' An' I says, 'Come on, boys.' I can look
back now, Jedge, an' see that little woman a standin' under a tree a
wavin' us a good-bye with an old flag. I can see her yit. Jedge, we went
down into the fiery furnace. We seed the flag droop an' fall, an'
then--then rise in victory. Yes, I seed it. But my boys--my boys that
was like picturs in the book--they was left at Gettysberg. An' when that
po' little woman hearn that they wan't comin' back, she pined away an'
died--an' when I come home a bleedin', there was a grave under the tree
where we had seed her a standin' jest befo' we went down beyant the
hill. I--"
"Mr. Starbuck--"
"Wait a minit, Jedge, I ain't through yit. What did I know how to do
when I got back to work? What had my grandaddy an' my daddy done? I went
to raisin' of my co'n an' a makin' of my licker, an' still the
gover'ment never said a word. But atter a while I hearn it was ag'in the
law, an' I says, 'me an' all my folks have been a sheddin' of our blood
for our country, an' some of them fellers that makes the laws never done
that.
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