"
"I warn you, Julius Caesar, don't do it unless you're in for a fight! I'm
going back to fight--to fight to kill. No more red tape and gold braid
for me. I'm going now into the jaws of hell. I'm going into the ranks as
a private."
"Don't make no difference ter me, sah, whar yer go. I'se gwine wid yer.
I kin look atter yer shoes an' cook yer sumfin' good ter eat."
"I warn you, Julius! When they find your torn and mangled body on the
field of Death, don't you sit up and blame me!"
"Don't yer worry, sah. Dey ain't gwine fin' me dar, an' ef dey do, dey
ain't gwine ter be nuttin' tore er mangled 'bout me, I see ter dat,
sah!"
Three weeks later Burnside's army received a stalwart recruit. Few
questions were asked. The ranks were melting.
CHAPTER XXIII
THE USURPER
The answer which the country gave the President's Proclamation of
Emancipation was a startling one, even to the patient, careful
far-seeing man of the people in the White House. For months he had
carried the immortal document in his pocket without even allowing his
Cabinet to know it had been written. He had patiently borne the abuse of
his party leaders and the fierce assaults of Horace Greeley until he
believed the time had come that he must strike this blow--a blow which
would rouse the South to desperation and unite his enemies in the North.
Pages:
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353