“Indeed they did, Roxy; and I was proud indeed that my little granddaughter could plan and carry out so fine an entertainment.”
Roxy’s face flushed happily. It was pleasant to have Grandmother praise her.
“Polly!” she exclaimed suddenly, remembering all Polly’s suggestions and help. “It was Polly did the best of the circus!”
“I am sure Polly helped what she could,” replied Grandma Miller.
CHAPTER X
POLLY’S NEWS
A few days after the birthday party one of the negro servants brought a stout rope from the storehouse and fixed a swing from the branch of the big butternut tree that grew near the house. A smooth board for a seat was notched and fitted to the rope, and Grandma Miller came out to give Roxy the first swing.
As Roxy found herself flying through the air so that her feet touched the leaves of the tree’s lofty branches she laughed with delight; and as the swing slowed down and only moved evenly back and forth she called:
“Grandma, I can see way down to the river. Grandma, where does the river come from?”
“It rises in Pennsylvania, and empties into the Potomac just below Sharpsburg,” replied Mrs. Miller, who had seated herself at the foot of the big tree and now looked off toward the peaceful Antietam, the slopes of South Mountain, and the fields of growing wheat. Grandma Miller knew many stories of this valley, and had told Roxy of the days of the French and Indian War when the settlers along the Antietam were raided by the Indian allies of the French until they fled to Fredericktown for protection, and for years the fertile fields were deserted.
Braddock’s army had passed through this valley; and, before the American Revolution, settlers returned to their homes, and farms again prospered, and people lived in safety. But Grandma Miller was not thinking of those far-off wars; for, as the summer of 1862 advanced, the people of Maryland knew that the national capital was in danger, that at any time Southern troops might sweep into Maryland; and as Mrs. Miller looked toward South Mountain she wondered how long this safety and peace would continue, and where Roxy’s father was on that August morning.