New Oregon plaindealer. (New Oregon, Iowa) 1859-1866, 1860-03-09

form that Kate recognized instantly, as
the lurid light of the distant fire play
ed readily on it.. Need we say 1t was
that Of Preston? His uplifted sabre
flashed in the wild glare like meteor.
'The oath of Marion!" he shouted,
ina voice of thunder. "Strike home
for revenge" ..'. g.
This sudden :pparition, and more
than all that stirring shout: seemed to
infuse strange and wild frenzy into
the assailants, so lately about te turn.
s'The oath Of Marion," exclaimed a
stalwarth figure at Preston's side, as he
smote a royal grenadier to the earth
with single stroke. ....
The cry was caught up bv the crowd.
''The oath of Marion! The oath of
Marion!' rung from hundred voices;
and the assailants with that cry, rush
ed on the royal troops as an avalanche
rushes from the sky. But foremost of
all, rode Preston and his sergeant,
while their terror stricken enemies
around them went down, with every
sweep Of their good swords, like grain,
on a harvest field ......-.. .-
The royal troops broke in every d.
rect!on. The officers seeing resistance
was in vain before SO headlonga a charge
turned also to seek safety in fight
Dol. Campbell, however, seemed to
stand his ground, but Macdonald riding
his powerful steek against him, bore
him down, and the next instant the
commandant to save his life, yielded
himself a prisoner. 1t was at this
critical moment, that Major Lindsay,
saw, for the first time, the face of Pres
ton. With an oath Kissed between his
teeth, he snatched a fire lock from q
dead soldier beside him, and pointed
it at our hero, who, not perceiving him
would infallibly have fallen, but that
his name, uttered in a shrek by Kate,
arrested his ear, snd turning, he be
held his enemy who was almost in line
with the window whence the warning
had been heard. The lightning that
rives the oak is not quicker than was
the blow from Prcston's sabre. Down
right on the head of his adversary, de-
scended the heavy steel, crashing thrcuh
his skull as if it had been only 50 much
paper; and with that blow, the soul of
the william went to it's last account.
Kate snw no more. She scarcely in
deed saw that. She only knew that
her lover had been warned in time, and
had escaped; for her father now drew
her forcibly in, and shut the perilous
easement, around which the pistol balls
were rafting like hail. Then she
swooned away. The rest ofthat night
is matter of history. The town was for
a while, wholly in the hands of the as
sailants, and the victory would have
been complete, but for some misappre-
hension in the hour at which the differ
ent detachments were to attack, which
enabled part of the enemy to gain
their garrison, where they were too
strongly entrenched to be taken with
out artillery. The assailants accord
inglp retired, after having captured the
town and made Col. Campbell prisoner.
Preston had heard Kate's voice, and
leavidghis lieutenant to pursue the fu-
gitives, sought her out immediately
His were the eyes she first looked on
when she recovered from her swoon.-
Her glad surprise, or his own joy to
find her still his own, when he had
feared their arrival was too late, We
must leave to the imagination of the
reader. It was one of those scenes hu-
man language, is to feeble to portray.
When, toward day-break, Marion
gave orders for the town to be evacua-
ted. Kate, so late fainting and heart
broken, took her place on hnrseback,
between her father and Preston, almost