' They went, Jedge, an' Bob
he didn't come back. Am I a makin' it too long?"
"No, Mr. Starbuck, proceed."
"Do it sound like I'm a beggin'?"
"No" said the Judge, "it is the rude epic of my country. Go on."
"I thank you, suh. Well, finally, my time come. I married a game little
woman an' we had two of as fine boys as the world ever seen. I raised my
co'n on that same hill-side an' made my licker an' the government never
said a word. An' when me an' them boys was a workin' up there we could
hear that little woman a singin' down at the house--a singin' the songs
of glory she had hearn the old soldiers sing. Well, one day me an' them
boys--twin boys, Jedge,--was a hoein' the co'n in the field. I ricolleck
it jest as well as if it was yistidy. An' atter all these years I can
hear that song a comin' up from the house. An' then--then come that same
thrillin' noise, the beatin' of drums an' a blowin' of fifes. We clim'
up on the fence, jest like my granddaddy an' my daddy had done, an' I
cried out, 'Whut's the trouble now?' The drums stopped, an' one of the
men raised his flag up high an' shouted, 'The country is a splittin' up
an' the Union needs soldiers.
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