The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1879-01-29

brothers, shoulder to shoulder, striking
hard and deep to the last, with the old
English flag flying overhead r.
The girl looked at him-a look which,
through all the horrors that were to
come, he never forgot. Grief, anger,
tenderness, wondering admiration, were
all mingled in the momentary fash of
those marvellous eyes. Then she pressed
his hand passionately to her lips and
was gone.
Hal What was that sudden glare that
broke ont over the whole eastern side of
the town? Aud what could be the
meaning OF that dull, distant roar, like
far-of sea, swelling ever louder and
louder, till the ear could distinguish the
sharp crackle of musketry, the crush of
falling buildings, the clamor of countless
voices, and high over all the terrible
war.shout, "Allah Akbar l'-God is
victorious.
Just at that moment four soldiers, torn
and blood stained, came marching past,
carrying a helpless, ghastly, dust-be-
grimed figure, in which even st. Clair
himself could scarcely recognize his
once gay and dandified junior lieutenant.
Its all up, old boy" said the lad,
family. They have fred our quarters
and murdered poor Burnes and ever 80
many more and the whole towns up
to help them. Nothing for it but to die
game"
Nothing, indeed" muttered Her.
bert. "God have mercy on us all !"
The next moment he was Fastening at
full speed toward the scene of action.
CHAPTER m.-THE VI LEY OF DEATH.
All great historical eatastrophes- Ar
mada wrecks, London pestilences, Sara
gossa sieges, Moscow retreats-are wont
to prolong the agony which they inflict,
and to let fall their vengeance drop by
drop, instead of mercifully ending all
with one crushing blow.
So it Jared with the ill-fated invaders
of Cabul. The murder of Sir Alexander
Burnes, the noblest of the countless
martyrs in that disastrous year, was
OILY the first drop of the coming storm.
Then followed blow upon blow, the
rising of the whole surrounding country,
the destruction of the accommodating
parties sent out too late by the COM
m iuder-in-chief; the capture of the
British stores, which left the troops
almost without food, and at length, on
the fatal 1st of January, 1842, the
crowning madness of the convention
of retreat" by which the whole army
gave itself up to its destroyers, accept
ing the assurance of a safe passage
iiomeward from the very men who had
sworn the death of every British soldier
in Cabul.
Foremost in every combat was Her.
bert st. Clair, recklessIy exposing him.
elf to all dangers; for, soldier as he
was to his very finger. tips, the sight of
M English flag dishonored and an Eng
l'sh army in retreat, bowed him down
with q sense of personal disgrace, and
made him careless of life after such a
humiliation.
But, to the amazsment of all who wit
messed his reckless daring, he came out
of every fight as scatheless as he had
gone into it; and the conviction grad
ually forced itself upon him, with a
thrill of mingled bitterness and delight,
that the AfRhans had rurposely spared
his life, and that they had done so be-
carse he was the man whom their great
princes daughter secretly loved.
Meanwhile the course of events went
iuexorably on. On the fifth of January,
in the depth of the terrible Afghan win
ter, the forlorn army-two-thirds of
which were men reared amid the burn
ing heat of India-tiled through the gate
of Oabul, wearied, detected, half f-starved,
ill-supplied with ammunition, to com.
mence its long march of death.
For time, however, it seemed as if
the assurance of safety were really to
be kept. They passed the great plain
without firing shot or seeing the face
of an enemy, ard even the most expe.
rienced officers began to hope that, after
all, their worst apprehensions might
prove unfounded.
But they little .knew the man
with whom they had to deal. Akbar
Khan was not one to let slip the prey
which he had once ensnared, and the
jaws of death were already gaping for
every man of the ill-fated army.
In the gray of a gloomy winter morn
ing, they came in sight of the pass of
Koord- Cabul, through which lay their
shortest route to India. At the first
glimpse of the black, tomb-like gorge,
shut in by frowning precipices, over
which brooded weird, unearthly ST.
lence, the boldest felt their hearts sink,
but it was too late now to draw back.
Rank on rank, with the ghostly mist
closing around them like a shroud, the
doomed host went down into the valley
of death.
AMI then, in one moment, the tragedy
bsgan.
Far and wide the air was rent with
the Afghan war-ehout, and each rock,
each thicket, each hollow, was one
blaze and crackle of musketry, every
bullet telling fatally upon the helpless
mass below.
Surprised and outnumbered, the
English still stood their ground man.
fully, and attempted to return the fire,
but against ambushed marksmen hun
dreds of feet overhead, what could they
do? In a moment all was one whirl of