The Guns of Bull Run

It'll cut an' burn, but if there's a spark

"cutting" and "burning," and

n' the Kentucky River run out of your mouth, while we was poundin' you on the back to increas

mountaineer, tall, with powerful chest and shoulders, and a short red beard. Near him stood a stalwart boy about Harry's ow

he words stopped at his lips.

you fall in the river, bein' awkward? Or was you tryin' to swim t

irse'ves. An' it wasn't no awkwardness, 'cause he don't look like the awkward kind. An'

in the habit of pickin' floatin' an' unconscious boys out o' the middle o' the ri

Harry, at last findi

imed the man an

n me to kill me, and in the struggle we fell in the ri

irt, revealing his chest, wh

nto Frankfort as peaceful as you please, an' a singin' with joy 'cause our work was about over. I hears a splash an' says I to Ike, 'What's that?' Says he to me, 'I dunno.' Says I to Ike ag'in, 'Was it a big fish?' Says he to me ag'in, 'I dunno.' He's gittin' a repytation for bein' real smart 'cause he's always sayin, 'I dunno,' an' he's neve

ed sympat

r him some dry clothes

"but I forgot it askin' questions, me

rvis lent him. His chest felt dreadfully sore. Every breath pai

her feller," said Jarvis. "Guess he

kfort by this time. My name is Kenton, Harry Kenton, and I'm the son of Colonel George Kenton, who is

Me an' Ike here will have a lot of money when we

ce. "I meant in some other ways, including gratitude. I've been fished out

mind, I'm wonderin' what your father will say about you when he sees y

eans, home knit yarn socks and a pair of heavy brogan shoes. A second trip brought underclothing of the same r

ter fur men than animiles. Ole Aunt Suse, who is 'nigh to a hundred, got it from the Injuns an' it's warrante

ed his bruised chest with the liquid ointment. The

eated it as his own private affair, of which he could speak or not as he chose. He had noticed this quality before in mountaineers. They

ll in a day or two. Your bein' so healthy helps you a lot. Feelin' better already, b

vis, I'd like to leave my wet clothes here to dry while

this lunkhead, Ike, my nephew, ain't used to great cities, an' me bein' of an i

ry, full of gratitude, "I'll

' the Union or stayin' in it. The mountains are jest hummin' with talk about the question, but don't make me take

shook hands warmly with both of them, left th

ere still at work, striving to draw a state into the arms of the North or the South. He paused a few minutes at the corner of the lawn and drew many long, deep breaths. The soreness was almost gone

e stairway to his room, where he found his father writing at a small desk

an, Harry?" he asked. "It's

it, but I was mighty glad to get it, as eve

ton raised

tom of the Kentucky Ri

ll

throw

ised his eyebrows

ole story, Colonel Kenton listenin

nephew represent one type and Skelly the other. Skelly hates us because we drove back his band when they attacked our house. In peaceful times we could have him hunted out and punis

ton," said the boy, "and s

nd we are going to fail. It is by the narrowest of margins, but still we will fail. We who are for the South know it with certainty. Kentucky will refuse to go out of the Union, and it is

his dearest wish. Colonel Kenton, looking a

cabinet, and all the equipment of a capital will arrive there about the last of the month. The enemy is massing before Washington and also toward the West in the Maryland and Virginia mountains. A grea

rkling, and the flush

in an hour,"

f you were to take one of the steamers up the Ohio, say to Wheeling, in West Virginia, you would almost surely fall into the h

ride across t

aved you from the river, are they

ed from what Jarvis said that they were not wi

es placed in this great

y la

o keep the peace. He intimated to me that the silence of the mounta

enton smi

m what you say that he came down the most southerly fork of the Kentucky, which, in a general way, is the route you wish to take. You can go with him and his nephew until they

er to son, and a

uld choose a better way. Jarvis and his nephew, I know, will

m before breakfast in the morning, and now I think you'd better go to sleep.

mother state of his own, was a mighty name to him, and men already believed the great war would be decided there. The mountains, too, with their wild f

tucky, where Samuel Jarvis had anchored his raft. It was a crisp morning, with a tang in the air that made life feel good. A thin cu

tin cup, and Ike was turning over some strips of bacon in an iron skillet on an iron stove. Both of them, watc

