How Can A Man Die Better by Roy V Gaston

Author:Roy V Gaston [Gaston, Roy V]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-01-04T20:00:00+00:00

Bliss’s Last Sermon

A week later, our squad finally saw the Confederate camp we had been tracking. Enclosed by steep ridges on three sides, hundreds of dog tents were stretched out in rows of fifty. Clusters of Rebels sat around camp fires smoking their clay pipes and drinking coffee, playing chuck-a-luck or checkers, spectators gathered at busy horseshoe pits, and a baseball field was laid out behind a wagon park. Below us, two slave boys led a string of horses toward the stream. While I was straining to see Forrest or Devol, a man in a black frock coat and wide-brimmed black hat, clutching a Bible as big as a hat box, walked across the field to the rough benches in the shade of a big oak a hundred yards away. He sat his Bible down, and when he removed his hat and wiped his face a jolt went through me. Bliss crossed the stage a few times, beaming as the choir got seated and his flock filled the pews.

“Do you see who that is?” Ty said.

“I see him. Looks like he has done well for himself,” I said. “I didn’t expect to see him anywhere near a battlefield.”

“Are you going to shoot him?” ask Ty, as a young soldier tickled the keys on a piano strapped in a freight wagon behind Bliss.

“I plan to. In just a minute.”

“What of Devol?”

“Too far out of range, even if he is over there, somewhere,” I said. “A bird in the hand, as they say.”

The service got underway and the congregation sang the opening hymns. I shouldered my rifle and found Bliss in my sights. He wasn’t the one I wanted most, but I had no problem taking him first. Give Devol something to think about.

“You got him?” asked Ty.

“I do. Get ready to run.”

I exhaled and shot Bliss beneath his chin as he led the parishioners in “Nearer my God to Thee.” He flipped dramatically and blood sprayed the first two rows of worshipers, sending the choir shrieking to the dirt.

“Amen,” I whispered. “I’ll bet he’s surprised about now.”

“Life is unpredictable,” said Ty. “He can’t get any nearer than that.”

We made it out of there in a hurry and back to camp with no problems.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.