THE GIANT
"Who's that? Who's that?" demanded the man in a voice which did not
betray any alarm. Indeed, the huge form seemed to loom even larger
before Noel in the dim light. It was plain that the man was not in any
fear, and his deep, guttural voice produced a peculiar effect upon the
listening young soldier.
Noel glanced hastily about him, somehow fearful now of others
approaching from the barns. He had heard numerous stories concerning the
bowie-knives with which it had been reported many of the Southern
soldiers were armed. To the imagination of the young soldier not only
did the size of the man who had halted before him seem to increase, but
now he was fearful of enemies approaching from the rear. With all his
heart he wished that he had never listened to the words of Nick. In his
alarm it seemed almost as if his cap was being lifted by his hair and
cold chills were passing up and down his spine.
The strange man slowly advanced, and in a manner which still betrayed
more of curiosity than of fear came closer to the frightened young
soldier and looked intently into his face.
"Who are you, sir?" he demanded coolly. "What are you doing out here at
this time of the night?"
"That's just what I was going to ask you," spoke up Noel, determined to
be as bold as circumstances permitted.
"Oh!" the giant replied in unchanged tones. "I thought I heard some
disturbance among the cattle and I came out to see if anything was
wrong."
When the man spoke, he advanced as if he was about to pass the young
soldier and enter the house. He was walking with a slow, calm, and
almost measured stride.
He had, however, gone but a few yards before he halted once more, and
turning again toward the young soldier remarked in an indifferent way,
"'T is a pretty evening, sir."
Noel was well aware that the evening was being far from "pretty." The
darkness still was intense and the dampness which had followed the storm
had produced a chill under which the lad was shivering.
Taken aback by the cool assurance of the giant, when the man resumed
his walk, he had advanced halfway to the house before Noel again hailed
him. "Look here, my friend," he called; "I'm sorry to detain you, but
the captain might wish to see you."
"Well?" inquired the giant in a drawling tone.
"Who lives in this house?" demanded Noel.
"I do."
"Is this house frame or brick?"
"I don't know why it concerns you, but it's a frame house, not a brick."
"Are you the owner of this house?"
"I reckon I am."
"What are you doing out here this time of night?"
"I told you, sir, that I went out to quiet a disturbance among the
cattle."
"Can you tell me where Mr. Hilton lives?"
"Yes, sir."
"Where does he live?"
"He lives here."
"Are you Mr. Hilton?"
"I reckon that's what my neighbors sometimes call me."
"Are you a Union man?"
"How does that concern you?" demanded the man, still without betraying
any signs either of fear or interest.
"Because I'm a Union soldier myself."
Still the interest of the man apparently was not aroused. Calmly he
asked, "And what may you want of me if you're what you say you are?"
"If you'll take me into the house I'll explain to you." Noel glanced
about as he spoke, for the fear of men stealing upon him through the
darkness was still strong upon him.
"I reckon we can talk where we are," said the man at last.
"Well," said Noel, determined, now that he had revealed his identity,
that he would venture to tell the rest of his story. "I came through the
valley from Harper's Ferry and was taken prisoner by some of the
Johnnies, but managed to get away. I have been traveling all night long
and am soaked through and tired and hungry, and if you're what I
understand you are, a friend of the Union cause, I hope you'll take me
into your house and let me dry my clothes and give me something to
eat--"
"And bring a dozen bands of Confederates around me like hornets," broke
in the man, though still he was not excited and was speaking in the
calm, deliberate tones which he had before used. "I have had trouble
enough with my secesh neighbors. How do I know who you are or that you
are what you tell me you are?" he demanded once more.
"You can see for yourself when we go where there is a light."
"I reckon you can come in," said the man at last; and eagerly Noel
followed him as he led the way into the house.
As soon as they entered, the stranger seated himself near the door and
bade Noel take a chair near him. A candle had been lighted and placed
upon a rude table, and its beams enabled the young soldier to see more
clearly the strange man before him. In spite of his apparent
indifference Noel was suspicious that he was more excited than he cared
to have his visitor know.
"What's all this rumpus?"
Noel looked up as he heard the words shrilly spoken and saw a woman
standing in the doorway of a room which adjoined the kitchen.
"Who's this yo' have brought home, Jim?" she asked of Noel's host. Her
words plainly were disturbing. She was a short, stout woman. Her hair
was hanging down her back, and around her shoulders was a shawl which
reached almost to her knees.
Startled as Noel had been by the sound of her voice, he hastily
concluded, as soon as he was aware of the response which the tall man
made to her words, that if he was supposedly the head of the house,
evidently she controlled the head.
"That's just like yo'," she said tartly. "I've got all the mouths I want
to feed now, and yo' keep bringing people in here--"
"Sh-h-h, Sairy Ann. This yere man is a Union soldier--"
"How do yo' know he is?"
