Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1877-02-26

huoCdnS Urey stepped upon the broa(
stone where the strange child stood pre-
vlously in her statuesque pose, sanl
knee. and bowed his head to receive /;
cooling draught from the round gourC
IN the hands of the brave girl. Sht
stopped forward, and her curls fell dowr
to his Ups. | thought ] heard an audi
bic whisper; but when he arose to his
feet, his face was calm, and hers wore
the same look of passionless quietude.
"Now, my little viper, are you salts
he'd? /? If you thoroughly knew the man
you would have given him poison instead
of water" growled Haskell, as he took
the gourd.
There was only spasmodic twitehy Of
the girls face, and flash of her gray
eyes, and she was again in that impene-
trable repose from which she could not
easily be started.
The sun had entirely disappeared
from view, and the verge of the western
sky was enameled with mellow tints. and
IN the east, shadows were gathering,
making somber and phantom-l like shapes,
heralds of approaching night.
Mount, Grey, we must to camp"
said Haskell, as he roughly assisted the
bound man into the saddle. stranger"
speaking to me, "will you camp with
us? The more the merrier."
gave my assent, as was glad of
their company, and rode along with the
Texans and their prisoner. One mile
from the old mission, on the route to
Mexico, we camped in basin-like re-
l-=s ----~--A
lake of clear water.
Dismounting, our horses were stripped
of their saddles, brides and saddle
blankets, watered and securely staked
on the margin of the lake, where the
grass was nutritious and plentiful; then
our arrangements were made for an
evenings repast. That through with,
we spread our blankets and prepared for
repOse.
--S0ang ureys arms anu Iegs were
securely bound, he submitting without
murmur. His blanket was spread and
his saddle arranged so as to give him a
rude resting place for his head then he
was left to himself and his gloomy
thoughts until morning should call his
captors to the saddle.
AS we gathered around the camp fire,
many were the stories told of the darinp
and outrageous acIs or Mustang Grey
and his numerous escapes from even un-
der the rope. Soon, one by one fell
asleep, until the Texans were deep in
repose., and the camp fire had sunk into
white embers and served as sentinel
to eur quiet camp.
The events of the day had impressed
me strangely, and | pictured to myself
the kneeling figure of the strong, tall
desperate, and the 1.-THE, graceful form
of the strange girl, as she gave cooling
draught to wet his parched lips and
tongue.
The canopy of heaven was atUddUd
with stars. No light from the moon
paled their liquid gleamings, and the
milky way, wherein clustered myriads
of these unseen celestial torches, belted
the torrid and friged zones in its magi-
cal folds.
Could the prisoner, this man of strange
deeds, be asleep? looked toward him
and as an ember fell from its living PIN
nacle, lighting up mcmentarily the face
of Grey, l saw that his eyes were not
closed. From that moment | banished
sleep, and my sYmpathies went with
this strange being, knowing that the
Texans, who were his captors, would ex-
ecute him without authority of law.
| was so close to him that by looking
at his reclining form intently for short
space of time, l could almost see the
outlines of his face.
The hour of midnight had passed. and
Ursa Major was below the verge of the
nothern sky, when | saw something that
resembled creeping form. Its move
ments we're slow, and soon it was almost
at the side of the prisoner. There was
a momentary pause; another ember fell
and | recognized the prostrate form o.
the girl of the stone mission. She crept
closer, when her head touched the face
of Gray, and there was sound as
their lips touched in a fervent kiss
, Then knife cleaned, and | heard the
thongs that bound the captive snap a
the ligaments separated.
He was free as air. Another has
, from the almost dead embers, and SAY
| two brawny arms twined around tn
mock of the strange pirl. whose head wa