Maryland free press., 1867-02-14
VOLUME I.
ter her; and lifting his piece, he continued,
Ncome on, or You are dead man.,

ter her; and lifting his piece, he continued
''come on. or yeu are dead man."
For an instant the husband paused. He saw
at glance thesituation of affairs, and though i
was agony to leave his wife in such hands,
1t would be certain death for him to approach
the house. His firm whig principles had madl
the refugees and tories his political foes, and he
knew that more than onco "Black Davy'' had
sworn to take away his life. His only hope, there
fore, was In precipitate retreat. Thet'no per.
sonal injury would be offered to his wife, he felt
almost certain, for deeds Of that character had
never yet been attributed to the present leaders
Of the refugees. These rapid thoughts caused a
momeutary delay, which well nigh proved ruin.
The refugee captain had already raised his piece;
and when he saw the husband turn to flee, he
fired. But the selfdevoted wife at that very in
slant, sprang forward and struck up the musket
at the peril of her life The ball whizzed harm
lessly over her husbands head, and in another
moment he was lost in the surrounding forest
The ruffian turned with scowl ofa demon on
his face aud lifting his heavy piece into the air
struck down the heroic wife. She fell senseless
and bleeding to the earth. The refugee Hgazed
on her moment, and then with curse, called
his men to follow him in pursuit of the fyinp
husbr nd.
An hour after, the husband returned, having
thrown his pursuers at fault. Language cannot
describe his emotions on beholding the condition
of his wife. A neighbor CHANGING to pass appar-
emily some tea minutes after the refugees had de-
parted discovered her senseless on the ground.-
She was now scarcely revived, and could with
difficulty speak. Yet she strove to smile, and
faintly extending her hand to her husband call
ing in those fond tones which only wife can
use.
"By all that is holy" exclaimed the agonized
man as be rushed from her bedside, s'I will
avenae this on that renegade, or die in the at
tempt. But Ellen must not know it. will wait
until she is asleep and then depart on my errnnd
God will favor the right.
The Stars were faint and few that night the
bold farmer, extorting from the kind neighbor a
promise Of secrecy, stole out into She air, armed
with his trusty piece, and after looking a mo-
ment al the sky above struck rapidly acrost the
forest. In less than an hour he had visited two
him in his design. Striking right into the heart
cf the forest they pushed on for several hours
without any apparent fatigue and almost in si-
lence. At length they came to q halt.
"Thcir haunt is somewhere about here, I have
learned" said the husband, ~ heard it by
chance from one of their gang WHO mistook mo
for Bill Riching', who you know was supposed TO
have-no objection TO their ways. shouldn't be
81 s'r,rised, if the knowledge ofmy possessing this
has led TO The attack to night"
"iiark," said one of the band, edo you n'9
hear a.tread coming. through the woods?"
i"It is-it is-we have found them-lie close
now and wait till they come up"
The group instantly rclapsed into silence,
an each of them taking up position behind
Lure tree or some fallen trunk in the swamp,
W It d hreathlessly for tie approach of the COM
ers, whose tread might be heard growing more
and more distinct as they approached. Directly
voices were recognized, conversing with care
les tone, then loud laugh rung across the
night, and after momentary silence, one of the
band bust into song. ...
"Now is your time" whispered the husban n d
10 one of his companions ''take the right hand
man and leave the leader to me--ready--ire."
The report Of their riees rung sharply through
the woods, and three of the refugees lcaping in
to the air, fell down upon the ground. The
piece of the husband flashed in the pan, but did
not 60 off. The captain of the renegades was
unframed. Springing hack few steps from the
covert where his assailants lay concealed he
shouted.
"We are hetrayed-we must run for it, my
boys" and before the enraged pursuers could
we'll understand his..intention, he had turned and
fed, followed by those of his band who still re-
mained behind. The baflled husband was the
first to d ash from his covert and without pausng
10 see whether the fallen men were dead or not
he Numbered.
"Forward--forward--p them 10 the
DEATH .a
As he spoke, he dashed off in pursuit. His
hestated but a moment, and then
followed his example. Three of the refugees had
escaped, but there were four in pursuit. Fear
seemed, however, to have seized upon the rere-
yades, else why should they have retreated before
a force so little exceeding their own? II is
probable however that they imagined a.far great
er number of the enraged inhabitants were on
heir track, for they could scarcely suppose that
our men would have the hardihood to penetrate
to their fastness, when their full number was
Known to equal a Dozen. Whatever was their
motive, however, they continued their fight,
heir pursuers hotly in their rear.
1t was toward morning when two individuals
emerged upon the edge of an abrupt hill, many
niles from the fastness of the refugees. One Of
hem was the Captain of the refugees; his pursuer
was the injured husband. Both the companions
If tire outlaw had already been overtaken and
lain. The eagerness of the husband had out
stripped the pace Of his companions, and after
,ursuit of hours, he was on tic psint of coming
up with the refugee.
The rapid pace Of the two men, pursuing and
,ursued, brought the latter to the edge of the
.brupt hill before he was aware of it, and he saw
It glance that further fight was impossible
lie turned and beheld only one foe in sight
lie could hear the shouts of the others far behind