Berry was sure that any message this wandering spy might leave at the red-bud tree, trusting to her promise to run her swiftest to deliver it to whomever it might be addressed, would be a message of great importance to both the contending armies. It might be to inform General Johnston of the progress of Grant’s army, or it might even tell when it would be best for Johnston’s troops to march toward Pittsburg Landing, thought Berry; and her brown cheeks flushed with excitement at the possibility that she, Berenice Arnold, a little Yankee girl from far-off Vermont, of whom General Grant had never heard, might do this great soldier a real service by delivering this message, whatever it might prove to be, into his hands.
“For the army that knows first what the other army plans to do will surely have the best chance,” she gravely decided, and resolved that it should be through no fault of hers if the message did not promptly reach the commander of the Union forces.
Berry could now think of but little else than her plans to outwit the spy. She realized that henceforth a constant watch must be kept, that either Lily or herself must be steadily on the alert, so that the moment a message was deposited at the witch’s tree she could start instantly for the race that she firmly believed might result in the triumph of the Union forces.
As all these thoughts went swiftly through her mind, Berry stood flushed and silent, while the negro girl watched her, wondering what her young missie was thinking about, and when at last Berry exclaimed: “Lily! Instead of standing here we ought to be on the outlook for that man,” Lily nodded her head soberly and promptly agreed; and when her young mistress said that Lily must start at once for Shiloh church, carefully keeping out of sight of any possible traveler along the trails, Lily was quite ready to obey.
“And if you see any signs of him, or get a glimpse of him, hurry back as fast as you can and tell me,” said Berry as Lily started off.
For a moment the negro girl hesitated; she knew that Mrs. Arnold would expect her to return to the cabin with Berry, and she remembered that there was work for her to attend to; beside this Lily was sure that, as she could not explain her absence, Mrs. Arnold would think she had purposely neglected her duties, and as Lily was always eager to win Mrs. Arnold’s approval she now had to choose between being praised and approved by Mrs. Arnold for returning promptly, and so disappointing Berry, or obeying Berry’s wish and having Mrs. Arnold think her a thoughtless and ungrateful girl. But her indecision lasted only a moment. Berry would always hold the first place in Lily’s affections; to please Berry seemed the most important thing. Lily would never forget that it was Berry who had rescued her from the dangers and hardships of her perilous flight from slavery, and brought her to the safety and comfort of her own home; so Lily started off toward Shiloh church, going almost noiselessly along the rough path.
As Lily made her way up the slope she thought of all the trouble this woodsman spy was making.
“’Pears like ’tain’ only dat he am a-botherin’ ob Missie Berry, but he am a-stirrin’ up trubble fer dat Gen’l Grant an’ fer Missie Berry’s brudder, an’ dey’s a-fightin’ ter set me free; looks like I orter do somet’ing to dat spy to stop his doin’s,” she whispered to herself, and her thoughts flew to possible aid from “witches,” but she shook her head remembering how they had failed her young mistress.
“Looks ’s if I’d got to conjure up some way by myse’f,” she decided, and before Lily reached the woods that bordered on the little clearing where stood the rough cabin-like structure known as Shiloh church, she had thought of several plans by which she could prevent this threatening stranger from being of further trouble either to Berry or Berry’s brother, or to General Grant. But, notwithstanding the making of plans, Lily’s eyes had been sharply on the alert for any noise that might indicate someone near at hand, and she had frequently stopped to listen for sounds of movements that would betray any traveler along those mountain trails. But beyond the bubbling song of the wood-thrush, the musical calls of the pewee and scarlet tanager, and now and then the rush through the underbrush of some small woodland creature, there was nothing to be heard, and a quick glance about the clearing proved that there was no lurking stranger in sight.
Close by where Lily had halted grew a bunch of slender ash saplings, and, after she had satisfied herself that there was no one within sight or hearing, Lily drew out the pocket-knife that Mr. Arnold had given her, and after carefully examining the size and condition of the various saplings, she began to cut at a branch of one of the larger trees. In a short time she was able to break the branch off without splitting it.