St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1864-03-17

81. .GLO4n-- ;:!!s:!!:l. : lNl !
AsTRA1 At RAPPAHANNeCK.
f.f>~>} 1eEfyR II
CONCLUDED FROM LAST vs.a3,'
For nine nilssst come should meet No
living soul. The blowing Of ny pony, :.
I epsrrsd him again. y ednonishsd N, that
hard ttastls,v.s beginning ID ,tsll upon
him; 70 I best the, ashes out Of my p1pt.
buttonsd ~ eo.t close to The throst, and
ehirpi4y euoouragtse1y, pushed forward
CALAMITY, though not At headlopg apesel,
But the dush and sxultatiea Of my lid.
were overs :. strange Weird Ntt ttattsses,a,s.
had succeeded. The noise Of Wild swine in
the brush alarmed me; twice laid my
hand aeitatedly upon my sword, and once
halted with drawn pistol At tho sArisk. of 4
frightened night hawk. Ashamed Of these
unmanly weaknesses, ! thought 70 ,eompae.
myself BY singing =. cheerful stavs, bot
my voice was 90 hollow and unrsal, that !
shuddered and ceased. At last, With q
loud "woa," and chill, quick quiver,
stopped in the middle Of the road, and felt
the ,Psrspira.ion standing like nisht-dsw on
my forehead. "~'a]
too WAS lost! -
For more than an hour had failed ia
recognise passing objects. However my
tremor and terror had lengthsnsd the miles,
I lad ID, Zst preserved some approximate %:
innate of time, and knew that, in the due
course Of travel, l should have been at
warrenton SPRING.. BUT in the rush, Of
fears and'faSdss ,;fht n a. g4eom ana thIdtoS&
Of the night, in the certainty that having
thrice gone over the same road, should
follow il safely again, 1 had missed my WY.
r R14se a .tAasarub maple, o.t, magnolia,
and gum'that shut in the by-road BY which
l had come,:I was now enoompassed by
dwarf pines and cedars, that revealed the
cpptlHa:1 1a but gave even more than ordina-
~ lonesomeness to the. scenery. Sterile,
interminable as knew such
soil to be, there vas the additional fear that
I had emerged upon . stretch of Virginia
forest. wherein the traveller might wander
for months, in dreary circles, finding
neither outlet, guide, nor subsistence. &
Ny first impulse WAS to retrace my steps,
but after thought suggested that / might
90 still further astray, turning in the dark
ness into some more devious and danger
for the night, Wrapped IN m my saddle
blanket, aud waiting for daylight to assist
me me .hst ay horie *at Willy II! sa sna hungry,
Ind should have. prqvender and shelter.
While thus doubtful and perplexed, I heard 2
tread among the pines 70 tho lsft, followed
BY .tffSssb .tffSssb, Saa sSna 'td, ,h..;s" "6fpIth.. N ,
hand reached nerycusly for my pistol III
stood erect in the stirrups, pssring through
the gloom with my finger pressing tightly
against the trigger, and = stammering chal-
lenge upon my lips. A dark object bound
ed from the brush, and passing across the
road close before me, disappeared. / re-
solved it into horse, add jR the dim, un-
certain shadow, saw that it was lame!
Cursing my cowardice, replaced the
pistol in its holster, and ohirping . my
beast, went YEARLY onward. There WAS a
chance, st least, that should reach some
secluded farmhouse Or negro hut. Aftsr
the space Of . half hour, I came 70 j. fence
and gate, and to my great relief diseerned
the stacks aad out houses Of farm. A
second gate through which I tpssssd creak-
ed dismally: behind me, and shut Hith .
loud noise, but turning the angle Of : log
cabin, I had. the satisfaction Of dismount.
ing before AZ ancient virgiu's residence,
whore a candle stil bEhssd in The \. tower
ttory, and streaming through window,
east food Of light across the yard. IT
wsA Aa,A4eliing framed after fashion i'm
memorial il th. South Long, open porch
ea. r.pofed aAAd n rallied, and a.cended by steps,
inolssed it ip;fkeat, *aaa in rser, While II.
brick chimney at the gables were built out
side Of the haus ., and against it. The
lhtnk&,w was i separate building. but con.
neeted with ths aNellAns ~ AsqaysFsd pas.
Re9s-wsy, ,.br eolonpa@s. and both dwelling
and kitchen had peaked Or dshAle roofs,
There wsre,I as I saw At = glance, -tMt
|k!sllla ~. ba.dera in. coaptFFpctiph. consist.
Ing Of wlndlass and chain for raising OF
lowering the bucket; but the other W ,
description Of we'll found only ID Americs,
and even there rapidly falling into AAaae,
known as tlyppls q paiance-well. .o' Iticon,
sisted Of . lppg hickory pol, Or ah4ft sus'
pended from ! !. fsaF'hsd s'!s. i, Or sTotghed ! YRright
Ind ,tfsa at:its short Or tapsrane hdtas,
pendant OF rod. TO this WAS attached tn,
bucket, which could be readily lowsseA! b,
hand, and hoisted BY the superior weigh
Of the long end Of the pole. I,was parle
ularly attracted t6 this lattsr well, because
Fudous}y enough, the heavy end Of the poll
was in the dir, and the bucket apparentl,
ct the bottom of tho we'll. The wsll.hol'
was covered with planks, and from the cir
ee4E43p6Slaus 4 n IL g. Z broken plow being depos
u ~ r - ~ 4