper pasted on their backs; and Roxy’s -mother had suggested that Roxy could use her box of colored crayons to -color the lion’s mane, the stripes on the zebras, and to mark the eyes -of the monkeys.</p> -<p>As Roxy added the camel to the pile of figures in the lower drawer she -thought happily that her paper menagerie was now nearly complete.</p> -<p>“Then I’ll cut out clowns and circus-men,” she decided, “and then I can -get ready to surprise Grandma,” for Roxy was making a plan to celebrate -her grandmother’s birthday, that came in mid-July, by an entertainment -in which the “paper circus” was to have a prominent place. Polly had -promised to help Roxy with this plan, and no one else was to be in the -secret.</p> -<p>For the moment Roxy had nearly forgotten the adventures of the -afternoon, but the sound of voices just outside the open windows made -her jump up from the table and run toward the door.</p> -<p>“There’s Polly!” she exclaimed. “Oh, I hope it’s just as Dulcie said, -and that the Yankee soldier did really escape.”</p> -<p>Polly was on the front porch talking to Roxy’s mother, and as Roxy -appeared she saw that Polly was carrying the missing egg basket, and -heard her explain that she had found it near a thicket of dogwood as she -came up the slope.</p> -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chIV' title='IV: Signals'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER IV</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.0em'>SIGNALS</span> -</h2> -</div> -<p>“Dat Yankee sojer took de chicken, <i>an’</i> de bread, <i>an’</i> de eggs; an’ -I’m right shuh dat some ob dose cakes were tuk!” declared Dulcie, as -Mrs. Delfield handed her the basket.</p> -<p>“No, Dulcie! No, he didn’t!” exclaimed Roxy, who with Polly beside her -had followed Mrs. Delfield to the open door of the kitchen.</p> -<p>Dulcie shook her head solemnly. “Den you tells me how cum dat basket -whar he hides hisse’f? An’ you tells me likewise who did make off wid -all my food?” and Dulcie gazed so sternly at Roxy that the little girl -began to feel sure that her secret had been discovered.</p> -<p>“Of course the poor fellow must have been half starved,” said Grandma -Miller, “but if he had only asked we would have gladly befriended him. I -don’t like to think of any soldier slinking into a house in this -fashion!”</p> -<p>“He didn’t! He didn’t!” again declared Roxy nearly ready to cry; for the -little girl realized that the young soldier need not have been so -hungry, so nearly starved, as he had declared, if he had been willing to -steal food; and Roxy felt it was unfair that he should be thought a -thief when she herself had taken the things. She well knew that she -would be praised for carrying him the food, but her promise to the -fleeing stranger that she would never tell anyone that she had seen him -now prevented her from protecting his honesty.</p> -<p>“Why, Roxy, dear! Who else could have taken the food? He must have crept -in when Dulcie was in her cabin, and when you were riding with Polly,” -said Mrs. Delfield, putting her arm about her little daughter and -thinking Roxy had not yet wholly recovered from her fright.</p> -<p>Roxy looking up met Polly’s questioning glance. “Oh! Polly looks as if -she knew all about it,” she thought, wondering if it could be possible; -but neither of the girls said a word as to the fact of their -disagreement or that Roxy had not, after all, gone to Sharpsburg that -afternoon. Dulcie had apparently forgotten Roxy’s early return, and now -reminded her mistress that suppertime was well past.</p> -<p>“Yo’ suppah am ready. Dar ain’ so much as dar ought ter be ’count ob dat -Yankee a-stealin’ ob it; but I reckons you’ll make out,” she said -soberly, and Grandma Miller led the way to the dining-room.</p> -<p>Polly declared that she had had her supper before leaving home, but she -sat at the table beside Roxy and nibbled at one of Dulcie’s cakes.</p> -<p>Grandma Miller spoke again of the young soldier who had caused so much -excitement in her quiet home.</p> -<p>“He is in safety by this time; with two good horses he can soon reach -Washington. I wonder if it was the Richmond prison from which he -escaped?” she said thoughtfully.</p> -<p>“My father thought the Confederates very brave to ride on so near to -Sharpsburg in search of him,” said Polly; “he says they might easily -have been captured themselves by some body of Union troops on the -march.”</p> -<p>“Oh, no one ever questions the courage of the Southern soldiers; I -should not be surprised to see an army of them, with General Robert Lee -at their head, come riding into Maryland any day,” said Mrs. Delfield, -but little imagining that before many months her prediction was to be -fulfilled, and the courageous Lee lead his brave troops to raise the -standard of revolt on Northern soil, and that along those peaceful -slopes and in the valley bordering the Antietam River would rage one of -the fiercest and most decisive battles of the Civil War.</p> -<p>Nor could any one of the little group gathered that June evening about -the table in the peaceful room whose windows looked off toward South -Mountain imagine that the young Yankee soldier who Roxy had that day -helped on his way to safety would be one of the conquering army under -General McClellan.</p> -<p>Now and then Roxy and Polly exchanged a friendly smile, both well -pleased that their disagreement of the early afternoon was forgotten, -and when they left the dining-room and sauntered from the porch to the -shade of a big butternut tree that stood a short distance from the -house, leaving Grandma Miller and Roxy’s mother, Mrs. Delfield said:</p> -<p>“I am so glad Polly and Roxy are such good friends. Polly is such a -sweet-tempered, good girl.”</p> -<p>“Indeed she is,” agreed Grandma Miller, “and just the right companion -for our impulsive Roxy who has not yet learned to think first before -acting on an impulse.”</p> -<p>“But the child’s impulses are all good ones,” replied Mrs. Delfield, -“and I believe in letting her follow them.”</p> -<p>Grandma Miller smiled wisely. “All the more reason, my dear, for being -glad that Roxy has Polly for her friend,” she said.</p> -<p>While this conversation went on the two girls under the butternut tree -were making pleasant plans for the next day. Polly had made a wonderful -discovery and was eager to share it with Roxy.</p> -<p>“Roxy, you know that from the end window in your chamber you can look -straight across the fields and see the end windows of our attic,” she -began. But Roxy shook her head.</p> -<p>“I can see the top of your house, but I don’t remember about windows,” -she said thoughtfully.</p> -<p>“I’m sure you can,” Polly insisted, “because I looked out from our attic -and I could see your window just as plain as could be; and the muslin -curtain blew out, back and forth, while I was looking, just as if -somebody was waving it,” and Polly smiled and nodded as if expecting -Roxy to discover some particular meaning in the waving curtain, but -Roxy’s gray eyes were fixed questioningly on her companion and she made -no response.</p> -<p>“Oh, Roxy! What a little owl you are!” said Polly laughingly. “Don’t you -understand what the waving curtain means? Signals!” and at the last -word, Polly’s voice dropped to a whisper. But Roxy had sprung up, a -little angry flush showing on her brown cheeks.</p> -<p>“I am not an ‘owl,’ Polly Lawrence,” but before Polly could say a word -Roxy had clasped the older girl’s arm, and was saying: “Oh, Polly, I’ll -be an owl if you want me to. I don’t know why I get mad so quickly!”</p> -<p>Polly put her arm about the little girl and said smilingly: “An owl is -the wisest bird of all the birds, even if he can’t see in the daytime!”</p> -<p>“Can’t an owl see in daytime?” questioned Roxy. “Why can’t he?”</p> -<p>But at this question Polly shook her head.</p> -<p>“You’ll have to ask Grandma Miller; she knows all about birds,” she -answered. “What I meant, Roxy-poxy, was that you did not see what I was -driving at about windows and curtains; if I can see your window-curtain -from my attic windows, why can’t we have signals? If, for instance, I -promise to come over here and can’t come I could fasten a white towel in -my attic window; you would see it from your window and then you wouldn’t -expect me.”</p> -<p>Roxy’s face brightened with delight. “Oh, Polly! you think of the nicest -things! Why, we can have a lot of signals, can’t we?”</p> -<p>“Of course we can,” Polly agreed; “we can have signals that mean ‘come -over this afternoon’ and a signal that means a ride or a walk.”</p> -<p>Roxy was now all eagerness to carry out Polly’s plan; and before Polly -started for home the two girls had written out a set of “signals,” to be -carried out by white cloths fluttering from the upper windows of the -Miller and Lawrence houses. Beside this Polly had suggested that on the -following day they should go for a walk up the pasture slope beyond the -Lawrence house.</p> -<p>“Maybe we can find a few late strawberries,” said Polly; “and young -wintergreen leaves are just right to gather now. Your grandma would like -you to bring her home some of those.”</p> -<p>“Yes, indeed! Will we meet by the big sycamore?” rejoined Roxy.</p> -<p>“Yes, I’ll be there at ten o’clock,” said Polly, and Roxy, sure that -nothing would prevent her being there at the time, agreed promptly.</p> -<p>The big sycamore was on the further slope from the Miller house that led -up toward the Lawrence farm. It was a huge tree, that leaned -protectively over a clear little brook that ran down the hills to empty -into the Antietam, or as Dulcie called it, the “Anti-eatem” River. This -tree was about half-way distant between the two places, and was a -favorite meeting place for the two girls. There was a little hollow -among the big roots well cushioned with soft, green moss where they -often rested, and from this pleasant seat they could see two of the -stone bridges that spanned the river.</p> -<p>After a few more words about their “signals,” and deciding that they -would keep it a secret, Polly said good-night and ran down the path, -while Roxy walked slowly toward the house, thinking over all the -wonderful events of the day.</p> -<p>The long June day had come to an end; the sun had set, and long -rose-colored clouds lay along the western horizon; one faint star shone -in the evening sky, and the fragrance of the white roses that grew about -the porch filled the air with sweetness. Mrs. Delfield was on the porch -steps and as Roxy came toward her she heard her mother singing:</p> -<p style='text-indent:0; margin:1em auto 1em 2em'> -“For life or death, for woe or weal,<br /> -Thy peerless chivalry reveal,<br /> -And gird thy beauteous limbs with steel,<br /> -Maryland, my Maryland.”<br /> -</p> -<p>As Roxy heard the words of the song she exclaimed:</p> -<p>“Oh, Mother! The soldiers in gray were singing that very tune.”</p> -<p>“Were they, dear? Well, perhaps all the South is singing it by this -time,” said Mrs. Delfield, a little sorrowfully, for her Virginia -cousins were in the Confederate Army while her husband and friends -fought for the Union. The song “Maryland, my Maryland,” by James R. -Randall, had been published the previous year, and its haunting cadences -appealed to all.</p> -<p>“Mother! I hope the Yankee soldier is safe, don’t you?” said Roxy, as -they went indoors.</p> -<p>“If he is he ought to be grateful to you, my dear,” replied Mrs. -Delfield, and a little smile came over Roxy’s face. She thought it was a -fine thing if she had really helped a Yankee soldier to win his freedom -and reach safety. But Roxy was not altogether happy as she remembered -that she had permitted the young soldier to be thought a thief.</p> -<p>“I know he’d want me to tell now,” she thought. “It isn’t fair not to,” -and in a moment she was telling her mother the story of the afternoon: -her anger toward Polly, the first meeting with the mounted soldiers on -the bridge, and the hungry runaway’s plea for help.</p> -<p>Mrs. Delfield listened in amazement.</p> -<p>“I had to tell, didn’t I, Mother?” and her mother promptly agreed.</p> -<p>“Of course you did, dear child; and I think Grandma and Dulcie must be -told at once so that they may know the young man did not take the food. -You did just right, Roxy,” and Mrs. Delfield smiled so approvingly that -the little girl was no longer troubled, and went happily to bed with -thoughts of all she would have to tell to Polly on the following day.</p> -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chV' title='V: New Adventures'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER V</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.0em'>NEW ADVENTURES</span> -</h2> -</div> -<p>Dulcie chuckled over the story of Roxy’s carrying the food to the -runaway, and Grandma Miller was well pleased that her little -granddaughter had realized the importance of telling what had really -occurred; and Roxy was now eager to tell Polly, who she was sure -suspected the truth about who had secured the food for the hungry -soldier.</p> -<p>“Polly didn’t say anything about luncheon, but perhaps I’d better take -something to eat in my basket?” Roxy suggested on the following morning, -as she put on the wide-rimmed hat of rough straw, and went to the closet -for the small covered basket that she often carried in her walks with -Polly.</p> -<p>“Dar ain’ no col’ chicken, Missy,” Dulcie reminded her, “but I reckon I -kin fin’ somt’in’ ter gib you,” and she took the basket and started for -the pantry, and Roxy was confident the little basket would be well -filled.</p> -<p>Roxy, basket in hand, trudged happily off across the pasture turning to -wave a good-bye to Grandma Miller who stood on the side porch looking -after her; a few minutes later the little girl was out of sight as she -went down the slope toward the big sycamore.</p> -<p>A little cloud of yellow butterflies floated over her head and Roxy -stopped to watch their wavering flight until they settled over a -hedgerow of bittersweet. She had started in good season, and realized -that she would reach the big sycamore long before Polly; so she lingered -along her way, stopping to gather a bunch of the orange-colored blossoms -of butterfly-weed, one of the most gorgeous of the wild flowers of -Maryland.</p> -<p>The June morning was growing very warm and Roxy was glad to reach the -shade of the wide-spreading branches of the sycamore, and taking off her -hat she tucked the butterfly-weed blossoms under its ribbon band and -gazed at them admiringly. “I wish Amy Fletcher could see them, and the -blue mountains, and the bridges,” she thought a little wistfully. For -Amy Fletcher had lived next door to the Delfields in Newburyport, and -the two little girls were fast friends, and Roxy often wrote to Amy -telling her of all the adventures that befell her among the hills of -Maryland. “I guess Amy will think it is almost like a story when I write -her about what happened yesterday,” she thought, well pleased at having -so real an adventure to describe; and at the sound of Polly’s well-known -call: “To-who-to-whoo!” she called back: “Who-to-whoo.” Roxy smiled -happily, thinking that no one except Polly and herself knew the real -meaning of these calls. To any chance listener it would, the girls -thought, mean the note of a bewildered young owl, but the first call: -“To-who-to-whoo,” really meant: “I’m on the way,” while “Who-to-whoo” -meant: “I am waiting.”</p> -<p>Polly now came in sight, her red hair shining as the light flickered -upon it.</p> -<p>“Oh, Polly! How can you go bareheaded when the sun is so hot?” was -Roxy’s greeting.</p> -<p>“I like it,” replied Polly as she flung herself down on the soft moss -beside her friend.</p> -<p>“Polly, you always look just right,” declared the admiring Roxy as she -touched the loose sleeve of Polly’s tan-colored linen dress.</p> -<p>“If I look just right you talk just right, little Yank—I mean -Roxy-poxy,” responded Polly.</p> -<p>“You needn’t have stopped at ‘Yank,’” laughed Roxy. “I like it, since -the soldier told me my father would be proud to be called Yankee. And I -liked the tall soldier too, even if he did run after me. Oh, Polly! It -was I who carried the basket of food to the runaway man!”</p> -<p>Polly’s smile vanished, and her blue eyes regarded Roxy sternly. “And -you let Dulcie call him a thief! And you let your grandmother think that -he crept into her house and stole! I wouldn’t have believed it,” she -said.</p> -<p>In a second Roxy was on her feet and had grabbed up her hat and basket.</p> -<p>“You are hateful, Polly Lawrence! Yes, you are! I don’t care if you are -handsome. I <i>couldn’t</i> tell because I’d promised not to; but then I did -tell because I knew I must! So there now!” exclaimed the angry girl, and -without giving Polly a chance to speak she dashed off toward home.</p> -<p>But in a breath the long-legged Polly was after her and Roxy ran her -best, resolved not to be overtaken. But Roxy’s eyes were clouded by -angry tears, and she stumbled over a trailing vine and went headlong, -her basket flying in one direction and her hat in another, as the -prickly vines caught at her cotton dress and her outstretched hands were -scratched and hurt by their thorns.</p> -<p>“Oh, Roxy! Roxy! I am so sorry,” exclaimed Polly, endeavoring to pull -away the clutching vines and lift the little girl to her feet; but Roxy -struggled against her, sobbing with pain and anger: “Go away! Go away!” -until Polly could only stand back and let her alone.</p> -<p>“I am so sorry, Roxy! Do let me help you!” she pleaded, as Roxy now -scrambled to her feet and looked about for her hat and basket. For the -moment she did not notice her scratched hands and the long tear in her -skirt.</p> -<p>Polly picked up the basket, whose contents had been saved by its cover -from being spilled, and Roxy grabbed it from her before Polly could -offer it, seized her hat from the thick growth of wild rose bushes where -it had landed, and without a word or look toward Polly rushed down the -path.</p> -<p>Polly stood watching her for a moment, and then with a little sigh -turned toward home. She told herself that she was the one to blame; that -she had been unfair to Roxy, and that Roxy was right in resenting her -words.</p> -<p>“Roxy is only a little girl; I forget that I am nearly five years older -than she is,” she thought, and resolved that in future she would be more -careful and patient toward this little girl from far-off New England.</p> -<p>While Polly was making these resolutions Roxy had run down the path -bordering the brook, hardly noticing the direction she had taken until -she found herself beside a quiet pool where the brook widened. On the -further side there was a thick growth of hazel-bushes, while the path -ended at the edge of the pool, and just along the water’s edge beyond -the path grew tall water-weeds and waving grass.</p> -<p>A willow-tree leaned over the water, and Roxy, hot, tired and angry, sat -down in its shade and leaned her head against its rough trunk.</p> -<p>“Polly spoils everything!” she thought. “She spoiled my ride yesterday, -and now she has spoiled to-day! Oh, dear,” and the little girl began to -whimper unhappily.</p> -<p>But after she had bathed her hot face and scratched hands in the cool -water, she began to feel less unhappy; and as she noticed her lunch -basket a little smile crept over her face.</p> -<p>“I’m sure there are plum tarts in it,” she said aloud. “Dulcie always -makes plum tarts on Thursday mornings.”</p> -<p>In order to find out Roxy lifted the cover of the basket, drew out the -white napkin that was so carefully folded over the contents, and looked -in.</p> -<p>“Yes, indeed! Two apiece!” she exclaimed.</p> -<p>“Well, Polly can’t have even a taste!” she said, and helped herself to -one of the flaky puffs that was well filled with delicious plum jelly. -It was so good that Roxy promptly began on a second and had soon -finished a third, then remembering that it was not yet the middle of the -morning and, unless she went directly home, she would soon be hungry -again, she reluctantly pushed the basket away, and now her unhappy -thoughts about Polly again filled her mind.</p> -<p>“I wish there was another girl to play with,” she thought a little -mournfully, and suddenly exclaimed: “Oh! There are other girls! There’s -the three little Hinham girls! And their father asked me to come and see -them. I’ll go now!” And Roxy jumped up and seized her hat. “I guess it -wouldn’t look very polite to carry a lunch,” she decided, and so ate the -remaining plum tart and one of the spice-cookies.</p> -<p>“I’ll come after the basket on my way home,” she resolved, and turned -back and crossed the pasture to the highway. She knew where the Hinham -house stood, a low, rambling building with shabby barns, nearly a mile -below the bridge where she had encountered the mounted soldiers, but she -had never seen the three little girls whom she had now set out to visit; -but their father had come to the Miller farm one day on business, and on -seeing Roxy had said that he had three little girls and that Roxy must -come and see them; and Grandma Miller had politely responded that she -hoped the three little Hinham girls would come and visit Roxy.