The Northwestern standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1885-1886, 1886-02-20
spsotars of ]. Winter Night.


ished him SO suddenly that ne had no
d time to fire his carbina on cry out.
Who had dons this bloody deed
ID Men asked the question of each other
but no one could answer it. 1t conlt
not have been a conrade- mo enemy
= was near by. That glooIaY winters
night, as the piekets were posted along
,, The front Of forest and ihicket, the OF.
Ecer whispered to each man as he left
him on his post.
: Remember the murder Of last night
Let no man approach from the woods. =
!. When the relief had passed out of
5 hearing the lonely watch began. 4 sol
der may pace a beat or take UP his
station in the shadow OF a tree to watch
: and listen for the enemy who has
fought him in open days and keep his
nerve, but the feeling that an assassin
Z may creep upon and strike him to the
! heart makes quite another man of him.
The wind blows up betimes in fierce
gusts, roaring and sobbing among the
: .eafiess trees, and again dies away, I'M
til there il scarcely rustic in the bush
es. The fierce gusts rouse the picket
to intense Watchfulness. and the low
| fustling makes his heart beat faster
Was it On his post the picket OF the
night previous was murdered? He does
not not know, but as the thought fash
es through bis mind his eye scan the
earth at his feet, as If blood would not
sink into the earth. 1t must be his
post There is that tongue OF thicket
reaching out into the clearing field to
furnish cover for an assassin until with
In fifty feet of his victim. Then adyan-
6age could be taken of the broken
ground to come still nearer, and one
whose eyes were not looking for creep
ing assassin would fail to detect him
until he rose to strike.
| The night, grows blacker, and the
rush of the, wind whirls a snowflake
against the soldiers cheek. He starts
as it he was struck with missile. If |
storm be added to gale and darkness.
what chance has he against those who
| may proWl with murder in their hearts ? |
lie is man of nerve, and he fights [
against the timidity creeping into his
heart. One who rides against battery
belching grape and canister should not
fear single man, even if it be in storm
and darkness
What The relief comingl He would
hau do hot T., 1
on his post more than an hour. Yes, it
must be the relief. They are coming
from the right direction, and there
seems 20 be the right number. The
assassin if he meditates further blood
shed, had been bafled His is the first
post TO be relieved. The relief advan-
ces and he calls out:
9 Haiti. Who -. sher 81 J
Relief guard, with countersign.
Advance, officer Of the guard. ~
The officer steps forward, and as he
bends over to whisper the word the !
picket drops his carbine, throws up his
hands and sinks to the earth /
Forward to post No. 2. Forward
from that to No. 8, and down the line ]
until No. s, the last, is reached. The
wind waves and shrieks among the n
grooming trees, and the snow flies in
great white clouds, but the specterl !.
moves on and on-from post TO post, =
from man to man. The snow deadens
every football there is never Whis-
per among them. Silently, swiftly, 6
grimly- without clank of saDer to a
alarm--without shot to arouse, they
move down the face of the forest, and IL
at each postit is the same: II
Halt! Welcomes there2D =
Relief guard, with the conntersign!p ,
Advance, officer of the guardln Il
Now and then the stricken picket 81
ltters half-sob Or a groan as the knife =
seeks his life, but there is no sound to !,
De heard above the storm. The reserve d,
in their tents, half O. mile N
away, would scarcely hear the report of a
/ carbine. 70
.va e!
read, moved down the front OF half a N
nile without the echo of football, and
departed as II taken up on the wings of
he gale. An hour later another relief =
ruard passed that way. Sabers clanked. u
nen growied aud cursed, and the officer ~
It their head stumbled over form in p
lls path and reached his feet to cry out.
Dead! Murdered! The assassin
las been here again!''
And they drove on with the storm, 6
caring yet hoping, and post No. n
ieIded up its corpse. Then deep inn
'reaations and cries ofvengeance are q.
aught up By the wind and sent along Sc
he path to The next corpse. and the of
ext, and tbs next, but as the guard 81 81
altered around the eighth there was to
ever a whisper or word. Some men 81
nth vengeance in their. eyes. looked GO
owards the forest for trace or sign. at
)thers, whose faces were whittier than o. sid
be snow driving around them. looked ca
cross the fields. hoping TO see or hear St
movement to give them eieH TO pur- in
ui5. -
There was no sign-no sound Thel
pecters had done their WORK and yan-
she'd. In after days men spoke Of that
Ieaifnl night in low voices, and some Z
rendered ii the dead of ths battle field ne
ad risen TO make war again. Others I
aplied by one whispered word: e