Jimmy Lambert

AUTHOR

My dad died in the war in 1862; our whole life changed that year. We had 5 acres and a small two room house. We have been living in New York, but now we could not afford the rent. My dad’s mare was in a stable but we had to take her out to our farm; we could not afford the stable. Mother told me that we would have to sell her before winter because we could not buy her feed. I loved that mare and I really wanted to hold onto her. I was twelve that year and I could feel the difference. My mother tried to find work and occasionally she would find some sewing. My mother was twenty-eight and very pretty. Other women did not want her around. My uncle wrote to us several times saying he wanted my dad’s mare. He offered one hundred dollars for her. My mother told me that she was worth three hundred. She was a prize thoroughbred and would soon have a colt.

My mother wrote to my uncle and told him that she could send me with the mare and I could stay in Ohio with him. She would sell our property and then she could go back to New York to work, where she said that she had an offer. My uncle wrote back saying that he would take care of me if he got the mare and two hundred dollars. I would of course have to help on the farm. I could stay until I was fifteen years old. It sounded like he wanted the horse and our property too. My mother cried a lot and kept trying to get work, so we could have food. She put the property up for sale. Two weeks later someone gave us an offer. She told me the offer was three hundred and fifty dollars and she accepted. We had one month to stay in the house. My mother decided that I would have to go to my uncle’s. She went and bought some material and made me some new clothes. She bought me a warm coat, a pair of boots, and just about everything I needed. She made everything a size larger so I would have time to grow into everything. She spent over fifty dollars on me. The trip to Dayton would cost twenty-two dollars with the mare.

By now, I had a strange feeling about my uncle and I really did not want to go to him. I did not want to lose Elsie, our mare. Mother said that he would probably sell her and make a profit. Mother started to ride the train to New York and would stay three days at a time. When our time was getting close, I packed dad’s old saddlebag and made me a big blanket roll and I put my overcoat inside it. I saddled up Elsie. I took my rabbit gun and fifty dollars from mother’s money. I wrote mother a letter telling her that I was not going to my uncle’s, instead I was going west. I told her not to worry about me and I would get by. I rode Elsie out of there and I headed south west. I took some sausage and bread with me. I figured it would last me a couple of days. I had a small skillet and salt so I could cook up some rabbits.

That first night, I went off the road a ways and I slept in some trees with Elsie close by. I did not sleep much. I was thinking that I would probably stay off the roads. I would just head cross country. I missed my mother and I wished that she was there with me.

In the morning, I let Elsie graze while I ate a little sausage and bread. I had my gun handy just in case I saw a rabbit. I had no luck, so I saddled up and headed southwest. There were farms all over the place. I did not know where we were, other than New Jersey. I also knew to the west was Pennsylvania. That evening, I stopped by a creek. Again I ate a little, hoping to get a rabbit in the morning. Elsie had some good grass. At dawn, I heard some people so I saddled up fast, rolled up my blankets, and rode out of there heading toward some trees.

Eventually I stopped and ate the rest of my sausage and bread and then I began to seriously hunt. Toward evening I got a rabbit. I got back on my horse and found a camping spot. I took the saddle off and made a fire. I had no fat, so I put a stick through the rabbit and then fashioned two forked sticks and cooked that rabbit. I put a little salt on it and I ate well that night. I figured I would ride into some town and buy a piece of bacon and some potatoes that I could roast in the coals. I did a lot of camping with my dad and things like that were coming back to me. I had a small piece of rabbit left over that I was saving for breakfast the next the morning.

I rode out after breakfast, returned to the road and started traveling. Elsie felt like trotting and I just let her go. The road was going west so we stayed on that road. Around noon we came to a fence on the right and I saw a woman in a field of carrots. She was digging them up. I stopped Elsie and asked her if she would sell me some carrots. She had a half sack all ready and she told me, Thirty cents. I got thirty cents out of my pocket and I handed it to her. She brought the half sack over to the fence and handed it over. I placed the sack in front of me and rode away.

Later, I stopped and gave Elsie a couple of carrots and cleaned up a couple for myself to munch on. Then I fastened my blanket roll in the front of me and the sack behind. We were traveling on a farm road with no traffic in sight. It was late when I made camp that evening with no town or houses around. I ate a couple more carrots and I gave one to Elsie and let her graze on some nice grass. In the morning, I shot another rabbit. It took me two hours to fix it but I ate good once again.

