-
Chapter I: In Which a Boy Going Uphill Meets Several People Coming Down
- Southern Illinois University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
THE FLAG ON THE HILLTOP CHAPTER I IN WHICH A BOY GOING UPHILL MEETS SEVERAL PEOPLE COMING DOWN THE shadow o£ a bridge across the railroad track darkened the car windows £or a moment ; the engine gave a long, frantic shriek, and the brakeman put his head in at the car door and called : - "North Pass l" It was in the spring of 1863, and nearly all the passengers on the south-bound train were soldiers who had been home on sickleave and were returning to the Union army. They glanced up indifferently, and then one of them sprang to his feet, exclaiming :- " Looky yonder at the flag on the high 2 THE FLAG ON THE HILLTOP hill! Hurrah! Let's give three times three, boys, for the old flag ! " There was a rush for that side of the car, and the men leaned from the windows, wav· ing their caps. The train was rumbling into a tiny village encircled by green hills, and far away, from the crest of one of the hills, a glint of red and white flashed out against the sky. "Hurrah!" the soldiers shouted. "Hurrah! Hurrah!" The ringing of the engine bell was drowned by their cheering, and there was still one cheer to give after the train had stopped. An exceedingly tall hoy, with a face which looked oddly juvenile at the top of so much height, had darted across the car to look out of the window, hut when he saw the flag, he drew back with a sudden darkening of his gray eyes, and towered aloof with an expression which might have been sinister if his face had been less young and round, and his limbs less coltish than they were. As the train slowed up, he walked out to the [100.26.140.179] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 13:14 GMT) THE FLAG ON THE HILLTOP 8 car steps, where the conductor was standmg . " You said you would tell me, if you saw my uncle here to meet me," he said. The conductor looked around the dingy platform. A few men were busy with trucks and packages, and a few idlers were exchanging jeers with the soldiers, not goodnaturedly , but with an undertone of unpleasantness on both sides. "No, Doc Ford's not here," he said; " I reckon he has other fish to fry than meeting boys. You won't have any trouble going out to his place, though, - that flag 's on it, and you take the straight road east out of town." " Thank you," the boy said, and running down the steps, he stood a moment to wave his cap with an awkward, sweeping bow of mockery toward the conductor and the soldiers , and then started along the road which led eastward out of the village. When he had passed the last houses, he stopped on a little hill and looked around. 4 THE FLAG ON THE HILLTOP The village lay behind him, the houses show· ing through the trees like little white building -blocks dropped here and there by a childish hand ; on every side the hills swept away from him, range on range, until they grew faint and blue, and the sky stooped to kiss them. There was something like welcome in the softness of the air, and the boy's face grew wistful for a moment ; then he looked toward the flag which was his landmark, and his expression changed as it had changed on the cars. Just then the figure of a man on horseback came in sight on the crest of the next hill, and the boy started on. As the two wayfarers approached each other, the man stared frankly at the boy, and when he was near enough said, "Howdy ? " after the friendly fashion which is heard only in the South or in places settled by Southern people. The boy's face brightened. "Howdy?" he returned, with eagerness. " Is this the road out to Doctor Ford's?" THE FLAG ON THE HILLTOP 5 The man drew up his horse. " Yas," he answered, in his pleasant, drawling voice; "this-hyar 's the road out to the ole doc's. Are you-uns kin of his ? " " Yes," said the boy ; " he 's my uncle. I 'm Alec Ford, but I don't know him; I'm from Tennessee." The man looked him upand down leisurely, and as the distance was long, he was slow about it. When he was done, he smiled. "You-uns...