“Anything but that, Berry,” he replied. “If Beauregard’s army surprises the forces of Grant and Buell it might mean the capture of the Army of the Cumberland. The Confederate troops must be nearly equal in numbers to those of the Union forces. If Beauregard could take Grant by surprise it would indeed be a sad day for the Union cause.”
Berry listened soberly. She well knew that her brother Francis was fighting for the cause of the Union that slavery might cease to exist and the United States remain an undivided nation. She now began to realize that war might come very near her cabin home; that General Grant’s men, marching toward Corinth, might be surprised and captured by the daring and triumphant Beauregard. And that night Berry resolved to henceforth keep a sharp outlook for possible Confederate spies, or for any evidence of marching troops along the Corinth road.
“If I could let General Grant know that Confederates were on the march, then Beauregard could not surprise him,” thought Berry, remembering that she knew all the forest trails and woodland roads, and that, if she kept a sharp watch, no body of soldiers could reach Pittsburg Landing, where her father believed Grant would land his soldiers, over either of the Corinth roads without her seeing them. “And no one can run faster than I can. I could get to the Union camp long before the Confederates, and then General Grant would be ready,” she thought, not realizing any of the dangers in store for such a messenger just before an impending battle.
“I’ll go to the top of the ridge twice every day, and I’ll make Lily promise to keep a sharp watch,” resolved Berry.
At first the little girl thought she would tell her mother and father of her plan; but she remembered her father’s caution in regard to keeping out of sight of wayfarers along the trails, and said to herself, “I’ll wait until I have seen real soldiers. Perhaps until after I have seen General Grant himself. I guess my father will be proud if I run faster than any Confederate soldier.” And so Berry confided her new resolve to no one but Lily; and the colored girl proved the best possible assistant.
CHAPTER XIV
ON GUARD
Mollie Bragg wondered a good deal about Lily. Berry treated the colored girl as if she had the same right to friendship and kindness as if her skin were white. In fact, to Mollie it sometimes seemed that Berry was more kind and thoughtful toward Lily than toward anyone else, and this sadly puzzled Mollie; and, one day when the two little friends were making a playhouse under the big oak tree behind the Arnold cabin, Mollie said:
“Berry, Lily’s a nigger, ain’ she?”
Berry, who was carefully building a “make-believe” fireplace, stopped and gazed at Mollie in astonishment.
“Why, Mollie! You know just as well as I do that Lily’s a negro girl. My mother says Lily couldn’t be any blacker!” she responded.