The Washington critic., 1888-03-03

I
ginning to experience the pahgs of
hunger, and his limbs became stiff and
numb from the cold and his crampcd
position.
] wonder If Valley Forge was worse
than this 2' he sighed, as he waited pa
tiently, trying to keep up his courage
by thoughts of his great namesake,
whom he longed to initiate in some
small degree.
Meanwhile, within the inner apart
mont the voices arose in rude merrl-
ment, then became fierce and angry.
and then thick and husky as the keg
was emptied of its contents, until ut
length they sank to incoherent mutter-
ings, and finally ceased entirely.
Now is my time, and oh, If can
only save Elfel" he whispered, as he
stole from his hiding place, and slip
ping off his shoes tiptoed toward the
lire-lit corner. As he expected, the
four men were stretched on the ground
in the deep, heavy slumber Of intoXi-
cation.
Very cautiously he then approached
Ellie. Oh, If she should whinny, and
awake the sleepersl But the wise lit
tie beast seemed to comprehend the
situation, and made no resistance
when he united the halter and led her
toward the entrance. There, how
ever, he was obliged to pause and clear
away part of the underbrush, to let
her out.
Very surely and unerringly Elfe
picked her way down the steep noun
tain side, but once on the ice, she
slipped, baked, and seemed so fright
ened, that George had all he could do
to soothe her, and feared she would
certainly fall and break her legs lie
kept close to her side, and led her
slowly and carefully, however, while
to his excited imagination every
shadow seemed a pursuer, and he was
in constant dread of hearing q pistol
ball whistle above his head.
Surely" he thought, General
Washington never had more trouble in
crossing the Delaware than / have in
getting this one small horse across
Rocky River"
But "all is well that ends well, - and
at last Elfes hoofs struck terra firma,
and with q long sigh of relief George
sprang on her back and put her to her
full speed as he took n shortcut across
the open country.
IL was past midnight when Cedar
vile was reached, and the lights were
out in most houses, but the Young
rider never drew rein until he arrived
at Judge Applegate's large stone house
at the upper end of the village. The
Gathering of horses feet at that un-
usual hour brought the Judge himself
to the door, and astonished enough
was he when a small, bareheaded boy
tumbled up the steps, crying, 81 have
brought back Miss Edith's Elfie all safe
and sound; and oh, do tell the men to
go quick and catch the thieves before
they get away
A few words of explanation followed,
and then the ringing of the courthouse
bell awakened the vigilance committee
and many others from their first sleep.
An hour later squad of men were on
their way to Hob Mob Mountain, where
a sharp struggle took place, but before
morning the cattle thieves were cap.
tured and securely locked in the county
jail.
The news spread like wildfire, and
George Washington Biggs awoke on
the 23d of February TO find himself the
hero of the hour, and with very
severe cold in his head from the loss of
his hat, which still remained in the
tree-top, the sport of the winds of
heaven. His failure at the entertain
ment seemed completely forgotten, and
even Hezekiah Wilcox appeared to con-
slider 1t an honor TO shake him by the
hand. The pinnacle of his happiness
was reached, however, when Edith Ap-
plegate came to thank him, crying and
laughing with joy over the recovery of
her pet, and he felt he had nothing
more to desire when she said: II am
sure you are rightly named after the
good, brave General Washington, and
papa says you well deserve the hun
dred dollars reward"
The money George had never once
thought of, but not being wealthy
lad, 1t gave him great pleasure, as well
as great importance, among his school
mates, and he later generously shared
the sum with the widow Chinook.
Now, do tell me-" continued Edith,
how did you feel while hiding in the
cave? Wasn't it perfectly awful?"
Yes; but good deal better than
facing all those people in the New
combe's barn. / would rather stand
before regiment of robbers than de-
liver another oration."
"And you didn't feel the least bit
afraid on the mountain ?" she asked,
admiringly.
This was a trying question, truly,
and our little hero hesitated, blushed,
but then honestly confessed: "Well,
the Biggs part of me did shake some;
and really, Miss Edith, am not sure
that you would ever have seen Ellie
again if my name had not been George
Washington"
For many days the young girl puz-
zled over this reply, but George well
knew what he meant, and will always
be thankful that the power of his name
helped him TO conquer his cowardice
on that evcntful Washington's birth
lnu