DisplayImage("text", "zpage097", "
", "
", "center", "70", "5", "5", "[Illustration]") ?>
StoryTitle("caps", "Emily Geiger") ?>
PoemStart() ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "'Twas in days of the Revolution,—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Dark days were they and drear,—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And by Carolina firesides", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "The women sat in fear;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "For the men were away at the fighting,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And sad was the news that came,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "That the battle was lost; and the death-list", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Held many a loved one's name.", "") ?>
PagePoem(98, "L0", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "When as heart-sore they sat round the camp-fires", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "\"What ho! Who'll volunteer", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "To carry a message to Sumter?\"", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "A voice rang loud and clear.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "There was a sudden silence,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "But not a man replied;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "They knew too well of the peril", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Of one who dared that ride.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Outspoke then Emily Geiger,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "With a rich flush on her cheek,—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "\"Give me the message to be sent;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "I am the one you seek.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "For I am a Southern woman;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And I'd rather do and dare", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Than sit by a lonely fireside,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "My heart gnawed through with care.\"", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "They gave her the precious missive;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And on her own good steed", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "She rode away, 'mid the cheers of the men,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Upon her daring deed.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And away through the lonely forests,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Steadily galloping on,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "She saw the sun sink low in the sky,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And in the west go down.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "\"Halt!—or I fire!\" On a sudden", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "A rifle clicked close by.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "\"Let you pass? Not we, till we know you are", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "No messenger nor spy.\"", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "\"She's a Whig,—from her face—I will wager,\"", "") ?>
PagePoem(99, "L0", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Swore the officer of the day.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "\"To the guard-house, and send for a woman", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "To search her without delay.\"", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "No time did she lose in bewailing;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "As the bolt creaked in the lock,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "She quickly drew the precious note", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "That was hidden in her frock.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And she read it through with hurried care,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Then ate it, piece by piece,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And calmly set her down to wait", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Till time should bring release.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "They brought her out in a little,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And set her on her steed,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "With many a rude apology,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "For their discourteous deed.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "On, on, once more through the forest black,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "The good horse panting strains,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Till the sentry's challenge, \"Who comes there?\"", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Tells that the end she gains.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Ere an hour, in the camp of Sumter", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "There was hurrying to and fro.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "\"Saddle and mount, saddle and mount!\"", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "The bugles shrilly blow.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "\"Forward trot!\" and the long ranks wheel,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And into the darkness glide:", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Long shall the British rue that march", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And Emily Geiger's ride.", "") ?>
PoemEnd() ?>
DisplayImage("text", "zpage099", "
", "
", "center", "70", "5", "5", "[Illustration]") ?>