one had not seemed to me very formidable:
would not be so pleasant. I pressed my iro
alongside the tassel-tailed mule, and acce
mined to learn what manner of man he
arrived. The startled look he gave
with its lucid pendent drop, that pee
handkerchief, showed me that he
as myself. He was a lad about
had tied up his ears, to defend
bandage over them had prev
proach until I was close upo

"It's a kule day," he reined his mule aside to ] - for it was evident he trust as I had him.

At the same time ing upon us, throug clatter and loud b his pocket, and b something so lik "How are me all over w Zeek!" to know ye, Zeek dec'

me the clined to hi

pan

sp

a

urs a

fortunate

or hopped along

; and I noticed one hyere only in winter,"

w on the leafless brown trees, rn woods in winter. "It's a ,' said Zeek. "It just grows on : no rute, nor nothing. It's a rare hills; it grows mostly on the bottoms sture in the air." It was a beautiful under its verdant tufts, sometimes so low

by rising in the stirrups, I could pluck eir translucent pearly berries, as I passed. wg in saying it had no root. It is supposed by birds wiping their bills upon the limbs of ing the berries. A stray seed thus deposited the penetrating root feeds upon the juices that the bark and the wood of the tree.

. Dat few farm-houses, and those were mostly built We cossed heavy lines of Beauregard's breastworks; have traced the route of the great armies by the kyses horned cattle, and mules we saw whitening in wis and by the roadside. A crest of hilly fields showed # + "local sweep of level wooded country on the west wah Die a drown wavy sea, with tossed tree-tops for

Lade along hyere," observed Zeek. When I

k.

to the saw-mill, to get pay for a yoke of sold. "I started by sun-up, and got thar

It was now afternoon, and he was hungry

e therefore proposed to me to go home with him arm, before visiting the battle-field.

as after two o'clock when we came to a hilly field covi with rotting clothes.

"Beauregard's troops come plumb up this road, and slept hyere the night befo'e the battle. They left their blankets and knapsacks, and after they got brushed out by the Yankees, the second day, they did n't wait to pick 'em up again."

We entered the woods beyond, directing our course towards the western edge of the battle-field; and, after riding some distance, forded Owl Creek, a narrow, but deep and muddy stream. Zeek's home was in view from the farther bank; a log-house, with the usual great opening through the middle; situated on the edge of a pleasant oak-grove strewn with rustling leaves, and enclosed, with its yard and out-houses, by a Virginia rail-fence.

90

With these exceptions, Zeek praised highly the middling class of people who inhabited that region.

"Some countries, a pore man ain't respected no mo'e 'n a dog. 'Tan't so hyere. Man may be plumb pore, but if he 's honest, he's thought as much of as anybody. Mo'e'n two thirds of 'em can read and write." Before the war, they used to have what they called "neighborhood schools." The teacher was supported by the pupils, receiving two dollars a month for each he taught only in winter, and was fortunate if he could secure forty pupils..

Flocks of sparrows flew up from the bushes or hopped along the ground. There were bluebirds also; and I noticed one. or two robins. "We never see robins hyere only in winter,"

said Zeek.

Green bunches of mistletoe grew on the leafless brown trees, -a striking feature of Southern woods in winter. "It's a curiosity, the way it grows," said Zeek. "It just grows on the tops of trees, without no rute, nor nothing. It's a rare chance you find it on the hills; it grows mostly on the bottoms whur thar's mo'e moisture in the air." It was a beautiful sight to me, riding under its verdant tufts, sometimes so low on the boughs that, by rising in the stirrups, I could pluck sprigs of it, with their translucent pearly berries, as I passed. But Zeek was wrong in saying it had no root. It is supposed to be propagated by birds wiping their bills upon the limbs of trees, after eating the berries. A stray seed thus deposited germinates, and the penetrating root feeds upon the juices that flow between the bark and the wood of the tree.

We passed but few farm-houses, and those were mostly built of logs. We crossed heavy lines of Beauregard's breastworks; and could have traced the route of the great armies by the bones of horses, horned cattle, and mules we saw whitening in the woods and by the roadside. A crest of hilly fields showed us a magnificent sweep of level wooded country on the west and south, like a brown wavy sea, with tossed tree-tops for breakers.

"Mighty pore soil along hyere," observed Zeek. When I

1

ACROSS OWL CREEK.

305

told him that it was as good as much of the soil of New England, which farmers never thought of cultivating without using manures, he said, "When our land gits as pore as that, we just turn it right out, and cle'r again. We don't allow we can afford to manure. But No'th Car'linians come in hyere, and take up the land turned out so, and go to manuring it, and raise right smart truck on it."

As I was inclined to ride faster than Zeek, he looked critically at my horse, and remarked, "I don't reckon you give less 'n a dollar a day for that beast." I said I gave more than that. "I ride my beasts hard enough," he replied, "but I reckon if I paid a dollar a day for one, I'd ride him a heap harder!"

He had been down to the saw-mill, to get pay for a yoke of oxen his father had sold. "I started by sun-up, and got thar agin nine o'clock." It was now afternoon, and he was hungry and cold. He therefore proposed to me to go home with him and get warm, before visiting the battle-field.

It was after two o'clock when we came to a hilly field covered with rotting clothes.

"Beauregard's troops come plumb up this road, and slept hyere the night befo'e the battle. They left their blankets and knapsacks, and after they got brushed out by the Yankees, the second day, they did n't wait to pick 'em up again."

We entered the woods beyond, directing our course towards the western edge of the battle-field; and, after riding some distance, forded Owl Creek, a narrow, but deep and muddy stream. Zeek's home was in view from the farther bank; a log-house, with the usual great opening through the middle; situated on the edge of a pleasant oak-grove strewn with rustling leaves, and enclosed, with its yard and out-houses, by a Virginia rail-fence.

90

CHAPTER XLIII.

ZEEK'S FAMILY.

"ALIGHT!" said Zeek, dismounting at the gate.

I remonstrated against leaving the animals uncovered in the cold, but he said it was the way people did in that country; and it was not until an hour later that he found it convenient to give them shelter and food.

We were met inside the gate by a sister of the young man's, a girl of fifteen, in a native Bloomer dress that fell just below the knees. As I entered the space between the two divisions of the house, I noticed that doors on both sides were open, one leading to the kitchen, where there was a great fire, and the other to the sitting-room, where there was another great fire, in large old-fashioned fireplaces.

Zeek took me into the sitting-room, and introduced me to his mother. There were two beds in the back corners of the room. The uncovered floor was of oak; the naked walls. were of plain hewn logs; the sleepers and rough boards of the chamber floor constituted the ceiling. There were clothes drying on a pole stretched across the room, and hanks of dyed cotton thread on a bayonet thrust into a chink of the chimney. Cold as the day was, the door by which we entered was never shut, and sometimes another door was open, letting the wintry wind sweep through the house.

Zeek's mother went to see about getting us some dinner; and his father came in from the woods, where he had been chopping, and sat in the chimney-corner and talked with me: a lean, bent, good-humored, hard-working, sensible 'sort of man. He told me he had five hundred acres of land, but only thirty-six under cultivation. He and Zeek did the work; they had never owned negroes.