Читать книгу Gone with the Wind / Унесённые ветром. Уровень 3 - Маргарет Митчелл - Страница 14

The cannon at Kennesaw Mountain could be heard faintly, far away. Occasionally it was loud enough to be heard even above the rattle of traffic at noon. People tried not to listen to it, tried to talk, to laugh, to carry on their business, but always ears were strained for the sound. Will General Johnston hold the Yankees this time? Will he?

Panic lay just beneath the surface. Sherman was at the very doors of Atlanta. Another retreat will bring the Confederates into the town. Give us a general who won’t retreat! Give us a man who will stand and fight!

Scarlett and Maybelle Merriwether Picard were given permission to leave the hospital and watch the men go out. Scarlett felt cold as she watched the motley ranks. Desperate rabble of bombproofers, old men and little boys! There were some young men in the lines, but there were so many old men and young boys! The sight of them made her heart contract with pity and with fear. Many of the men were totally unarmed, for the Confederacy had neither rifles nor ammunition. Johnston had lost around ten thousand men in his retreat. He needed ten thousand more fresh troops.

As the artillery rumbled by, a negro on a mule caught her eye. Scarlett saw him she cried: «It’s Mose! Ashley’s Mose! What is he doing here? Mose! Stop!»

A sergeant, riding behind him, called: «Stay on that mule, boy, or I’ll light a fire under you!»

«Oh, just a minute, Sergeant!” Scarlett said. “Don’t get down, Mose. What are you doing here?»

«Off to the war, again, Miss Scarlett. This time with Mister John instead of Mister Ashley».

«Mr. Wilkes!» Scarlett was stunned. Mr. Wilkes was nearly seventy. «Where is he?»

«Back there, Miss Scarlett!»

«Sorry, lady. Move on, boy!» said the sergeant.

Scarlett stood for a moment. Oh, no! She thought. It can’t be. Mr. Wilkes is too old. And he doesn’t like war any more than Ashley did!

When he saw her standing in the mud, Mr. Wilkes drew rein with a smile of pleasure and came toward her.

«I hoped to see you, Scarlett. But there was no time».

«Oh, Mr. Wilkes», she cried desperately. «Don’t go! Why must you go?»

«Ah, so you think I’m too old!» he smiled, and it was Ashley’s smile in an older face. «Perhaps I am too old to march but not to ride and shoot. Your mother and father and the girls are well and they sent you their love. Your father wanted to join us».

«Oh, not Pa!» cried Scarlett in terror. «Not Pa! He isn’t going to the war, is he?»

«No, but he was. Of course, he can’t walk far with his stiff knee. You need have no shame about it. After all, someone must stay home and raise crops for the army. I’ve sent India and Honey to Macon to stay with the Burrs and Mr. O’Hara is looking after Twelve Oaks as well as Tara. I must go, my dear. Let me kiss your pretty face».

Scarlett was fond of Mr. Wilkes. Once, long ago, she had hoped to be his daughter-in-law.

«How is Melanie?»

«She is well».

«Ah!» His eyes looked at her but through her. «I want to see my first grandchild. Good-bye, my dear».

The retreat from Dalton to Kennesaw Mountain had taken from early May to mid-June. Atlanta was crowded with visitors, refugees, families of wounded men in the hospitals, wives and mothers of soldiers. In addition, bevies of belles from the country districts descended upon the town[17]. Scarlett did not like these sixteen-year-olds. A widow with a child was at a disadvantage with these pretty minxes, she thought. But between hospital duties in the day time and parties at night, she hardly ever saw Wade. Sometimes she actually forgot that she had a child.

Fight and retreat! Fight and retreat! And every retreat was bringing the Yankees closer to the town. Peachtree Creek was only five miles away! What was the General thinking about?

But the Yankees were coming closer and closer.

Scarlett and many other ladies sat on the roofs of stores, and watched the fighting on the day of the battle of Atlanta. But soon they fled to the cellars, and that night the exodus of women, children and old people from the city began. Mrs. Merriwether and Mrs. Elsing refused to leave. They were needed at the hospital, they said proudly, they weren’t afraid of the Yankees. But Mrs. Whiting went and many other ladies of Scarlett’s circle. Aunt Pitty was among the first to pack her trunks. Her nerves, she said, were delicate and she could not endure noises. She will go to Macon and stay with her cousin, old Mrs. Burr, and the girls should come with her.

Scarlett did not want to go to Macon. No, she told Aunt Pitty, I’ll go home to Tara and Melly can go to Macon with you.

At this Melanie began to cry:

«Dear, don’t go to Tara and leave me! I’ll be so lonely without you. Oh, Scarlett, I’ll just die if you aren’t with me! Yes… Yes, I know Aunt Pitty is sweet. But after all, she’s never had a baby, and sometimes she makes me nervous. Don’t desert me, darling. You’ve been just like a sister to me, and besides», she smiled wanly, «you promised Ashley to take care of me. He told me he was going to ask you».

Scarlett looked at her in wonderment. How could Melly love her so? How could Melly be so stupid as not to guess the secret of her love of Ashley? Yes, she had promised Ashley to take care of Melanie. Oh, Ashley! Ashley! you must be dead, dead these many months!

«Well», she said shortly, «I did promise him that. But I won’t go to Macon and stay with that old cat… I’m going home to Tara and you can come with me».

«Oh, I’d like that! Your mother is so sweet!»

Dr. Meade arrived.

«It’s out of the question for you to go to Macon, Miss Melly. The trains are crowded. In your condition…»

«But I want to go to Tara with Scarlett».

«No. The train to Tara is the train to Macon and the same conditions prevail. Moreover, no one knows just where the Yankees are now, they are everywhere. It’s no trip for a woman in a delicate condition. Besides, there’s not a doctor in the County since old Dr. Fontaine joined the army».

«But there are midwives…»

«No», he answered brusquely. «It is dangerous. You don’t want to have the baby on the train or in a buggy, do you? Stay right here where I can watch you, and you must stay in bed. After all, there’s not so much danger here. Now, Miss Pitty, you go right on to Macon and leave the young ladies here».

«Alone?» she cried, aghast.

«They are matrons», said the doctor testily. «And Mrs. Meade is just two houses away. Good Heavens, Miss Pitty! This is war time. We can’t think of the proprieties now. We must think of Miss Melly».

He stamped out of the room. Scarlett joined him.

«I shall talk frankly to you, Miss Scarlett», he began. «You seem to be a young woman of common sense. I doubt if Miss Melly can stand the trip. She is going to have a difficult time, so I don’t want any ignorant darky midwife with her. And now, Miss, you stay with Miss Melly till the baby comes. Not afraid, are you?»

«Oh, no!» lied Scarlett, stoutly.

«That’s a brave girl. The baby will be here in another five weeks, but you never can tell. It may come any day».

So Aunt Pittypat went to Macon, she took Uncle Peter and Cookie with her. The carriage and horse she donated to the hospital in a burst of patriotism which she immediately regretted. And Scarlett and Melanie were left alone with Wade and Prissy in a house.