The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1881-04-19

music in hooting. The woman listened,
put on a dark mantle, and followed the
sound of their voices. Entering the
woods, she crept in among the bushes,
and talked with the owls as If they had
been human.
They know the road yell take" she
said; Eye must change yer route. Here
ar the bullet"
"God bless ye, Rachel" responded
the owl, 'ye'r' a true 'ooman''-and he
hooted louder than before, to deceive
pursuers, and keep up the music.
CAR yer nag safe 2" she asked.
g Yes, and good fur forty miles afore
sun-up."
Well, here ar suthin' ter eat Yell
need 1t. Goodbye, and God be wiz
ye."
"He'll go WI ye, fur He loves noble
wimmin.'
Their hands clasped, and they parted;
he to his long ride; she to the quiet
sleep of those who, out of true heart,
serve their country.
The night was dark and drizzly but
before morning the clouds cleared away,
leaving thick mist hanging low on
the meadows. The scouts mare was
fleet, but the road was rough, and q
slosh of snow impeded the travel. He
had come by strange way, and did not
know how far he had travelled by sun
rise; but lights were ahead, shivering
in the haze of the cold, gray morning.
Were they the early candles of some
sleepy village, or the camp-fires of a
band of guerrillas ? He did not know,
and 1t would not be safe to go on till he
did know. The road was lined with
trees, but they would give no shelter;
for they were far apart, and the snow
lay white between them. He was in the
blue grass region. lettering his horse
in the timber, he climbed tall oak by
the roadside; but the mist was too thick
to admit of his discerning anything
distinctly. 1t seemed, however, to be
breaking away, and he would wait until
his way was clear; so he sat there, an
hour, two hours, and ate his breakfast
from the satehel Johns wife had slung
over his shoulder. At last the fog lifted
little, and he saw clese at hand small
hamlet-a few rude huts gathered round
a cross-road. No danger could lurk in
such a place, and he was about to de-
scend, and pursue his journey, when
suddenly he heard, up the sroad by
which he came, the rapid tramp of a
body of horsemen.
The mist was thicker below; so half
way down the tree he went, and awaited
their coming. They moved at an irreg-
ular pace, carrying lanterns, and paus-
ing every now and then to inspect the
road, as if they had missed their way or
lost something. Soon they came near,
and were dimly outlined in the gray
mist, SO the scout could make out their
number. There were thirty of them,-
the original band, and reinforcement.
Again they halted when abreast of the
tree, and searched the road narrowly.
He must have come this way" said
oDe-he of the chivalry. "The other
road is sixteen miles longer, and he
would take the shortest route. It's an
awful pity we didn't head him on both
roads,
"We kin come up with him yit, eff
we turn plump round, and follow on
t'other road-whar we lost the trail
back thar, three miles ter the dead
enin'."
Now another spoke, and his voice the
scout remembered. He belonged to his
own company in the Fourteenth Ken
lucky. "It's so." he said; she has
tvck t'other road. 1 tell ye, I'D know
thet mars shoe 'mong million. Nary
one loike 1t was ever seed in all Kahn
tuck-only a id Yankee could ha'
invented it"
"And yere it arr" shouted man
with one of the lanterns, ''plain as sun
up"
The Fourteenth Kentuckian clutched
the light, and while dozen dismount-
ed and gathered round, closely examined
the track. The ground was bare on
the spot, and the print of the horses
hoof was clearly cut in the half frozen
mud. Narrowly the man looked, and
life and death hung on his eyesight.
The scout took out the bullet, and placed
it in crotch of the tree. If they took
him, the Devil should not take the
dispatch. Then he drew a revolver.
The mist was breaking away, and he
would surely be discovered If the men