Marse Chan’s Last Battle46
(From Marse Chan: In Ole Virginia.)
“Well, jes’ den dey blowed boots an’ saddles, an’ we mounted: an’ de orders come to ride ’roun’ de slope, an’ Marse Chan’s comp’ny wuz de secon’, an’ when we got ’roun’ dyah, we wuz right in it. Hit wuz de wust place ever dis nigger got in. An’ dey said, ‘Charge ‘em!’ an’ my king! ef ever you see bullets fly, dey did dat day. Hit wuz jes’ like hail; an’ we wen’ down de slope (I ’long wid de res’) an’ up de hill right to’ds de cannons, an’ de fire wuz so strong dyar (dey had a whole rigiment of infintrys layin’ down dyar onder de cannons) our lines sort o’ broke an’ stop; de cun’l was kilt, an’ I b’lieve dey wuz jes’ ’bout to bre’k all to pieces, when Marse Chan rid up an’ cotch hol’ de fleg, an’ hollers, ‘Foller me!’ and rid strainin’ up de hill ’mong de cannons.
“I seen ’im when he went, de sorrel four good lengths ahead o’ ev’ry urr hoss, jes’ like he use’ to be in a fox-hunt, an’ de whole rigiment right arfter ’im. Yo’ ain’ nuvver hear thunder! Fust thing I knowed, de roan roll’ head over heels an’ flung me up ’g’inst de bank, like yo’ chuck a nubbin over ’g’inst de foot o’ de corn pile. An’ dat’s what kep’ me from bein’ kilt, I ’spects. Judy she say she think ’twuz Providence, but I think ’twuz de bank. O’ c’ose, Providence put de bank dyah, but how come Providence nuver saved Marse Chan?
“When I look ’roun’ de roan wuz lyin’ dyah by me, stone dead, wid a cannon-ball gone ’mos’ th’oo him, an’ our men had done swep’ dem on t’urr side from de top o’ de hill. ’Twan’ mo’n a minit, de sorrel come gallupin’ back wid his mane flyin’, an’ de rein hangin’ down on one side to his knee. ‘Dyar!’ says I, ‘fo’ God! I ’spects dey done kill Marse Chan, an’ I promised to tek care on him.’
“I jumped up an’ run over de bank, an’ dyar, wid a whole lot o’ dead men, an’ some not dead yit, onder one o’ de guns, wid de fleg still in he han’, an’ a bullet right th’oo he body, lay Marse Chan. I tu’n him over an’ call him, ‘Marse Chan!’ but ’twan’ no use, he wuz done gone home, sho’ ’nuff. I pick ’im up in my arms wid de fleg still in he han’s, an’ toted’ im back jes’ like I did dat day when he wus a baby, an’ ole marster gin ’im to me in my arms, an’ sez he could trus’ me, an’ tell me to tek keer on ’im long ez he lived.
“I kyar’d ’im ’way off de battle-fiel’ out de way o’ de balls, an’ I laid ’im down onder a big tree till I could git somebody to ketch the sorrel for me. He wuz cotched arfter a while, an’ I hed some money, so I got some pine plank an’ made a coffin dat evenin’, an’ wrapt Marse Chan’s body up in de fleg, and put ’im in de coffin; but I didn’ nail de top on strong, ’cause I knowed ole missis wan’ see ’im; an’ I got a’ ambulance, an’ set out for home dat night. We reached dyar de nex’ evenin’, arfter travellin’ all dat night an’ all nex’ day.”
Footnote
46 By permission of author, and publishers, Charles Scribner’s Sons, N. Y.