r.

"That's no 'tattoo," said Shorty; "that's the long roll. Break for camp,
everybody."

CHAPTER XI. THE MOUNTAIN FOLK

THE SHADOW OF AN EAST TENNESSEE VENDETTA.

THE long roll turned out to be occasioned by the burning of a Union
Tennesseean's house by a squad of revengeful guerrillas, but the
regiment had to stay under arms until a party of cavalry went out and
made an investigation. The men stacked their arms, and lay around on the
ground to get what sleep was possible, and which was a good deal, for
the night was pleasant, and there are worse beds than the mossy hillside
on a July night.

"Too bad that your weddin' night had to be broken up so," said Si
sympathetically, as he and Shorty and the bridegroom sat together on a
knoll and watched the distant flames. "But you needn't 've come with us
this time; nobody expected you to."

"Why, I s'posed this wuz part o' the regler thing," answered Nate in
amazement. "I s'posed that wuz the way yo'uns allers married folkses in
the army. Allers something happens at weddin's down hyah. Mos'
ginerully hit's a free fout betwixt the young fellers o' the bride's an'
bridegroom's famblies, from 'sputin' which fambly's made the best match.
When Brother Wils married Becky Barnstable we Hartburn boys said that
Wils mout-ve looked higher. The Barnstable boys done tuk hit up, an'
said the Barnstables wuz ez good ez the Hartburns ary day in the
week, an' at the weddin' Nels Barnstable had his eye gouged out, Ike
Barnstable wuz knocked down with a flail, an' had what the doctor
called discussion o' the brain, and ole Sandy Barnstable cut off Pete
Hartburn's ear with a bowie. They-uns reopened the argyment at the
infair, an' laid out two o' the Hartburns with ox-gads. I don't think
they orter used ox-gads. Tain't gentlemanly. D'ye think so? Knives,
an' pistols, an' guns, an' even flails an' axes, is all right, when you
can't git nothin' better, but I think ox-gads is low an' onery."

Si and Shorty looked at the gentle, drawling, mild-eyed young
Tennesseean with amazement. A young girl could not have seemed softer or
more pliant, yet he quietly talked of savage fighting as one of the most
casual things in life.

"Well," said Shorty, "if that's the way you celebrat weddin's and
in-fairs down here in Tennessee, I don't wonder that you welcome a
battle for a change. I think I'd prefer a debate with guns to one with
axes and flails and anything that'd come handy. It's more reg'le