We went back to the road and started to log the miles. Around noon, we came to some houses on both sides of the road. I was going to ride right through until I spotted the store. I pulled in and I tied up Elsie and went inside. There was an old man inside and I asked him for 20 pounds of potatoes and a half slab of bacon. He got it for me and then I noticed some cheese on the counter, so I asked him for 2 pounds. He wrapped the bacon and cheese and asked for seventy-five cents. The potatoes were in a bag. I paid him, told him goodbye, and left. I put the potatoes in with the carrots and put the bacon and cheese on top. I got back on Elsie and out of that place we rode.

Once the town was out of sight, I went off the road and had some cheese and a carrot while Elsie got more grass. We went on and on. Towards evening, I saw a town in the distance. I went into some trees off the road and made a small fire. I got my skillet and fried up a piece of bacon and some potatoes. Then I put two potatoes next to the fire and let them bake for breakfast that next morning. That night was spent thinking about my mother, hoping she wasn’t worrying too much about me.

I ate the baked potatoes in the morning and got underway once again. The town in the distance was New Brunswick; I saw a sign pointing toward it. I went around the town to the north. I found a road that went straight west.

I had been on the road so long that I had forgotten how many days I had been traveling. My food supply was dwindling down slowly, and I was started concentrating on shooting rabbits again. I was worried about the coming winter and Elsie having her colt. She was getting pretty big. I did not travel the road much. There were too many military men on the road.

I found a hidden camp one evening and I found a rabbit in a snare. The rabbit was fresh. I looked around and I saw no one. I took the rabbit and redid the snare. I skinned the rabbit and started to roast it on my fire when I heard a girl from some bushes.

She spoke up and said, That was my rabbit.

I told her, Come out and help me eat it.

She came over to my fire. She was around my age and was dressed in rags.

I asked her, What’s your name?

She said Betty.

What are you doing out here by yourself? I asked.

She said that she had run away from the orphanage. She said, I am trying to get home to our farm in Kentucky. I could hide there.

I put on two more potatoes and told her that we would have to eat from the skillet. She said she did not mind and told me she had not eaten in a couple of days. I did not know how to talk to her, but it was nice to have company.

When the potatoes were done, the rabbit was still not ready. I slid the skillet off the fire and gave Betty the fork. I told her to start with the potatoes and to save me a little. She ate half then she handed me the fork. I ate a little and gave her back the fork. I told her to finish it up. She did and thanked me. When the rabbit was finished, I put it in the skillet and cut it in half front and back. Then I gave her the back with the legs. After we ate, we sat around talking. I asked her about her farm. She told me, It is back in the woods and very few people even know that it is there.

I asked her if she had any blankets. She didn’t so I rolled my blankets out and told her she could lay down with me. She came right over and lay down. She told me the night before she had just about froze. We talked for a while yet before we dozed off. I asked her if we could get to her farm before winter, and she thought that we could. During the night she snuggled up to me, it was nice and warm.

In the morning, there was another rabbit in the snare. She went and skinned it out. I made the fire and she put it on a stick to roast. We saw a deer and she said, Shoot it. I told her that my gun would not kill a deer, just small things like birds and rabbits. She said she had seen a dead soldier that had that gun. I asked her where he was and she pointed in the direction she saw him.

She said, He’s down the creek about a mile.

Why didn’t you get his gun?

She said, I was afraid of him.

I will go and look, I said.

His horse is dead too.

I put the saddle on Elsie and I rode down there. Sure enough, there was a dead horse and close to it a dead soldier. Someone must have shot his horse and then later shot him. He had his pistol close to his hand and he looked awful dried out. The bones were showing on his face. I picked up his pistol. It had been fired three times. Then I saw that he had another pistol in his holster. I unbuckled his belt and pulled it out from under him. I checked that pistol and it was empty. He had ammunition in his pouch and I laid it aside. I went to the horse and pulled out the carbine from the scabbard. It was getting rusty but I could clean it. I took the scabbard too. His bedroll was on his saddle; I untied the straps and put it aside. Then, I took his saddlebag. I went back to the soldier and saw that he had a knife in his boot and I took that too. I looked in his two pockets and found two dollars. This made me wonder if he had a money belt. I cut his jacket with the knife and saw that he did. He smelled terrible under that jacket, but I got his money belt anyway. He had thirty dollars in there. I looked around some more and then I loaded everything up and went back to Betty. She had the rabbit ready. I washed my hands good and we ate.

Afterwards, I looked in the soldier’s saddlebag. He had some clothes in there and a lot of ammunition; he had his field glasses and a bag of jerky that smelled bad so I threw it away. He had some coffee and it smelled bad too. We kept his small coffee pot. Betty unrolled his bedroll and his blankets. They were still in good shape. He also had a slicker in there.