The Tree of Appomattox Page 3

  CHAPTER I

  THE APPLE TREE

  Although he was an officer in full uniform he was a youth in years, andhe had the spirits of youth. Moreover, it was one of the finest appletrees he had ever seen and the apples hung everywhere, round, ripe andred, fairly asking to be taken and eaten. Dick Mason looked up at themlongingly. They made him think of the orchards at home in his ownstate, and a touch of coolness in the air sharpened his appetite forthem all the more.

  "If you want 'em so badly, Dick," said Warner, "why don't you climb thetree and get 'em? There's plenty for you and also for Pennington andme."

  "I see. You're as anxious for apples as I am, and you wish me togather 'em for you by making a strong appeal to my own desires. It'syour clever New England way."

  "We're forbidden to take anything from the people, but it won't hurt tokeep a few apples from rotting on the ground. If you won't get 'emPennington will."

  "I understand you, George. You're trying to play Frank against me,while you keep yourself safe. You'll go far. Never mind. I'll gatherapples for us all."

  He leaped up, caught the lowest bough, swung himself lightly into thefork, and then climbing a little higher, reached for the reddest andripest apples, which he flung down in a bountiful supply.

  "Now, gluttons," he said, "satiate yourselves, but save a lot for me."

  Then he went up as far as the boughs would sustain him and took a lookover the country. Apple trees do not grow very tall, but Dick's treestood on the highest point in the orchard, and he had a fine view, aview that was in truth the most remarkable the North American continenthad yet afforded.

  He always carried glasses over his shoulder, and lately ColonelWinchester had made him a gift of a splendid pair, which he now putinto use, sweeping the whole circle of the horizon. With theirpowerful aid he was able to see the ancient city of Petersburg, whereLee had thrown himself across Grant's path in order to block his way toRichmond, the Southern capital, and had dug long lines of trenches inwhich his army lay. It was Lee who first used this method of defensefor a smaller force against a larger, and the vast trench warfare ofEurope a half century later was a repetition of the mighty struggle ofLee and Grant on the lines of Petersburg.

  Dick through his glasses saw the trenches, lying like a brown baracross the green country, and opposite them another brown bar, oftenless than a hundred yards away, which marked where the Northern troopsalso had dug in. The opposing lines extended a distance of nearlyforty miles, and Richmond was only twenty miles behind them. It wasthe nearest the Army of the Potomac had come to the Southern capitalsince McClellan had seen the spires of its churches, and that was morethan two years away.

  Warner and Pennington were lying on the ground, eating big red appleswith much content and looking up lazily at Mason.

  "You're curving those glasses about a lot. What do you see, Dick?"asked Pennington at length.

  "I see Petersburg, an old, old town, half buried in foliage, and withmany orchards and gardens about it. A pity that two great armiesshould focus on such a pleasant place."

  "No time for sentiment, Dick. What else do you see?"

  "Jets of smoke and flame from the trenches, an irregular sort offiring, sometimes a half-dozen shots at one place, and then a long andpeaceful break until you come to another place, where they'reexchanging bullets."

  "What more do you see, Brother Richard?"

  "I see a Johnny come out of his trench hands up and advance toward oneof our Yanks opposite, who also has come out of his trench hands up."

  "What are they trading?" asked Warner.

  "The Reb offers a square of plug tobacco, and the Yank a bundle ofnewspapers. Now they've made the exchange, now they've shaken handsand each is going back to his own trench."

  "It's a merry world, my masters, as has been said before," resumedWarner, "but I should add that it's also a mad wag of a world. Here weare face to face for forty miles, at some points seeking to kill oneanother in a highly impersonal way, and at other points conducting saleand barter according to the established customs of peace. People athome wouldn't believe it, and later on a lot more won't believe it,when the writers come to write about it. But it's true just the same.What else do you see from the apple tower, Brother Richard?"

  "A long line of wagons approaching a camp some distance behind theConfederate trenches. They must be loaded pretty heavily, because thedrivers are cracking their whips over the horses and mules."

  "That's bad. Provisions, I suppose," said Warner. "The more theseJohnnies get to eat the harder they fight, and they're not supposed tobe receiving supplies now. Our cavalry ought to have cut off thatwagon train. I shall have to speak to Sheridan about it. This is noway to starve the Johnnies to death. Seest aught more, BrotherRichard?"