Ike, it's the big fish that we hooked out of

for saving my son's l

e a man or boy floatin' along in the river I always fish him out, just to see who an' what he is. My curiosity is pow'ful strong, colonel, an' it leads m

saw at once that Jarvis was a man of high character. "It's co

e how to make it. She learned, when you didn't git coffee of

s Aunt

ales o' the early days an' the wild beasts an' the Injuns. She says you couldn't make up any story of them times that ain't beat by the truth. When she come up the Wilderness Road from Vir

nk I can wait a second longer for a cup of that coffee of yours. It smel

hat his father had already made a skil

ve him anythin' to set on. Pull up them blocks o' wood fur him an' his son. Now you'll t

gladly, too. It makes me young again to eat

beautifully. Good butter was spread over the corn cakes, and Harry and his father were surprised at the number they ate. Ike, addressed by his uncle variously and collectively

the tenth corn cake, "be you fe

we are, M

ar goin' right into

to stay here in Kentucky. Other plans have been made for

he bank an' get the money. Then me an' this lunkhead, Ike, my nephew, both bein' of an inquirin' mind, want to do some

assenger in the boa

vis pursed

ack to our start, an' a cantankerous passenger in as narrow a place as a rowboat would

nned an

k he'd make trouble. Anyway, he's got a claim on you already. Having fished him out of the river, where he was unconscious, it's your duty to take ca

ning manner. He already liked

cky. But I can't undertake sich a contract without consultin' my junior partner, this lunkhead, my nephew, Ike Simmons. Ik

ing, but grin

nton is accepted," said Jarvis. "We st

thanked them. He still said nothing about pay. Bu

re as true as steel, and, as they have no intention of taking pa

ing any notice. In such times as those secrecy was much to be desired. A rifle, pistols, plenty of ammunition, an extra suit of clothes, a pair of blankets, a

olonel. "We cannot pay him directly for saving you, because he wi

skill that they alone knew of it. The boat was strong, shaped well, and had two pairs of oars. A heavy canvas sheet could be erected as a kind of awning or tent in the rear, in cas

stepped in

e colonel, reaching down a

returning the clasp with another

ed on the old, stern Puritan plan, and the handshake and the brief words were all. Then Jarvi

e cove. He waved a hand and the colonel waved back. Then they disappeared around a

en twelve or thirteen years of age, they had been not only father and son, but comrades, and, in the intimate association, he had acquired more of a man's mind than was

ntgomery and Sumter, and he had seen the fire and zeal of the South. He had been at Frankfort, too, and he had seen how the gathering force of the massive North had refused

ere rowing and with innate delicacy they did not disturb him. They, too, said nothing. But they were powerful oarsmen, and they sent the heavy skiff shooting up the stream. The Kentucky, a deep river at any time, w

sun. High banks crested with green enclosed them on either side, and beyond lay higher hills, their slopes and summits all living

richest and most beautiful region of the west, abounding in famous men and in the height of its glory. It had never looked more splendid. The grass was d

ld, and he had lived forty happy years. The money for his lumber was in his pocket, he did not know ache or pain, and he was going back to his home in an inmost recess of

ll songs the mountaineers s

'Nita,

wn fair

voices sometimes found among the unlearned, a deep, full tenor without a harsh note. When he sang he put his whole heart into the words, and the effect was

'Nita, J

the young, and when he made the effort to throw off sadness it fell easily from him. All at once he was embarked with good comrades upon a journey of tremendous interest. Jarvis notice

rmer, but Jarvis and his nephew showed no signs of weariness. When Harry judged that the right time had come he asked to

r, drew a small package from hi

s a remembrance and also as some small recompense

heard the heavy co

he said, "but bein' of an inquirin' turn o' mind

y coin, and his eyes opened a

id. "Besides you take

father very much if you did not take it. Besides, I should ha

ked humoro

kin' to you. I s'pose it's because I fished you out o' the river. You always think that the

no

eein' that you mean what you say, we'll keep the gold, th

"and we'll never say another wo

ed Jarvis, a

, and the boat sped on upon the deep bosom of the Kentucky. The work was good for Ha

in. He changed from Juan

ray, she is up in

ver see my dar

aft passed them, but Jarvis, looking at it keenly, said that it had come down from one of the northern forks of the Kentucky and not from his part of the

rew up their boat at a point, where there was a narrow stretch of grass between

e, cook supper and sleep o