</p> -<p>As Roxy now trudged along the road, keeping on the shady side, she -remembered this, and told herself that Grandma Miller would be pleased -when she heard of the visit.</p> -<p>“Maybe I’ll ask the little Hinham girls to come to Grandma’s birthday -party, and I can tell them about my paper circus. I guess Polly Lawrence -will find I don’t have to play with her,” she thought, but someway even -the prospect of three new little girls as possible friends and playmates -did not make Roxy wholly happy. The remembrance of Polly’s radiant -smile, of the plan of signalling from the upper windows, all the jokes -they shared together and that no one else knew, crept into her mind and -made the distance to the Hinham house seem very long, and when Roxy came -in sight of the lane that led up to the farm buildings she was not only -tired but very hot and thirsty.</p> -<p>“Oh, dear! I hope they’ll ask me if I don’t want a drink of water,” she -whispered to herself, as she left the highway and started up the lane.</p> -<p>But Roxy had gone only a little way when the sharp bark of a dog, -quickly echoed by several others, made her stop suddenly and as she -looked up the lane she saw a number of dogs come dashing toward her. -Their barks sounded very threatening to the tired little girl, and for a -moment Roxy was tempted to turn and run, but she was too tired, and she -quickly remembered that these dogs must belong to the Hinhams and, as -there were three little girls in the family, the dogs would not be -surprised to see another little girl, so Roxy walked bravely on toward -them.</p> -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chVI' title='VI: Roxy Makes New Friends'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER VI</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.0em'>ROXY MAKES NEW FRIENDS</span> -</h2> -</div> -<p>A sharp whistle brought the dogs to a standstill, and Roxy saw a tall -boy come hurrying toward her.</p> -<p>“Lucky I was close by,” he muttered; “those dogs don’t like strangers! -Say!” and he smiled approvingly on Roxy. “You had some courage to walk -right along toward ’em! How’d you know they wouldn’t eat you up?”</p> -<p>“I guess I was too tired to run away,” confessed Roxy, and before she -could say that she had come to visit the little Hinham girls the tall -boy exclaimed:</p> -<p>“I’ll bet you’re the little Yankee girl, ain’t you?”</p> -<p>Roxy nodded. She was almost too tired to speak.</p> -<p>“Well, we’re sure glad you came over,” the boy continued, his black eyes -twinkling with friendliness as he clasped Roxy’s hand and led her up the -rough lane.</p> -<p>“My name is Roland,” he announced, “Roland Hinham, and I’m the oldest of -the family, nearly fifteen,” and he smiled again; and the tired Roxy -thought the tall boy must be very good-natured; he seemed always -smiling.</p> -<p>“My name is Roxana Elizabeth Delfield,” she responded, “and I’m ten -years old.”</p> -<p>“You’re older than my sisters. Jasmine isn’t nine yet, and Myrtle is -seven, and Ivy about five. They are all little girls,” replied Roland.</p> -<p>“What pretty names!” exclaimed Roxy admiringly, but before she could say -anything more the three little Hinham girls came out on the porch of the -house and stood looking at their brother and the little girl who clung -to his hand.</p> -<p>“I’ve brought you a visitor,” Roland called, and in a moment Roxy found -herself at the porch steps, and heard Roland say: “Jasmine, this is Miss -Roxana Elizabeth Delfield, come to visit us,” and instantly the three -little girls, each one of whom was dressed in a stiffly starched white -muslin dress, made a curtsy to the newcomer and announced in soft -musical voices: “We’re right pleased to see you,” and Jasmine, whose -eyes and hair were as black as Roland’s, drew forward a small -rush-bottomed rocking-chair and with a smile as friendly as her -brother’s said: “Won’t you sit down?” and Roxy, too tired to say a word -in response, sank into the comfortable chair while the three dark-haired -girls in their white dresses gathered about her, and looked at her a -little wonderingly.</p> -<p>Roland had disappeared, and Roxy began to feel that she ought to explain -her torn skirt. “I fell down and my skirt caught in some briers and -tore,” she said soberly, holding up the skirt of her pink cambric dress, -and looking at it a little sorrowfully. “I guess my hands are not very -clean,” she continued apologetically, noticing how neat and trim were -the little girls beside her.</p> -<p>Jasmine whispered to Myrtle who promptly ran indoors, followed by little -Ivy, and Jasmine drew a chair close beside Roxy’s and said softly: “Did -you hurt you when you fell?”</p> -<p>“Not much,” replied Roxy, feeling an uncomfortable lump in her throat, -and beginning to wish herself safely home in her own chamber where she -could rest, “but I guess I’m tired. You see, I walked all the way from -Grandma Miller’s. Your father asked me to come,” she explained.</p> -<p>Jasmine nodded. “He told us about you; we were coming to see you as soon -as our mother gets home from Sharpsburg,” she said, and at the sound of -approaching steps she turned toward the open door that led into a big -cool room.</p> -<p>“Here’s Nonny!” she exclaimed, and a young colored woman closely -followed by Myrtle and Ivy came out on the porch carrying a small tray -that held a blue pitcher and a lustre mug.</p> -<p>“Maybe you’d like a drink, Missy?” said the negro, and filling the glass -with foamy milk handed it to Roxy who drank eagerly.</p> -<p>“Now if Missy’ll jes’ step in de house I’ll fix dat skirt,” suggested -Nonny, and with Jasmine close beside her Roxy went in, and followed -Nonny up a broad flight of stairs to a pleasant chamber, where Jasmine -and Nonny quickly persuaded her to slip off the torn dress and take off -her shoes and stockings.</p> -<p>Nonny bathed Roxy’s tired feet, as well as her face and hands, brushed -out the tangles of the wavy brown hair, and Roxy, curled up in a big -cushioned chair, with her three new friends gathered around her while -Nonny carried off the pink dress to press out its wrinkles, began to be -well pleased that she had decided to visit the Hinham family.</p> -<p>Little Ivy had brought a family of dolls to entertain the unexpected -guest; Myrtle had opened the lower drawer of the bureau and taken out -her fine new leghorn hat trimmed with a wreath of pink rosebuds for Roxy -to admire, while Jasmine sat close beside her new friend, watching Roxy -with admiring eyes.</p> -<p>“Your hair is so pretty,” Jasmine declared; “it has little waves all -through it, and you have a dimple in your chin, just as Ivy has.”</p> -<p>This was very pleasant to Roxy, and when Nonny brought back the pink -cambric dress, neatly mended and pressed, and she found herself being -led downstairs to luncheon Roxy had almost forgotten her quarrel with -Polly Lawrence, and was thoroughly enjoying herself.</p> -<p>“Father is away so Roland is taking care of things!” said Jasmine, as -Nonny said luncheon was waiting, and Roland came into the dining-room -and lifted Ivy to her seat at the table.</p> -<p>Roxy was sure it was the best luncheon that she had ever eaten: the -golden omelette, the delicious cold ham and creamed potatoes, the early -peas, the plum jam and hot biscuit, and the glass of cool milk were all -delicious to the hungry girl, and she did not give a thought to the -basket she had left beneath the sycamore.</p> -<p>After luncheon Jasmine was eager for Roxy to try their swing under the -big oak tree, and Roland was ready to send them swinging through the air -until they declared themselves tired. Roland listened gravely when Roxy -told of the two Confederate soldiers whom she had encountered on the -previous day. Roland knew well that the Union Army of the Potomac was -making preparations for its grand assault on Richmond; he had heard his -father declare that at any time Union and Confederate forces might meet -on Maryland soil and a serious battle ensue; and as Roxy told of the -fleeing Union soldier and the pursuing Confederates the boy wondered if -the Southern Army might not be planning to enter Maryland.</p> -<p>But Jasmine was greatly excited over her friend’s adventure.</p> -<p>“Why, it was really you, Roxy, who helped the man escape!” she declared, -looking at her new friend with admiring eyes. “What do you s’pose his -name was?” she added thoughtfully.</p> -<p>Roxy shook her head. “I didn’t think about his name,” she replied.</p> -<p>“Maybe it was the Richmond prison from which he escaped,” suggested -Roland, but Myrtle had begun to sing and Roxy was listening so eagerly -that for the moment she entirely forgot the Yankee soldier.</p> -<p style='text-indent:0; margin:1em auto 1em 2em'> -“A-swinging, a-swinging,<br /> -Under a rose-tree swinging—<br /> -I saw a green fairy<br /> -Who wore a gold crown.<br /> -I heard fairy bells ringing,<br /> -And fairies were singing,<br /> -And dancing and bringing<br /> -Fairy honey to the one<br /> -Who wore the gold crown!”<br /> -</p> -<p>As Myrtle sang she danced about the swing, followed by little Ivy; and -in a moment Jasmine laughingly followed, all three of the girls joining -in the song as they circled about the swing where Roxy sat smiling -delightedly.</p> -<p>“Sing some more!” she exclaimed, as she left the swing and danced on -behind the others, and Jasmine nodded, and began:</p> -<p style='text-indent:0; margin:1em auto 1em 2em'> -“Every leaf on every bough<br /> -Dances now, dances now.”<br /> -</p> -<p>As the girls danced they bowed to the left and right, with graceful -movements that Roxy endeavored to imitate, and the group made a pretty -picture.</p> -<p>Roland had returned to his work, and when the girls tired of dancing -Myrtle suggested that perhaps Roxy would like to see the flock of -bantams, and led the way to the group of farm buildings at some distance -from the house where Roxy exclaimed over the tiny bantam chickens.</p> -<p>“You can have a pair if you want them,” said Myrtle. “When we come over -to see you we’ll bring you a pair,” she promised.</p> -<p>Roxy’s face flushed with pleasure as she thanked her new friend; and -when they all wandered to the pasture that Roxy might see the three gray -ponies that belonged to the little Hinham girls Roxy told herself that -Jasmine and Myrtle and Ivy were the most fortunate girls in the world.</p> -<p>“You have everything,” she declared admiringly, as they returned to the -shady porch where Nonny promptly brought them glasses of raspberry shrub -and tiny frosted cakes.</p> -<p>“Yes, indeed!” said Jasmine, and Myrtle and Ivy both nodded and smiled. -They felt rather sorry for their visitor because she did not have a -brother like Roland and small sisters to play with.</p> -<p>The tall clock in the front room struck four, and, with a little -exclamation of surprise, Roxy said she must at once start for home.</p> -<p>“Roland is going to drive you over; he said he would,” Jasmine told her, -and in a short time the two gray ponies harnessed to a pretty -basket-phaeton trotted up to the porch and Roland helped Roxy to a seat -beside him, while Jasmine, Myrtle and Ivy all promised to return her -visit as soon as their mother came home.</p> -<p>“It’s the nicest visit I ever had!” Roxy called back to them, as the -ponies trotted briskly off toward the highway.</p> -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chVII' title='VII: A Rainy Day'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER VII</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.0em'>A RAINY DAY</span> -</h2> -</div> -<p>“If you please I will get out at the bridge,” Roxy had told Roland, as -the gray ponies trotted swiftly over the road that had seemed so endless -a distance to Roxy only a few hours earlier. “I left a basket near the -brook, and I can go home across the pasture,” she explained; and at the -bridge Roland bade her good-bye, promising that his sisters would soon -return her visit.</p> -<p>Roxy found her basket, and now hurried up the slope eager to tell her -mother about the three little girls with such beautiful names: “Jasmine, -Myrtle, Ivy,” and Roxy repeated them over admiringly. Then the swing -under the apple trees, the bantam chickens! But suddenly Roxy’s happy -smile vanished as she remembered that she would have to explain how she -happened to leave Polly and walk the long distance to visit three little -girls whom she had never seen.</p> -<p>And now Roxy remembered something even more important, and exclaimed -aloud:</p> -<p>“I promised Grandma not to go beyond the bridge unless someone was with -me!” And at the remembrance of this Roxy sank down on the hillside.</p> -<p>“How could I forget it!” she whispered. “And what will Grandma say? Oh, -I can’t tell her!” And now Roxy instantly resolved to say nothing of her -visit to the Hinham girls or of her running away from Polly.</p> -<p>“I’ll wait and tell Mother first,” she thought, and now went soberly on -toward the house, stopping to empty her lunch basket for the benefit of -a flock of chickens that were running about the slope.</p> -<p>It was now late in the afternoon, but no anxiety had been felt over -Roxy’s absence. Believing her to be with Polly Lawrence, Mrs. Delfield -had not been troubled, and when she saw Roxy coming slowly up the slope -came to the door to welcome her; but before Roxy had reached the house -one of the negro field-hands was seen running across the yard and Roxy -heard him call out:</p> -<p>“Sojers! Sojers! A’ army. Missus! Marchin’ down de road!” and the little -girl turned and looked eagerly toward the highway and saw a group of -mounted soldiers, in blue uniforms, as they rode swiftly down the road -that led toward Harper’s Ferry.</p> -<p>It was the 27th of June, 1862, and on that very day General Lee had -driven the Union forces under General Porter across the Chickahominy, -putting General McClellan on the defensive, and creating alarm as to the -security of Washington; and the little group of Union soldiers that Roxy -now watched so eagerly were riding to join McClellan’s forces that were -so soon to prove their unfaltering courage on the field of battle.</p> -<p>“My lan’! Ain’ we be’n seein’ sojers all de spring!” declared Dulcie. -“’Tain’ no great sight on dese roads; an’ so long as de blue coats don’ -run ’cross de gray coats I guess ’tain’ much ’count! But jes’ s’pose dey -happens to meet up wid one ’nudder some day long de Anti-eatem!” and -Dulcie shook her head solemnly, as Roxy stood on the porch looking after -the soldiers.</p> -<p>But the passing of the “blue coats” had reminded Mrs. Delfield and her -mother of how near they were to the scenes of the great conflict, and -their faces grew sad as they spoke of the threatening advance of -Jackson’s Confederate army in the Shenandoah Valley, of the recent -battle at Fair Oaks, and of the new Commander-in-Chief of the Southern -forces, General Robert E. Lee, an officer honored by every American, and -fitted for the greatest command.</p> -<p>Talking of these things they paid but little attention to Roxy, who went -slowly up to her chamber and kneeling down on the window-seat looked off -wistfully toward the Lawrence farm, and began to wish that she was on -the old friendly terms with Polly Lawrence.</p> -<p>“Perhaps Polly is looking over this way now. I wish we had thought of a -signal that meant ‘I’m sorry,’” and Roxy sighed deeply. Then she sprang -up and ran to the corner of the room, seized a towel and hurried back to -the window. She leaned out and waved it, and then fastened it to the -green wooden shutter.</p> -<p>“That means ‘Come over the minute you see this,’ and Polly will come. -I’m sure she will. Polly never stays angry,” thought Roxy, and when her -mother called her to supper she ran down sure that her quarrel with -Polly was over.</p> -<p>But it was hard for Roxy not to speak of all that had happened, and she -was so quiet at supper, so ready to go to bed at an early hour that her -mother thought she must be tired out by the long day wandering about -with Polly.</p> -<p>The next morning Roxy was awake at an early hour. She could hear the -sleepy notes of nesting birds in the trees near the house, and the -voices of the negro farm-hands as they started off to the fields. Her -first waking thought was the “signal,” and in a moment she was out of -bed running to the open window.</p> -<p>“There it is! There it is!” she whispered joyfully, as she saw the white -signals fluttering from the attic window of Polly’s home.</p> -<p>“That means that Polly will come over as soon as she can,” Roxy thought -happily, and when her mother came in at the usual hour she found Roxy -dressed and ready for breakfast.</p> -<p>She had put on a fresh gingham dress, and now remembered the torn pink -cambric. For a moment she wondered what her mother would say to the neat -stitches that Nonny had set, but the sound of horses’ hoofs in the yard -sent her flying to the window and at the sight of Polly on horseback she -forgot all about the pink dress and ran down the stairs and out to meet -her friend.</p> -<p>Polly smiled down at the little girl and said quickly:</p> -<p>“Everything all right, Roxy? Or did you want me for something special?”</p> -<p>“Just to be friends!” said Roxy soberly. “Can you not come in to -breakfast, Polly? Do!” she pleaded, and Polly instantly slipped from the -saddle and said:</p> -<p>“I told Mother I might spend the day, for it is cloudy all along the -mountains and that means rain; and it will be just the day to work on -your circus.”</p> -<p>A negro boy led the brown horse to the stable and Polly and Roxy went in -the house.</p> -<p>“Polly’s going to spend the day,” Roxy announced, and her visitor was -warmly welcomed, and Dulcie brought in plates of steaming waffles, and -Polly declared that Mrs. Miller’s bees made the best honey in Maryland -as she accepted a liberal helping.</p> -<p>Before breakfast was over it had begun to rain.</p> -<p>“A fine day to put my quilt into the frames,” declared Grandma Miller, -“and Roxy can have her first lesson in quilting; there’ll be time for -your paper animals this afternoon.”</p> -<p>“Yes, indeed!” Roxy eagerly agreed, “and may I help you mark the -pattern, Grandma?”</p> -<p>Grandma Miller nodded. “I think we’ll mark a ‘Rising Sun,’” she said -thoughtfully; and as Dulcie now brought the wooden quilting frames into -the dining-room, and Mrs. Miller started upstairs for the bed-quilt she -had pieced of bits of gingham, calico and cambric, the two girls looked -at each other smilingly.</p> -<p>“It will be fun to help quilt,” Polly said, and Roxy watched her -admiringly as she helped Mrs. Miller and Dulcie fasten the pretty quilt -to the frames, that rested on the backs of four straight-backed chairs.</p> -<p>“Now for the ‘Rising Sun,’” said Grandma, who held a ball of twine which -she began to rub with white chalk. “Polly, fasten the end of this twine -in that corner,” she directed, and Polly promptly obeyed. “You shall -‘snap’ the chalked twine, Roxy,” Grandma Miller continued, as she drew -the twine cornerwise across the quilt, and in a few moments Roxy was -running from one side of the quilt to the other, “snapping” the taut -chalked twine as Grandma directed, and which left white lines behind -each “snap.” These lines ran from the corners and sides of the quilt to -the centre, and made a pattern known as the “Rising Sun.”</p> -<p>When the marking was finished a thimble was found for Polly and she took -her seat beside Mrs. Delfield on one side of the quilt, while Grandma -Miller and Roxy were seated on the other side, and Roxy’s first lesson -in quilting began.</p> -<p>“Put your left hand under the quilt, my dear; now take as small stitches -as you can directly along the chalk-line,” said Grandma, and Roxy began, -thinking this was even more fun than cutting out paper animals. But Mrs. -Delfield did not let the girls “quilt” long. She knew that Roxy’s arms -would easily tire, and in a little while she asked Roxy and Polly if -they would not like to go to the kitchen and ask Dulcie to make a -honey-cake for dinner, and the girls were quite ready to do this.</p> -<p>“Can’t we help make the cake, Dulcie?” asked Polly, and Dulcie nodded.</p> -<p>“I reckons yo’ can. De eggs has to be beat consid’bul fer honey-cake. -Firs’ de whites has ter be all ob a foam, an’ den de yolks has ter be -smoof as silk, an’ den yo’ has ter beat de butter so’s it mo’ like honey -dan butter, an’ den——”</p> -<p>“Oh, Dulcie! Let me beat the whites! They bubble up so much like -soap-bubbles,” said Roxy, and Dulcie brought out the egg basket and two -big yellow bowls.</p> -<p>“Jes’ fetch two ob de biggest silver spoons, Miss Roxy. I don’ mak’ no -cake wid common spoon,” she said, beginning to break the eggs, while the -girls hastened to bring the spoons.</p> -<p>The big kitchen was a pleasant place that morning, and while Roxy and -Polly beat the eggs and creamed the butter for the honey-cake Dulcie -prepared vegetables and a chicken pie for the midday meal, and at last -declared herself ready to “mix up de cake.”</p> -<p>“I can hardly wait to taste it,” Roxy said, as she watched Dulcie set -the cake in the oven.</p> -<p>Before it was taken out Mrs. Miller and Roxy’s mother called the girls -to come and help them roll up the quilt on its frames and set it in the -hall.