Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-11-10
WHEN WAR WAS MURDER.

WHEN WAR WAS MURDER.
| Story of . Trooper Who Was Aroused
but to Die.
Post No &" is under the branches Of a
wide spreading tree on the left bank of a
meandering creek. Beyond it to the south
is a mile or more Of neutral groa nd-forest,
| field and thicket. Behind it is thicket and
field, and the tents Of brigade look like
| tombstones as the moonlight OF the sum
mer's night falls upon them. 1t is a cav
airy picket stationed here, and As he re-
| lieves his comrade he is told that all has
been quiet along the front.
Watch the horse as the relief passes out
| of hearing and everything grows quiet
He knows the direction from which dan
| ger is to be apprehended. His ears are
pointed toward the other bank and his
eyes take in the movement Of every bush
and limb as stirred by the night breeze. A
| mile away there are thousands of men
quietly sleeping. One might listen for an
| hour and hear no sound or see no sign that
the specter of war was fitting about over
these fields, which will be torn by shot and
| shell few days hence.
The trooper peers into the gloom and
listens and speculates on every sound
darkness, and Il accommodating party would
betray itself in time for him TO give the
alarm. Danger will come to him, if it
comes at all, from the murderers and as
| sassins of war-the guerillas and bush
| whackers. who kill for plumber or re-
! vsnge.
Hist What was thatf The horse throws
up his head and works his ears, but the
trooper leans forward to pat him in a
soothing way. Some animal stirring in a
tree top not far away had dislodged a dead
limb or piece of bark. Now there comes a
sound from the thicket on the left, and
the horse turns his head and points his
ears. Even a field mouse scampering over
the dead leaves can be heard yards away
on such quiet night
{ All! Peer-listen-feel the horse trem-
BILE with excitement as dry branch
crachlcs in the thicket across the creek.
Did human footstep cause that sound,
The horse stands with ears pointed, head
| lowered and one forefoot almost off the
ground. He is an old veteran. II it were
/ otherwise he would toss his head and paw
the earth, and betray his location to any
one providing near. A hundred nights of
| picket duty have taught him caution.
! Come, old boy, there's nothing to fear, +"
|
| I'VE mustn't get excited about coon or
'possum moving about. You and have
been in some tight places together, but we
are all right here. Let's settle down to
| kill time until we are relieved"
A quarter of an hour goes by. The horse
| has not ceased to watch and listen. No
| cavalryman's horse on outpost forgets the
| situation. Some will neither eat nor
| drink-none ever sleep. The troopers eyes
| stare into the thickets, but in a vacant
way He listens, but he no longer sepa-
| rates the different sounds. A tree toad is
| uttering its peculiar plaint-crickets sing
| in the dry grass-afar off a whippoorwill is
making night melodious. He does not
! sleep, but he thinks of home and wife and
| little ones.
| Listeni There was peculiar sound from
| the stony bed Of the creek-the crunch of
| gravel under a footstep. The horse hears
| it and points his ears, and his eyes grow
larger. The trooper hears it, but it does not
break his waking dream. The end Of war
! has come; nation IS rejoicing; the bronzed
faced veterans are marching from battle
fields to fields Of waving grain.
| The horse is trembling with fear and his
breath comes faster. He hears the sound
| again and again. Something is creeping
up the bed of the creek, whose high banks
| form an excellent shelter. Is the trooper
| asleeps Have those sounds no significance
to the man who knows that on this front
some one has been murdered almost night
| ly2 The horse carefully turns his head to
look back.
"Sohol So-hoI'' whispers the trooper as
he caresses him, but he is still thinking OF
home and those who will welcome him.
The horse shrinks backward and utters
a snort of alarm and the trooper suddenly
rouses himself 1t is too late. As be
straightens up in his stirrups there is a
fash of fire in his face, followed by report
which will arouse Thousand men, and at
ter lurch or two and a clutch at the sad
die he falls to the ground. The war is over
for him. The horse wheels and bounds
away a few yards, but when the guard
turns out and comes hurrying up they find
the animal standing almost over his dead
master, with his frightened eyes watching
the bank and his ears strained to every
| sound.
"Ambushed and murderedr' whisper the
men as they gather around the corpse
THE bushwhacker must have crept up the
bed of the creek to shoot him, and it's g
wonder his horse didn't give the alarm in
timel" M. QUAD.