  "I do! I do! Jump up, boys, and use your own glasses! I behold alarge man on a gray horse, riding slowly along, as if he wereinspecting troops away behind the trenches. Wherever he passes thesoldiers snatch off their caps and, although I can't hear 'em, I knowthey're cheering. It's Lee himself!"

  Both Warner and Pennington swung themselves upon the lower boughs ofthe tree and put their glasses to their eyes.

  "It's surely Lee," said Warner. "I'm glad to get a look at him. He'sbeen giving us a lot of trouble for more than three years now, but Ithink General Grant is going to take his measure."

  "They're terribly reduced," said Pennington, "and if we stick to itwe're bound to win. Still, you boys will recall for some time thatwe've had a war. What else do you see from the heights of the appletree, Dick?"

  "Distant dust behind our own lines, and figures moving in it dimly.Cavalry practicing, I should say. Have you fellows fruit enough?"

  "Plenty. You can climb down and if the farmer hurries here with hisdog to catch you we'll protect you."

  "This is a fine apple tree," said Dick, as he descended slowly. "Appletrees are objects of beauty. They look so well in the spring all inwhite bloom, and then they look just as well in the fall, when the redor yellow apples hang among the leaves. And this is one of the finestI've ever seen."

  He did not dream then that he should remember an apple tree his wholelife, that an apple tree, and one apple tree in particular, shouldalways call to his mind a tremendous event, losing nothing of itsintensity and vividness with the passing years. But all that was inthe future, and when he joined his comrades on the ground he made goodwork with the biggest and finest apple he could find.

  "Early apples," he said, looking up at the tree. "It's not the end ofJuly yet."

  "But good apples, glorious apples, anyhow," said Pennington, takinganother. "Besides, it's fine and cool like autumn."

  "It won't stay," said Dick. "We've got the whole of August coming.Virginia is like Kentucky. Always lots of hot weather in August. Gladthere's no big fighting to be done just now. But it's a pity, isn'tit, to tear up a fine farming country like this. Around here is wherethe United States started. John Smith and Rolfe and Pocahontas and therest of them may have roamed just where this orchard stands. And lateron lots of the great Americans rode about these parts, some of theyounger ones carrying their beautiful ladies on pillions behind them.You are a cold-blooded New Englander, Warner, and you believe thatanyone fighting against you ought to burn forever, but as for me I feelsorry for Virginia. I don't care what she's done, but I don't like tosee the Old Dominion, the Mother of Presidents, stamped flat."

  "I'm not cold-blooded at all, but I don't gush. I don't forget thatthis state produced George Washington, but I want victory for our sidejust the same, no matter how much of Virginia we may have to treaddown. Is that farm house over there still empty?"

  "Of course, or we wouldn't have taken the apples. It belongs to a mannamed Haynes, and he left ahead of us with his family for Richmond. Ifancy it will be a long time before Haynes and his people sleep intheir own rooms again. Come, fellows, we'd better be going back.Colonel Winchester is kind to us, but he doesn't want his officers tobe
prowling about as they please too long."

  They walked together toward the edge of the orchard and looked at thefarm house, from the chimneys of which no smoke had risen in weeks.Dick felt sure it would be used later on as headquarters by somegeneral and his staff, but for the present it was left alone. Andbeing within the Union lines no plunderer had dared to touch it.

  It was a two-story wooden house, painted white, with green shutters,all closed now. The doors were also locked and sealed until such timeas the army authorities wished to open them, but on the portico, facingthe Southern lines were two benches, on which the three youths sat, andlooked again over the great expanse of rolling country, dotted atintervals by puffs of smoke from the long lines of trenches. Wherethey sat it was so still that they could hear the faint crackle of thedistant rifles, and now and then the heavier crash of a cannon.

  Dick's mind went back to the Wilderness and its gloomy shades, thesanguinary field of Spottsylvania, and then the terrific mistake ofCold Harbor. The genius of Lee had never burned more brightly. He hadhandled his diminishing forces with all his old skill and resolution,but Grant had driven on and on. No matter what his losses the Northalways filled up his ranks again, and poured forward munitions andsupplies in a vast and unbroken stream. A nation had summoned all itspowers for a supreme effort to win, and Dick felt that the issue of thewar was not now in doubt. The genius of Lee and the bravery of hisdevoted army could no longer save the South. The hammer strokes ofGrant would surely crush it.