</p> -<p>“By the time you are ready for dinner the cake will be baked,” said -Grandma, as the two girls ran upstairs to brush their hair and wash -their hands.</p> -<p>“We will work on the ‘Circus’ after dinner,” said Polly. “It is only two -weeks before your Grandma’s birthday, and there is a lot to do before -the ‘Circus’ will be finished.”</p> -<p>“Polly! I know who I’ll ask to come to my ‘surprise’ for Grandma. I’ll -ask the little Hinham girls and their brother!” said Roxy eagerly, -“Don’t you think their names are lovely?”</p> -<p>“Yes,” responded Polly, wondering a little how it was that Roxy knew the -names of the little Hinham girls. “Have they been over to see you?” she -asked.</p> -<p>Roxy shook her head. She wanted to tell Polly all about her visit, but -felt a little ashamed because she had started off so angry at Polly. -Dulcie’s voice calling them to dinner sent them hurrying downstairs, and -Polly asked no more questions.</p> -<p>After dinner the rain gradually ceased, and the two girls, sitting by -Roxy’s table near the front window, were so busy with scissors and -water-color paints, and with their plan for a birthday surprise party -for Grandma Miller that they did not think about the weather until Polly -suddenly jumped up and said:</p> -<p>“Roxy—Roxy! Here’s the sun shining, and the day nearly over. I must be -off!” and with Roxy running beside her Polly started for the yard to ask -one of the negro boys to saddle “Brownie.”</p> -<p>“I’m glad it rained!” said Roxy, as Polly swung herself to the saddle. -“And our signals are splendid, aren’t they, Polly?”</p> -<p>“Splendid!” replied Polly, and with a smiling good-bye she sent -“Brownie” off at a swift trot, and Roxy stood looking after her.</p> -<p>“Nobody, no other girl, is like Polly,” she thought, remembering Polly’s -unfailing good nature. “Maybe it’s because she is almost grown up.” And -then Roxy’s smile vanished. A whole day had passed and she had not yet -found courage to tell her mother that she had forgotten about her -promise not to go beyond the bridge, and had visited three little girls -without being invited!</p> -<p>“I guess I had better tell her now!” Roxy decided. “It isn’t going to be -any easier to wait,” and she went slowly toward the front porch where -her mother and grandmother were sitting.</p> -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chVIII' title='VIII: Following the Brook'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER VIII</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.0em'>FOLLOWING THE BROOK</span> -</h2> -</div> -<p>“And when are the little Hinham girls coming to visit you?” asked -Grandma Miller, as Roxy finished her story.</p> -<p>“I think we could have a swing fixed on that big branch of the butternut -tree,” said Roxy’s mother thoughtfully, for Roxy had described the swing -as one of the chief delights of the visit with her new friends.</p> -<p>The little girl, leaning against the arm of her mother’s chair, looked -wonderingly from her mother to her grandmother. Neither of them had said -a word of blame; and Grandma Miller even nodded and smiled when Roxy had -explained that she did not remember her promise about not going beyond -the bridge.</p> -<p>“Of course you forgot it, my dear, or you would not have gone,” she -said, and Roxy gave a sigh of relief.</p> -<div id='illus-01' class='figcenter' style='width:80%; max-width:477px;'> -<img src='images/illus-01.jpg' alt='' style='width:100%;height:auto;' /> -<p class='caption'>THE LITTLE GIRL LOOKED FROM HER MOTHER TO HER GRANDMOTHER</p> -</div> -<p>“Oh, I am glad it isn’t a secret any longer. I’ll tell Polly to-morrow!” -she exclaimed, as her mother drew her down into her lap.</p> -<p>Then there was a little more talk about the swing, and Roxy told her -mother about the tiny bantam chickens, and that Roland had brought her -as far as the bridge with the gray ponies. “I won’t forget about the -bridge again,” she declared earnestly, and her mother said:</p> -<p>“No one means to forget a promise; but we must think of some way to -remind you of this one.”</p> -<p>“I know a way!” declared Grandma Miller. “Just wait a moment,” and she -went briskly across the porch into the house.</p> -<p>“What way do you suppose Grandma means?” questioned Roxy; but her mother -declared that she could not imagine. “Unless Grandma means to tie a very -long string to you,” and at this Roxy laughed happily.</p> -<p>“Here is something, Roxy, that will make you remember not to go beyond -the bridge, and to keep whatever promise you make! Hold out your left -hand,” said Grandma Miller, and Roxy promptly obeyed, and Grandma -slipped a gold ring on the little girl’s forefinger. “It just fits!” she -said smilingly. “I thought it would! Now, Roxana,” and Grandma Miller’s -voice grew serious, “whenever you look at that ring remember that it -means a number of things: first of all it means: keep a promise; and -besides that it means keep your temper; it is always a silly thing to -get angry.”</p> -<p>“Yes’m! It’s a lovely ring!” said Roxy, sliding from her mother’s lap, -and standing close beside Grandma Miller. “I’ve wanted a ring, and this -is so pretty!” and she held out her hand and looked admiringly at the -gold ring with its chased pattern of roses. “Thank you, Grandma; I -couldn’t forget now,” she added; and when a little later she went -upstairs she again fastened the white signal, meaning “Come over as soon -as you can,” to the green shutter, and went happily to bed eager for the -morning to come when she could tell Polly about the Hinham girls and -show her this wonderful ring that was to help Roxy remember her promises -and keep her temper.</p> -<p>Polly appeared in good season the next morning, and listened smilingly -to the story of Roxy’s visit, admired the pretty chased ring, and asked -Mrs. Delfield’s permission to take Roxy on a fishing excursion.</p> -<p>“I have brought a luncheon, and we will be home early in the afternoon,” -she promised, and in a little while Roxy was ready to start, and the two -girls went off across the pasture toward the brook.</p> -<p>“Roxy, why don’t you have your ‘circus’ party under the big sycamore? It -would be a splendid place. We could fix up a tent close by, just like a -real circus, and have a picnic dinner, and plan it all without your -grandma guessing a word about it!” suggested Polly, as they came in -sight of the big tree.</p> -<p>Roxy eagerly agreed, and Polly pointed out a fine place for a tent, and -said she was sure that her father would help them put it up.</p> -<p>Then they followed the brook on up the slope and came to a thick growth -of hazelwood, where Polly stopped to cut a couple of hazel-rods.</p> -<p>“I have some white moths for bait, and some fishing-lines; and there are -always trout in this stream,” she told Roxy. “We’ll have to keep quiet, -though, when we begin to fish.”</p> -<p>Roxy smiled happily. Polly had long promised her this fishing excursion, -and she was now sure that it was going to be a wonderful day.</p> -<p>“We’ll build a fire and cook the trout, won’t we, Polly?” she said, and -Polly promised, and began singing:</p> -<p style='text-indent:0; margin:1em auto 1em 2em'> -“I went into the hazelwood,<br /> -Because a plan was in my head,<br /> -To cut and peel a hazel-rod,<br /> -And put a berry on a thread.<br /> -<br /> -“And when the birds are on the wing,<br /> -And flowers, like stars, are shining out,<br /> -I’ll drop the berry in the stream,<br /> -And catch a little silver trout.”<br /> -</p> -<p>Roxy stood watching Polly and listened eagerly. “I wish I could sing -that, Polly,” she said.</p> -<p>“Try!” responded Polly; and she slowly sang the first words over and -Roxy repeated them, so that by the time the hazel-rods were cut and -trimmed and Polly had fastened the lines, both the girls were singing -the old song.</p> -<p>Then they made their way to the brook, and swung their lines into the -clear water and in a short time Polly had caught “a little silver -trout,” and almost at the same moment there was a pull on Roxy’s line -and she, too, had caught a fine speckled trout.</p> -<p>It was Polly who re-baited their hooks, and when they each had landed -another fish declared they had enough.</p> -<p>“We’ll find a good place for a fire and cook them,” she said, and Roxy -was quite ready to do this. The shining gold ring on her forefinger made -her resolve that she would do whatever Polly wanted to do, and she was -sure that she would never again be angry at Polly.</p> -<p>The rough pasture slope had many places where a fire could safely be -lighted, and they selected the shady side of a towering ledge and Polly -built up a three-sided oven of flat stones with another flat stone on -top on which she put the trout. Then the fire was started and carefully -watched; the fish were cautiously turned from time to time and when -Polly declared them nearly cooked the fire was allowed to die.</p> -<p>Polly’s lunch basket was well filled. There were cream-of-tartar -biscuits, ginger-cakes, a tumbler of strawberry-jam, and a bottle of -milk, and the two girls feasted happily. But Roxy could not forget the -plum tarts she had so selfishly devoured, and she resolved to ask Dulcie -to make some specially for Polly.</p> -<p>The two friends now made further plans for Roxy’s circus.</p> -<p>“You must ask Mr. Greaves, Roxy, because he is the minister, and Mrs. -Greaves is your grandma’s best friend,” said Polly. “You and I will take -‘Brownie’ and drive about and ask whoever you want.”</p> -<p>“All the Hinhams,” said Roxy promptly.</p> -<p>“Of course,” Polly agreed.</p> -<p>“And you and your father and mother,” continued Roxy.</p> -<p>Polly nodded.</p> -<p>“And who else?” questioned Roxy, adding quickly: “I do wish my father -could come.”</p> -<p>“Perhaps he will,” responded Polly, “but I think with the Hinhams and -Mr. and Mrs. Greaves it will be a real party. Where is your father, -Roxy?”</p> -<p>Roxy’s face grew sober. “We don’t know,” she replied. “Mother thinks he -may be with General Pope near Culpepper, and she is hoping to hear any -day that he can come and see us.”</p> -<p>Polly made no reply; she had heard her father say, that very morning, -that news had come that Confederate soldiers commanded by General -Jackson were advancing against General Pope, and that a battle might -follow. Polly knew that the city of Washington was believed to be in -danger of an attack by the Confederates, but she did not speak of this -to Roxy.</p> -<p>“Do you suppose the Yankee boy that I found is safe now?” Roxy -questioned, and Polly assured her that the young soldier must have -reached the Union lines.</p> -<p>“When your father comes you can tell him how you helped a Yankee -soldier,” said Polly; “it isn’t every girl who has a chance. I wish I -could do something.”</p> -<p>“Well, Polly, perhaps you can. Grandma says that maybe the war may come -right into Maryland,” Roxy replied, and the two girls looked at each -other with sober faces; for even ten-year-old Roxy realized that the -approach of a battle between Northern and Southern troops was indeed a -terrible thing.</p> -<p>“I promised to come home early,” said Polly, “so we had better start;” -and, making sure that the fire was out, the two girls started across the -pasture toward the big sycamore where they bade each other good-bye.</p> -<p>“I’ll stop for you about three to-morrow afternoon, and we will drive -over and invite Mr. and Mrs. Greaves,” said Polly.</p> -<p>“Yes, and the Hinhams,” agreed Roxy, smiling at the thought of the party -under the big sycamore.</p> -<p>As she followed the brook a short distance on her way toward home, her -thoughts were of all that must be done to make the “circus” complete. -She resolved to spend the rest of the afternoon in arranging the paper -animals, and cutting out the ones that were not yet ready.</p> -<p>But as she went through the opening in the wall and looked up toward the -house she gave a little exclamation of surprise and entirely forgot -about Grandmother Miller’s birthday surprise as she ran up the slope; -for there were the gray ponies and phaeton standing in the yard, and on -the porch she could see the three small girls in white dresses and a -tall boy talking to her mother.</p> -<p>“The Hinhams! The Hinhams!” she whispered happily, and ran swiftly -toward the house eager to welcome them.</p> -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chIX' title='IX: Under the Sycamore'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER IX</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.0em'>UNDER THE SYCAMORE</span> -</h2> -</div> -<p>The Hinham girls had brought the pair of bantams they promised Roxy, and -Dulcie took charge of them with many exclamations of admiration and -approval, as much pleased as Roxy herself, and said they should have a -yard and house to themselves not too far from the kitchen for her to -keep an eye on them.</p> -<p>Roxy, looking admiringly at the white dresses of her little visitors, -again decided that Jasmine and Myrtle and Ivy were the prettiest little -girls she had ever seen.</p> -<p>“Our mother came home from Sharpsburg this morning, and she brought each -one of us a ring!” said the smiling Jasmine, and each of the sisters -held out their left hand; on each tiny forefinger shone a chased gold -ring.</p> -<p>“Oh! And my grandmother gave me one yesterday! Look!” exclaimed the -delighted Roxy; and when it was discovered that her ring was exactly the -same pattern as Jasmine’s, Grandma Miller smilingly explained it by -saying that she had purchased Roxy’s ring in Sharpsburg, and that -probably all the rings came from the same shop.</p> -<p>“There’s a secret about our rings,” Jasmine whispered to Roxy. “Every -time we look at them we are to remember something.”</p> -<p>“And I have to remember something every time I look at mine!” declared -Roxy, wishing that she knew what Jasmine’s secret was. The two girls -smiled at each other thinking it very remarkable that not only their -rings were alike but that each of them had a secret.</p> -<p>“Perhaps some day you can tell me what your ring means,” suggested Roxy. -“I’d just as soon tell you that Grandmother gave me my ring so I would -remember to keep promises and not to get angry. You see,” Roxy continued -soberly, “I get angry before I know it,” and she looked at Jasmine as if -expecting her new friend to be greatly surprised; but Jasmine nodded and -smiled as if she had heard the best of news.</p> -<p>“Oh, Roxy! That’s just what I do!” she confessed, and at this they both -began laughing so that Myrtle and Ivy ran toward them to know what the -fun was about. But the two older girls decided to keep this for their -special secret.</p> -<p>While the little girls amused themselves Roland had been telling Mrs. -Delfield of the news that his mother and father had brought from -Sharpsburg: of the battle of Malvern Hill where General McClellan had -repulsed an attack by the Confederates.</p> -<p>“General Lee retreated toward Richmond,” said Roland, “and my father -said there were rumors that General Lee might march on to Washington.”</p> -<p>“That would mean bringing the war into Maryland,” responded Mrs. -Delfield, and Roxy wondered if that would not mean also that her father -would come.</p> -<p>Roland said it was time for them to start for home, and no more was said -of war. Roxy found a chance to tell Jasmine something of the birthday -party as she bade her good-bye, and promised to see her on the following -day.</p> -<p>As Roxy stood looking after the phaeton she happened to glance down and -exclaimed:</p> -<p>“Oh! My dress is all gray and my stockings too!” and she suddenly -realized that her blue-checked gingham was dirty, that her hair was -untidy, and that it was the second time the little Hinham girls had seen -her in that condition. “And they are always in perfectly clean white -dresses, and look just right,” she whispered to herself, and now made a -resolve that the next time the little Hinham girls saw her she would be -as neatly dressed as it was possible for a girl to be.</p> -<p>Mr. and Mrs. Greaves and the Hinhams all accepted Roxy’s invitation to -come to the surprise party for Grandmother Miller’s birthday, and -Polly’s mother and father also promised to attend, and for the week -following the fishing excursion Roxy was very busy. Mrs. Delfield and -Dulcie were taken into the secret, and if Grandma Miller sometimes -wondered at Dulcie’s chuckles and mysterious nods and winks over her -cake-baking she did not really imagine the reason.</p> -<p>Every day Roxy was busy from early morning until late in the afternoon, -either at work with scissors and water-color paints, or running down to -the big sycamore to plan just where the tent should stand, and decide on -the best place for Grandma Miller.</p> -<p>“There ought to be a special seat for Grandma,” she said on the day -before the party, as she and her mother walked up the path to the -sycamore.</p> -<p>“Of course,” Mrs. Delfield agreed; “and if it was right here against the -tree she could see the guests as they came up the path and be ready to -welcome them. We could make a seat of moss.”</p> -<p>“So we could!” exclaimed Roxy. “There’s quantities of nice gray moss -along the ledges and under the beech trees! Can’t we make it now, -Mother?”</p> -<p>“Of course we can,” said Mrs. Delfield, and they at once started off up -the pasture slope and gathered armfuls of the clean gray moss from the -ledges and under the beech trees and heaped it up to make a comfortable -seat under the sycamore; and when they had finished Roxy felt she could -hardly wait for the next morning to come when Polly and her father were -to put up a small white tent for the circus.</p> -<p>The morning of July twentieth was clear and pleasant, and Roxy was up at -an early hour and ran to her grandma’s room to wish her a happy -birthday. At breakfast time Mrs. Delfield gave her mother a pretty lace -collar, and Roxy presented her with a frilled white apron that she had -made, and Mrs. Miller declared that it was the happiest birthday -breakfast she had ever had.</p> -<p>“But I can’t imagine what ails Dulcie this morning,” she said. “She has -been talking to herself and chuckling as if something wonderful was -about to happen!”</p> -<p>It was difficult for Roxy to keep quiet, and as soon as breakfast was -over she ran up to her room for the boxes that held the paper animals -and then hurried off toward the sycamore where she found Polly and Mr. -Lawrence awaiting her. Mr. Lawrence had brought the white canvas tent -and set it up on the smooth field just beyond the big tree.</p> -<p>It was not a very large tent, and the girls decided to leave one side -open.</p> -<p>“Then everyone can see in,” said Roxy. Mr. Lawrence set two flat boxes -at the closed end of the tent, and Polly and Roxy brought ferns and wild -flowers and fastened them over the rough sides and ends, leaving the -tops of the boxes uncovered; for the paper animals were to be set out in -a “procession.”</p> -<p>After Mr. Lawrence had set the boxes in the tent he bade the girls -good-bye, promising to return in the afternoon, and now Roxy and Polly -set to work on the circus that was to entertain Grandmother Miller and -her birthday guests.</p> -<p>The big elephants were to lead the procession, and following these came -four camels, several lions and tigers, zebras, a number of ostrich, and -then a group of monkeys. Beside all these Roxy had cut out and colored -several parrots, a bird of paradise and two peacocks with wide-spreading -tails.</p> -<p>“We might fix a tree for the birds,” suggested Polly; and they made a -fairy-like tree from the stout green brakes that grew near the brook. On -the top of this tree they fixed the parrots, while the peacocks were -placed at the foot.</p> -<p>When it was all arranged the circus made a very attractive sight, and -the two girls gazed at it admiringly.</p> -<p>“Roxy! It would be a good idea for you to dress up and be the manager of -the show, and tell where all the animals were captured. That ‘Animal -Book’ tells, doesn’t it?” said Polly, her blue eyes eager at the thought -of an added interest for Roxy’s “circus.”</p> -<p>Roxy jumped about, delighted at this suggestion.</p> -<p>“What will I dress up in, Polly?” she asked.</p> -<p>For a moment Polly did not answer; then she said:</p> -<p>“There are some things in our attic that will be just what we want. -There is a tall white hat, and a long blue coat with big brass buttons! -And, Roxy! We can make whiskers and a moustache for you out of yarn and -tie them on. Then you must have a long stick and stand here,” and Polly -placed herself at one end of the procession of animals, “and you must -begin like this: ‘Ladies and gentlemen. First come the largest elephants -in the world. I captured them in Africa——’”</p> -<p>“Oh, Polly! Polly!” shouted Roxy, hardly able to speak because of -laughter, “that will be splendid.”</p> -<p>“You must be serious and not laugh, remember!” Polly warned her. “I’ll -go home now and get the things. We must have everything ready by three -o’clock.”</p> -<p>It was nearly noon when Roxy returned home and whispered to Dulcie that -she must be sure to have the birthday cake at the big sycamore by four -o’clock, and Dulcie chuckling with delight promised to be in good time.