"He told me so."
"Yo' can't believe everybody," said the woman. "Ever since all this
trouble with the secesh began, nobody can trust his best friend. If I
had my way about it, I would put somebody in command of the Union
soldiers that would do something. They wouldn't be runnin' at Bull Run
the way they did, and I reckon Pope led the way, too, and probably made
better time than any of them. Before McClellan gets his eyes open, I
reckon the whole o' Maryland and Harper's Ferry, too, will run to join
Lee's army. Pretty kind of men we have fighting for the Union! How do
yo' know he is a Union soldier?" she repeated.
"If you'll hold the candle you can see for yourself, if there's any of
the cloth of my uniform that will show through the mud," said Noel
good-naturedly.
In spite of her apparent harshness, the young soldier was convinced that
she was not so unfriendly as her words at first implied.
Taking him at his word, the woman advanced, and holding the candle above
her head looked keenly at the intruder. "Yo' don't look so dreadful
deceitful," she admitted, "but a body never can tell. Fine feathers
sometimes make fine birds, and maybe yo' put on those clothes because
yo' want to get into our house. Jim has the name of being a friend of
the Union, but he's just about as lively as McClellan. I had to make him
go out to see what was the matter with the cattle. They are all right,
are they, Jim?" she demanded, turning once more to the man who plainly
was her husband.
"Yas, Sairy Ann," he replied; "I reckon they got a bit restless endurin'
the storm."
"Yo' didn't see any signs of men being around?"
"This is the only man I saw."
"Well, they will be here pretty quick, I reckon," she declared. "If the
secesh find out that there is a cow left on the place they will come for
it. I reckon they have been here already. Jim isn't much of a
protection, except to look at," she added, turning again to her visitor.
Under other circumstances Noel would have laughed at her words, for the
huge Jim plainly was in full subjection to the little woman who was
talking so volubly.
"What did yo' stop here for?" she abruptly demanded.
"I have been running almost all night," explained Noel, "and I found a
negro out here. He said that Mr. Hilton was a friend of the Union. I
thought morning would be here pretty soon and I didn't know just where
to go. I'm a stranger in this part of the country."
"Whare yo' from?" asked the woman.
"New York State."
"I reckon that's a right sma't way from here. Well, I won't turn yo' out
if yo' are the first cousin to Beelzebub such a night as this. Are you
hungry?"
"I am. But I won't disturb you. If you'll let me lie down here on the
floor, I'll wait until you have your breakfast."
"Yo'll do nothin' of the kind," said the woman brusquely.
"Do you want me to leave now?"
"Who said anything about your leavin'?" she demanded sharply.
"I did," said Noel.
"Well, I'm goin' to dry yo' out first. Yo' 're one mass of mud from head
to heels. Yo' all go into that room," she added, pointing as she spoke
to another little room that opened out of the kitchen, "and put your
clothes outside the door. I reckon I'll have to bake 'em, before I ever
can get 'em clean."
The woman's friendliness was so manifest that in spite of his suspicions
Noel promptly decided to obey.
"Don't yo' be afraid," continued the woman, when Noel at last had
carried out her directions, and had thrown his soaked and muddy uniform
outside the door, as she had suggested. "I'm goin' to look out for yo'.
Yo' aren't much more 'n a baby, anyway. I wonder that your mother should
ever let yo' come so far away from home. Much good yo' can do, fighting
these secesh! Now, yo' get into bed and when I have your breakfast
cooked I'll set it here by the door. Yo' can help yourself then, and
after yo' have had all yo' want, yo' get back into bed an' stay there
until I tell yo' to get up. I'm thinkin' the bed is about as safe a
place as yo' can find in these days. It's been nothin' but soldiers
marchin' up and down, back and forth, in and out, to and fro, for the
past week! They seem to be goin' about like old Satan and roarin' like a
lion seekin' whom they may devour."
The tall host whom Noel had followed into the house had remained seated
near the door throughout the interview. In spite of his indifferent
manner, the young soldier was startled when several times he was
suspicious that the man was listening for the approach of some one. He
glanced frequently toward the door, and there was an air of anxiety or
expectation in every movement he made. However, Noel had been so tired
and now was so refreshed by the simple food which the woman soon
provided for him that he dismissed his fears from his mind and soon was
sleeping soundly.
He was awakened by the sound of voices in the adjoining room. It was
daylight now and his bedroom was flooded with sunshine. It was, however,
the conversation in the kitchen that chiefly interested the young
soldier, and in a brief time he was keenly excited by what he heard. He
looked about the room for his uniform, but it was nowhere to be seen.
Meanwhile from the parts of the conversation which he overheard, he was
convinced that the visitor was a soldier in the Confederate army.