  And then what? He had the deepest sympathy for these people ofVirginia. What would become of them after the war? Defeat for theSouth meant nearer approach to destruction than any nation had sufferedin generations. To him, born south of the Ohio River, and so closelyunited by blood with these people, victory as well as defeat had itspangs.

  Warner and Pennington rose and announced that they would return to theregiment which was held in reserve in a little valley below, but Dick,their leave not having run out yet, decided to stay a while longer.

  "So long," said Warner. "Let the orchard alone. Leave apples forothers. Remember that they are protected by strict orders against allwandering and irresponsible officers, but ourselves."

  "Yes, be good, Dick," said Pennington, and the two went down the slope,leaving Dick on the portico. He liked being alone at times. Theserious cast of mind that he had inherited from his famous greatgrandfather, Paul Cotter, demanded moments of meditation. It waspeaceful too on the portico, and a youth who had been through Grant'sWilderness campaign, a month of continuous and terrible fighting, wasglad to rest for a while.

  The distant rifle fire and the occasional cannon shot had nosignificance and did not disturb him. They blended now with the breezethat blew among the leaves of the apple trees. He had never felt morelike peace, and the pleasant open country was soothing to the eye.What a contrast to that dark and sodden Wilderness where men foughtblindly in the dusk. He shuddered as he remembered the forests set onfire by the shells, and burning over the fallen.

  A light step aroused him and a large man sat down on the bench besidehim. Dick often wondered at the swift and almost noiseless tread ofShepard, with whom he was becoming well acquainted. He was tall, builtpowerfully and must have weighed two hundred pounds, yet he moved withthe ease and grace of a boy of sixteen. Dick thought it must come fromhis trade.

  "I don't want to intrude, Mr. Mason," said Shepard, "but I saw yousitting here, looking perhaps too grave and thoughtful for one of youryears."

  "You're most welcome, Mr. Shepard, and I was thinking, that is in avague sort of way."

  "I saw your face and you were wondering what was to become of Virginiaand the Virginians."

  "So I was, but how did you know it?"

  "I didn't know it. It was just a guess, and the guess was due to thefact that I was having the same thoughts myself."

  "So you regard the war as won?" asked Dick, who had a great respect forShepard's opinion.

  "If the President keeps General Grant in command, as he will, it's acertainty, but it will take a long time yet. We can't force thosetrenches down there. Remember what Cold Harbor cost us."

  Dick shuddered.

  "I remember it," he said.

  "It would be worse if we tried to storm Lee's lines. After Cold Harborthe general won't attempt it, and I see a long wait here. But we canafford it. The South grows steadily weaker. Our blockade clamps likea steel band, and presses tighter and tighter all the time. Food isscarce in the Confederacy. So is ammunition. They receive norecruits, and every day the army of Lee is smaller in numbers than itwas the day before."

  "You go into Richmond, Mr. Shepard. I've heard from high officers thatyou do. How do they feel there with our army only about twenty milesaway?"

  "They're quiet and seem to be confident, but I believe they know theirdanger."

  "Have you by any chance seen or heard of my cousin, Harry Kenton, whois a lieutenant on the staff of the Southern commander-in-chief?"

  Shepard smiled, as if the question brought memories that pleased him.

  "A fine youth," he said. "Yes, I've seen him more than once. I'm freeto tell you, Lieutenant Mason, that I know a lot about this rebelcousin of yours. He and I have come into conflict on severaloccasions, and I did not win every time."

  "Nobody could beat Harry always," exclaimed Dick with youthful loyalty."He was always the strongest and most active among us, and the best inforest and water. He could hunt and fish and trail like the scouts ofour border days."

  "I found him in full possession of all these qualities and he used themagainst me. I should grieve if that cousin of yours were to fall, Mr.Mason. I want to know him still better after the war."

  Dick would have asked further questions about the encounters betweenHarry and the spy, but he judged that Shepard did not care to answerthem, and he forbore. Yet the man aroused the most intense curiosityin him. There were spies and spies, and Shepard was one of them, but hewas not like the others. He was unquestionably a man of great mentalpower. His calm, steady gaze and his words to the point showed it. Noone patronized Shepard.