</p> -<p>As soon as dinner was over Mrs. Delfield reminded her mother that they -were to go for a drive, and had better start at once; and Mrs. Miller -was surprised to find that her white horse was already harnessed to the -tall buggy and at the door, and with a smiling word to Roxy, Mrs. -Delfield helped her mother into the carriage and they drove off.</p> -<p>And now Roxy ran up to her own room quickly followed by Dulcie with a -big pitcher of hot water.</p> -<p>“W’ile yo’ is a bathin’ I’ll fetch yo’ white muslin dress. De ruffles -all sets out as fine as kin be,” said Dulcie.</p> -<p>“And bring my bronze slippers and blue sash,” called Roxy, for she was -resolved that to-day the little Hinham girls should see her in a dress -as white as their own.</p> -<p>“Of course I’ll have to cover it all up for the circus, but when they -come they’ll see me looking just as nice as they look themselves,” she -thought, as she brushed her wavy brown hair until it crinkled and shone, -and when Dulcie had tied it with a wide blue ribbon and fastened Roxy’s -sash she exclaimed admiringly:</p> -<p>“Yo’ suttin’ly do look fine, Missy Roxy. Yo’ looks jes’ as if yo’ might -a bin born in Marylan’! Yo’ sho’ does!” And Dulcie was sure no one could -expect or receive higher praise than this. “Now step keerful, chile!” -she warned the little girl, as Roxy put on a pretty leghorn hat trimmed -with blue flowers, and started off for the sycamore.</p> -<p>Mrs. Delfield had promised to bring Grandma Miller to the big tree at -exactly three o’clock, and at that time everything was in readiness.</p> -<p>The guests had been told to follow the path leading from the stone -bridge beside the brook, and Polly, wearing a blue dimity dress with -white collar and sash, and Roxy were ready to meet and welcome them and -lead them to the seat where Grandma Miller would receive them.</p> -<p>The guests, however, all arrived before Grandma Miller; and when Roxy -led her up the path followed by Mrs. Delfield and Polly, and the smiling -group greeted her with a chorus of “Happy birthday,” she was as much -surprised as Roxy had expected her to be, and seated herself on the -cushion-like moss declaring that it was well worth while to be sixty -years old to have so glorious a birthday.</p> -<p>The tent was behind the tree and had not been noticed by anyone but -Roland, and when Roxy and Polly suddenly disappeared Roland was the only -one who suspected that a real surprise was in store for the members of -the birthday party.</p> -<p>It was Polly who announced the “circus.” Making a pretty curtsy to Mrs. -Miller and then to the guests, she said:</p> -<p>“In honor of Mrs. Miller’s birthday I have the pleasure of announcing -that Signor Delroxana has brought his menagerie of trained beasts and -birds. If you will kindly follow me,” and taking Grandma Miller by the -hand Polly led the way to the open tent where a strange little figure in -a tall white hat, a blue coat that trailed on the ground, and whose face -was nearly covered with a beard of curly brown yarn, stood ready to -introduce the animals and tell of their capture in far-off lands.</p> -<p>Roxy did not laugh once, as in a gruff voice she named each group of -animals and birds; but her listeners found it difficult to keep quiet, -and Roland whispered to his mother that it was the funniest thing he had -ever seen, and the minister said it was very instructive as well as -amusing, while Grandma Miller laughed until she had to wipe the tears -from her eyes.</p> -<p>Dulcie, standing near the little Hinham girls, was the only sober person -in the audience.</p> -<p>“Dat ruffle-muslin; I reckons it look like a rag ’fore dis! My lan’! Wot -good fer Missy Roxy to kiver up her fine clo’es dis way,” she muttered -disapprovingly.</p> -<p>After Roxy had finished and taken off the coat, hat and whiskers, her -grandmother said that her little granddaughter must sit beside her on -the fine seat of moss; and Dulcie brought the huge birthday cake which -Grandma cut, and Roxy was delighted to carry the plates to the smiling -guests who were gathered in the shade of the big sycamore. There were -pitchers filled with raspberry shrub, and various sorts of tempting -cakes handed about by a smiling negro girl who had come to help Dulcie; -and when Roxy saw the abundance of plum tarts, exactly like the ones she -had eaten on the day she had quarrelled with Polly, she smiled happily, -and felt that nothing was lacking.</p> -<p>It was sunset before the guests started for home, and as Roxy, hand in -hand with Grandma Miller, walked up the slope toward home she thought it -had been the happiest day she remembered.</p> -<p>“Everybody had a good time, didn’t they, Grandma?” she asked eagerly, as -they sat down on the porch.</p> -<p>“Indeed they did, Roxy; and I was proud indeed that my little -granddaughter could plan and carry out so fine an entertainment.”</p> -<p>Roxy’s face flushed happily. It was pleasant to have Grandmother praise -her.</p> -<p>“Polly!” she exclaimed suddenly, remembering all Polly’s suggestions and -help. “It was Polly did the best of the circus!”</p> -<p>“I am sure Polly helped what she could,” replied Grandma Miller.</p> -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chX' title='X: Polly’s News'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER X</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.0em'>POLLY’S NEWS</span> -</h2> -</div> -<p>A few days after the birthday party one of the negro servants brought a -stout rope from the storehouse and fixed a swing from the branch of the -big butternut tree that grew near the house. A smooth board for a seat -was notched and fitted to the rope, and Grandma Miller came out to give -Roxy the first swing.</p> -<p>As Roxy found herself flying through the air so that her feet touched -the leaves of the tree’s lofty branches she laughed with delight; and as -the swing slowed down and only moved evenly back and forth she called:</p> -<p>“Grandma, I can see way down to the river. Grandma, where does the river -come from?”</p> -<p>“It rises in Pennsylvania, and empties into the Potomac just below -Sharpsburg,” replied Mrs. Miller, who had seated herself at the foot of -the big tree and now looked off toward the peaceful Antietam, the slopes -of South Mountain, and the fields of growing wheat. Grandma Miller knew -many stories of this valley, and had told Roxy of the days of the French -and Indian War when the settlers along the Antietam were raided by the -Indian allies of the French until they fled to Fredericktown for -protection, and for years the fertile fields were deserted.</p> -<p>Braddock’s army had passed through this valley; and, before the American -Revolution, settlers returned to their homes, and farms again prospered, -and people lived in safety. But Grandma Miller was not thinking of those -far-off wars; for, as the summer of 1862 advanced, the people of -Maryland knew that the national capital was in danger, that at any time -Southern troops might sweep into Maryland; and as Mrs. Miller looked -toward South Mountain she wondered how long this safety and peace would -continue, and where Roxy’s father was on that August morning.</p> -<p>She said nothing to Roxy of these matters, but the little girl knew how -anxiously her mother awaited news from her soldier father, and now as -she noticed how grave her grandma’s face was as she looked off across -the fields Roxy became sure that Grandma Miller was thinking of the war, -and of her father, and she said softly:</p> -<p>“Grandma, don’t you s’pose my father is ever coming to see us?” and she -let the swing come nearly to a standstill.</p> -<p>“I hope so, Roxy! But we cannot get news of him. The last we heard was -that his regiment was with General Pope. But that was weeks ago. It is -August now, and we hear only rumors. It may be that some day your father -will come riding over the bridge and tell us all his adventures.”</p> -<p>“I wish he would come soon,” said Roxy soberly, and she resolved to -watch the bridge so that she might be the first one to see her father.</p> -<p>“I believe it would be a good plan to have a seat built around this -tree,” said Grandma Miller, as she started to return to the house. “It -is cooler here than on the porch, and it would be a good place for you -to bring your dolls for tea-parties.”</p> -<p>“Yes, indeed,” replied Roxy, “and I could have my ‘circus’ animals march -right around the tree. Perhaps I could have a doll’s party, and ask the -little Hinham girls to bring all their dolls!”</p> -<p>“You could indeed, my dear, and I will have Jacob make the seat this -very day. We will have a good wide seat,” said Grandma, and with a -smiling nod she went toward the house.</p> -<p>Roxy, looking after her, told herself that Grandma Miller was exactly -the kind of a grandmother that every little girl ought to have.</p> -<p>“She doesn’t put things off until next year; she has them done right -away,” Roxy thought approvingly.</p> -<p>The shining gold ring on her forefinger reminded her again of Grandma’s -warning that it was usually “silly to be angry,” and Roxy smiled, for -only yesterday the little ring had prevented her from again being vexed -at Polly.</p> -<p>“I’m never going to quarrel with Polly; she never quarrels back,” she -said aloud.</p> -<p>“That’s because she is fourteen years old,” came the laughing response, -and the surprised Roxy nearly fell from the swing when she found Polly -standing close beside her.</p> -<p>“Oh, Polly! I am going to be just like you when I am fourteen!” declared -Roxy, but Polly shook her head.</p> -<p>“You won’t have red hair,” she responded; “but what a fine swing!” and -she looked at the long stout ropes, and then off across the quiet -valley, and Roxy noticed that her friend’s face was very sober.</p> -<p>“What’s the matter, Polly?” she asked.</p> -<p>“Oh, Roxy! My father has started to join McClellan’s army, and Mr. -Greaves has gone with him and Mr. Hinham. They went early this morning. -There is news that the Confederate soldiers under General Jackson are -advancing against General Pope’s army, and——”</p> -<p>But before Polly could say another word Roxy was out of the swing -exclaiming:</p> -<p>“My father is with General Pope! Oh, Polly!”</p> -<p>Polly’s arm was about Roxy’s shoulders and for a moment the little -Yankee girl and the Maryland girl stood looking into each other’s eyes.</p> -<p>“Yes, Roxy. But isn’t it splendid that our fathers are both fighting in -the Union Army?” said Polly. “I came over to tell you about it.”</p> -<p>The two girls turned silently toward the house, and Roxy’s thoughts were -no longer about a doll’s party under the big tree; she could think only -of her soldier father.</p> -<p>“It’s no use for me to watch the bridge now, is it, Polly? I don’t -suppose my father will come for weeks and weeks!” she said mournfully.</p> -<p>“Perhaps he will come any day,” declared Polly. “Anyway you had better -watch.”</p> -<p>Neither Mrs. Miller nor Mrs. Delfield seemed surprised by Polly’s news. -In fact on the day of the surprise party Mr. Greaves had told them that -a number of Antietam men were preparing to start for Alexandria where -McClellan’s forces were encamped; and they now encouraged Polly to -believe that her father and his friends would not be in immediate -danger.</p> -<p>Polly could not stay long.</p> -<p>“Now Father is gone I’ll have to work more steadily,” she said gravely. -“I am to help in the garden and look after the chickens, so I can’t come -over very often.”</p> -<p>Roxy looked so mournful at this that Polly promptly added: “But we can -signal to each other every morning, Roxy; so if I have time we can meet -at the big sycamore,” and at this Roxy’s face brightened.</p> -<p>“Couldn’t I come over and help you, Polly?” she asked hopefully.</p> -<p>But Mrs. Miller declared that Roxy could not be spared.</p> -<p>“We must finish the quilt, and start a box of things for the soldiers -and you can help a great deal,” she said; and that afternoon the -quilting-frame was again set up in the dining-room, and Roxy, seated -beside Grandma Miller, did her best to set every stitch evenly, and was -well pleased when her mother praised her work, saying that Roxy could -quilt as well as her own mother.</p> -<p>While Roxy had been helping on the quilt Jacob had been busy making the -wide seat around the butternut tree, and when the little girl came out -on the porch in the late afternoon he called to her to come and see it.</p> -<p>Jacob was Dulcie’s husband, a good-natured negro who had charge of the -farm work, and who could do many useful things; and when Roxy ran toward -the tree he pointed to the wide seat he had just finished and said -proudly:</p> -<p>“Dar! Dat seat am as solid as dis earth. Dat am a fine seat, Missy.”</p> -<p>“Yes, indeed, Jacob! And I am going to bring my circus animals out and -have them march around the tree,” said Roxy. “Wait a minute, Jacob, and -I’ll fetch them.”</p> -<p>“I should admire ter see dat circus, an’ so’d all de niggers!” responded -the man eagerly. “If yo’ ain’ no objection, Missy, I’d like ter hab -Dulcie an’ May-Rose an’ de men wot helps me, step up here an’ see yo’ -animals, an’ hear yo’ tell ’bout ’em?” and Jacob looked pleadingly -toward Roxy.</p> -<p>“Yes, Jacob! Ask them all to come,” replied Roxy, running toward the -house, while Jacob hurried off toward the cabins where the negroes lived -to tell them of the entertainment in store for them.</p> -<p>Roxy carried the boxes containing the paper animals to the wide seat and -had them all arranged in a procession when she heard the chatter of the -negroes as they came toward the tree.</p> -<p>Jacob was a little in advance of the others; and although Dulcie -announced that by rights she ought to have charge of “dis gatherin’,” -Jacob paid no attention to her remarks, and told each one of the -servants where they were to stand.</p> -<p>“We’s all ready, Missy,” he announced, smiling delightedly as his glance -rested on the “circus.”</p> -<p>Roxy smiled in response, as she stood by the seat holding the same -hazel-rod that she had used on the day of the party.</p> -<p>“We will begin with the elephants,” she said, “and as I go around the -tree please follow me.”</p> -<p>“Yas, yas, indeed, Missy Roxy,” came the reply from the delighted -negroes, and Roxy pointed out elephants, camels and zebras, and told -briefly where such animals lived, and something of their habits that she -had learned from the big red-covered book in Grandma’s book-closet.</p> -<p>There were many exclamations of wonder and surprise, and, when Roxy -finished, a chorus of thanks, and Grandma Miller and Roxy’s mother came -down from the porch and told Dulcie to serve everyone with an extra good -supper that night. “And remember it is a treat from Miss Roxy,” she -added smilingly; and Roxy again thought that her grandmother was a -pattern for all grandmothers to follow, as the well-pleased negroes -followed Dulcie toward the kitchen.</p> -<p>“It was fun to show them the circus,” Roxy declared, her eyes shining -with delight, as her mother helped her gather up the animals and put -them in the boxes. “And I don’t see why slaves are not as happy as other -people,” she added thoughtfully. “I’m sure Jacob and Dulcie are happy.”</p> -<p>“They are not slaves, my dear. Your grandfather gave all his negroes -their freedom, and that is what many Southern people have done and many -more were planning to do so before this war began,” replied Grandma -Miller.</p> -<p>“When the war is over every negro will be free, won’t they, Grandma?” -questioned Roxy, as they all walked up the slope.</p> -<p>“If the Union Army conquers the Confederates there will be no more -slavery in America,” Mrs. Miller replied gravely.</p> -<p>Roxy set her boxes on the porch steps, and stood looking off toward the -bridge, remembering that Polly had told her that, after all, her father -might secure leave of absence and appear at any time.</p> -<p>It had been a happy day, even if Polly’s news had been discouraging, she -thought, as her glance rested on the glimpse of quiet river, the stretch -of gray road, and the distant bridge.</p> -<p>And as she looked Roxy’s heart began to beat more quickly, for she could -see a figure on horseback coming across the bridge; as it drew near she -saw that the rider’s coat was blue.</p> -<p>“It’s Father! It’s Father!” she exclaimed, and raced down the slope to -the opening in the wall that led to the highway.</p> -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXI' title='XI: A Triumphal Arch'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XI</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.0em'>A TRIUMPHAL ARCH</span> -</h2> -</div> -<p>The blue clad figure on horseback came on so slowly that Roxy had -reached the road long before the horseman was near enough for her to be -sure that it was really her long expected father; and when he drew rein -and called, “Roxy!” and smiled down at her the little girl, looking up -at the thin worn face, cried out: “Oh, Father! You’re sick,” and Captain -Delfield nodded. “Pretty well used up, my dear. Run back to the house -and tell your mother I’m coming,” and he turned his horse into the lane -leading to the house while Roxy raced across the slope and ran into the -house calling: “Mother! Mother! Mother!” until Mrs. Delfield and Grandma -Miller both came hurrying to know what had happened.</p> -<p>“Father has come! Father is here!” said the little girl, rushing through -the house to the yard where Jacob was tenderly helping Captain Delfield -from the tired horse.</p> -<p>Roxy’s father was not only worn out by his long journey on horseback; he -had not yet recovered from a wound received some weeks earlier on the -slopes of Malvern where the Union forces had repulsed the Confederates -and driven Lee’s army toward Richmond.</p> -<p>For the week after his arrival Captain Delfield was in bed, and Roxy -spent a part of each day in the big front chamber where her father’s bed -was drawn near the windows so that he could look off across the valley -to the distant hills.</p> -<p>He wanted to hear all that she could tell him about her friend Polly and -the little Hinham girls, and when she told of her discovery of the -Yankee soldier who had escaped from Richmond prison he listened eagerly -and smiled over Roxy’s description of Dulcie’s discovery that her food -had been taken.</p> -<p>“Helping that boy will help win the war, Roxy; and you helped the Yankee -Army without knowing it,” he said.</p> -<p>“But, Father, if it had been a Confederate boy I would have taken him -food just the same,” Roxy responded, half fearing that her father, -wounded by a Confederate bullet, might not agree with her in this; but -Captain Delfield answered approvingly:</p> -<p>“Of course, dear child. The Confederate soldiers are a worthy foe. Of -course you would have helped any starving man.”</p> -<p>Roxy searched the fields for wild flowers for her father’s room; she -brought up her dolls to keep him company, and one day, to Dulcie’s -horror, Roxy was discovered bringing the squawking bantams through the -kitchen, and in spite of all Dulcie’s exclamations and warnings the -little girl carried the surprised fowl up to her father’s chamber and -set the covered basket down near his bed.</p> -<p>“What have you named them?” he asked, leaning over to admire their -shining feathers and bright eyes; and Roxy confessed that she had not -thought of naming them.</p> -<p>“Why not call them Napoleon and Josephine?” he suggested. “You see, -Napoleon was small but he was as brave and noisy as this small bantam; -and Josephine was beautiful, and so is Madame Bantam!”</p> -<p>Roxy laughed happily. Now that her father could sit up the greater part -of each day and was always ready to tell her stories, and to hear -whatever she had to say, Roxy felt that all was well; and to have him -give the bantams such fine names made her once more eager for a visit -from Polly that she might tell her friend all that had happened in the -week since her father’s arrival; for Polly no longer came every day. She -was keeping her promise to her father, and worked in the garden and in -the house, and the two girls’ signals each morning was all they knew of -each other.</p> -<p>Roxy was looking forward to the day when her father would come down to -the porch; her mother said they would have a celebration on that day, -and Roxy signalled for Polly to come over, and greatly to her delight -Polly’s answering signal was “yes,” and Roxy hastened to the kitchen to -ask a special favor of Dulcie.</p> -<p>“Dulcie, I expect my father will come downstairs to-morrow,” she began.</p> -<p>“Now, ain’ dat good news, Missy!” exclaimed Dulcie. “I reckons I’d -better hab fried chicken, an’ new peas, an’ co’n fritters”—and with her -hands on her hips and her eyes fixed far above Roxy’s head Dulcie named -over a list of tempting dishes, to which Roxy listened a little -impatiently and before she had finished interrupted by exclaiming:</p> -<p>“Yes! Yes, Dulcie! And plum tarts! I specially want plum tarts.”</p> -<p>“Does yo’ so, Missy Roxy? Den I’ll hev ter make de pastry ter-day. -Pastry dat ain’ set de day ’fore it’s e’t ain’ wuth nothin’!” and Dulcie -shook her head smilingly as she watched the little girl hurry off to the -garden to gather the tall yellow lilies that blossomed near the stone -wall.</p> -<p>Roxy carried these to her father’s room and found him sitting near the -window.