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

Meanwhile, the horsemen crowded
around the foot print, and one of them
inadvertently trod upon It. The Ken
tuckan looked long and earnestly, but
at last he said:
"'Taint the track. Thet ar mar has
a sand.crack on her right fore.foot. She
didn't take kindly to round shoe; 30
the Yank, he guy her one with the cork
right in the middle o. the quarter.
Twas q darned smart contrivance; fur
you see, It eased the strain, and let the
nag go nimble as a squirrel The cork
ha'n't yere-tan't her track-an' we're
wastin' time in lookln'"
The cork was not there, because the
troopers tread had obliterated 1t. Read
er, let us thank him for that one good
step, If he never took another; for 1t
saved the scout, and, may be saved
Kentucky. When the scout returned
that way, he halted abreast of that tree,
and examined the ground about it.
Right there, in the roaa, was the mares
track, with the print of the mans foot
still upon the inner quarter! He un-
covered his head, and from his heart
went up simple thanksgiving.
The horsemen gone, the scout came
down from the tree, and pushed on into
the misty morning. There might be
danger ahead, but there surely was dan
ger behind him. His pursuers were
only half convinced that they had
struck his trail; and some sensible fiend
might put it into their heads to divide
and follow, part by one route, part by
the other.
He pushed on over the sloshy road,
his mare every step going slower and
slower. The poor beast was jaded out !;
for she had travelled sixty miles, eating
nothing, and been stabbed in the timber.
She would have given out long before,
had her blood not been the best in Ken
tucky. AS it was, she staggered along
rs if she had taken barrel of whisky.
Five miles on was the house of a Union
man. She must reach it, or die by the
wayside; for the merciful man regardeth
not the life of his beast when he carries
dispatches.
The loyalist did not know the scout,
but his honest face secured him cordial
welcome. He explained that he was
from the Union camp on the Big Sandy,
and offered any price for horse to go
on with.
6 Yer nag is wuth any two o. my
critters" said the man. {" Ye kin take
the best beast I've got; and when ye r.
ag'in this way, we'll swap back even."
The scout thanked him, mounted the
horse, and rode off into the mist again,
without the warm breakfast which the
good woman had half-cooked, in the
kitchen 1t was eleven o'clock and at
twelve that night, he entered Colonel
Cranor's quarters at Paris,-having rid
den hundred miles with rope round
and shoddy uniform.
The Colonel opened the dispatch. 1t
was dated, Louisa, Kentucky, Decem-
bei "A, midnight; and directed him to
move at once with his regiment (the
Fortieth Ohio, eight hundred strong),
by the way of Mount Stirling and Nc
Cormick's Gap, to Prestonburg. He
would incumber his men with as few
rations and as little luggage as possible,
bearing in mind that the safety of his
command depended on his expedition.
He would also convey the dispatch to
Lieutenant Colonel Woodford, at Stam-
ford, and direct him to join the march
with his 800 cavalry.
Hours were now worth months OF
common time, and on the following
morning Cranor's column began to
move. The scout lay back till night,
then set out on his return, and at day.
break swapped his now jaded horse for
the fresh Kentucky mare, even. He ate
the housewives breakfast, too, aud took
his ease with the good man till dark,
when he again set out, and rode through
the night in safety. After that his
route was beset with perils. The Provi-
dence which so wonderfully guarded his
way out seemed to leave him to find his
own in or, as he expressed it: eye see,
the Lord, He keered more fur the dis.
patch nor He keered fur me; and twas
natural He should, case my life only
counted one, while the dispatch, it stood
fur all Kaintuck."
Be that as it may, he found his road
a hard one to travel. The same gang
which followed him out waylaid him
back, and one starry night he fell among
them. They lined the road forty deep