  "I should like to go into Richmond with you some dark night," saidDick, who hid a strong spirit of adventure under his quiet exterior.

  "You're not serious, Lieutenant Mason?"

  "I wasn't, maybe, when I began to say it, but I believe I am now. Whyshouldn't I be curious about Richmond, a place that great armies havebeen trying to take for three years? Just at present it's the centerof the world to me in interest."

  "You must not think of such a thing, Mr. Mason. Detection meanscertain death."

  "No more for me than for you."

  "But I have had a long experience and I have resources of which youcan't know. Don't think of it again, Mr. Mason."

  "I was merely jesting. I won't," said Dick.

  He involuntarily looked toward the point beyond the horizon whereRichmond lay, and Shepard meanwhile studied him closely. Young Masonhad not come much under his notice until lately, but now he began tointerest the spy greatly. Shepard observed what a strong, well-builtyoung fellow he was, tall and slender but extremely muscular. He alsobore a marked resemblance to his cousin, Harry Kenton, and such was thequality of Shepard that the likeness strongly recommended Dick to him.Moreover, he read the lurking thought that persisted in Dick's mind.

  "You mustn't dream of such a thing as entering Richmond, Mr. Mason," hesaid.

  "It was just a passing thought. But aren't you going in again?"

  "Later on, no doubt, but not just now. I understand that we'replanning some movement. I don't know what it is, but I'm to wait hereuntil it's over. Good-by, Mr. Mason. Since things are closing in it'spossible that you and I will see more of each other than before."

  "Of course, when I'm personally conducted by you on that trip intoRichmond."

  Shepard, who had left the portico, turned and shook a warning finger.

  "Dismiss that absolutely and forever from yo
ur mind, Mr. Mason," hesaid.

  Dick laughed, and watched the stalwart figure of the spy as he strodeaway. Again the singular ease and lightness of his step struck him. Tothe lad's fancy the grass did not bend under his feet. Upon Dick asupon Harry, Shepard made the impression of power, not only of strengthbut of subtlety and courage.

  "I'm glad that man's on our side," said Dick to himself, as Shepard'sfigure disappeared among the trees. Then he left the portico and wentdown in the valley to Colonel Winchester's regiment, where he wasreceived with joyous shouts by several young men, including Warner andPennington, who had gone on before. Colonel Winchester himself smiledand nodded, and Dick saluted respectfully.

  The Winchesters, as they loved to call themselves, were faring well atthis particular time. Like the Invincibles on the other side, thisregiment had been decimated and filled up again several times. It hadlost heavily in the Wilderness and at Spottsylvania, but its colonelhad escaped without serious hurt and had received special mention forgallantry and coolness. It had been cut up once more at Cold Harbor,and because of its great services and losses it was permitted to remaina while in the rear as a reserve, and obtain the rest it needed sosorely.

  The brave youths were recovering fast from their wounds and exertions.Their camp was beside a clear brook and there were tents for theofficers, though they were but seldom used, most of them, unless itshould be raining, preferring to sleep in their blankets under thetrees. The water was good to drink, and farther down were several deeppools in which they bathed. Food, as usual in the Northern army, wasgood and plentiful, and for the Winchesters it seemed more a period ofplay than of war.

  "What did you see at the house, Dick?" asked Colonel Winchester.

  "The spy, Shepard. I talked a while with him. He says the Confederacyis growing weaker every day, but if we try to storm Lee's lines we'llbe cut to pieces."

  "I think he's right in both respects, although I feel sure that somekind of a movement will soon be attempted. But Dick, a mail from thewest has arrived and here is a letter for you."

  He handed the lad a large square envelope, addressed in tall, slantingscript, and Dick knew at once that it was from his mother. He seizedit eagerly, and Colonel Winchester, suppressing the wish to know whatwas inside, turned away.

  * * * *

  I have not heard from my dearest boy since the terrible battles in theeast [Mrs. Mason wrote], but I hope and pray that you have come safelythrough them. You have escaped so many dangers that I feel you mustescape all the rest. The news reaches us that the fighting in Virginiahas been of the most dreadful character, but when it arrives inPendleton it has two meanings. Those of our little town who are forthe Confederacy say General Grant's losses have been so enormous thathe can go no farther, and that the last and greatest effort of theNorth has failed.

