Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1885-08-16

army with his syes full ola green 40
greedy FIRE; and the birds Of prey hove
overhead ana weary not Of waiting, for the
are patient as they are crnsl, aud they kno'
that their time must c0me ct last.
Tie army itself has sunk into . White
torpor. A general gloom prevades th
camp There Is no more singing and dane
ing, no more feasting or rejoicing. Mood!
and shivering the men crouch togethet
watching with spathetic eye the fate o
those who daily fall ifeless beside them
struck to the heart BY the Winters &c.
poniArd
Then at last come the scouts, and repor
that large horde of Tartars have beer
distinguished lowering on the horizon
New life is diffused into Responding ranks
the prospect of an encounter warns eact
heart and cheers each spirit; for IN warfar.
nC,hipg is so hard to bear as suspense and
insction, and the brayest men that do no
quail before FIRE or steel lose courage i
obliged to await their fate with folded arms
At The head of his troops the Attamar
advances INTO the plain and ranges them
tor battle, but the willy enemy keeps out oil
zach, and evades an encounter with the
Kossis, who are obliged at nightfall to re
III 10 the valley without having fred a
8 OF or crossed sword.
Tie snow is falling fast as they regain
the camp and all night long it comes down
silently in large white fakes, blotting out
al marks on tie landscape, and filling up
each footprint Of man or beast with sot,
white fur, till at daybreak, when the Kosaks
sgain advance to seek the foe, an unbroken
White surface lies before them.
Thus they proceed through the silent val,
ley, seeipg not hundred PAGES before them
for the dense white mist, which the torpid
Winter sun has not had the strength to dIs-
perse They can see naught but gray point
ed rocks on all sides Of them-grsy rocks to
the front, to the right, and to the left OF
the m, all looming at them coldly through
the fog.
But now the gray rocks in front seem to
assume other shapes; they grow at once
more distinct and more fantastic in appear.
snce No longer mere rocks they look
ike phsntoms; no longer mere phantoms,
they look like men-like Tsrtarsl
1t is but too true; the vast hordes are
ranged in semicircle awaiting them, aud
behind them are Tartsrs slso-Tartars
everywhere closing round them!
The white penDon denotiDg the presence
of the Khan is flying overhead, and the
sbrill note ofthe tsbslszana "a musical In
strument) resounds from the rocks, while 8
hailstorm of poisoned arrows comes pour
iDg in on the Kossks.
They adjust their guns and prepare to
make desperate resistance. Fifty tunes
are they forced back, but fifty times do they
advance again. Inch By inch do they fight
heir way 10 the entrance of the valley, and
at last they reissue from it. victorious IN
deed, but with the loss Of FIVE thousand
brave men.
They leave the cursed valley hesped with
he bodies of the slain, both men and horses,
a terrible and hideous sight. Here lie tn
Kosak al d the Tartar, clutcbing eace other
IN the last death struggle; there a grimm G
head has rolled away from its trunk; dyl G
horses neigh piteously as the rapid vultlre
hears down upon them. and everywhere tn
now has disappeared, melted away by the
warm blood and the smoking corpses.
".
Slowly and sadly the Attaman prepares
0 return homewsrd with the wreck OF his
amy. They have cast from their chariot
all the rich spoil they had taken, to make
room Tor the wounded warriors. They have
thrown out the gold and silver to rust away
among the barren rocks and the rich turs
and silken stufs lie rotting in the mire. Oh
what good is gold or silver to them when
they have lost the flower OF their chivalry?
Can sparkling diamonds or glowing rubies
make up for the blood OF the brave?
But the curse OF the valley of misfortune
seems 10 pursue them even further, for with
4, sch day their numbers grow less; cold,
sickness, and famine are all busy at work
moving down fresh victims. The Tartars,
though superior in numbers do not again
dare to approach a. close quarters, yet they
hover around in wide circles, their piercing
cry, like the voice Of the wild curlew, forever
irritating the ear. and their poisoned darts
still finding their way to many a brave
heart
The Attsman tights Iallsntly against de-
spair; he watches over the army as father
over his children; he animates and encour-
ages them ike brother; he consoles and
tends them like mother. He thinks and
provides for them like chief, yet he shares
each hardship and fights like a simple
soldier. His csspka (head covering) is
pierced through aud through by the enemy 9
darts, and his burks COAT hangs ragged
from sabre cuts, yet his BODY, as though
shielded by magic charm is preserved I'M
scathed
Only as they draw near the frontier OF
Ukrania do the Tartars cease haunting their
passage and are gradually lost TO sight in
the wide steppes.
The Attsman, with only three hundred
men remainiug, regsins his native soil. At
the frontier they meet the first Zsporogue
sentinels, who salute them silently, Nc
word is spoken on either side; no news oil
the war is asked or given, only the patro
bands over TO kunicki parchment, signed
By the chiefs ordering him torepair at once tc
Riala- Cerkiew, where they sit in council
forfthe Attaman, who is sovereign lord and
master as long as he is in the enemy S
country, is bound to submit TO the counci
chiefs as soon as he has again put foot OF
his native soil.
There are neither threats nor reproache'
in this document. Why, then, does the At
tsmsn feel cold chill ruin through hi!
veins? And why does his gallant chestnu
hang its head and stumble, as though i
would fall 10 the ground? The Attsman
horse is ssgacious as human being, anC
has the instinct to feel when misfortune II
at hand.
In all the villages where they pass through
the people crowd to see their Father Alta
man and his brave Hosaks on their passage
but when they behold but handfal OF men
pale and more ike band of spectres. they
greet them with silent tears instead Of songs
OF joy, and in place Of noisy acclamation'
they wiring their brothers hands in mute
aftiiCtion.
The snow has lef the earth and nature
is putting on her most smiling garb, tht
plains are covered with fresh carpet o.
emerald green, from every bough hang
snowy blossoms the air is fragrant with the
III - -,a1a., 90 6,u of su-aa4 p,uaio