A RAINY MORNING--A WATERSPOUT--DISMAL EXPERIENCE--BRIGHTER PROSPECTS--AN
UNFORTUNATE SLEEPER.
The clouds had been darkening around us all day, and at night we had the
prospect of a storm. M---- sent George out with a spade to slope the earth
about the roof of our home, and widen the water ditch around it; yet, it
was not until the next morning that the rain began falling. By daylight I
heard M---- giving orders rapidly about packing the earth firmly,
deepening the ditch, and watching the rear of the cave.
I opened my eyes to see without the darkness and gloom of a rainy day--to
feel the dampness of the mist upon my face, and to behold M---- standing
at the entrance, with the movable articles near him piled out of reach of
the driving rain, giving orders to George in regard to our doubly besieged
fortress. I lay and listened to the dropping and plashing with a dreamy
pleasure at first; but hearing M---- start out to see if all were right, I
sprang up, thinking I might assist in keeping out the water. It was a very
fortunate move; for I had scarcely begun dressing, when the earth gave
away at the head of my bed, and a perfect spout of muddy water burst
through the embankment and fell in the centre of the resting place I had
so lately left. To run and call M---- to stop the water in the back part
of the cave, and, in the greatest haste, to assist Cinth in removing every
article that was at all dry, and let the water have free course through,
was the work of an instant; yet, in the short time that the water had
flowed through the cave, we presented a miserably deluged appearance:
trunks were piled on trunks--lines hanging from log to log in the roof,
filled with the dripping carpet, blankets, sheets, and miscellaneous
articles, dripping with a dreary patter on the floor--chairs turned up
together, and packed out of the way--our home-like arrangements all in
disorder. And now that the water had been turned that flowed through the
cave, I and the servant sat, disconsolately, with our skirts drawn around,
and our feet on little blocks of wood to keep them out of the mud, with
rueful faces, regarding the sweeping of the water and plashing of rain
without.
The water, having overflowed the sides of the ditch, making a new channel,
and pouring down at the entrance, had completely washed away our little
terrace, leaving a huge and yawning gulf immediately in front of us. I was
thus contemplating, sorrowfully, the ruins of our little home, when M----
came down, bringing cheer to us again in the expression of his bright,
strong, and calm face; the water was flowing in little streams from his
hat down to his coat, flowing over his coat, making little pools on the
floor as he stood. He declared that the storm was nearly over, and that we
would have some breakfast in spite of it. Taking his hat from his head and
shaking the water from it, and from his hair, he bade George take his
spade and cut a fireplace near the entrance, bring up his camp kettles,
which were full of water, kindle a large fire, and have the breakfast on.
He congratulated me upon the perfect safety of our residence, that the
water was running around it in regular Venetian style, and that for the
present we were perfectly waterproof.
Indeed, our home was in a precarious situation on a rainy day, for we were
planted in the bed of the torrent of water that drained from the hill
above; yet, M---- assured me that now we had nothing to fear, for with
George he had packed the earth perfectly firm and secure. He laughed
heartily at my narrow escape; for I declared that I should never have felt
in a pleasant humor again if that rush of muddy water had fallen on me.
Soon the fire blazed cheerfully up, and George commenced the preparation
of our simple breakfast--M---- going out to attend to some reports. I had
always looked forward to the prospect of rain with pleasure, as procuring
us some respite from the incessant noise of explosions, and from the
whistling and falling of balls. The fury of the storm had scarcely abated,
when the tumult and din of the Federal batteries and musketry recommenced;
and far from the rain extinguishing the fuse of the shell, there seemed to
be an unusually large number falling this morning. I began to feel
thoroughly thawed and revived when George set the breakfast on the table
and M---- came in; so we sat down quite gayly, in spite of the continued
falling of the rain.
The pleasant fire was doing its work, and the earth was rapidly hardening
around us.
M---- told me of a colonel of one of the regiments stationed at the foot
of one of the fortified hills, who unfortunately slept too long, and the
turbulent rush of the waters down the hill broke through all barriers,
enveloping him completely in mud, water, sand, and sediment. He sprang
from the ground in a towering rage, and could scarcely be persuaded that
he was not the victim of a practical joke. So soundly had he slept, that
he was entirely oblivious of the storm, and could scarcely believe his
rude awakening the work of the elements. M---- told me also, with a grave
face, of the poor soldiers he had seen in the rifle pits that morning,
standing in water--some with little pieces of carpet drawn around them;
others with nothing but their thin clothes, which were saturated; and
there they would lie through the day, with only the meal of yesterday to
sustain them.