To me it seemed strange that the guests would sit for hours on the long
gallery of this hotel, and go over and over the incidents of the
battle, telling where this regiment stood, or where that officer fell,
as if war and the taking of life were the most pleasant rather than the
most distressful subjects in the world. In the distance was a mammoth
field of graves, miles of graves, beautifully kept mounds under which
lay the dead heroes of that sad time.
The days up here were beautiful, but it was at night that this was a
scene of surpassing loveliness. Far below the lights of the city
glowed like spangles in the darkness. Above us was the star-encrusted
sky. It was like being suspended between a floor and a ceiling of
glittering jewels.
On this plateau grew the biggest cherry trees I ever saw, and they bore
the biggest and sweetest cherries, though I could not taste any at that
time, as the season was past. I heard the landlady complaining one day
to some of her guests that the rascally birds had hardly left her a
cherry to put up.
"The saucy little thieves! they must have eaten bushels of the finest
fruit," she said.
"And didn't you get any?" inquired a childish voice. There was
something familiar in the voice and I flew to the porch railing to see
who it was.
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