</p> -<p>“Polly’s coming to-morrow, and Dulcie’s going to have the best dinner, -Father!” she exclaimed. “And you can try my swing!”</p> -<p>“That is what I mean to do,” Captain Delfield said, and in a few moments -Roxy bade him good-bye and ran downstairs for she was planning that her -father’s first day downstairs should be a real celebration, and she was -eager to talk it over with Grandma Miller, who listened approvingly.</p> -<p>“Grandma, I have a plan!” she said, following Mrs. Miller to the dairy, -a square building of stone near the house. The dairy was always cool, -even on these hot August days. Its floor was of stone, and there was a -bubbling spring of cool water in one corner.</p> -<p>There were shelves on two sides of the dairy holding big blue and yellow -bowls and shining tins filled with milk. There were two churns, that -stood near the spring, and a broad stone shelf where Grandma worked the -golden butter and stamped the squares with a beautiful rose.</p> -<p>Roxy always liked to visit the dairy, and to help Grandma make butter; -but to-day as she sat down on the small three-legged stool in one corner -of the room and watched her grandmother skimming the heavy yellow cream -from the pans of milk her thoughts were not of butter.</p> -<p>“Grandma! I want to make an arch, a triumphal arch, for my father! I -read about it in a story about George Washington. When heroes come back -from war people put up triumphal arches, and my father is a hero,” -declared Roxy.</p> -<p>“Why, I think that is a very good idea,” replied Grandmother, “and where -do you want the arch?”</p> -<p>“In front of the porch,” replied Roxy, smiling happily that Grandma had -so quickly agreed to her plan. “And I want to have it all green leaves, -laurel and hazel branches, with yellow lilies mixed in; and I want Polly -to sing when Father comes out on the porch!”</p> -<p>Grandma nodded approvingly and smiled at Roxy. “Your father will think -he has won the war,” she said, “and I am glad you thought of so good a -plan. You can ask Jacob to help you to-morrow morning, and you had best -be up early so that the arch will be ready when your father comes down.”</p> -<p>“Oh, yes, Grandma, I will be up at daylight,” Roxy promised, and now -started off to the brook to get branches of laurel for the arch. She was -busy all the afternoon bringing armfuls of the shining green laurel, and -graceful branches of hazel, and when she bade her father good-night she -was more tired than she had been since the day of her walk to visit the -Hinhams.</p> -<p>But she awoke very early. No one else in the house was astir, and when -Roxy entered the kitchen Dulcie was just crossing the yard from her -cabin.</p> -<p>“Gwine ter be a drea’ful hot day,” Dulcie declared. “Yo’ sit up ter dis -lille roun’ table clus ter de winder, Missy Roxy, an’ I’ll spread out -somet’ing fer yo’ ter eat. ’Twill be nigh an hour ’fore break’us!” And -Dulcie drew a small table to an open window, covered it with a white -cloth and brought a blue pitcher filled with milk, a blue bowl, and a -plate of corn bread.</p> -<p>“Now, jes’ he’p yo’se’f, honey,” she said. “Jacob’ll be ready time yo’ -finished.”</p> -<p>Roxy was quite ready to obey, and as she ate the excellent corn bread -and drank the cool milk she looked out of the window toward where the -tall yellow lilies blossomed, and thought happily of her father’s -surprise when he saw the “triumphal” arch.</p> -<p>“Dulcie, I am going to ask Polly to sing,” she said, when she was ready -to leave the kitchen.</p> -<p>Dulcie chuckled and smiled, as she usually did at whatever Roxy might -say.</p> -<p>“W’y don’ yo’ hab Jacob an’ de odder niggers sing? Dey know sum right -fine songs. I reckon yo’ pa be right pleased, Missy Roxy, ter hear ’em!” -she said.</p> -<p>The little girl clapped her hands in delight.</p> -<p>“That will be splendid, Dulcie! Splendid!” she exclaimed. “Oh! It’s -really going to be a celebration.”</p> -<p>“Yo’ jes’ speak to yo’ grandma ’bout it!” said the well-pleased Dulcie.</p> -<p>“Grandma always says ‘yes,’” declared Roxy happily, and started off to -tell Jacob just where to fix the tall willow saplings that he had cut as -a frame for Roxy’s arch.</p> -<p>She selected a place half-way between the porch and the big butternut -tree, and Jacob drove the saplings firmly into the ground, and drew -their tops together in a graceful arch. He brought a step-ladder for -Roxy to stand on and a ball of twine, and showed her how to fasten the -branches of laurel and hazel leaves about the arched poles; and Roxy was -busily at work when Polly, riding the little brown horse, trotted into -the yard.</p> -<p>Polly was eager to help, and gathered an armful of the yellow lilies and -helped Roxy put them in place at the top of the arch, where they glowed -among the glossy laurel leaves, and, as Dulcie admiringly declared, -“Look jes’ like stars.”</p> -<p>While the girls worked Roxy described her plan for her father’s -pleasure, and Polly laughingly consented to sing whatever Roxy wanted -her to sing, and thought Dulcie’s idea of having the negroes sing would -be sure to please Captain Delfield, as indeed it did, when a few hours -later he stepped out on the porch and saw the beautiful arch, and Roxy -announced:</p> -<p>“Father! That’s your triumphal arch! And Polly’s going to sing,” and he -saw a tall girl in a tan-colored linen dress with shining red hair -standing near the flowery arch, who with a smiling greeting made him a -low curtsy and sang:</p> -<p style='text-indent:0; margin:1em auto 1em 2em'> -“Hail to the Chief, who in triumph advances!<br /> -Honored and blessed be the ever-green pine!<br /> -Long may the tree, in his banner that glances,<br /> -Flourish, the shelter and grace of our line!”<br /> -</p> -<p>And then with another curtsy, Polly came up to stand beside Roxy on the -upper step, and before Captain Delfield could thank her for the song, -Jacob, followed by the other negro servants, came around the corner of -the house, and with smiling greetings to the Captain began singing:</p> -<p style='text-indent:0; margin:1em auto 1em 2em'> -“Nebber yo’ fear—<br /> -W’en de corn am growin’,<br /> -Nebber yo’ fear<br /> -W’en de flowers am’ blowin’.<br /> -Nebber yo’ fear de dreadful soun’<br /> -Risin’, risin’ out de groun’<br /> -Ob armies marchin’, marchin’ roun’.”<br /> -</p> -<p>As the men sang they swayed back and forth in time to the tune, and -finally disappeared behind the house in a solemn march as the song -ended.</p> -<p>But Roxy ran after them and called them back and Captain Delfield -thanked them heartily.</p> -<p>Then Roxy led her father under the arch to the swing, where he admired -the wide seat around the tree, and declared that General McClellan -himself could not have had a finer welcome.</p> -<p>It proved a day that the little group would long remember; not alone on -account of Roxy’s celebration for her father, but because it was the -29th of August, 1862, the day when General Pope found himself facing -Stonewall Jackson, the great Confederate general, on the battlefield of -Bull Run. A battle where the Union forces were driven from the field -with great loss, and were pursued by Lee’s army until, at Chantilly, Lee -gave up the pursuit, and the broken battalions of the Union Army -struggled back to Washington.</p> -<p>It was Roland Hinham who brought this news, several days later. Captain -Delfield and Roxy were on the broad seat under the butternut when Roxy -exclaimed: “Here comes Roland Hinham on horseback!”</p> -<p>“What is he riding like that for? His horse is coming at a gallop,” said -Captain Delfield, rising to his feet and watching Roland as the boy -urged his horse up the slope.</p> -<p>The tired horse came to a standstill in the yard and Roland swung -himself from the saddle and ran toward Captain Delfield and hurriedly -told him the news of the battle of Bull Run. “And that isn’t all, sir,” -continued the excited boy. “General Lee’s troops are marching into -Maryland.”</p> -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXII' title='XII: Startling News'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XII</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.0em'>STARTLING NEWS</span> -</h2> -</div> -<p>“Will the Southern soldiers come here?” Roxy asked, clinging to her -father’s arm, but Captain Delfield did not reply; he was questioning -Roland for news of the advancing army, and hearing that President -Lincoln had given the command of the Army of the Potomac to General -George B. McClellan.</p> -<p>“Then there is some hope of saving the Union,” declared Captain -Delfield; “but if Confederate troops are moving into Maryland they will -seize horses and cattle wherever they find them. We must drive our stock -into the mountains and keep them out of sight until the danger is over.”</p> -<p>“What danger?” questioned Mrs. Miller, who had come down from the house -to greet Roland, and Roxy again heard Roland tell the story of the -rumors of advancing armies.</p> -<p>Captain Delfield encouraged them all by saying that these hillside farms -were too far from the direct routes of travel to make it likely that -marching armies would trouble them; but Mrs. Miller nevertheless at once -started Jacob and the other negroes to harvest the wheat, and to gather -every crop in the fields bordering the highway.</p> -<p>Roland said that his mother and little sisters were going to Sharpsburg, -and that he and some of the negroes meant, that very day, to start into -the mountains with their horses, ponies and cows; and he bade them all -good-bye, promising to let them know of the family’s return home when -the trouble was over.</p> -<p>Captain Delfield and Roxy walked slowly toward the house, and Roxy knew -that her soldier father was wishing himself able to again join his -regiment; but while he was better he was not yet able to sit up all day, -and was easily tired, and there could be no question of his leaving home -at present.</p> -<p>There were two fine gray mules belonging to Grandma Miller, and one -driving horse, beside Captain Delfield’s fine saddle-horse that had -brought him safely on his long journey.</p> -<p>“The mules cannot be spared until the crops are harvested, and I do not -mean to start the cattle off until I see soldiers coming over the -bridge,” decided Mrs. Miller.</p> -<p>It seemed to Roxy that Roland’s news had changed everything. No one now -seemed to remember her, she thought, as she heard her father and mother -talking of General McClellan and General Lee. She heard her father say -that before the war began these two great generals had known each other -well, and regarded each other highly. They had served together under the -American flag in Mexico.</p> -<p>Roxy did not stay to hear more but went into the kitchen to find Dulcie -sitting in the big rocking-chair, with her apron over her head, rocking -vigorously back and forth and groaning with every breath.</p> -<p>“Stop, Dulcie! Whatever is the matter?” demanded Roxy, taking hold of -the blue-checked apron and drawing it from Dulcie’s face.</p> -<p>“We’s all gwine ter be druv off into slav’ree; or mebbe we’s all gwine -ter be kill’t!” declared the frightened woman.</p> -<p>For the first time that day Roxy laughed; and at the sight of the little -girl’s smiling face Dulcie began to regain a little courage. “Ain’ we, -Missy Roxy?” she half whispered.</p> -<p>“Of course not! Who said so?” asked Roxy.</p> -<p>“Jacob!” and Dulcie was promptly on her feet. “Does yo’ means ter tell -me dat de Southern sojers ain’ a-marchin’ dis way?” she questioned.</p> -<p>“Oh, Dulcie! They won’t hurt <i>us</i>! Whoever said they would? And here it -is ’most supper time and you haven’t begun anything,” and leaving the -puzzled Dulcie Roxy went out to the yard. She visited “Napoleon” and -“Josephine,” and promised not to let the invading army capture them, and -then wandered down the slope to the wall and leaning against it stood -looking off toward the Lawrence farm.</p> -<p>“I wonder if Polly knows?” she thought, and remembered that there were -only two negro servants at the Lawrence place. “I’ll go over now and -tell her,” she resolved, and ran down the slope toward the old sycamore, -and climbed the pasture path leading to Polly’s home.</p> -<p>It was a long walk and Roxy was warm and tired when she discovered -Polly, who was leading “Brownie” toward the stables.</p> -<p>“Did you signal that you were coming, Roxy?” called Polly.</p> -<p>Roxy shook her head. “I didn’t think about signals,” she said. “Polly, -General Lee is marching into Maryland!”</p> -<p>Polly laughed delightedly.</p> -<p>“Oh, Roxy-Doxy! Have you made up a new game?”</p> -<p>Roxy stamped her foot angrily, forgetting the gold ring and her promise.</p> -<p>“Well, Polly Lawrence! I ran and ran, and I am as tired as I can be, and -it isn’t a game. I came to tell you so you could save your horses,” she -said, thinking angrily that she would now go straight home and never -speak to Polly again.</p> -<p>But Polly’s face was grave and she at once began asking Roxy questions, -so that in a few moments Roxy no longer remembered to be angry, and was -telling Polly all that she knew about the advance of Lee’s soldiers, and -of what her father had said about driving the horses into some hidden -valley among the hills where they would be safe.</p> -<p>“If the Confederates find your father they will take him prisoner,” -Polly suddenly announced. “Of course they will, for they will see by his -uniform that he is a Union soldier!”</p> -<p>“Oh, Polly!” exclaimed Roxy. “I don’t believe my father thought about -that,” and her gray eyes widened with fear.</p> -<p>But Polly assured her that of course Captain Delfield had thought of it, -and would prepare to avoid capture.</p> -<p>“If we could only have some warning before the soldiers get here perhaps -no great harm would be done; we could drive off the stock, and go away -ourselves, if that seemed best,” Polly said thoughtfully. “Anyway, I’m -not going to have ‘Brownie’ go until I do,” and she patted the little -brown horse lovingly.</p> -<p>“I guess I must go now,” Roxy said. “You will signal every morning, -won’t you, Polly?”</p> -<p>Polly promised, and Roxy started for home, her thoughts filled with a -new fear: that the Confederates might discover her father and take him -prisoner. She remembered what Polly had said about being warned of the -approach of the invading army; and before Roxy had reached the old -sycamore she had made a firm resolve that she would watch the broad -turnpike that led up from Virginia and warn her father and Polly at the -first sight of marching troops; and the little girl at once began to -plan how she could carry out this resolve. It would mean, she knew, that -she must be on the alert constantly, and that she must not let her -mother, father or Grandmother Miller discover what she meant to do.</p> -<p>In the high pasture beyond the sycamore towered a rocky ledge where -Polly and Roxy had often eaten their picnic luncheons, and the little -girl now remembered that from the top of this mass of rock one could -look off far beyond the bridge to where two roads met; one of these -roads led off through the mountains, the other was the highway that led -on past the Miller farm toward Sharpsburg.</p> -<p>“That’s just the place. I’ll go there every day and watch,” Roxy -resolved quickly; and suddenly realizing that the sun was nearly out of -sight behind the western hills, Roxy hurried toward home, and found the -family at the supper table.</p> -<p>“Father, would the Confederates take you prisoner?” she asked eagerly, -standing close beside her father’s chair.</p> -<p>“They would have to catch me first, my dear. If I see them first I’ll be -safe enough,” he replied, and Roxy gave a little sigh of satisfaction as -she sat down beside him.</p> -<p>“I’ll tell you the minute I see them,” she promised soberly, and Roxy -thought to herself how wonderful it would be if she could really do -something to help her soldier father: perhaps save him from that dreaded -prison from which the Yankee boy had escaped.</p> -<p>That night the talk was of invading armies, and of the danger that -seemed to threaten Washington; and Roxy, curled up on the old sofa in -the sitting-room, again resolved that she would not fail in her plan to -be at the ledge at an early hour the next morning. She began to wish -that she had told Polly of her plan.</p> -<p>“Polly always thinks of things that I don’t: of signals, and all sorts -of things,” thought Roxy; and at the remembrance of signals a new idea -flashed into her mind. She must tell Polly as soon as she could, and she -could signal Polly from the ledge. That would be splendid. Roxy no -longer felt tired or sleepy. She jumped up from the sofa and if at that -very moment her mother had not said: “Bedtime and past, Roxy,” the -little girl would have been eager to start off across the pastures to -tell her friend of the new plan.</p> -<p>“Why, Roxy! Your eyes are shining, and your face is flushed; are you -ill?” exclaimed Mrs. Delfield as the little girl stood beside her.</p> -<p>“No, only I wish it was morning. I want to tell Polly something. I am -going to get up at daylight and go over to Polly’s; may I?” Roxy asked.</p> -<p>“Why, yes. And ask Polly if she and her mother mean to stay at home. -Tell her to come here at any time if we can help them.”</p> -<p>“Yes, Mother! Polly can signal if she wants me,” Roxy answered.</p> -<p>“‘Signal’?” questioned Captain Delfield, and listened to Roxy’s -description of the signals the two girls had arranged from their upper -windows.</p> -<p>“Better not let any soldiers discover your signals,” he said smilingly. -“You know that is the way armies direct attacks, by signals.”</p> -<p>But Captain Delfield did not for a moment imagine that within a few days -these very signals that Roxy described were to involve his little -daughter in real danger.</p> -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXIII' title='XIII: September Sixth'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XIII</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.0em'>SEPTEMBER SIXTH</span> -</h2> -</div> -<p>Roxy was up as the first rays of the September sun came through her -eastern window; but early as it was she found Dulcie busy in the -kitchen, and could see Jacob starting off to the fields with the mule -team.</p> -<p>“Yo’ gran’ma says ebery grain ob wheat and ebery ear ob co’n mus’ be out -er de fields ’fore de marchin’ armies comes dis way,” said Dulcie -solemnly, as she gave Roxy a plate of freshly baked corn bread, and bade -her run to the dairy for a pitcher of milk.</p> -<p>“I want my lunch basket filled, please, Dulcie,” said Roxy. “I may be -gone all day.”</p> -<p>“Don’ yo’ go near de roads, Missy Roxy,” warned Dulcie, “an’ yo’ tells -Missy Polly Lawrence not ter go ridin’ off lik’ she does. ’Tain’ gwine -ter be safe,” and the negro woman shook her head solemnly, as she -started toward the pantry to fill the little covered basket.</p> -<p>Roxy put on the big straw hat that she always wore in her tramps about -the pastures, and promising Dulcie to keep away from the roads she set -forth. As she ran down the slope her thoughts were of the lookout she -meant to keep from the top of the high ledge, and of the signals that -should tell Polly that marching soldiers could be seen in the distance.</p> -<p>“I’ll have to fix a pole on the ledge,” she decided, “and Polly will -give me some strips of white cloth.”</p> -<p>The early September morning was cool and pleasant, and the air was -fragrant with ripening fruit and the scent of autumn flowers. Along the -wall the grapes were turning purple, and Roxy noticed the yellow stubble -of the wheat fields.</p> -<p>As she neared the brook she saw bunches of purple thistles growing among -the silvery-like young willows on the borders of the stream, and the -little girl lingered to admire the beauty spread before her.</p> -<p>But she was too eager to see Polly to stay long near the quiet stream. -And as she climbed the pasture slope she decided that it would be a good -plan to leave her lunch basket at the foot of the ledge where she could -get it on her return; and she set it carefully on a shelf of rock that -she could easily reach, and then hurried on.</p> -<p>Polly, busy in the hillside orchard gathering apples, had seen Roxy as -she came toward the farm, and came running to meet her, her red hair -dancing about her face.</p> -<p>“What is it, Roxy?” she asked a little anxiously, putting her arm about -Roxy’s shoulders, and Roxy told of her plan to climb the ledge and keep -watch of the distant highway.</p> -<p>“And then, Polly, when I signalled that soldiers were coming you could -start off with your horses and cows for the hills, and I could run home -and tell Grandma.”</p> -<p>Polly listened gravely.</p> -<p>“It’s a splendid plan, Roxy. I think you were clever to think of it. And -the ledge is just the place. What did your father say about it? Was he -not proud that you had thought of it?” she asked.</p> -<p>“Oh, Polly! I didn’t tell him. I was afraid they would not let me do it. -And, Polly, you won’t tell, will you?” pleaded Roxy. “I want to keep it -secret until I do see the soliders. Perhaps, after all, they won’t -come.”