The other she did not see again.
Soon after their comrade had rejoined them, the men on the edge of the wood
turned around and disappeared, and a half-hour later she saw
the glint of the sun on their arms and accoutrements as they crossed
over the top of the hill returning two miles above.
. . . . .
This is the story of the frustration of the raid upon which so much hope
was built by some in high position at Washington. A day was lost,
and warning was given to the Confederate Government, and the bold plan
of the commander of the raiding party was defeated.
As to Little Darby, the furlough he had applied for came,
but came too late and was returned. For a time some said he was a deserter;
but two women knew differently.
A Federal soldier who was taken prisoner gave an account of the raid.
He said that a contraband had come from Washington and undertaken
to lead them across the country, and that he had brought them around
the head of the streams, when one night a rebel deserter came into camp
and undertook to show them a better way by a road which ran
between the rivers, but crossed lower down by a bridge;
that they had told him that, if for any reason they failed to get through
by his road they would hang him, a bargain which he had accepted.
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