Long tiers of breastworks, and redoubts
crowning every eminence, showed very plainly the great importance which
Lee attached to holding the position.
In fact, this was the key to the Southside road. Here was to take place
the last great struggle.
I rode on, in deep thought, but soon my reverie was banished. Just as I
reached the hill above Burgess's, who should I see coming from the
direction of the Court-House--but Tom Herbert and Katy Dare!
Katy Dare, on a little pony, with a riding skirt reaching nearly to the
ground!--with her trim little figure clearly outlined by the
fabric--with a jaunty little riding hat balanced lightly upon her
ringlets--with her cheeks full of roses, her lips full of smiles, her
eyes dancing like two blue waves, which the wind agitates!
Don't find fault with her, Mrs. Grundy, for having Tom only as an
escort. Those were stern and troubled times; our poor girls were
compelled often to banish ceremony. Katy had only this means to get
back to her family, and went with Tom as with her brother.
She held out both hands to me, her eyes dancing. Three years have
passed since then, but if I were a painter, I could make her portrait,
reproducing every detail! Nothing has escaped my memory; I still hear
her voice; the sun of 1868, not of 1865, seems to shine on the rosy
cheeks framed by masses of golden ringlets!
I would like to record our talk as we rode on toward
Petersburg--describe that ride--a charming episode, flashing like a
gleam of sunlight, amid the dark days, when the black clouds had
covered the whole landscape.
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