Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1886-12-11


front again and saw Kent and Abe Bolton
and the rest of the boysrrlsh forward, leaving
him and a score of other weak kneed irreso-
lutes standing alone behind
Again be thought be would seek the refuge
of the rock, but at that moment the Union
line swept up to the Ccnfederates, scattering
them as wave does dry sand
Joe's mental motions We're reasonably
rapid. Now be was not long in realizing that
all the danger was past, ard that he had an
opportunity of gaining credit cheaply He
acted promptly Fixing his bayonet, he gaze
fearful yell and started forward on o run
for the position which the regiment had
gained
He was soon in the lead of the pursuers,
and appeared, by his later zeal, TO be making
amends for his earlier Hardness. As be ran
ahead he shouted savagely:
Run down the hellionsl Shoot EN-! Stab
'em Bay'net 'en! Don't let one of EN- get
away"
There is an excitement in man chase that
is not even approached by any other kind of
hunting, and Joe soon became fairly intoxi-
Gated with it.
He quickly overlook one or two of the
quietly and were handed by him over TO the
other boys as they came up, and conducted
by them to the rear.
Becoming more excited he sped en-, entirely
unmindful how far he was outstripping his
comrades
\ hundred yards ahead of him was tall
saunt Nirginian, clad in butternut colored
jeans of queer cut and pattern, and great
bellcrowned hat of rough, gray beaver
Though his gait was stumbling, and his huge
splay feet rose and fell in the most awkward
way, he went over the ground with swift
ness that made it rather doubtful whether
Joe was gaining on him at all But the lat
ter was encouraged by the signs of his chase's
distress First the bell-crowned hat few off
and rolled behind, and Joe could not resist
the temptation TO give it a kick which sent it
spinning into a clump of honevsuckles. Then
the Confederate flung off a haversack, whose
Tapping interfered with his speed, and this
was followed by clumsily constructed cedar
canteen. Next followed the fugitiye's belt,
loaded down with an antique cartridge box,
a savage knife made from a rasp and handled
with buckhorn, and fierce looking horse
pistol with flint lock
Il seemed to he Dustin up musyum O
revolutionary relics" said Joe afterward. in
describing the incident THE Teller tlroppet!
keepsakes from his forefathers like a bird
Inotin its feathers on a windy day. begun
to think that if KEEP up the chase purity soon
he'd begin to shed Continental money and
knee breechcs-"
The fugitive turned off to the right into d
narrow path that wound through the laurel
thiCtets. Joe followed with all the energy
that remained in him, confident that a short
distance more would bring him 50 close to his
game that he could force his surrender by a
threat of bayoDeting. Hecaught up to within
a rod of the Confederate, and was already
forshortening his gun for a lunge in case of
refusal to surrender on demand when he was
amazed to see the Confederate whirl around,
level his gun at him, and order his surrender
Joe was so astonished that he stumbled, fell
forward and dropped his gun. As he raised
his eyes he saw three or four other Confedrr-
ates step out from behind a rock. and level
their guns uDon him with an expression of
blOodthlrStincSS that seemed simply tcndish
Then it flashed upon him how far away he
was from oil his comrades, and that the laIy-
rinth of laurel made them even much NOR,
remote With this realization come the In
voluntary groan;
~, Lordy! its all up with mo l am a
goner, sure,7
His courage did not ooze out of his fingers.
like the historic Bob Acres it vanished like
gas from n rent balloon He clasped his
hands and tried 10 think of some prayer
Nov lay me he murnured
'Shan't we shoot the varruint,7 said one of
the COME lefates with a motion OF his gun in
harmony with that idea.
go mi-ter-mister- mister don't 4
Please DON'T | swear didn't mean to do no
harm TO YOU
"Wa oil. yc acted monty quare for man thai
didn't mean no harm," said the pursued NAL,
regalning his breath with some difficulty.
"A-chasin' me down with tibet ar prod on yer
gun, an threatenin' to stick 1t inter me at
every Jump. Only wanted ter see me run,
did yer!7
60 mister, only done it because WIZ
ordered to couldn't help myself; swear |
couldn't"
"Whar's the ossifers tibet wuz a-or1erin'
yef Whar's the captins that wuz putin We
up ter hiti Thar want no one in Il mile of
ye. Guess we'd better shoot ye'
Again Joe raised his voice in AFFECT ap-
peal for mercy There was nothing he was
not willing to promise if his life were only
spared.
Wouldn't hit be better ter bavnet hiln?7
one of the Confederate, entirely
unmOved, us his comrades were by Joc's
piteous pleadings. "Ef we go ter shootin'
round yere bit1l likely bring the Yankees
right onter US
81 'spect hit would be better ter take him
back little ways, any way said the man
whom Joe had pursued. Pick up his gun
thar, Eph Come along, you, an be monty
peart about hit, fur we're in powerful bad
frame o mind ter be fooled with wouldn't
gin a f'-pcnny-bit fur all yer blue bellied
iifes worth. The boys ar jest pizen mad
from seein' so many o. thar kin and folks
killed by yer crowd o. thicvin' Hessians"
Grateful for even o momentary respite,
Joe rose from his knees with alacrity and
humbly followed one of the Confederates
along the path. The others strodo behind,
and occasionally spurred him into a more
rapid pace with a prick from their bayonets.
Cough, mister, don't do that Don't,
JitbSe. i Ou uOH KNOW now IL HuTLS. L
mint got no rhinoceros skin to stand such jabs |
rs that. That come purity nigh goin' clean ]
through to my heart"
"Skeet ahead faster, then, or the next
punchn go right smack through ye, fur
sartin. Ell yer skins so tender, what are We
loin' in the armyf
They climbed the mountain laboriously, |
md started down on the other side About |
midway in the descent they came upon de-
serted cabin standing near the side of the road |
"By the Lord Harry said one of the Con |
I'm almost done clean gin out. so |
am. I'm tireder nor a claybank hoss arter |
| hard days plowin an I'm ez dry ez lime |
iiln motion that we stop yere an take q
est. We kin put our Yank in the house
har and keep him. ! wonder whar the spring |