The Xenia sentinel. [volume] (Xenia [Ohio]) 1863-186?, 1864-01-19

& conf-0otg his terrible-anfagouist with some
thing deadIier than ferocity The hand that
levels and the eye that directs the rife tube
/ are uerved and fired by the mind, the spirit,
/ the Promethean spark, which, in this case, is
indeed a dtower Of strength And the set
. tier. with promises and alcohol may have Won
I the savage to himself But TO the solitary
scout, at midnight, every turn in the road may
/ conceal finger on hair trigger; every stump
I or bush may hold foe in waiting. Ifhe rides
through a forest Il is only in the deepest shad-
I ON that he dares ride upright; and should he
1 cross an open glade, where starlight or moon
shine drops freely, he crouches low on the
saddle and hurries across, for every second
( he feels he may be a target. His senses are
/ painfully alive-his faculties strained to their
utmost tension.
By way of little episode, I knew a very sue
eessful scout, who met his death, however, on
/ the Peninsula, who would always require alOng
/ sleep Immediately after an expedition Of peril,
If It had lasted but a few hours, and had ap-
parently called forth no more muscular exer-
tiOn than was necessary to sit the saddle. But,
strange as it may seem, he would complain Of
overpowering fatigue, and Immediately drop
into the nest profound slumber And have
been informed that this is frequently the case.
I can only attribute it to the fact that, owing
to the extreme and almost abnormal vivacity
u think Of no better word-of the faculties
and senses, a man on these mOmentous occa-
sions lives tcice OF thrice fast as ordinarily;
and the usual nerve-play and wakefulness Of
a day and night may thus be concentrated in
the brief period Of few hours.
But to resume: I felt to the full this appre-
hension, this anxiety, this exhaustion, but the
knowledge Of nv position and the issues at
stake kept my blood flowing, had come to
the termination Of the last plateau or plain,
where the road led me down the side Of ra-
vine, with a prospect ahead Of nothing but
darkness. Here, toe, I was compelled to make
more noise, as there was no sod for my horse
TO tread on, and the road was hiuty and rough
in the extreme. But I kept on as cautiously
as possible, when suddenly, just at the bottom
of the ravine, where the road began to ascend
the opposite declivity, I came to a dead halt,
confronted by a group of several horsemen,
so suddenly that they seemed to have sprung
from the earth like pbantoms.
GWhy do you return so slowly?" said one
of them, impatiently. "What have you seen ?
Did you meet Colonel Craig?"
For moment brief one-I gave myself
up for lost but, with rapid rejection and
keen invention which desperate strait viii
sometimes superinduce, Igrasped the language
ingly. "Why do you return 50 sIowly?" l
had been sent somewhere, then. "What have
you seen ;" I had been sent as spy, then.
"Did you meet Colonel Craig2" Ohio! l
thought, will be Colonel Craig. No, won't:
I viii be Colonel Craig orderly. So 1 spoke
out boldly:
Colonel Craig met your messenger, who had
seen nothing, and advised him to scout down
the edge of the creek for half a mile. Buthe dis
patched me, his orderly, to say that the enemy
appear to be retreating in heavy masses. I
am also to convey this intelligence to Cen
eral F."
The troopers had started at the tones of &
strange voice, but seemed to listen with in
terest and without suspicion.
"Did the Colonel think the movement a real
retreat or only feint?" asked the leader.
"He was uncertain IrePlied, beginning
to feel secure and roguish at the same time;
but he bade me say that he would ascertain
and in an hour or two if you should see one
rocket up to the north there, YOU might con-
clude that the Yankees were retreating; if
you5should see two, then you might guess that
they were not retreating, but stationary, with
likelihood Of remaining inert for another
day"
"Goodl cried the rebel. "Do you know
the way to the Generals quarters ?"
1 think I can find it, said 1 "althougb
I am not familiar with this side of the noun
tain"
"It's a mile this side of the Sedley Man
sion" said the trooper. "You will find some
pickets at the head of the road. You must
there leave your horse, and climb the steep,
when you viii see a farmhouse, and fifteen
minutes walk toward it VIII bring you to the
Generals tent. I viii 60 with you to the top
of the road" And, setting off at galIop, the
speakerleftme to follow, which hesitated not
to do. Now, owing to their mistake, the cOun-
tersign had not been thought of; but the next
picket would not be likely to swallow the same
dose of silence, and it was lucky thing that
the trooper led the way, for he would reach
them first, and I would have a chance to catch
the password from his lips. But he passed
the picket so quickly, and dropped the pre-
cious syllables so indistinctly, that I only
caught the first Of them-'t Tally'-while the
remainder might as well have been Greek.
Tally, tally tally what? Good God thought
I, what can it be? Tally, tqEEy-here I am al
most up 10 the piekets what can it be7 Tai
lyho? No, that's English. Talleyrand? No,
that's French. God help mel Tally, tally
"TALLAHAssEEl yelled, with the inspira-
tion of despair, as I dashed through the pick
cts, and their leveled carbines sank tOothless
before that wonderful spell-the Countersign.
Blessing my stars, and without further mis-
hap, reached the place indicated by the
trooper, which was high up on the side of the
mountain-so high that clouds were forming
in the deep valley below Making my bride
fast, I clambered with some difficulty the still
ascending slope on my left Extraordinary
caution was required. almost crept toward
the farmhouse, and soon perceived the tent
Of the rebel chief. A solitary guard was pa
cling between it and me-probably a hundred
yards from the tent. Perceiving that bold
ness was my only plan, Isauntered up to him
with as free-and-easy an air as could master
"Who goes there ?"
A friend"
"Advance and give tie countersign."
l advanced as near as was safe. and whis-
pered Tallahassee, with some fears as to the
result
ITS d-d lieI' said the sentry, bringing
his piece TO the shoulder in the twinkle of an
eve. That answers the pickets but not me"
Click click, went the rising hammer of the
mUsket.
1 am dead man, thought to myself, I
an dead man unless the cap fails. Won
derful, marvellous to relate, the cap did fail
The hammer dropped with O dull, harmless
thug on the nipple With the rapidity Of
Iuu1SAg anu l4le etetl4ln OF a pautAef Eilueu
forward and clutched his windpipe, forcing
him to his knees, while the gun slipped to
the ground. There was fierce but silent
struggle The fellow could not speak for my
hand on his throat; but be was powerful
man. with a bOwie-knife in his belt, if he
could only get at it. ButI got it first. hos-
tated a moment and thendrove it in his mid
riff to the hilt; and just at that instant his
grinders clOsedon my arm and bit TO the bone.
Restraining a cry with the utmost difficulty,
got in ano her blow, this time home, and the
jaws of the rebel few apart with n start, for
my blade had pressed the spring Of the easket.
Breathlcss from the struggle, lay still to col
lect my thoughts. and listened 10 KNOW il