The Tree of Appomattox

es he had ever seen and the apples hung everywhere, round, ripe and red, fairly asking to be taken and eaten. Dick Mason looked up at them longin

why don't you climb the tree and get 'em? There'

wish me to gather 'em for you by making a strong appea

ut it won't hurt to keep a few apples from rotting o

ank against me, while you keep yourself safe. You'l

the fork, and then climbing a little higher, reached for the red

d, "satiate yourselves,

s do not grow very tall, but Dick's tree stood on the highest point in the orchard, and he had a fi

to see the ancient city of Petersburg, where Lee had thrown himself across Grant's path in order to block his way to Richmond, the Southern capital, and had dug long lines of trenches in which his army lay. It was Lee

which marked where the Northern troops also had dug in. The opposing lines extended a distance of nearly forty miles, and Richmond was only twenty miles behind them.

ground, eating big red apples with muc

bout a lot. What do you see, Di

e, and with many orchards and gardens about it. A pity tha

iment, Dick. What

sometimes a half-dozen shots at one place, and then a long and peaceful

you see, Bro

p and advance toward one of our Yanks opposite

ey trading?"

ndle of newspapers. Now they've made the exchange, now they

oints seeking to kill one another in a highly impersonal way, and at other points conducting sale and barter according to the established customs of peace. People at home wouldn't b

e Confederate trenches. They must be loaded pretty heavily, becau

hey're not supposed to be receiving supplies now. Our cavalry ought to have cut off that wagon train. I shall have

lowly along, as if he were inspecting troops away behind the trenches. Wherever he passes the soldie

elves upon the lower boughs of the tre

. He's been giving us a lot of trouble for more than three yea

re bound to win. Still, you boys will recall for some time that we've h

res moving in it dimly. Cavalry practicing,

the farmer hurries here with his

. They look so well in the spring all in white bloom, and then they look just as well in the fall,

hould always call to his mind a tremendous event, losing nothing of its intensity and vividness with the passing years. But all tha

ooking up at the tree. "It

ow," said Pennington, taking another. "

the United States started. John Smith and Rolfe and Pocahontas and the rest of them may have roamed just where this orchard stands. And later on lots of the great Americans rode about these parts, some of the younger ones carrying their beautiful ladies on pillions behind th

ed George Washington, but I want victory for our side just the same, no matter how mu

Richmond. I fancy it will be a long time before Haynes and his people sleep in their own rooms again. Come, fellows, we'd better

smoke had risen in weeks. Dick felt sure it would be used later on as headquarters by some general and his sta

but on the portico, facing the Southern lines were two benches, on which the three youths sat, and looked again over the great expanse of rolling country, dotted at intervals by puff

th all his old skill and resolution, but Grant had driven on and on. No matter what his losses the North always filled up his ranks again, and poured forward munitions and supplies in a vast and unbroken stream. A nation had summoned all

efeat for the South meant nearer approach to destruction than any nation had suffered in generations. To him, born

e regiment which was held in reserve in a little valley below, but Di

or others. Remember that they are protected by strict orders a

cast of mind that he had inherited from his famous great grandfather, Paul Cotter, demanded moments of meditation. It was peaceful too on the

leaves of the apple trees. He had never felt more like peace, and the pleasant open country was soothing to the eye. What a contrast to that dark and

oiseless tread of Shepard, with whom he was becoming well acquainted. He was tall, built powerfully and must have weighe

rd, "but I saw you sitting here, looking perhaps

pard, and I was thinking, tha

wondering what was to become o

ut how did y

and the guess was due to the fact that

" asked Dick, who had a great

t's a certainty, but it will take a long time yet. We can't for

shudd

ber it,"

ford it. The South grows steadily weaker. Our blockade clamps like a steel band, and presses tighter and tighter all the time. Food is scarce

rom high officers that you do. How do they feel

be confident, but I belie

ousin, Harry Kenton, who is a lieutenant on t

he question brought mem

ou, Lieutenant Mason, that I know a lot about this rebel cousin of yours. He an

was always the strongest and most active among us, and the best in forest an

d them against me. I should grieve if that cousin of yours were t

he forbore. Yet the man aroused the most intense curiosity in him. There were spies and spies, and Shepard was one of them, but he was not like th

ome dark night," said Dick, who hid a strong

erious, Lieut

I be curious about Richmond, a place that great armies have been trying to take

h a thing, Mr. Mason. Dete

or me than

I have resources of which you can't kn

jesting. I won

but now he began to interest the spy greatly. Shepard observed what a strong, well-built young fellow he was, tall and slender but extremely muscular. He also bore a marked resemblance

h a thing as entering Ric

g thought. But aren't

don't know what it is, but I'm to wait here until it's over. Good-by, Mr. Mason. Since th

onally conducted by you o

he portico, turned and

and forever from your m

d lightness of his step struck him. To the lad's fancy the grass did not bend under his feet. Upon Dic

o and went down in the valley to Colonel Winchester's regiment, where he was received with joyous shouts by several young men, in

everal times. It had lost heavily in the Wilderness and at Spottsylvania, but its colonel had escaped without serious hurt and had received special mention for gallantry and coolness. It

seldom used, most of them, unless it should be raining, preferring to sleep in their blankets under the trees. The water was good to drink, and farther down were sev

the house, Dick?" ask

s the Confederacy is growing weaker every day, but i

at some kind of a movement will soon be attempted. But Dick,

and Dick knew at once that it was from his mother. He seized it eagerly, and

*

that I feel you must escape all the rest. The news reaches us that the fighting in Virginia has been of the most dreadful character, but when it arrives in Pendleton it has two meanings. Th

t he must be crushed soon and with him the Confederacy. As you know, I wish the lat

othing but kindness from those on the other side. Dr. Russell often asks about you. He says you were the best Latin scholar in the Academy, and he expects you to have a great future, as a learned man, after

pictures of you, absolutely unlike. In one of these pictures you are a great officer, carrying much of the war's weight on your shoulders, consulted continually by General Grant, who g

o have to eat hard crackers and tough beef and pork day after day. I should think that you would grow to hate the sight of them. Sam, the colored man who has been w

hreatened Pendleton again. They say also that a little farther south a band of like character, who call themselves Southern, under a man

you and the damp grass. Give my respects to Colonel Winchester. Tell him that we hear of

*

s these passages over whi

prized them highly-and put it away in his strongest pocket. Colonel Winch

deliver to you her res

tled by a sudden thought. At first his feeling was jealousy, but it passed in an inst

, "and affairs could go

r simply. Then he turned to a man w

e new lads

little awkward yet, and a few are suffering from change of water, but

een thrashing 'em into shape

k you

eam. They could easily see the bathers farther down, splashing in the water, pulling one another under, and, now and then, hurling a man bodily into the p

Dick. "What is this new movement that I've heard tw

r it is, though, it's coming soon. There's a lot of work going on at a poi

after dark, Colonel Winchester returned, gave an order, and the whole regiment marched away in the dusk. Dick felt sure that the event Sergeant Whit