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118
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
Jeannie Wren.
Among the "fur blue mountains,
In a little hollow glen,
Stands a pretty white-washed dairy,
The home of Jeannie W ren.
To be sure, she has possession
Os but four inches square,
But you’d think it all belonged to her
If you could see her there.
No sooner is it daybreak
Than this tiny little bird
Hops out upon the shingles—
Such a song you never heard!
It’s as clear and full of gladness
As any angel’s note,
For ’tis Jeannie’s hymn of love and praise
That’s trembling in her throat.
And then she trims her feathers,
Gives just one glance around;
Ah ! woe betide the little worm
That’s lying on the ground 1
For Jeannie’s sure to find him
And take him to her nest,
For well she knows the li. tie Wrens
Like worms for breakfast best.
And such a fuss and clatter
As tnat Wren-party make,
You'd think the little worm had turned
To an ugly big black snake!
But that is just a way they have
Os showing their delight,
And Jeannie Wren looks on so pleased,
And thinks the noise “ all right.”
And thus is little Jeannie’s life
To praise and duty given ;
Ah, children! let us learn of her
The path that leads to Heaven !
Virginia. Byrd Lyttle.
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
JACK DOBELL;
Or, A Boy’s Adventures in Texas.
A STORY FOR BOYS.
CHAPTER Till.
THE FUGITIVES —MORE MURDERS —COLONEL
FANNIN’S DEATH HUNTER’S MARVEL
LOUS ESCAPE.
HILST I was hiding in
the bushes and deba
ting with myself what
was best to be done, I
I Baw H , a young
T|A| man, a member of the company to
3a which I belonged, passing rapidly
through the timber, about fifty
yards above me, in a course that
would have carried him right out at the
place -where the Mexicans were stationed.
I halloed to him by name as loud as I
dared, and fortunately he, being on the
qui vive, heard me, and stopped far enough
within the timber to screen himself from
the sight of the Mexicans. I pulled off
my cap and beckoned to him, and as soon
as he saw me, he came down to where I
was slanding, from whence, without be
ing visible to them, we had a distinct
view of the Mexicans through an opening
in the bushes.
A few moments afterwards we were
joined by a young man named B , who
BURKE’S WEEKLY.
had just crossed the river, and accidental
ly stumbled upon the place where II
and myself were, holding a hurried “coun
cil of war ” as to what was best to be done
under the circumstances. II— —, although
a brave man, had evidently lost his pres
ence of mind in a great measure, for he
proposed that we should leave the timber
and run the risk of evading the Mexicans
whom -we saw upon the prairie. I rea
soned with him upon the folly of such a
proceeding, and told him it was impossi
ble for us to escape on the open prairie
from a dozen men on horseback.
“But,” urged H , “the Mexicans
are crossing the river behind us, and they
will soon be here !”
“ I have no doubt of that,” I replied ;
“but they arc not here yet, and in the
meantime something may possibly turn
up to favor our escape.”
B coincided in opinion with me, so
H ’s proposition was negatived by the
majority.
Whilst we were debating this question,
some four or five Americans passed out
of the timber a short distance above where
we were into the prairie, and when they
discovered the Mexicans, it was too late
to retreat. The Mexicans charged upon
them, speared them to death with their
lances, and then dismounting, robbed
them of their watches, or such property
as they had upon their persons. From
where we stood, the whole proceeding
was plainly visible, and, as may be well
imagined, the sight was not calculated to
encourage any hopes we might have en
tertained of effecting our own escape.
However, after these Mexicans had rob
bed the men they had just murdered, they
remounted their horses, and in a few mo
ments set off at a rapid pace down the
river, where it is more than probable they
had discovered other Americans coming
out of the timber. We immediately seiz
ed the opportunity thus afforded us of
making our escape, taking advantage of a
sort of gully to shelter us as much as pos
sible from the view of the Mexicans. But
scarcely had we gone a hundred yards in
the open prairie, when they galloped back
and resumed their old position. Strange
to say, however, they never saw us, al
though we were in full view of them for
more than a quarter of a mile, without a
bush or tree intervening.
Me traveled about six miles, and then
stopped in a thick clump of timber to
rest, where we remained until night. All
day long we could hear, at intervals, in
the distance, discharges of musketry, in
dicating, as we supposed, the pursuit of
fugitives like ourselves, by scattering par
ties of Mexicans. toA
In talking the matter over amono- our.
selves, and reflecting upon the manyn ai .
row risks we had run in effecting our own
escape, we came to the conclusion that
in all probability, we were the only sun
vivors of the hundreds that had that mor
ning been led out to slaughter; though
in reality, as we afterwards ascertained
twenty-six or twenty-seven finally reach
ed the settlements on the Brazos. Drs
Shackelford and Barnard, our physicians
were saved from the massacre to attend
upon the Mexican wounded, and after the
retreat of their army from Goliad were
taken to San Antonio, and there ultimate
ly liberated. Our own wounded men, or
such as survived up to the time of the
massacre, were carried out into the open
square of the Fort, and there cruelly put
to death by the bayonets of the guard.
Col. Fannin, who was confined to his
quarters by the wound he had received
in the fight with the Mexicans, soon after
the massacre of his men was notified by
an officer to prepare for immediate execu
tion. lie merely observed, that he was
ready at any time, as he had no desire to
live after the cold-blooded and treacher
ous murder of his men. He was there
upon taken into the open “plaza” by a
corporal’s guard, where he was seated up
on a bench and his eyes blindfolded. A
moment before the order to fire upon him
was given, he drew a fine gold watch from
his pocket, and, handing it to the officer
in command, requested him as a last favor
to order his men to aim at his breast, and
not at his head. The officer took the
watch, and instantly ordered his men to
aim at his head ! At the discharge ot
their muskets, Col. Fannin fell dead, and
his body was taken and thrown into one
of the ravines adjoining the Fort. Thus
died as brave a son of Georgia as ever
came from that noble old State.
The escape of Hunter, now a resident
of the new town of Goliad, was a most
extraordinary one. At the first fire he
fell, pierced with a musket ball. A Mex
ican soldier, who thought he perceived
some signs of life still remaining in him,
deliberately cut his throat with his butch
er knife, on both sides, but fortunateh
not quite deep enough to sever the jugu
lar vein. He then pierced him several
times with his bayonet, and beat him ovei
the head with the butt end of his musket,
until he imagined his bloody work va>
effectually accomplished. Tie then strip
ped him to his shirt, and left him upon
the ground where he had fallen. All day
long he laid there, in a complete state ot
insensibility; but, when night came on,
the cool air and the dew revived him an"
he slowly regained his consciousness.—