CHAPTER XVIII AFTER THE BATTLE

Berry’s absence from home on the morning of the battle of Shiloh made Mr. and Mrs. Arnold seriously anxious. The fact that Lily had also disappeared was of some comfort, however, for they knew the colored girl would do her best to protect and shield her young mistress from any danger. The position of the Arnolds’ cabin in the remote ravine was, fortunately, out of range of the guns, and the terrible encounters between the Confederate and union forces were all several miles beyond the ridge² that sheltered the cabin. But Sunday, with the echoing sound of guns, passed slowly by to the nearly frantic³ parents. To venture far from the cabin was not to be considered; and, added to their anxiety for Berry, was the fear of what might have befallen Mrs. Bragg and Mollie. But at the approach of night the sound of musketry ceased, the roar195 of cannon⁴ died away for a time, and a heavy rain began to fall. But with darkness came a new sound: union gunboats had come up the Tennessee River and began a steady fire upon the Confederates. Sleep was impossible, and when Monday morning came Mr. Arnold declared that he must go in search of Berry, and Mrs. Arnold determined⁵ to accompany him. But as they turned down the familiar trail, two miles from the cabin, to the brook⁶, where Berry had met the spy, they could see the dense⁷ smoke from the guns rising in every direction; and down a near-by road a mass of Confederate soldiers in their gray uniforms dashed by.

“It is of no use to go any farther. We may be shot by stray bullets, or taken prisoners as ‘suspicious’ strangers,” said Mr. Arnold. “Possibly some friendly officer has taken charge of Berry and Lily, and when the battle ends will send them safely home. All we can do is to return to the cabin and wait!”

Mrs. Arnold sadly agreed, and they made their way home, wondering anxiously as to the course of the battle.

“If the union army had any warning at all of the advance of the Confederates they may be196 able to defend the Landing,” said Mr. Arnold, as they again reached the cabin.

When Lily awakened⁸ on Sunday morning to the sound of echoing artillery⁹, and when she discovered that Berry was not at home, she at once understood what had happened.

“Missie Berry’s at de union camp!” she promptly¹⁰ decided¹¹, “an’ I’se gwine dar ter tek keer ob her,” and Lily was off like the wind. But she found it no easy matter to reach her destination.

After she had left the rough ridge where the Arnolds’ cabin stood and made her way down the ravine she was instantly in the midst of moving masses of Confederates; and it took all her alertness and caution to avoid discovery. For hours she crouched¹² in thickets¹³, and once even marched steadily¹⁴ along with a division of soldiers who were driving union soldiers back toward the Landing; and darkness had begun to gather before the tired, frightened Lily reached the plateau above the Tennessee River, from where the thunder of guns held back the advancing Confederates.

Slowly and cautiously Lily crept along the embankment. Rain began to fall; darkness197 came; and the Confederates fell back; and the exhausted¹⁵ Lily crawled along and at last found herself near a tent.

“I reckon I’ll jes’ go in dar,” she thought, “an’ wait til’ dis rain stops,” and, making no more noise than a woodland rabbit, Lily softly crept under the swinging flap of the tent. But, quietly as she had entered, ears as sharp as her own, and eyes accustomed to shadowy woodland ways, had discovered her.

“Who’s there?” called a familiar voice; and Lily jumped to her feet and ran forward.

“My lan’! Missie Berry!” she exclaimed. “Ain’ I de lucky nigger ter cum right to dis tent! I’se bin¹ all day a-gettin’ har!”

“Oh, Lily!” For a moment Berry clung silently to the faithful girl who had braved every danger to reach her young mistress; and then quickly told the story of her discovery of the Confederates in Shiloh woods. “And now I want to go home. We’ll start this minute!” she exclaimed eagerly.

“We cyan’t, Missie Berry! Dar’s milluns ob men a-fightin’ out dar! An’ lissen ter dat rain, Missie Berry! If we wusn’t killed by guns we’d be droun’d daid! We shu’ wu’d, Missie Berry.198 An’ yo’ ma and pa dey knows I’ll tek keer ob yo’,” Lily concluded, and Berry at last agreed not to attempt to start for home until the next morning. Lily curled up on the floor beside the cot where Berry lay; and, in spite of storm and the crashing sound of guns, the girls were soon fast asleep.

On Monday Lily was awake at an early hour, and left the camp to skirmish for food. It was too serious a moment in the great battle for Colonel Peabody to remember the little Yankee girl in his tent, but Lily managed to secure a quantity of hard biscuit and refilled the water jug¹⁷. “We kin¹⁶ go home ter-night, I reckon,” she assured Berry, who was now rested and eager to leave the tent.

Early that afternoon the sound of cheers echoed along the plateau, and Berry and Lily ventured to peer from the tent. A soldier rushed past them shouting: “Beauregard’s men are retreating. The Battle of Shiloh is over!”

“Praise de Lawd!” said Lily; “an’ I hopes dis ends de noise.”

By four o’clock the last shot had been fired, and the union generals found that in the two days’ battle 15,000 union soldiers had been killed199 or taken prisoners by the enemy, while the Confederate loss was not over 10,699 men.

In spite of Berry’s pleading Lily resolutely¹⁸ refused to start for home until night.

“’Tain’ safe, Missie Berry! Jes’ wait!” she insisted; and Berry at last agreed.

It was six o’clock when the flap to the tent was drawn¹⁹ back and Colonel Peabody, his arm in a sling²⁰ and a bandage about his head, stood smiling in the doorway²¹.

