It was evident that the fight was only delayed. An attack might be
expected at any moment. An exodus from the town at once began.
Already refugees from all parts of the adjacent country had begun to
pour into and pass through, in endless procession and every
conceivable and inconceivable style of conveyance, drawn by horses,
mules, oxen, and even by a single steer or cow. Most of these were
women and boys, though the faces of young children appeared here and
there,--as it were, "thrown in" among the "plunder,"--looking
pitifully weary and frightened, yet not so heart-broken as the anxious
women who knew not where their journey was to end. Nor had they "where
to lay their heads," some of them having left behind only the smoking
ruins of a home, which, though "ever so lowly," was "the sweetest spot
on earth" to them. McCook, by his unparalleled cruelty, had made his
name a horror.
The citizens simply stampeded, "nor stood upon the order of their
going." There was no time for deliberation. They could not move goods
or chattels, only a few articles of clothing; no room for trunks and
boxes. Every carriage, wagon, and cart was loaded down with human
freight; every saddle-horse was in demand.
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