CHAPTER XVI BERRY IS TAKEN PRISONER

Berry’s morning lessons with her father were now for a time discontinued. The little household in the mountain cabin realized that the encampment of union soldiers at Pittsburg Landing meant that a battle was near at hand; and Berry’s thoughts, as well as those of her mother and father, were absorbed in what General Grant’s next movement might be.

Mollie Bragg came nearly every morning to practise her lessons in writing, and apparently¹ had quite forgotten Berry’s thoughtless unkindness. Berry presented the slate² and pencil to the little girl so that she might use it at home; and this gift made Mollie sure that Berry had not meant to be unkind. Mrs. Arnold had again fitted Mollie out with a neat dress of stout³ gingham. Mrs. Bragg had made the poor cabin neat and livable, and had planted the rough garden plot with early vegetables. Every day she and Mollie kept a sharp outlook for Len. But General178 Beauregard was doing his best to get his forces at Corinth ready for a march on the enemy and no absences were permitted. But Len was to see his mother and sister, nevertheless, much earlier than he then imagined.

Lily’s first night of “guard duty,” as Berry called it, passed without her seeing or hearing anything to awaken⁴ her fears. The colored girl, however, had slept for several hours as she crouched⁵ against a mossy log near Shiloh church. But Lily was sure that she would have awakened⁶ at the slightest sound. On her way home, in the gray light of the early morning, she had stopped at the red-buds and found a sealed letter under the rock at the roots of the tree.

“I reckons I’ll let Missie Berry see dis fus’,” she resolved, and followed Berry’s plan of reaching her chamber⁷ by the help of the old oak; so that Berry was suddenly awakened, just at daybreak, by a gentle touch on her curly hair and a whispered word:

“Missie Berry, Missie Berry, de letter’s cum,” said Lily.

For a moment Berry believed herself dreaming, and rubbed her eyes sleepily. Then instantly she was wide awake, and seized the letter.179 It was enclosed in a brown paper, and tied with a coarse string. In the dim morning light Berry read: “For General Johnston, at Corinth,” and beneath it in large letters, “RUN!”

The two girls stared at each other with sober faces.

“W’ot yo’ gwine ter do, Missie Berry? Yo’ gwine ter gib dis letter to yo’ pa?” questioned Lily.

Berry shook her head. “I don’t know yet. If I give it to Father I would have to tell him about my going to the witch-tree at midnight,” she whispered. “I’ll have to think what I will do.” And Lily nodded and made her way noiselessly to the kitchen.

Berry turned the letter over in her hand. To open a letter addressed to another person did not occur to her. But this was a spy’s letter; it must contain news of the union army, secretly obtained, and Berry knew that it would be of value to the enemy and that it would be a service if she could give it to a union officer.

“I’ll carry it to the Pittsburg camp,” she resolved.

The moment breakfast was over Berry sauntered out to the porch and instantly disappeared.180 She scrambled⁸ down the rough slope of the ravine, and followed a path just above the Corinth road. It was a day of early April, and a damp mist lay over the river and drifted in little clouds along the hills. Berry had to make her way with some caution, as recent rains had made the path boggy⁹ and uncertain; but within an hour she was in sight of the rows of white tents that dotted the rough plateau facing the Tennessee River. Not a single spadeful of earth had been thrown up for entrenchments; no horseman patrolled the encampment. As Berry stood for a moment looking at what seemed to her so wonderful a sight, she heard the sound of laughter, and a moment later a group of soldiers came from a tent very near to where she was standing¹⁰.

“What’s this?” exclaimed one of the men, as he discovered a slight boyish figure in a well-worn flannel¹¹ blouse and knickerbockers, and wearing a red tam-o’-shanter cap, standing directly in front of him.

“Off with that cap, young man! Don’t you know enough to salute¹² the officers of your country’s army?”

Berry instantly clutched at her cap, and bowed to each officer in turn.

181

The three men laughed again, and one of them, whom Berry now recognized as the officer she had seen a few days earlier at Shiloh, and who had been addressed as Colonel Peabody, exclaimed: “Pretty good for a Southern lad. What’s your errand at this camp, my boy?”

“If you please, Colonel Peabody, I want to see General Grant!” Berry replied soberly.

