The Irish standard., 1891-03-28
Copyright. 1897. by A. n. Kellogg Newspaper CO.

Copyright. 1897. by A. n Kellogg newspaper Co.
No time nor need of further words.
swayne sprang to the saddle and led
the way at brisk gait, half-t1ot, half
canter, which the horses seemed to
take of their own accord. From the
start the roads were execrable, If you
could dignity by the name Of roads the
thin beaten tracks which lay across the
wooded ridges, and which never
seemed to turn aside for any obstacle
less formidable than precipice, now
climbing till the horse had literally to
scramble for footing, now speeding
over declivities so steep that Frank,
with all his skill in horsemanship, ex-
pected to find himself flying over the
beasts ears at every step he took.
s'Ketch hold O. the pommel o yer sad
die eff yer mus claw onter suthin',
young Teller; fur tibet mares mouth
amt no hitchin' post" Swayne adj
monisl1ed his companion, as they
reached the top OF an unusually steep
ascent.
Frank accepted the reproof grace
fully
cts the most villainous road ever
Travelled in my life-but say, friend
Dick, are these poor beasts TO keep this
pace up much longer? 1t seems to me
as though they'd drop in their tracks If
we don't ease 'em up a bit; why, we
must have put dozen miles between us
and the camp already"
Dick grinned.
''Saddles gettin' kim O hot?' ne
queried. oval. we'll hev ter take
spell o. rest daown i tn dip yonder, fur
thar's a. sleary stretch O. kentry before
us which it won't do ter travel over
with winded hosses."
you mean that there is danger of
falling into the hands Of the enemy"
''Yaas. the meanest bloodiest dog
gonedest kin O an enemy, too. Hev
yer never heerd tell ov the goril]as?"
ssThe guerrillas! What, have you
them in this part Of the State?..
''Hev we? Why, they swarm over
the hull lzentry. Wait till we tether
the bosses under the walnuts yonder
en- I'll tell yer what they've done to me
an nine.''
They rode slowly to the cluinp of
trees, where they dismounted.
s'You stretch yer legs a bit, Frank,
while tend to the cattle,'' the farmer
said, taking at the same time from his
pocket a handful of rolled tobacco
leaves, which it were indeed corapli-
ment to call cigars, but which Frank
found on a further acquaintance were
more palatable than their appearance
seemed to Justify.
Swayne evidently believed that a mer-
s,iful man is merciful to his beasts. 1t
was an interesting sight to watch the
tender care he took of them, to see him
strip their saddles off, cut whisps OF
long grass and rub them down till they
were as dry as when they left the stable
in the morning. Not till they We're
quite cool did he lead them to the little
stream and let them drink their fill OF
the clear water; and then from his sad
die bags he took few handfuls of oats
and gave them to them. But it was not
until they had eaten this and he had
hobbled their forelegs and allowed
them to crop the scant grass that he
Thought of his own and his companions
comfort. - ta- .-,,. sT
SNOW, mate, let's squat here an take
a bite ourselves Saying which, he
flung himself upon the turf and brought
from one of his capacious pockets a roll
of greasy paper, which contained sew
eral huge slices of bacon placed not
over-temptingly between thick chunks
of hard, dry hominy cakes. In vain
Frank tried to temptthim with the con-
tents of his own saddle-bags the young
Missourian declaring that hog and
hominy was the only food for man.
They had dispatched Of their hasty
meal and lighted the long, ungainly
cheroots, when Frank reminded his
companion of his promise to tell hin
about the guerrillas. 4
'sWal, mate, thar amt much ter tell
leastways amt got the gift @ the gat
ter make long story out ont; but
when the war broke out folks took this
side an tibet, jess es Their inclinations
led 'em. Father an I was fur the
Unions and mos gin'rally o1r neighbors
was seceshes. e. We lived in q lone
farm house, tol'ble wel-to-do, an, es
we was in the minority, went about
our own sbiznesss without interferin'
wi folks Mos Of the young fellers
roun'. us. jined the. gorillas,. an they
set up cry es those es was not fur 'e'n
V was agin 'em an gev father notice ter
leave the kentry. But the ole man was
true grit. He jess tole 'em thar was a
leaden welcome fur every secesh es
crossed his threshold in anger. They'd
done some fearful things, them gorillas
he'd strung a neighbor O our'n ter q
branch O. one O. his own apple trees an
logged his wife an darters. Yes, it
amt no dime novel trash I'm a-talkin'
to yer-hogged the winmen till the
blood run down tier backs, SO yer kin
see my oleasdad was doin'' some tall
h tallxin' whenhe gev them the defy. i
shall never forgit the night they come.
Thar was no one in the house but dad
an me an. my little brother, Bill, 9,
young 'un not more'n seven years old
We did the best we could, but it warn't
no use. They dragged father from the
house an riddled him WI bullets afore
my eyes. managed somehow or other
!; ter 0et away TO the woods, but no. not