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to God. 'Tis but a moment-there! one foot swings off! he is reeling-trembling-toppling over into eternity! Hark!—a shout falls on his ears from above! The man who is lying with half his length over the bridge, has caught a glimpse of the boy's head and shoulders. Quick as thought, the noosed rope is within reach of the sinking youth. No one breathes! With a faint convulsive effort, the swooning boy drops his arms into the noose. Darkness comes over him and with the words "God!" and "Mother!" whispered on his lips just loud enough to be heard in heaven-the tightened rope lifts him out of his last shallow niche. Not a lip moves while he is dangling over that fearful abyss; but when a sturdy Virginian reaches down and draws up the lad, and holds him in his arms before the tearful, breathless multitude such shouting, and such leaping and weeping for joy, never greeted a human being, so recovered from the yawning gulf of eternity!

ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK

ANONYMOUS

The sun had set, and in the distant west
The last red streaks had faded; night and rest
Fell on the earth; stilled was the cannon's roar;
And many a soldier slept to wake no more.
"Twas early spring-a calm and lovely night—
The moon had flooded all the earth with light.
On either side the Rappahannock lay

The armies; resting till the break of day
Should call them to renew the fight. So near
Together were the camps that each could hear
The other's sentry call. And now appear
The blazing bivouac fires on every hill,
And save the tramp of pickets all is still.
Between those silent hills in beauty flows
The Rappahannock. How its bosom glows!
How all its sparkling waves reflect the light
And add new glories to the starlit night!
But hark! From Northern hill there steal along
The strains of martial music mixed with song:
"Star Spangled Banner, may'st thou ever wave,
Over the land we shed our blood to save!"
And still they sing those words: "Our cause is just.
We'll triumph in the end; in God we trust;
Star Spangled Banner, wave, forever wave,

Over a land united, free and brave!"
Scarce had this died away when along
The river rose another glorious song:

A thousand lusty throats the chorus sing:
With "Rally Round the Flag" the hilltops ring.
And well they sang. Each heart was filled with joy,
From first in rank to little drummer-boy.

Then loud huzzas and wildest cheers were given,
That seemed to cleave the air and reach to heaven.
The Union songs, the loud and heartfelt cheers
Fall in the Southern camp on listening ears.
While talking at their scanty evening meal
They pause and grasp their trusty blades of steel.
Such sounds can startle them, but not dismay.
Alas! Those strains of music which of yore
Could rouse their hearts are felt by them no more,
When the last echo of the song had died
There came from Southern hill, with gentle swell,
The air of "Dixie" which was loved so well
By every man that wore the coat of gray,
And is revered and cherished to this day.
"In Dixie's land" they swore to live and die,
That was their watchword, that their battle-cry.
Then rose on high the wild Confederate yell,
Resounding over every hill and dell.

Cheer after cheer went up that starry night
From men as brave as ever saw the light.
Now all is still. Each side had played its part,
How simple songs will fire a soldier's heart!

But hark! O'er Rappahannock's stream there floats
Another tune; but ah! how sweet the notes,

Not such as lash men's passions into foam,

But-richest gem of song-'tis "Home, Sweet Home!"
Played by the band, it reached the very soul,

And down the veteran's cheeks the tear-drops stole.
On either side the stream, from North and South,
Men who would march up to the cannon's mouth
Wept now like children. Tender hearts and true
Were beating 'neath those coats of gray and blue.
The sentry stopped and rested on his gun,
While back to home his thoughts unhindered run.
He thought of loving wife and children there
Deprived of husband's and of father's care.
And stripling lads, scare strong enough to bear
The weight of saber or of knapsack, tried
To stop their tears with foolish, boyish pride,
They might as well have sought to stop the tide!
Through both those hostile camps the music stole
And stirred each soldier to his inmost soul.
From North and South, in sympathy, there rose
A shout tremendous; forgetting they were foes,
Both armies joined and shouted with one voice
That seemed to make the very heavens rejoice.

Sweet music's power! One chord doth make us wild,
But change the strain, we weep as little child,
Touch yet another, men charge the battery-gun;
And by those martial strains a victory's won!

But there's one strain that friends and foes will win,
One magic touch that makes the whole world kin;
No heart so cold, but will, tho far it roam,

Respond with tender thrill to "Home, Sweet Home!"

GENERAL INDEX

PAGE

Address on Irish-American Day..

Cataline's Defiance..

Chariot Race, The..

Abraham Lincoln..
Address to Ex-Confederates..

American Courage..

America's Uncrowned Queen.
Benediction, The.............

Belshazzar's Feast...

Black Horse and His Rider, The....

Boy Orator at Zepata City, The..
Bridging the Bloody Chasm...
Brownsville Affair, The........
Burgomaster's Death, The..

Cause of the Gracchi, The...

Cause of Labor, The...

Character, or the Making of a Man.. E. W. Carmack.

Citizen, The...

Confederate Sergeant, The.......

Courage of Woodrow Wilson, The....

Cross of Gold, The.

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28

Gen. Lew Wallace.

387

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Culture; a Basis of Brotherhood.

Dead, He Was Immortal...

Death of Garfield, The....

Death of Sydney Carton, The.

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Death-bed of Benedict Arnold, The.. George Lippard.

Democracy and the South.

Doom of Claudius and Cynthia..
Duluth Speech, The........
Education and Progress.
Emmet's Defense..

Eulogy on Henry W. Grady..
Eulogy on Walt Whitman..
Flag of Our Fathers, The.
General's Client, The..

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death..
Governor and the Mob, The..
Greater Man, The..

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