Page 214 - Arkansas Confederate Women

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Gen. Grant Sworn to Secrecy by a Little Girl 189

to relieve the situation, sat at the piano and played and sang all
through the day. The intense strain of the passing hours grow-
ing monotonous to the child of the household, she decided to take
affairs into her own hands without any consultation.

As General Grant sat in his room late in the afternoon
there came a soft tap at his door. In answer to his invitation
to enter there appeared a demure little maiden with a mass of
tangled curls and cheeks of the reddest hue. She walked gravely
up before him, and looking him in the face, said:

"I've got something to tell you."

"You have? I shall be very glad to hear it."

"Well, before I tell you, you've got to promise that you'll

never, never tell. Do you declare and cross your heart and wish
you may die in a minute if you ever, ever tell ?"

The general preserved his dignity and answered, "Yes."
"Well, then do it." and he repeated the words after her and
made the movement as she directed. Then there came a whis-

per:

"My big brother is sick under the house; he's out there
with the bugs and rats, and they're going to eat him up."

As a result of the disclosure the master of the house, meet-
ing the general in the hallway somewhat later, was startled by
this speech being addressed to him

The dignified figure of the father assumed even greater

dignity.

"I hear you have a wounded son under the house."
"What is that to you ?"
"Simply this: if he is in need of medical attention, he
should have it and be placed in comfortable quarters for re-

ceiving it."

Had the little girl's voice not been raised for the big broth-

er, it is uncertain whether he would ever have been able to greet
his comrades at a reunion, but the part she played in the drama
was never known until years later, when she summoned cour-
age to tell the family.

Whether the general ever betrayed his trust has not been

revealed.