  Those who sympathize with the Union say General Lee has been reduced sogreatly that he must be crushed soon and with him the Confederacy. Asyou know, I wish the latter to be true, but I suspect that the truth issomewhere between the two statements.

  But the truth either way brings me great grief. I cannot hate theSouthern people. We are Southern ourselves in all save this war, and,although our dear little town is divided in feeling, I have receivednothing but kindness from those on the other side. Dr. Russell oftenasks about you. He says you were the best Latin scholar in theAcademy, and he expects you to have a great future, as a learned man,after the war. He speaks oftenest of you and Harry Kenton, and Ibelieve that you two were his favorite pupils. He says that Harry's isthe best mathematical mind he has ever found in his long years ofteaching.

  Your room remains just as it was when you left. Juliana brushes andairs it every day, and expects at any time to see her young Master Dickcome riding home. She keeps in her mind two 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, consultedcontinually by General Grant, who goes wrong only when he fails to takeyour advice. In the other you are a little boy whom she alternatelyscolds and pets. And it may be that I am somewhat like Juliana in thisrespect.

  The garden is very fine this year. The vegetables were never moreplentiful, and never of a finer quality. I wish you were here for yourshare. It must be a trial to have to eat hard crackers and tough beefand pork day after day. I should think that you would grow to hate thesight of them. Sam, the colored man who has been with us so long, hasproved as faithful and trustworthy as Juliana. He makes a mostexcellent farmer, and the yield of corn in the bottom land is going tobe amazing.

  They say that since the Federal successes in the West the operations ofSkelly's band of guerrillas have become bolder, but he has notthreatened Pendleton again. They say also that a little farther southa band of like character, who call themselves Southern, under a mannamed Slade, are ravaging, but I suppose that you, who see greatgenerals and great armies daily, are not much concerned about outlaws.

  Always keep your feet dry and warm if you can, and never fail to spreada blanket between you and the damp grass. Give my respects to ColonelWinchester. Tell him that we hear of him now and then in Kentucky andthat we hear only good. Don't forget about the blanket.

  * * * *

  There was more, but it was these passages over which Dick lingeredlongest.

  He read the letter three times--letters were rare in those years, andmen prized them highly--and put it away in his strongest pocket.Colonel Winchester was standing by the edge of the brook, and Dick,saluting him, said:

  "My mother wishes me to deliver to you her respects and best wishes."

  A flush showed through the tan of the colonel's face, and Dick,noticing it, was startled by a sudden thought. At first his feelingwas jealousy, but it passed in an instant, never to come again. Therewas no finer man in the world than Colonel Winchester.

  "She is well," he added, "and affairs could go no better at Pendleton."

  "I am glad," said Colonel Winchester simply. Then he turned to a manwith very broad shoulders and asked:

  "How are the new lads coming on?"

  "Very well, sir," replied Sergeant Daniel Whitley. "Some of 'em are alittle awkward yet, and a few are suffering from change of water, butthey're good boys and we can depend on 'em, sir, when the time comes."

  "Especially since you have been thrashing 'em into shape for so manydays, sergeant."

  "Thank you, sir."

  An orderly came with a message for Colonel Winchester, who left atonce, but Dick and the sergeant, his faithful comrade and teacher,stood beside the stream. They could easily see the bathers fartherdown, splashing in the water, pulling one another under, and, now andthen, hurling a man bodily into the pool. They were all boys to theveteran. Many of them had been trained by him, and his attitude towardthem was that of a school teacher toward his pupils.

  "You have ears that hear everything, sergeant," said Dick. "What isthis new movement that I've heard two or three men speak of? Somethingsudden they say."

  "I've heard too," replied Sergeant Whitley, "but I can't guess it.Whatever it is, though, it's coming soon. There's a lot of work goingon at a point farther down the line, but it's kept a secret from therest of us here."

  The sergeant went away presently, and Dick, going down stream, joinedsome other young officers in a pool. He lay on the bank afterward,but, shortly after dark, Colonel Winchester returned, gave an order,and the whole regiment marched away in the dusk. Dick felt sure thatthe event Sergeant Whitley had predicted was about to happen, but thecolonel gave no hint of its nature, and he continued to wonder, as theyadvanced steadily in the dusk.