“Terrectly dey all come out de tent. De haid man ’mongst um give a order an’ ’bout ten men come up wid deir guns an’ formed a line o’ battle. Den dey marched Marse Eddie out wid his back to a tree. You know, suh, I kin ’member when young Miss an’ ’im used to go to dat selfsame sweetgum when dey was lill. He used to take his knife an’ gouge out de gum an’ put it twixt ’er white teeth an’ she’s say, ‘Quick, Brurr Eddie, give me some dat’s hard ’fo’ my teeth stick together—dis heer is too saft.’
“Den young Marster ud take some o’ de dry gum in his fingers, kase it wouldn’t lay on de knife-blade, an’ when he’d make ’er shet ’er eyes he’d drap it in ’er mouf. Yes, suh, I kin ’member dat as plain as ef ’twas yesterday.
“Well, when dey got de po’ droopy young man agin de tree, an’ yell at ’im to hold his haid up, all de big, strappin’ soldiers stand in front an’ de captain drilled um. All deir clothes looked so blue an’ deir buttons an shoulder straps flashed in de sun like a lookin’-glass in de light. Seem like I kin heer de same locust a-singin’ in de woods right now dat was singin’ den. De sky was blue, an’ wide open, des like Gawd Almighty done tore de clouds apart so Marse Eddie’s white soul could git away fum dat measly crowd o’ blood-thirsty cowards. I knowed I couldn’t do a thing to help ’im, an’ I tried to hold steady an’ take one las’ look at my young Marster, but I couldn’t see any plainer dan you kin thoo a frosty window. But when de captain say, ‘Raidy, take aim!’ I looked away. De guns all went off wid one crack, an’ when de smoke is ris’ a lill, I seed Marse Eddie settin’ on de groun’ agin de tree wid his haid down des fur de world like I seed ’im one day when he’d been watchin’ us cut wheat an’ got drowsy an’ fell asleep in de shade.
“Dey tuck ’im off to bury ’im, an’ I went back to work; but I couldn’t do it jestice, an’ kept drappin’ de dishes an’ pans, I was so outdone thinkin’ ’bout de folks at home. Den de captain pass me an’ say: ‘Look heer, what you snifflin’ ’bout? Did you know dis young man?’
“An’ when I told ’im yesser, dat captain got mighty serious in de face an’ yell out to de rest um, ‘Why didn’t you-all had dis man testify?’
“But nobody wouldn’t answer. Den de captain set down nigh me an’ I could see his hands was tremblin’ powerful. He talked low like he was sorter ashamed. An’ he ax me: ‘Who is de young man? Whar do he live?’
“I told ’im Marse Eddie was my young Marster an’ at he was s’rounded in de mountains when he was tryin’ to git home on his furlough, wid his so’ arm, an’ sick an’ hungry.
“Well, suh, I hain’t never had too much use fur Yankees, but dat one’s face cert’ney did look troubled.
“‘Gawd furgive us,’ he say, dat’s what he said, ‘and we-all thought he was lyin’ to git free;’ an’ he most stagger as he walked off. Den I heer ’im order um not to bury Marse Eddie yit but to wait. Dey fixed ’im as nice as dey kin on a litter an’ put a new gray blanket on ’im an’ send ’im off to we-all’s place, kase I reckon dey lowed dey had done all de damage dey kin an’ thought it would be a kindness to old Miss to bury ’er own child.
“After dey done gone, I heer de captain say: ‘Dis is a mistaken duty. I’d ruther myse’f lie on dat litter. Heaven is gwine to curse dis bloodshed, Lieutenant,’ he say to a spry young man. ‘Lieutenant, you know’ what we-all shot dat po’ boy fur? We shot ’im kase he come home wounded to see his fair-faced sister back on dat plantation, an’ his old bedridden mother. Lieutenant, let dat be a lesson to you. Dat letter in his pocket wasn’t no spy-letter. It was des to his pa back in de army of de Souf tellin’ ’im he was nigh his home. When he writ he was tryin’ to git thoo de lines it wasn’t to spy. Yo’ maw’s a-livin’, ain’t she, Lieutenant?’ De young man nodded his haid, an’ den de captain went on agi’n: ‘Well, des put yo’se’f in dis young man’s place an’ den you gwine see how yo’ maw ud feel to had you sent home dat away.’