“Thank heaven you are here, and safe!” he exclaimed, as Berry started toward him; and then, discovering Lily, dressed in Francis’s old clothes, added, “Where did this boy come from?”

“From my home; it’s Lily!” Berry explained. “She’s going to take me home!”

The officer looked puzzled, but asked no further question in regard to Lily; and a moment later a soldier appeared with a pitcher²² of hot coffee, a plate of fried eggs and bacon, and another of biscuit. He set the food on a rough table and Colonel Peabody at once drew a stool toward it. He had hardly tasted food since the beginning of the battle, but he did not forget his visitors, and Berry was told to sit beside him,200 while Lily was given a liberal share. They were all too hungry to talk until they had satisfied their hunger, and Colonel Peabody was the first to speak.

“Now, little Yankee girl, tell me your name, or, better still, write it down for me. You will find some paper and a pencil in that box,” and he pointed²³ toward a wooden box at the head of the cot.

“Write your father’s name also,” he added, as Berry began to write.

“My brother Francis is a union soldier. He’s a Corporal!” Berry proudly announced, as she handed Colonel Peabody the paper on which she had written her own name and that of her father.

“Well, I think you should be a General!” declared the officer. “So your name is Berenice Arnold!” said Colonel Peabody, and in a thoughtful tone he repeated: “Berenice Arnold, the little Yankee girl of Shiloh,” and then added: “If you had not reached us when you did with your warning of the advancing Confederates this camp would surely have been captured. General Grant will thank you himself.”

“Missie Berry, I reckons we better be startin’,” whispered Lily, and, before Berry201 could respond, Colonel Peabody rose to his feet and said:

“Before you go, Berenice, I must take you to the hero of the day, General William T. Sherman. His efforts led us to victory,” and resting his hand on Berry’s shoulder the wounded officer moved toward the door of the tent, with Lily close at his heels.

The union generals were gathered in a tent near by discussing the fortunes of the day. General Rousseau, whose brigade had swept everything before it; General McCook and Crittenden, who, against tremendous odds²⁴, had held their stand at Shiloh church, and General Buell, whose arrival had given victory to the union forces, were all gathered about General Sherman as Colonel Peabody with his two odd companions appeared in the open doorway of the tent. Very briefly²⁵ he told the story of Berry’s flight through the forest on the night before the Battle of Shiloh to bring the news of the stealthy advance of the enemy, and with a gentle push sent Berry toward the black-whiskered, grave-faced General whose keen eyes softened²⁶ as they rested on the slender little figure; and, as he clasped Berry’s hand and smiled down upon her, Berry wished202 with all her heart that there was some greater service she could do for the man who had that day won an undying fame.

Later on, when Berry attempted to repeat to her father and mother what General Sherman had said to her, she found that all she could remember was that he had called her “a brave little Yankee girl,” and, when Colonel Peabody summoned a tall young soldier to go to the outskirts²⁷ of the camp with the girls, that each one of the great generals had clasped her hand and smiled upon her and repeated General Sherman’s words.

The late April twilight²⁸ had begun to fade when Mr. and Mrs. Arnold from their seats on the cabin porch heard the sound of a clear whistle, three times repeated, Berry’s signal, and started to their feet to see Berry, with Lily close behind her, running toward the cabin. And when the little girl told the story of her night watch in Shiloh woods, her journey to the union camp, and all that had so quickly followed, her mother and father listened in amazement²⁹. There was no word of blame for the girl who had been intent only on being of service to the cause for which her brother was fighting.
 
“We have two soldiers in the family!” her father declared proudly, as she finished the story of her adventures.

“I tole Missie Berry yo’d know I’d tek keer ob her,” said the smiling Lily, as Mrs. Arnold said to the faithful girl that she had been sure Lily had followed her young mistress.

“Len Bragg is at home,” said Mr. Arnold; “he was wounded, but not seriously, in the fight along Corinth road, and carried to the cabin. I have just returned from there, and must go down again to-morrow morning.”

1 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

2 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

3 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

4 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

6 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

7 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

8 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》

9 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

10 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。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 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。

13 thickets   

n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物

参考例句：

• Small trees became thinly scattered among less dense thickets. 小树稀稀朗朗地立在树林里。 来自辞典例句
• The entire surface is covered with dense thickets. 所有的地面盖满了密密层层的灌木丛。 来自辞典例句

14 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

15 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

16 kin   

n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的

参考例句：

• He comes of good kin.他出身好。
• She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。

17 jug   

n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂

参考例句：

• He walked along with a jug poised on his head.他头上顶着一个水罐，保持着平衡往前走。
• She filled the jug with fresh water.她将水壶注满了清水。

18 resolutely   

adj.坚决地，果断地

参考例句：

• He resolutely adhered to what he had said at the meeting. 他坚持他在会上所说的话。
• He grumbles at his lot instead of resolutely facing his difficulties. 他不是果敢地去面对困难，而是抱怨自己运气不佳。

19 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

20 sling   

vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓

参考例句：

• The boy discharged a stone from a sling.这个男孩用弹弓射石头。
• By using a hoist the movers were able to sling the piano to the third floor.搬运工人用吊车才把钢琴吊到3楼。

21 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

22 pitcher   

n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手

参考例句：

• He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
• Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。

23 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

24 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

25 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

26 softened   

（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
• The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。

27 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

28 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

29 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。