“Sorry, young man, but the General is at his headquarters in Savannah, nine miles down the river! Did you call to ask him to dinner?” responded the officer, smiling kindly¹³ down at the brown eyes that rested on his with so serious an expression.

“No, sir; although I am sure we would be pleased to ask him to dinner,” began Berry; but before she could continue, the officers, evidently greatly amused by her response, broke into laughter; and the man who had first spoken said, “Southern hospitality, eh? Well! This boy looks a bit different from most of those I’ve seen! What do you want?” he concluded a little suspiciously, looking at Berry so sharply that, for the first time, she began to feel a little afraid.

“This letter,” and she pulled the brown-covered message from the pocket of her blouse, “I182 found it and I thought General Grant would like to see it,” and Berry held the letter out toward Colonel Peabody.

“‘To General Johnston at Corinth. RUN,’” he read the inscription¹⁴ aloud; and the three officers gazed at each other in amazement¹⁵; and a second later Berry felt a firm hand grasp her shoulder.

“So you are a messenger for the Confederate spy, eh? Well, you have come to the wrong camp. What’s your idea in bringing this letter here? Want to count our troops? Pretty clever scheme, wasn’t it?” and the man turned to his companions, who nodded their agreement. They believed Berry had been sent to the camp to secure information for the Confederates, and that the letter had only been an excuse. Colonel Peabody thrust it into his pocket and, keeping a fast hold of Berry’s shoulder, led her toward a near-by tent. “Guess we’ll keep you with us until we march into Corinth,” he said, giving her a little push into the tent, where two soldiers instantly sprang up from a small table.

“Keep your eyes on this boy until I come for him,” commanded the officer, and Berry found herself alone facing the two soldiers, one of whom183 motioned to a wooden stool and said roughly, “Sit down!”

Berry quickly obeyed. This was a very different reception than the one she had imagined. She began to wish that she had followed Lily’s suggestion and given the letter to her father. Once or twice she started to speak, but one of the men promptly¹⁶ commanded her to “Shut up!” with so rough a voice that Berry did not dare to continue.

She realized that she was a prisoner in the camp of the union army, and that no one would know where to look for her.

“If I had only told Lily what I meant to do,” she thought mournfully as the hours passed and her hope of a speedy release vanished. But she was resolved that in some way she must escape, and was on the alert for a possible chance to slip out of the tent. Once free from the camp she was sure she could outrun any pursuer.

The hour of noon came, and one of the soldiers sauntered out after his dinner. The other followed him to the entrance urging him to hurry. Berry was sure she would have no better opportunity to make an attempt to escape. In a moment she had slipped from the stool, and creeping184 behind the unsuspecting soldier, she gave him so sudden and unexpected a push that he stumbled, and she sped past him and was off, running her best toward the steep slope above which stood the camp.

With a yell the soldier was after her; and Berry dared not look backward. She was sure the whole army was in pursuit as she fled down the embankment.

1 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

2 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

4 awaken   

vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起

参考例句：

• Old people awaken early in the morning.老年人早晨醒得早。
• Please awaken me at six.请于六点叫醒我。

5 crouched   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。
• The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身，准备猛扑。

6 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

8 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 boggy   

adj.沼泽多的

参考例句：

• Of, resembling, or characterized by a marsh or marshes; boggy. 沼泽般的，湿软的：类似沼泽地的，沼泽地所特有的；多沼泽的。 来自互联网
• The boggy is out of order, would be instead another one! 球车坏了，需要更换一部。 来自互联网

10 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

11 flannel   

n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服

参考例句：

• She always wears a grey flannel trousers.她总是穿一条灰色法兰绒长裤。
• She was looking luscious in a flannel shirt.她穿着法兰绒裙子，看上去楚楚动人。

12 salute   

vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮

参考例句：

• Merchant ships salute each other by dipping the flag.商船互相点旗致敬。
• The Japanese women salute the people with formal bows in welcome.这些日本妇女以正式的鞠躬向人们施礼以示欢迎。

13 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

14 inscription   

n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文

参考例句：

• The inscription has worn away and can no longer be read.铭文已磨损，无法辨认了。
• He chiselled an inscription on the marble.他在大理石上刻碑文。

15 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

16 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。