</p> -<p>Polly agreed, and the two girls decided that the moment Roxy should see -any sign of advancing troops she should fasten the strip of white cloth, -that Polly would give her, to a stout pole and wave it from the top of -the ledge.</p> -<p>“But of course after you wave it you had better fix the pole firmly -among the rocks and start for home,” said Polly; “there are a lot of -sticks near the ledge that will do for a flagpole,” she added, and after -a little more talk of Roxy’s plan the friends said good-bye and Roxy -turned back toward the ledge, well pleased that Polly had so promptly -approved of her plan.</p> -<p>It was rather a difficult matter for the little girl to reach the top of -the mass of rocks that rose from the rough pasture. To carry her basket -and the slender pole that she had found, and to climb along the slippery -ledges without losing her footing made it very slow work. Roxy at last -poked the flag-stick as far ahead of her as she could, then, reaching -up, she set the basket on some outstanding rock, and this left her hands -free to seize at bushes and rocks and pull herself up to where the -basket and flag-stick rested, and in this way she finally reached the -top, where masses of rough stone, scrubby laurel-bushes, and one twisted -little oak tree covered the surface.</p> -<p>Roxy was glad to rest in the scanty shade of the little oak tree. -Sitting there she could look over the peaceful countryside and the quiet -Antietam as it flowed under its arched bridges and made its way to the -Potomac.</p> -<p>Turning her glance to the highway she could see the road like a gray -ribbon in the distance, and realized that no horsemen could approach -without her seeing them when they were yet miles distant, and Roxy -smiled happily to think how well she was carrying out her plan.</p> -<p>But after she had rested from her scramble up the ledge, she began to -look about for something to amuse her, and to realize that an entire day -by herself on the top of this ledge was a very long time. She wished -that she had brought the big rag doll, “Dinah,” that she had had ever -since she could remember, for company; and she wondered what little -Indian girls did for toys.</p> -<p>“I’ll bring Dinah to-morrow,” she resolved, and just then a gray -squirrel poked his head over a near-by rock and fixed his bright, -startled glance on Roxy, and an instant later another gray head appeared -beside the first squirrel and they watched her for a brief moment and -then vanished.</p> -<p>“Oh!” Roxy whispered softly, and noiselessly opening her lunch basket -she drew out a fat molasses cooky dotted with raisins and tiny nuts, and -breaking off little bits she threw them toward the place where the -squirrels had appeared, and it was not long before the little creatures -again ventured out and seized upon these unexpected dainties.</p> -<p>Very softly Roxy began to speak to them, at the same time tossing bits -of the cooky in their direction.</p> -<p>“You must be Confederates because you wear gray clothes,” she said. “Lee -and Jackson, I’ll call you, because Father says they are as brave as any -Yankee soldier, and you are brave to come so near,” and Roxy held the -last crumbs of the cooky in her outstretched hand tempting her new -friends.</p> -<p>All the morning she found amusement in watching the squirrels and trying -to make friends with them, although she did not forget to keep a sharp -outlook toward the distant road; and when she saw the sun in mid-heaven -she ate a part of the contents of her lunch basket, and again fed the -squirrels with scraps of food, and was delighted when one of them boldly -perched himself on her foot.</p> -<p>This first day that Roxy spent on the pasture ledge was September 6th, -1862, the very day on which the Confederates, under General Jackson, -made their entry into the town of Frederick, Maryland. They had expected -to be welcomed, but they were disappointed in this.</p> -<p>Jackson’s army of shoeless soldiers clad in tattered uniforms were not -received as “liberators,” as Lee had expected. There was but little -secessionist element in Western Maryland; and loyal women in Frederick -dared to throw out the flag of the Union from their windows. McClellan’s -army was marching to meet the invading foe, and a few days later the -Confederates left Frederick, moving westward beyond the mountains, and -McClellan’s troops riding into town on a bright Sunday morning were -warmly welcomed.</p> -<p>People crowded about General McClellan, decking “Dan,” the fine horse he -rode, with wreaths and flowers, and the Union flag floated everywhere.</p> -<p>But the people on the hillside farms above Sharpsburg did not know of -this for days afterward—not until a terrible battle had raged almost at -their very doors; and while General Jackson moved down the south side of -the Potomac toward Harper’s Ferry the farmers harvested their grain in -the fields along the Antietam and waited for news that might tell them -of the movement of Lee’s troops.</p> -<p>Roxy did not mean to go to sleep that first day of her watch and when, -in mid-afternoon, she awakened suddenly, to find both of the gray -squirrels had settled themselves in her hat, that she had put down -beside her lunch basket, she wondered at herself, and looked anxiously -toward the road, fearful lest by sleeping she had risked her father’s -safety.</p> -<p>But the road lay quiet and untraveled, and now a new question came into -Roxy’s thoughts. “Nights.” Perhaps the army might advance under cover of -the night, she thought. But the little girl finally decided there was -nothing she could do in that case.</p> -<p>“I’ll just watch days; that’s all I can do,” she thought, and shared the -remainder of her luncheon with “Lee” and “Jackson.”</p> -<p>It had seemed a very long day to Roxy, and when the sun began to -approach the western horizon she was glad to scramble down the ledge and -start for home.</p> -<p>“I’ll bring ‘Dinah’ to-morrow,” she thought, as she ran down the slope -toward the sycamore.</p> -<p>As Roxy came in sight of the big yard near the house she gave a sudden -exclamation.</p> -<p>“It’s a gray pony!” she said, as if she could hardly believe it, and as -she entered the yard she again exclaimed: “It really is a gray pony,” -and she ran to where the pony was nibbling at the thick grass beside the -fence.</p> -<p>“It looks just like one of the Hinhams’ ponies,” she said aloud, as she -stopped to look at it and wonder how it came to be in Grandma Miller’s -yard; and seeing Dulcie in the kitchen doorway she called:</p> -<p>“Dulcie, where did this pony come from?”</p> -<p>“Dat pony ’rive here dis mornin’, Missy Roxy. Young Massa Hinham lef’ -dat pony; an’ he say it were for Missy Roxy to hev ’til he comes ter -fetch it. I reckon dat’s yo’ pony, Missy,” and Dulcie beamed and nodded -as she saw Roxy’s delighted smile. “Young Massa Hinham say dat de pony’s -name am ‘Beauty,’” Dulcie added, and Roxy ventured to pat “Beauty’s” -neck, and found the pony well pleased by her attention.</p> -<p>Jacob declared the newcomer as “tame as a kitten,” and after supper Roxy -came back to the yard, climbed to the pony’s back and, guiding it by -pulling on its mane and rapping her feet sharply against its fat sides, -she rode it about the yard, and for the time entirely forgot all about -the ledge and her task of watching a distant road.</p> -<p>Grandma Miller said that she knew all about the gray pony: Roland, when -he was Roxy’s age, had trotted it up and down the country roads and -across fields and pastures, and Jasmine often rode on its fat back.</p> -<p>“Roxy will be perfectly safe with ‘Beauty’ and she can ride over to see -Polly instead of walking,” said Mrs. Miller, greatly to Roxy’s delight, -who at once decided that on the following morning instead of climbing up -the slope to the ledge she would ride on “Beauty.” But she said nothing -of this to Grandma, and was ready to go to bed at an early hour after -her long day on the distant ledge.</p> -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXIV' title='XIV: Roxy Taken Prisoner'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XIV</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.0em'>ROXY TAKEN PRISONER</span> -</h2> -</div> -<p>Everyone about the Miller farm was so busy that Roxy’s daily -disappearance did not attract much notice. With her well-filled lunch -basket she would run into the yard, slip bit and bridle over “Beauty’s” -head, seat herself on his broad back and trot off down the slope to the -ledge, and then leave “Beauty” to wander about the pasture until the -late afternoon.</p> -<p>The pony never went far away. He would feed on the wild grasses, going -to the brook to drink the cool water, and come trotting back to the -shade of the ledge. Several times each day Roxy would leave her -watch-tower and go down to pat “Beauty” and keep him company for a few -moments. The little creature had always been with children, and was well -content to keep within hearing of Roxy’s voice.</p> -<p>“Dinah,” the big rag doll, now lived permanently under the scrubby oak -tree on top of the ledge, and the two gray squirrels, “Lee” and -“Jackson,” became so tame that they would come running to watch Roxy -climb up the ledge, chittering and scolding noisily, and eager for bits -from the well-filled lunch basket. They were no longer afraid of the -little girl, and when they would perch themselves beside “Dinah” as if -expecting the big doll to feed them, watching her with sharp, bead-like -eyes, Roxy would laugh with delight. By the end of the third day of her -self-appointed task she found the time going very rapidly and thought -the top of the ledge the finest of playhouses.</p> -<p>On the second day Polly had appeared at noonday bringing a fine ripe -melon and some peaches, and the two girls had feasted happily.</p> -<p>“We might signal to each other just for fun,” Polly suggested. “You -could wave the signal three times at noon and again just before you -start for home, and I’ll watch for it. But if you set up the pole with -the signal fastened to it, and don’t wave at all, I’ll know that means -‘Soldiers on the road,’” said Polly. “You won’t be so lonely if you can -signal me,” she added; and Roxy promptly declared that she was not -lonely; that “Lee” and “Jackson” and “Dinah” were the best of company.</p> -<p>“And having the pony makes a lot of difference, Polly. Just think when I -do see the soldiers I can get home so quickly and tell Father,” she -said; and then she showed Polly the tiny house she had made for “Dinah,” -building up three walls of flat stone and making a roof of twigs and -oak-leaves. “And the squirrels like it, too; they run in and out as if -they thought I had made it for them,” Roxy said; and Polly declared the -little house to be perfect, and again praised Roxy for keeping watch so -steadily.</p> -<p>“It’s just like being a real soldier on guard, Roxy,” she said, and Roxy -smiled happily; but Polly’s next words made her smile vanish. “If the -armies don’t come at night,” Polly added thoughtfully.</p> -<p>“You don’t suppose they will, Polly? Oh! What would we do?” said Roxy, -nearly ready to cry at the thought that, after all, she might not be of -any use to the Union cause or to her soldier father.</p> -<p>“I suppose if the Confederates were on the march at night they’d ride -straight on toward Washington; they wouldn’t stop at all, and perhaps -that would be the best for all of us,” Polly said gravely. “But if they -march by day you’ll see them, Roxy, and signal me and Mother and I will -start off with the horses.”</p> -<p>This satisfied Roxy, and she bade Polly a cheerful good-bye, and that -night waved her white signal as they had agreed before she mounted -“Beauty” and trotted down the slope toward home.</p> -<p>For several days Roxy signalled as Polly had suggested, played with -“Dinah” and the squirrels, and won the friendship of a handsome -squawking blue jay who began to share her luncheon with the squirrels, -and would scold noisily if he was not promptly attended to. And then, on -the afternoon of September thirteenth, came the adventure that Roxy -would never forget. She was waving her good-night signal to Polly when a -firm grasp on her arm made her drop the stick to which the white signal -was fastened and call out in fear as she looked up to find a stranger in -worn butternut-colored clothing standing beside her.</p> -<p>“What’s all this?” he asked gruffly. “I’ve had my eye on this signalling -for two days; what does it mean?”</p> -<p>For a moment Roxy was too frightened to answer, and the man’s voice -softened as he realized that the little girl was staring at him in -evident terror.</p> -<p>“Don’t be afraid. I only want to know why you come to this ledge every -day and signal. I reckon somebody is watching out for those signals, -eh?” and a little smile crept over his grim face as Roxy nodded in -response.</p> -<p>“I thought so!” he declared, evidently well pleased. “Now tell me all -about it,” he continued in a more friendly manner. “Something to do with -armies and soldiers, isn’t it?” he asked and again Roxy nodded.</p> -<p>“Well, tell me who sends you up here? And what for?” he questioned, and -now Roxy regained her courage. Gruff and stern as the stranger seemed -Roxy was no longer afraid of him, and she now answered quickly:</p> -<p>“Nobody sends me.”</p> -<p>“That’s a likely story. A little girl like you perched up here day after -day waving a white flag at certain hours. Where is your home?”</p> -<p>“Newburyport, Massachusetts,” replied Roxy.</p> -<p>“A Yankee girl! And what are you doing here?” he asked, but Roxy did not -answer. She wished now that she had not answered any of his questions.</p> -<p>“Where do you come from?” she now ventured, and at this unexpected -question the man laughed.</p> -<p>“I don’t mind telling you that my home is in South Carolina, and I’d be -mighty glad to be there,” he answered; “but I’ve no time to stand here. -I want to know about this signalling. If you are a Yankee girl I reckon -you’re here to protect some sneaking Yankee soldiers who are hid up -along these mountains to fire on Lee’s soldiers!” and he fixed his sharp -glance on Roxy, and for a moment the little girl felt sure that he knew -all about her wounded soldier father; and she quickly realized that she -must not let this man know where she lived.</p> -<p>“You’d better come with me,” he continued, looking about as if thinking -some enemy might be near, and he motioned for Roxy to start down the -ledge. Now and then he held out his hand to help her over some rough -place among the rocks, or where the soil was treacherously loose among -the tangle of roots, and when they reached the ground he said sternly:</p> -<p>“Now is your chance. Tell me where the Yankee soldiers are and you can -go straight home. If you don’t tell me I’ll have to take you with me, -and I will say I don’t want to do that,” and he watched Roxy anxiously.</p> -<p>But the little girl did not speak. Even if he did not carry her off, she -thought, she would not dare to go home for fear that he might follow her -and find her father. And suddenly a new fear took possession of Roxy’s -thoughts: the fear that her father might walk down the slope to meet her -as he sometimes did and that this Confederate soldier would see him.</p> -<p>With a sudden resolve to go as far away from the Miller farm as possible -Roxy sprang forward and ran up the slope toward the woods, and instantly -the man was after her and she felt herself seized and lifted in his -arms. But she made no outcry, as the man, muttering angrily, turned down -the hillside and hurried on to a little travelled road that skirted the -mountain slope, and here he set the little girl down, and with a warning -word not to move a step, he disappeared behind a thicket of tall laurel -bushes. She wondered what was to happen, but he was back in a moment -leading a thin gray horse; he lifted Roxy to the saddle, swung himself -up behind her and sent the horse forward at a gallop; and Roxy comforted -her fears for her father’s safety as she realized they were going away -from the familiar slopes of the Miller farm.</p> -<p>That very afternoon Roxy’s mother had determined that it would be better -for Roxy not to go, as she supposed the little girl did, to see Polly -every day, and she had decided that when “Beauty” should come trotting -into the yard bringing the smiling, happy Roxy home from her long day of -play she would tell her that after this she wanted her little daughter -at home. Mrs. Delfield had not the least thought that at that very -moment Roxy was miles away in a Confederate camp.</p> -<p>The sun was setting when “Beauty” was seen coming up the slope, and when -it was discovered that Roxy was not with him Mrs. Delfield and Jacob -started at once to look for her, feeling sure the pony had run away from -Roxy, leaving her to walk home.</p> -<p>But when they reached the Lawrence farm and discovered that Roxy had not -been there Mrs. Delfield was so alarmed that Polly told her the story of -Roxy’s plan to keep watch on top of the pasture ledge so that she could -warn her father if Confederate troops were seen on the highway.</p> -<p>“And she signalled me good-night; she must be there now,” said Polly, -and went with Mrs. Delfield to the pasture and at the foot of the ledge -called “Roxy! Roxy!” But no answer came.</p> -<p>They all climbed to the top and searched carefully, finding Roxy’s hat -and lunch basket, and being puzzled and alarmed that the little girl had -left these behind her.</p> -<p>Jacob was sent to tell Roxy’s father and Grandma Miller that Roxy could -not be found; and until darkness settled over the hills and valleys they -searched slope and pasture for the missing girl; and all night long -Jacob and the other servants hunted along the brook and mountainside -calling Roxy’s name, while Grandma Miller and Mrs. Delfield wandered -down the highway and over the bridge, coming home tired and discouraged.</p> -<p>Captain Delfield was the only one who came near guessing what had -befallen his little daughter.</p> -<p>“I believe the signalling is at the bottom of her disappearance. Very -likely Confederate scouts have been sent ahead of the main army, and if -one of them discovered signalling going on they may have taken Roxy to -camp to question her; but no harm will befall her, be sure of that. No -Southern soldier would harm a child. When she tells her story she will -be brought home in safety,” he said.</p> -<p>But Captain Delfield could not know that his loyal little daughter would -not tell her story, or even the place where she lived for fear that by -so doing she might endanger her father’s safety.</p> -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXV' title='XV: Roxy’s Ride to Sharpsburg'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XV</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.0em'>ROXY’S RIDE TO SHARPSBURG</span> -</h2> -</div> -<p>The September twilight had settled into dusk when the Confederate -soldier left the country road, turning his horse into a grove of -sycamores that bordered the Antietam River several miles below the -Miller farm.</p> -<p>The newcomers were instantly greeted by two other soldiers; and when -Roxy’s companion called out: “Here’s a Yankee prisoner, director of a -signalling corps,” they looked at him in amazement, and he set Roxy down -in front of them and continued: “Right here! This girl is a Yankee, and -she was stationed on a high ledge, has been there for days, keeping -watch on the road, and twice each day signalling, probably to some Yank, -so that at the first sight of Lee’s army he can be off to bring -McClellan after us,” and he frowned so fiercely that Roxy found it hard -to keep back her tears.</p> -<p>The two other soldiers looked at her gravely, and the elder of the two -said kindly:</p> -<p>“Well, she will probably tell us all about it, won’t you, little girl?”</p> -<p>“No, sir!” Roxy replied, and at this the man who had brought her to the -camp laughed.</p> -<p>“She’s well trained to keep the secret; not a word out of her,” he said.</p> -<p>“I have broiled a couple of chickens over the coals, and have some -melons; we’ll have a bite to eat, and after supper I reckon little Miss -Yankee will tell us just what the signals mean, and then I’ll take her -home,” said the elderly soldier, smiling at Roxy.</p> -<p>“Sit down,” said the other gruffly, pointing to a stump near by, and -Roxy obeyed. When one of the men brought her food she shook her head. -She was not hungry, and while she watched her companions eat she looked -around the little grove, and began to wonder if she could not escape and -make her way home; and the elder soldier, as if reading her thoughts, -shook his head at her smilingly.</p> -<p>“No use, Miss Yankee girl; we’d catch you,” he said, and at this Roxy -began to be really frightened, and to feel herself a prisoner.</p> -<p>The men paid no further attention to her, lighting their pipes, and -talking eagerly of the movements of Confederate troops. Roxy heard them -say that General Jackson was moving toward Harper’s Ferry, where he -would drive the Yanks from the place and move on to Hagerstown. And this -was really accomplished on the following day, as McClellan’s troops did -not arrive in time to prevent the surrender of the Union garrison of -eleven thousand men who became prisoners of war of the Confederates.