Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1892-04-20
xirslula ,frrr gress.
Lost on the Plains.

miles from its camp of the night before
when Sergeant Jack, Of Troop +, misses
his knife and remembers that he left 1t
Oh the ground after using it to cut
strap. The captain gives him permission
to ride back after it. Why noly 1t Is
bat dash, and Ne are al peace with The
In.liaus. lie will overiase Us within the
hour
Sergeant Jack is a brawny man and
veteran The arrow aud bullet wounds
received prove him II fighter. Men of
his company will tell you of seeing him
peril his life IL d zen times oy'r, and they
can count up al least Sven redskins he
has wiped our. a -rand lookiug soldier
l. Sergeant Jack every inch man.
y ur ewes would puck him OUT of II rel
ment Tor HI, bCalirg. and when you
hal look, d into his brenz. face you would
put him down Il game To the death.
Sergeant Jack rides back at an easy
.pe. In half an hour he is al The can r.
There are Il d zen gauni wolves PROV g
about and munching at the bones, and
hey grrd singly gave way for him as he
rid,s up Yes, The knife is here, and he
quickly secures il. A newspaper has
been thrown out Of one Of the wagons
He picks it up and sits down to sean us
columns. Some one has thrown away
letter, he picks that up and beco ONES in
lerested. Some careless trooper has left
ariat here in the grass. He secures it.
Walks about for few mi utes, and then
m iuuts TO reinin the column. 1t is tray
cling northwest. 1t will now be about
eight miles ahead of him. 1t must br
bearing to the lett after Gro 81 Conan
che creek. He will, therefore, take a
short cut and save time and trouble
Now follow him, and you will witness
curious thing. He rides away hum
ming the air Of a merry tune, and he ha-
not one anxious thought. He pas'cs
ridge after ridge, covers mile after mile,
and so sure is he of his way that e
scarcely looks up. All of sudden tie
horse Stacks down. He has been takin.
The ridges at too fast a pace and is out I
breath. A minute later he is pulled NJ
sharp, aud Sergeant Jack looks abou
him with anxious eyes What is it ? n .
hing. lie has only to keep on and he
wi intercept the column He has onl,
to ride back over MS trail TO strike The
plain road left by the wagons. Il is only
8 o'clock in the morning, and the sky 5
Without cloud
Curious, isn't it The soldier s'ai DIS
up in his srirrups 10 look ahead iheie
i more than anxiety in bis eye rs he
turns and looks back. He glances 10
righr-lo The leiI--up at the sun. All
Of Il sudden, as he rode gaily on, the Ter
rble louesumeue,s Of The great plaii-
struck him like chill. What If he
should lose hi, WAY What if he has lo,i
i Thai is enough. He has let d uIt
cr l. In. a a five nil utcs la er thai cur
gu, palsy of the plains begins to crCeI
o.er him i has claimed It's hundreds
and all have been brave men.
He will ride on He smiles at biz
f ars- he $, chs to shake Il that ceiling Of
,rror which made his checks grow pale
There is no cause for haste, but he shuts
his teeth together and gives his horse III,
spur and pushes on as if riding race.
See He b,ar, to the IcfI Let a man
become ratified in the forest or IN Tie
p aims and he invariably bears TO the lc'
and thus completes his disaster.
When the horse fnl ; from exhausiil
Sergeant Jack Is twenty-five miles fr,n
the command. II does not occur 10 hin
that he will be searched for and that h.
all can be followed. He now feels sure
that he is lost, but he can not reason. A
veteran of three Indian campaigns-a
.ldier known to be without fear--a ma
IN the prime Of life. Aud yet his face
a white a dead mans, and he lren
bes like a woman-aye! wceps like .
child.
Que, two, three days go by, Sergeant
Jack is iavoriie with all. Every maj
Is anxious that he be found. We 90 int
camp and send out squads to four pointe
Of the compass. One of them strikes h.
the trail aud finds he dead horse An
other, returning to the gloom of evening
starts up strange animal, which runs
away, utlering sounds like human laugh
ter. The morning Of The fourth day Ser
giant Jack is discovered as he sleeps
II is naked he is bleeding and torn
there is something SO wild aud beast-likt
in his looks that we shrink away from
him. He is not glad TO SEE us. We call
him by tan,a but he does not ren,,mh,