</p> -<p>Once again the soldiers turned to Roxy and endeavored to persuade her to -tell to whom she signalled, and why; but the little girl kept silent. -One of the men threatened that they would take her so far from home that -she would never find her way back, and at this Roxy’s eyes filled with -tears; but she remembered the Yankee soldier boy, and what he had said -of prison, and again she resolved that she must not let these men -discover that her father was a Union soldier or they would surely take -him prisoner.</p> -<p>At last one of the men declared that he did not believe Roxy really knew -anything of the real meaning of her signals. “And if she does, we’ve -stopped it. Whoever put her there knows by this time that we’ve been on -the watch. It’s getting late. I’ll take the girl over to that cabin in -the field and tell them to keep her until morning and then carry her -back to the second bridge above here; she can see the ledge from there -and find her way home. We must move on,” he said, and the man who had -brought Roxy now led her across a shadowy field to a tumble-down cabin -where an evidently frightened negro woman opened the sagging door, and -promised to take care of the little girl and to obey the directions of -the soldier.</p> -<p>“Good-bye, Miss Yankee girl,” the man said as he turned to go. “Reckon -I’ve put a stop to any good your signals could do. Do you hear that?” -And Roxy heard a dull booming sound, the echo of far-off artillery; the -little girl did not know this, but the soldier knew it was the far-off -guns of an attacking army, and with another warning to the negro woman -he hastened away.</p> -<p>Roxy was so tired that she was glad to lie down on the rough cot in the -corner of the room, and, in spite of all her troubling thoughts, the -little girl realized that she was free and in a short time would be -safely at home, and was soon asleep.</p> -<p>Before sunrise the next morning the negro woman awoke Roxy. “We’s got -ter be up an’ doin’, Missy,” she said anxiously. “Yo’ jes’ drink some -milk, an’ I’s got some co’n pone h’ar fer yo’, an’ we’ll be off. I ain’ -gwine ter come back h’ar, I ain’!” she continued. “Dar’s too many sojers -comin’ dis way. I reckon yo’ fo’ks’ll let me stay at yo’ place, Missy, -if I fetch yo’ safe back?” and the anxious, frightened negro fixed her -pleading glance on Roxy, who at once declared that she was sure her -grandmother would let Etta-Belle, as the negro woman called herself, -stay at the Miller farm. Roxy ate her breakfast hungrily, and was eager -to start for home, and at an early hour they were on their way.</p> -<p>But Roxy was not to reach home that day; a new adventure was close at -hand, and before they had reached the highway Etta-Belle stopped -suddenly.</p> -<p>“Look dar, Missy!” she exclaimed in a frightened whisper pointing toward -a distant slope. “Dar’s an army marchin’. Boun’ to Sharpsburg, shuh’s -yo’ born, Missy!” and Roxy’s glance followed Etta’s pointing finger and -she saw a long shining column of mounted soldiers, soldiers in blue -uniforms, coming on at a rapid pace; without waiting for Etta-Belle, -Roxy raced across the field into the highway and ran toward the -advancing soldiers. If she heard the negro woman’s frenzied cries she -paid no attention to them; here were men wearing the same uniform that -her father wore; she would, she quickly resolved, tell them about her -father, about the Confederate scouts and what she had heard them say, -and they would take her safely home.</p> -<p>She stood in the road waving her arms and shouted: “Union soldiers! -Union soldiers!” and the two officers riding in advance of the troops -drew rein within a few feet of where she stood and gazed at her sternly, -in evident amazement that a ten-year-old girl should dare to halt a -regiment of soldiers.</p> -<p>“She must be a messenger,” said one of the officers, swinging himself -from the saddle, and coming toward Roxy, who, bareheaded, and with her -face flushed from her run, her eyes shining with excitement, was indeed -a queer little person to bring a division of soldiers to a standstill. -But she told her story clearly and eagerly, repeating what she had heard -the Confederate scouts say of the movements of Jackson’s army.</p> -<p>“And if you please, may I not ride home with you?” she concluded -breathlessly, for Roxy supposed the soldiers were on the road that led -by her Grandma Miller’s, but this was not the case.</p> -<div id='illus-02' class='figcenter' style='width:80%; max-width:481px;'> -<img src='images/illus-02.jpg' alt='' style='width:100%;height:auto;' /> -<p class='caption'>HE LIFTED HER TO THE SADDLE IN FRONT OF HIM</p> -</div> -<p>The soldiers were bound for Sharpsburg, and the officer, supposing the -little girl knew this, and that her home was near the town, promptly -agreed to Roxy’s request and lifting her to the saddle in front of him, -called a sharp word of command and they were off.</p> -<p>Etta-Belle, hiding behind the bushes at the edge of the field, and -shaking with terror, watched until they were out of sight, and then -started off in the other direction toward the Miller farm. “I reckons -dey’ll wan’ news ob dat chile,” she muttered as she hurried along the -road. Roxy had told the woman where she lived, and Etta-Belle had heard -of the Miller farm, and toward noon she climbed the slope to the -farmhouse and the anxious family gathered to hear her story of what had -befallen Roxy.</p> -<p>“An’ de lille gal rush right into de road an’ stop de army, an’ de sojer -set her on de hoss an’ de army go right on,” she concluded.</p> -<p>Rejoiced as they were to have news of their little daughter, Captain and -Mrs. Delfield could not feel that she was safe until she was again at -home; and it was decided that Mrs. Delfield and Jacob should start at -once for Sharpsburg and endeavor to find Roxy. Grandma Miller’s horse -was quickly harnessed to the high buggy and they were off. Etta-Belle -had made friends with Dulcie, and Grandma Miller had said she might stay -at the farm.</p> -<p>It was early twilight when Mrs. Delfield reached a friend’s house on the -outskirts of Sharpsburg, and was told that General Lee’s troops were -encamped a mile north of the town on the Hagerstown road near the Dunker -Church, a small stone building that stood near a body of woods, beyond -which was a field, and it was here that General Jackson’s troops were -posted, and it was here that the terrible battle of Antietam was to take -place.</p> -<p>Mrs. Delfield’s friends told her that McClellan’s army was approaching, -that on the ridge above Sharpsburg Union batteries were already mounted, -and that probably Roxy was not far away; and within an hour of Mrs. -Delfield’s arrival the little girl was seen approaching the house.</p> -<p>Roxy had a long story to tell. She had remembered that her mother’s -friend, Mrs. Davis, lived on the edge of the town, and the young officer -had brought her within sight of the house.</p> -<p>“And, Mrs. Davis, he says that there is to be a battle, that General -Burnside’s soldiers are coming——”</p> -<p>But Mrs. Delfield interrupted Roxy’s eager story to ask her the name of -the officer who had been kind to her, but Roxy shook her head. “I don’t -know, Mother,” she replied; “but he knows my father, and he gave me -these,” and Roxy drew two brass buttons from the pocket of her gingham -dress. “I’m going to keep them always,” she declared; “and he said I had -acted like a soldier!” and Roxy smiled happily.</p> -<p>It was now too late, and Roxy was too tired, for them to start for home -that night; and, although Roxy slept peacefully, her mother could not -sleep. She knew that every hour marching troops were gathering for -battle, and in the dim morning hours Jacob had the horse harnessed and -waiting, and Roxy was again awakened before sunrise, and leaning -sleepily against her mother’s shoulder as Jacob turned toward home the -little girl whispered:</p> -<p>“I guess Polly and I won’t signal any more,” and Mrs. Delfield smiled as -she responded:</p> -<p>“Perhaps it will be better not to,” but she felt very proud of the -courage her little daughter had shown in refusing to tell the -Confederate scouts what the signals from the ledge meant, and that Roxy -had so faithfully kept watch, hoping to warn her father of possible -danger. To have her little girl safely beside her, and to realize that -the great battle would probably now be fought miles away from the -hillside farm made her indeed thankful.</p> -<p>Roxy slept nearly all the way home, and as Grandma Miller came into the -yard and lifted the little girl from the buggy the first person Roxy’s -eyes rested on was the smiling Etta-Belle, neatly dressed in a freshly -washed calico.</p> -<p>“I’se h’ar, Missy, an’ I’se gwine ter stay,” she announced, and a moment -later a tall girl came racing up the slope, the sun shining on her -dancing red hair, and Roxy ran to meet her calling:</p> -<p>“Polly! Polly! I rode to Sharpsburg with the Union Army!”</p> -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXVI' title='XVI: The Battle of Antietam'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XVI</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.0em'>THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM</span> -</h2> -</div> -<p>“Mother, how many bridges cross the Antietam River?” questioned Roxy, -the day after their return from the adventurous ride to Sharpsburg. Roxy -was in the swing under the big butternut tree, and Mrs. Delfield had -brought her sewing to the seat, resolved not to lose sight of her little -daughter.</p> -<p>“Let me see. I think there are fourteen; the largest is near where the -Antietam empties into the Potomac,” Mrs. Delfield replied thoughtfully, -remembering that General Lee’s troops coming up from their triumph at -Harper’s Ferry had marched over this bridge to Sharpsburg, and knowing -that on this sunny September morning the Southern Army was posted near -the Dunker Church beyond Sharpsburg.</p> -<p>On that very morning, September 15th, 1862, the Federal troops were -appearing over the crest of the hill which overlooks the Antietam from -the east; the great army of McClellan, ninety thousand strong, streamed -down the slopes and settled down in sight of the Confederates; and on -each side of the Antietam, six miles distant from the Miller farm, the -armies were now encamped, and ready for the terrible battle that was to -rage for three days.</p> -<p>Mrs. Delfield was telling Roxy something of the story of the beautiful -arched bridges of stone that had been built many years ago across the -Antietam when Roxy jumped from the swing exclaiming:</p> -<p>“Mother! Mother! Here are the Hinhams,” and ran toward the yard where -the Hinhams’ carryall drawn by a big brown horse had just arrived.</p> -<p>Mrs. Hinham and her little daughters were warmly welcomed; they were on -their way home, as Mrs. Hinham said she was sure the farm was a much -safer place than Sharpsburg.</p> -<p>Jasmine, Myrtle and Ivy went back to the swing with Roxy while Mrs. -Hinham and Mrs. Miller and the Delfields talked anxiously of the battle -that might begin any moment; and even as they stood there speaking of -Lee and Jackson, of McClellan and Burnside, the generals in command, the -rumble of distant artillery sounded upon the air. From time to time -during the day they heard these echoing guns, but it was not until the -next day, the 16th of September, that the great battle of Antietam -really began.</p> -<p>Jasmine and Myrtle listened eagerly to the story of Roxy’s adventures -since they had last met, and when she told them of the ledge where she -had kept faithful watch, of the two squirrels that had become so tame, -and of the house she had built for “Dinah,” Jasmine and Myrtle both -exclaimed that they wished they could visit the ledge.</p> -<p>“Perhaps we can; I’ll ask Mother,” said Roxy, and ran to the porch where -the family were gathered.</p> -<p>“But the ledge is a mile from here; it will be too far for Myrtle and -Ivy to walk,” Mrs. Delfield said, but Roxy quickly responded:</p> -<p>“Myrtle and Ivy can ride on ‘Beauty.’”</p> -<p>“So they can; and I think Etta-Belle had better go with you,” said Mrs. -Delfield, who, since Roxy had been carried off by the scout, was -determined that some older person should always be near the little girl.</p> -<p>“May we take a lunch, Mother?” Roxy whispered, and Mrs. Delfield replied -that she must ask Dulcie, and the little girl ran to the kitchen where -Dulcie and Etta-Belle were chattering about war and battles.</p> -<p>“Dar won’ be no slaves w’en dis war end,” Roxy heard Etta-Belle declare; -“niggers’ll hev to look out fer derselves if Massa Linkum hev his way.”</p> -<p>Dulcie went off to the pantry to prepare the luncheon and Etta-Belle was -well pleased to go with the girls to the distant ledge.</p> -<p>“Beauty” whinnied in evident delight as Jasmine and Myrtle ran toward -him, and with Myrtle and Ivy mounted on his broad back and Jasmine and -Roxy walking beside him, while Etta-Belle carrying the basket of -luncheon followed on behind, the little party started down the lane, but -came to a sudden stop when Roxy heard her father calling:</p> -<p>“Roxy! Roxy!”</p> -<p>“Yes, Father?” she called back.</p> -<p>“No signalling, remember!”</p> -<p>“Oh, Father! May I not signal to Polly to come to the ledge?”</p> -<p>“No, indeed.” Captain Delfield’s voice was firm. “Remember, Roxy: not a -signal. Promise.”</p> -<p>“All right, Father. I won’t signal,” Roxy promised, but she was greatly -disappointed; she had told Jasmine that she would let her signal to -Polly, and Jasmine now said:</p> -<p>“I can signal, can’t I, Roxy?”</p> -<p>Roxy shook her head. “No, Father said: ‘No signalling’ so we can’t,” and -for a few moments the girls walked on in silence, while behind them -Etta-Belle sang:</p> -<p style='text-indent:0; margin:1em auto 1em 2em'> -“De yam will grow, de cotton blow,<br /> -We’ll raise de rice an’ corn,<br /> -Oh! Nebber yo’ fear if nebber yo’ hear<br /> -De driver blow his horn.”<br /> -</p> -<p>Etta-Belle had been born a slave; her early home had been in South -Carolina, and she never told anyone how she had found her way to the -hills of Maryland. Dulcie was sure that Etta-Belle had run away from the -plantation where she had lived a slave; but the negro woman kept her -secret. She now declared that she was “gwine ter b’long ter Missy Roxy, -an’ take keer ob her,” and she smiled broadly whenever the little girls -turned to speak to her.</p> -<p>The little party rested at the old sycamore, and then started up the -slope to the ledge. Jasmine and Myrtle climbed sturdily to the top, but -little Ivy had to be carried most of the way by Etta-Belle, and Roxy -dragged the basket of lunch, lifting it to rocks above her, or pulling -it up from shelving ledges over which she had climbed.</p> -<p>They were all tired when they reached the scrubby oak tree, where they -found “Dinah” safely resting in her own house. The squirrels could be -heard scolding, and soon ventured from their hiding-places when Roxy -called their names and put bits of gingerbread where they could see it.</p> -<p>Ivy was delighted when one of the squirrels was coaxed near enough to -nibble a piece of gingerbread that she held toward him on the end of a -stick, and wanted Roxy to catch him and carry him home. But Roxy shook -her head.</p> -<p>“That would make him a prisoner, and I wouldn’t do that,” she said, and -told the story of the Yankee boy whom she had fed and helped on his way. -“The squirrel would hate being shut up just as much as that Yankee -soldier did,” she said soberly.</p> -<p>“Oh, Roxy, what wonderful things happen to you!” exclaimed Jasmine -admiringly. “Just think, finding the Yankee soldier, and being taken -away from this ledge by a Confederate scout, and then riding to -Sharpsburg with Union soldiers!” and Jasmine gave a little sigh. “Why do -you s’pose, Roxy, so much happens to you?”</p> -<p>But Roxy shook her head soberly; she was thinking that none of her -adventures had been very pleasant ones, excepting helping the Yankee -soldier.</p> -<p>“I don’t know,” she replied, and as both the squirrels at that moment -made a flying leap to Jasmine’s shoulder the little girl was too well -entertained to ask any more questions; but Roxy wondered, as she often -did, if her Yankee soldier had reached safety and if she would ever see -him again.</p> -<p>The little Hinham girls thought the ledge a fine playhouse, and when -Roxy opened the basket and spread the luncheon on a smooth rock near -Dinah’s house they danced around it happily, singing the song they had -sung on the day that Roxy had made her unexpected visit to the Hinham -place:</p> -<p style='text-indent:0; margin:1em auto 1em 2em'> -“I heard fairy bells ringing—<br /> -And fairies were singing,<br /> -And dancing and bringing<br /> -Fairy honey to the one<br /> -Who wore the gold crown.”<br /> -</p> -<p>Etta-Belle looked on in smiling delight, thinking to herself that the -Confederate scouts had brought her good fortune when they brought Roxy -to her cabin.</p> -<p>Before the girls had finished their luncheon they all noticed a huge -bird circling about high over their heads.</p> -<p>“It’s an eagle,” said Roxy; and then Jasmine remembered that in the -spring an eagle had swooped down and carried off a young lamb from a -field near the Hinham house.</p> -<p>“Roland says the eagles have nests on mountain tops, and that they are -the strongest and bravest birds in the world,” she added.</p> -<p>“He keeps coming nearer and nearer!” exclaimed Myrtle, as the huge bird -circled in the air above them, his wide-spread wings seeming to cast a -shadow over the sunny ledge.</p> -<p>A moment after Myrtle’s exclamation Etta-Belle gave a shriek of terror -and grabbed up the pole that Roxy had used for her signal flag; and she -was none too soon, for the eagle with a wide swoop now darted down -straight toward little Ivy, who with Dinah in her arms was looking up -toward this wonderful bird; but Etta-Belle’s strong sweep of the pole -struck the bird with sufficient force to send it from its course and its -sharp talons did not touch Ivy; and, evidently surprised by the -unexpected assault, the bird made no further attack upon the girls but -floated off toward the distant mountain top.</p> -<p>“We’s gwine home dis instan’ minute,” Etta-Belle declared, her voice -trembling with fear, and the little girls scrambled down the ledge. Roxy -carried “Dinah,” for she feared the eagle might return and make off with -her treasured doll.</p> -<p>“Beauty” was hurried toward home at a good pace, while Jasmine and Roxy -ran on behind him; now and then the little girls spoke of the danger Ivy -had escaped, and Roxy began to think that the ledge was not a very safe -place; and when they reached home and the older people heard the story -of the eagle Grandma Miller promptly declared that Roxy must not again -visit the ledge; and Roxy’s mother began to think that her little -daughter was in danger whenever she was out of her mother’s sight.</p> -<p>In the late afternoon the Hinhams rode off toward home, telling Roxy -that the gray pony could remain at the Miller farm as long as Roxy -stayed there.</p> -<p>“It’s just the same as if ‘Beauty’ was really your own pony, Roxy,” -Jasmine said smilingly, as the two little girls said good-bye.</p> -<p>At that very moment, on the borders of the Antietam, his back toward the -Potomac, Lee was making ready to meet the army of McClellan; and on the -following morning, September 16th, 1862, the Confederates found -themselves facing the enemy who from the opposite side of the Antietam -River opened fire upon them. Equal in courage, Northern and Southern -Armies faced each other as the Union divisions, by bridge and ford, -crossed the Antietam and met the Confederates on the open field only to -be driven back with serious losses. The brave veteran, General -Mansfield, was killed, General Hooker severely wounded, and for a time -it seemed that Lee would win the battle.</p> -<p>At the stone bridge across the Antietam General Burnside held back Lee’s -forces, and pressed forward to the heights, and nightfall brought the -battle to an end without either army having triumphed.</p> -<p>All that day Roxy kept close at home. The sound of echoing guns told the -people of the hillside farms of the terrible battle, and they could -think of nothing else.</p> -<p>On the next morning, September 18th, Lee resolved to retreat, and on the -night of the eighteenth he crossed the Potomac by the Shepardstown Ford -into Virginia. And now for a time the Union Army remained quiet near -Sharpsburg.</p> -<p>It was on September 19th that Roland Hinham rode into the Miller yard -with the news that Lee’s troops were crossing the Potomac into Virginia, -and Grandma Miller and Mrs. Delfield at once began to pack baskets of -food, bandages for the wounded soldiers in the camps beyond Sharpsburg, -and packages of clothing upon which they had been at work all the -summer; Mrs. Miller and Jacob started off early that afternoon with a -well-filled wagon.</p> -<p>“Can’t say when we’ll be back,” Grandma Miller had declared, and Roxy -went down to the stone wall and stood there until the wagon vanished in -the distance.</p> -<p>She looked down at the old stone bridge, remembering the day in early -summer when she had quarrelled with Polly, and come running back to -discover the Yankee soldier.</p> -<p>“That seems a long time ago,” thought Roxy, remembering all that had -happened since then.</p> -<p>She was just turning back to the house when Polly, mounted on “Brownie,” -came trotting over the bridge, and Roxy’s solemn thoughts vanished as -she slipped through the opening in the wall and ran down the slope to -meet her.</p> -<p>“Polly! Polly!” she called; “General Lee is driven back from Maryland!”</p> -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXVII' title='XVII: Polly’s Plan'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XVII</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.0em'>POLLY’S PLAN</span> -</h2> -</div> -<p>Polly had already heard the news from Sharpsburg, and as she brought -“Brownie” to a walking pace up the lane Roxy ran along beside her and -the two girls rejoiced that the armies had not come on the road leading -past their homes, and that the battle of the Antietam, as it was -henceforth called, had not been fought in these familiar fields.</p> -<p>“Brownie” was left in the yard, and Polly and Roxy went to their -favorite seat under the big butternut tree, and Polly was amazed to hear -the story of the huge eagle that had swooped down so near to the top of -the ledge.</p> -<p>“If it had got hold of Ivy the eagle would have carried her off!” Roxy -said solemnly, and then added: “And Grandma says I am not to go to the -top of the ledge again; and the squirrels will forget all about me,” and -Roxy’s smile vanished, for she had grown fond of “Lee” and “Jackson” and -was sorry that she could not see them again.</p> -<p>But Polly’s thoughts were on the errand that had brought her to the -Miller farm, and for a moment she made no response to Roxy; then she -said:</p> -<p>“Roxy, what did you do with your paper animals?”</p> -<p>“They are in boxes in my closet,” replied the surprised Roxy, wondering -why Polly wanted to know.</p> -<p>“Well, Roxy! All those soldiers who were wounded are in houses and farms -and tents along the Antietam River; some of them will have to stay there -for days, maybe weeks, before they can get out; and nothing to amuse -them. And, Roxy, I thought perhaps you could take your circus over, and -dress up in the old white hat, and the blue coat and the yarn whiskers, -just as you did for your grandma’s birthday, and go to the tents and -tell the men about the animals. I know it would make them laugh and -cheer them up. It was so funny!” and Polly began to laugh as she -recalled the queer little figure Roxy had made as she told the story of -“capturing” the paper lions and elephants.</p> -<p>“Would you go with me, Polly?” Roxy asked, wondering if she would have -courage to present the “circus” before strange soldiers.</p> -<p>“Yes; and probably your grandma would go too, if your mother did not. -Let’s go ask your father what he thinks of my plan,” suggested Polly, -and the two girls ran indoors to find Captain Delfield, who was resting -on the old sofa in the sitting-room.</p> -<p>He listened to Polly’s plan, and said that it was an excellent idea, and -praised her for thinking of it, and called Mrs. Delfield who also -declared that she believed the sick and wounded soldiers would welcome -Roxy and her “circus,” and that the little girl could in this way be of -real service.</p> -<p>“When Grandma gets home she can tell us what she thinks about it; and if -she approves she will be the best one to take you girls and make -arrangements where Roxy shall take the ‘animals’ and tell how they were -‘captured,’” and a smile came over Mrs. Delfield’s face as she -remembered how amusing Roxy’s “circus” had been.</p> -<p>Polly promised to ride over early the next morning, as the Delfields -felt sure Mrs. Miller would return that night, and said she would be -ready to start at once for Sharpsburg, and would bring the tall white -hat, blue coat and yarn “whiskers” for Roxy.</p> -<p>Roxy went out to the yard to bid her friend good-bye.</p> -<p>“Oh, Polly! I hope I can do it right,” she said a little fearfully as -Polly mounted the little brown horse and looked down from her seat in -the saddle at Roxy’s sober face.</p> -<p>“Of course you’ll do it right, Roxy-Doxy. All you have to do is just -make believe that you have real animals, and that you really did capture -the lions in Africa, and the elephants in India! Oh, Roxy! I really want -to see it again myself,” and Polly’s gay little laugh made Roxy forget -her fears and smile happily.</p> -<p>“I guess I can; I am going to fix the animals all up this afternoon so -they will be ready,” she said, and Polly nodded approvingly, promising -to be over in good season the next day, and “Brownie” trotted briskly -off.</p> -<p>Roxy ran back to the house and brought the boxes of paper animals down -to the sitting-room, and seated at her little table with her box of -water-color paints she worked busily until dinnertime, and for the -greater part of the afternoon.</p> -<p>Roxy’s thoughts travelled off to the scene of the recent battle, near -which the Union Army was encamped, and she began to wonder if she would -see any of the great generals of whom her father spoke: General -McClellan who her father said had saved the Union Army; General -Burnside, who had so bravely held the Antietam Bridge, over which at his -command the 51st Pennsylvania regiment and the 51st New York had rushed -at a double quick which the Confederates could not resist, and had -planted the Stars and Stripes on the opposite bank amid cheers from -every part of the battlefield from where they could be seen.</p> -<p>The little Yankee girl began to realize that it would be a wonderful -thing if she could really do something to help the soldiers who had -faced such peril to protect the Union; and when early that evening -Grandma Miller and Jacob reached home Roxy was the first to welcome -them, and instantly began to tell Mrs. Miller of Polly’s plan for Roxy -to take her circus to the hospital tents along the Antietam.</p> -<p>“I declare! Polly is a jewel! It will do a world of good! I wish I had -thought of it myself,” said Mrs. Miller. “Many of those soldiers must -lay in tents or in the near-by houses and barns, for long days with -nothing to cheer or amuse them. Roxy,” and Grandma Miller’s hand rested -gently on the little girl’s shoulder as they walked toward the house, -“it will be a beautiful thing if you can make these men smile and, for a -time, forget the cruelty of war,” she said.</p> -<p>“Polly says that no one could help laughing because I look so funny in -the coat and hat and whiskers,” Roxy replied; and Mrs. Miller smiled and -owned that Polly was right.</p> -<p>Mrs. Miller had that day visited several of the hospital tents, and she -was sure the officers in charge would welcome Roxy and her “circus,” and -it was decided that on the following day Grandma Miller should go with -Polly and Roxy to the Hagerstown road beyond Sharpsburg.</p> -<p>Polly arrived in good season the next morning driving “Brownie,” -harnessed to the open wagon in which she had so often driven Roxy about -the country roads. Roxy’s circus costume, high hat, long blue coat and -“whiskers,” were in a box under the wagon seat, and Roxy brought out her -boxes containing the paper animals, and Grandma Miller had baskets of -fruit, freshly baked bread, and rolls of old cotton cloth, for hospital -use, that were packed in the back of the wagon; then Mrs. Miller and -Roxy seated themselves beside Polly and drove off.</p> -<p>As they rode along Grandma Miller suggested that Roxy should repeat what -she meant to say to the soldiers as she pointed out the animals and told -of their capture; and as Roxy began her story of facing raging lions, -following camels across the desert, and taming elephants, both Mrs. -Miller and Polly laughed in delight.</p> -<p>Polly suggested one or two amusing descriptions for Roxy to add to her -story, and so did Grandma Miller, and when they reached the historic -town of Sharpsburg, with its old houses of stone or brick, its arched -doorways and square porches with Colonial pillars, and began to see -Union soldiers everywhere, Roxy was gaining courage and began to feel -sure that she could describe imaginary dangers without even smiling at -them.</p> -<p>Mrs. Miller directed Polly to follow the road leading north, toward -Hagerstown, and told her to stop near a group of tents where sentinels -paced slowly back and forth. One of these men smilingly answered Mrs. -Miller’s questions.</p> -<p>“Yes,” he said, “General McClellan was in his tent,” and he would take -him any message the ladies might wish delivered.</p> -<p>“Perhaps you will let my little granddaughter carry my message,” -suggested Grandma Miller, and the sentinel said the little girl could go -to the general’s tent with him, and helped the surprised Roxy from the -wagon.</p> -<p>“You can tell the general your plan, Roxy, and ask his permission,” said -Mrs. Miller, and before Roxy had time to ask a question she was hand in -hand with the tall soldier walking toward a small tent in front of which -stood two more sentinels one of whom, at word from Roxy’s companion, -entered the tent; and a moment later Roxy found herself gazing up into -the kindly dark eyes of the great General George B. McClellan.</p> -<p>“What can I do for you, little girl?” he asked kindly, and Roxy made her -best curtsy, and said:</p> -<p>“If you please, sir, I have brought a circus to show the wounded -soldiers. I think,” she added quickly, “it would make them laugh!”</p> -<p>“‘Make them laugh!’” repeated the general, and a little smile crept over -his grave face.</p> -<p>“Well, my child, if you can do that for my poor boys you will be doing -me the greatest possible service. Come in and tell me about it,” and -Roxy followed him into the tent and eagerly began her story, to which -the war-worn and tired general listened with interest, and when Roxy -finished by asking anxiously if he thought her “circus” would not amuse -the men in the hospital tents, adding: “I guess I look funny enough in -the long blue coat and high white hat and whiskers to make anybody -laugh,” General McClellan answered quickly: “I would like to see the -circus myself, and I will go with you to the hospital tent near the -Dunker Church. But what is your name, little girl?”</p> -<p>“Roxana Delfield. My father is a Union soldier, and he was wounded and -we are at Grandma Miller’s,” she replied, as she walked beside the -friendly soldier to where Grandma and Polly were anxiously waiting.</p> -<p>“Where is your real home?” continued the general, and Roxy smilingly -responded:</p> -<p>“I am a Yankee girl; that is what everybody calls me, because my home is -in Massachusetts.” Before the general could reply Grandma Miller came -hurrying to meet them, and Roxy heard the general thank her for her -thought for his suffering men, and tell her that they needed cheer and -entertainment as much as they needed care and medicine.</p> -<p>“Brownie” was led off by one of the soldiers, and another took charge of -Roxy’s boxes, while Grandma Miller, Polly and Roxy, carrying the baskets -of fruit and food, followed General McClellan to the little stone church -near the woods. One of the army doctors came hurrying to meet them, and -quickly pointed out the tents where Roxy’s circus would be welcomed, and -Polly helped Roxy make ready.</p> -<p>“Don’t be afraid, Roxy. Just make believe, remember, that you really did -capture the lions,” said Polly smilingly, as General McClellan pointed -out the first tent they were to enter.</p> -<p>Polly and Roxy, carrying the boxes of paper animals, went in and General -McClellan gravely introduced Roxy as “Signor Delroxana, who has kindly -brought his troupe of wild animals to amuse you.”</p> -<p>There was a murmur of laughter and exclamations of amusement from the -rough cots where the soldiers lay as Roxy, in her queer costume, bowed -to right and left, and, with Polly’s help, arranged her procession of -animals on a long narrow table. When she picked up the hazel stick, that -Polly had brought, and faced the eager-eyed men, who were all delighted -and amused by this unexpected entertainment, and when Roxy gravely -announced: “Gentlemen, these animals are not dangerous——” there was a -burst of laughter and applause that made it difficult for Roxy not to -laugh with them; but she remembered that would spoil it all, and she -went on with the story of her adventures, interrupted now and then by -the laughter of her listeners.</p> -<p>That day Roxy visited a number of tents, and the circus was evidently -approved of by the soldiers, and by the anxious and tired doctors who -thanked the little Yankee girl, and urged her to come again.</p> -<p>It was early twilight when Grandma Miller, Polly and Roxy, accompanied -by a young officer in whose care General McClellan had left them, stood -near the little stone church while “Brownie” was being harnessed.</p> -<p>The young officer helped them into the wagon, and, raising his cap, -stood smiling up at Roxy.</p> -<p>“You don’t remember me, do you, little Yankee girl?” he asked, and -Roxy’s face was for a moment grave and questioning, and then she smiled -radiantly.</p> -<p>“Yes, yes, I do! You are the Yankee prisoner!” she declared.</p> -<p>“Who you helped escape!” he added, and he then told them that his name -was Philip Carver, and he briefly described his flight to safety, and -earnestly thanked the little girl who had brought him food, and, as he -declared, saved his life.</p> -<p>“I meant to get a day’s leave and ride over to your farm before leaving -here on purpose to thank you,” he added, and Mrs. Miller urged him to -visit the farm and he gladly promised; and now they bade him a friendly -good-bye and started for home.</p> -<p>“It has been a wonderful day,” Polly declared, as “Brownie” trotted -swiftly through Sharpsburg along the road leading to the distant farm. -“Just think, General McClellan shook hands with us, and praised Roxy! We -will always remember to-day, won’t we, Roxy?”</p> -<p>“He praised you too, Polly!” Roxy eagerly declared. “I told him it was -your plan to bring the circus, and he said you were a noble girl!”</p> -<p>Polly laughed happily. “I will remember that,” she said.</p> -<p>Roxy was tired out, and before they reached the farm she was nodding -with sleep, and when Etta-Belle came running to lift her from the wagon -Roxy was quite ready to let the negro woman carry her into the house.</p> -<p>But once indoors before the open fire she became wide awake and eager to -tell her mother and father all the events of the exciting day: of -General McClellan, and his friendly message to her father, and of all -the laughter her “circus” had brought from the amused soldiers.</p> -<p>“And best of all, Father, I found the Yankee prisoner. His name is -Philip Carver, and he is coming to spend the day,” she concluded -happily.</p> -<div class='chapter'> -<h2 id='chXVIII' title='XVIII: A Visitor'> - <span style='font-size:1.2em'>CHAPTER XVIII</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.0em'>A VISITOR</span> -</h2> -</div> -<p>It was now late September, and the fertile country along the Antietam -was in full autumn beauty. Harvests had been gathered, and fields of -yellow stubble were golden under the September sun, and the distant -mountains each day showed new shades of jewel-like blues when young -Lieutenant Carver kept his promise to visit the Miller farm, and sitting -on the porch beside Captain Delfield he pointed out the thicket of -laurel near the highway where he had concealed himself, and where Roxy -had brought him food; and he listened to the story of Roxy’s adventure -on the ledge when the Confederate scout had discovered her signalling, -and had tried to make the little girl tell the reason for her being -stationed on the top of the ledge day after day.</p> -<p>“And I really think that Roxy may have saved me a good bit of trouble,” -said Captain Delfield.</p> -<p>“If those Confederate scouts had discovered a Union soldier here they -might have carried me off to Richmond; but Roxy’s resolve not to let -them know her secret kept me out of danger,” and he smiled down at his -little daughter who was sitting on the porch steps, and had been -listening eagerly, and now felt that her long lonely days on the distant -ledge, her fears when carried away by the Confederate scout, had been -indeed worth while if they had saved her father from the danger of being -taken a prisoner. She remembered Etta-Belle’s rough cabin in the lonely -field, and that the negro woman had been friendless and alone until -Roxy’s coming had brought her to the Miller farm where she had found a -home and could remain in safety. And while Lieutenant Carver and Captain -Delfield talked of President Lincoln’s recent Proclamation of -Emancipation, that declared the freedom of all negroes held in slavery -in the United States, Roxy’s thoughts dwelt happily on all the events of -the past summer, and she resolved that she would that very day begin a -letter to Amy Fletcher, in far-off Newbury port, and tell her of all the -adventures that had befallen a little Yankee girl during her visit to -Antietam.</p> -<p>When Dulcie came to say that dinner was ready the young lieutenant held -out his hand to Roxy and they walked into the dining-room together.</p> -<p>It was the best dinner that Dulcie could prepare. There were fried -chicken, and creamed potatoes, late peas, and stewed corn. There were -three kinds of jelly, hot batter-bread and fresh butter; there was new -cider right from the press, and steamed apple dumplings with cream -sauce. It was no wonder that the young soldier, who had lived on camp -fare and who had known the hunger of a man in prison, declared it the -finest dinner he had ever tasted. “But,” he added laughingly, with a nod -toward Roxy, “nothing can ever again taste as good to me as that cold -chicken that this little Yankee girl brought me as I lay hidden behind -the laurels with my pursuers almost within reach of me.”</p> -<p>In the afternoon Grandma Miller and Roxy walked to the ledge with -Lieutenant Carver, and from the top Roxy once more signalled to Polly, -who by good fortune happened to see the signal and waved in response, -and the soldier declared that he did not wonder the Confederate scouts -had been misled by Roxy’s signalling, and had believed her to have been -stationed there by Yankee soldiers.</p> -<p>“Lee” and “Jackson,” the gray squirrels, were not to be seen, much to -Roxy’s disappointment; but Grandma Miller admired Dinah’s house, and -suggested that it would be a good plan for Roxy to build one like it, -only perhaps larger, under the butternut tree, and Roxy decided that she -would begin it on the following day.</p> -<p>On their return to the house it was time for Lieutenant Carver to start -back for camp, and he bade them all a grateful good-bye, and again -declared that but for Roxy’s kindness and courage he could not have -evaded his pursuers and made his escape.</p> -<p>They all stood on the porch and watched him ride away; and after Grandma -Miller and Roxy’s father and mother had entered the house the little -girl wandered down the slope and stood by the wall from which place she -could see the road stretching out like a gray ribbon toward the distant -hills.</p> -<p>Roxy smiled to herself as she stood here, for she had only pleasant -things to think of as she remembered the delight of the wounded soldiers -in her “circus,” the words of praise the great general of the Union -Army, George B. McClellan, had given her, and, best of all, she thought -happily, was the fact that Philip Carver had said that but for her help -he would not have escaped.</p> -<p>As she stood there Polly’s familiar call sounded from the highway -“Who-whoo-who!” and Roxy quickly responded and a moment later Polly came -running up the slope.</p> -<p>“Here I am, Roxy-Doxy,” she called smilingly. “I came over to hear all -about the Yankee soldier.” And hand in hand the girl whose home was in -the Maryland hills, and the little Yankee girl walked toward the swing -under the big butternut tree.</p> -<div style='text-align:center; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;'> -<div style='font-size:0.8em;margin-top:2em;'>The Stories in this Series are:</div> -</div> -<div style='text-align:center; margin-top:0.5em; margin-bottom:0.5em'> -<div style='display:inline-block; text-align:left;'> -<div class='cbline'>A YANKEE GIRL AT FORT SUMTER</div> -<div class='cbline'>A YANKEE GIRL AT BULL RUN</div> -<div class='cbline'>A YANKEE GIRL AT SHILOH</div> -<div class='cbline'>A YANKEE GIRL AT ANTIETAM</div> -<div class='cbline'>A YANKEE GIRL AT GETTYSBURG (in press)</div> -</div> -</div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A Yankee Girl at Antietam, by Alice Turner Curtis - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A YANKEE GIRL AT ANTIETAM *** - -***** This file should be named 62026-h.htm or 62026-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/0/2/62026/ - -Produced by Roger Frank and Sue Clark from page images -generously made available by The Internet Archive -(https://archive.org) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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