The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1892-12-03


defined feeling THAI ne had slept to the end
Of the war, and was 10 king upon noble
work of art reared upon that commanding
eminence to commemorate tlie deeds of an
heroic past of which he haI been an in
glorious part. The feeling as dispelled
by a slight movement of the group. The
horse without moving its feet had drawn
its body slightly backward from the verge
The man remained immobile as before.
Broad awake and keenly alive to the sig
niicance of the situation Druse now
brought the butt of his rifle against his
cheek by cautiously pushing the barrel
forward through the bushes, cooked the
piece, and glancing through the sights COW
cred vital spot of the horseman's breast.
A touch upon the trigger, and all would
have been well with Carter Druse. At
that instant the horseman turned his head
and looked in the direction of his crouch
ing COMMISSIONED to look into his very
face into his eyes, into his brave, compass
sionate heart.
Is it, then, so terrible to kill an enemy in
war, an enemy who has surprised a Sc
cret vital to the safety of ones self and
comrades, an enemy more formidable for
his knowledge than all his army for its
numbers? Carter Druse grew deathly pale;
he shook in every limb. turned faint and
saw the statuesque group before him as
black figures, rising, falling, moving I'M
steadily in arcs of circles in fiery sky.
His hand fell away from his weapon, his
head slowly dropped until his face rested
on the leaves in which he lay. This cour-
ageous gentleman and hardy soldier was
near swooning from intensity of emotion
and excitement.
1t was not for long; in another moment
his face was from earth; his hands resumed
their places on the rife his forefnger
sought the trigger. Mind, heart and eyes
were clear, conscience and reason sound
He could not hope to capture that enemy;
to alarm him would but send him dashing
to his camp with his fatal news. The duty
of the soldier was plain: the man must be
shot dead from ambush-without warn
ing, without a moments spiritual prep
aration, with never so much as an un-
spoken prayer, he must be sent TO his &C
count. But no-there is a hope; he may
have discovered neutrality-suspicious. he is but
admiring the suhlimity of the landscape.
If permitted he may turn and ride care
lessly away in the direction whence he
came. Surely it will be possible to Judge
at the instant of his withdrawing whether
he knows 1t may be well that his fxity
of attention Druse turned his head
and looked below. Through the depth of
air downward, as from the surface to the
bottom of a translucent sea, he saw creep.
ing across the green meadow sinuous
line OF the figures of men and horses Some
foolish commander was permitting the
men of his escort to water their horses in
the open in plain view from a hundred
SUBMITS.
Druse withdrew his eyes from the valley
and fixed them again upon the group of
man and horse in the sky, and again it was
through the sights of his rifle. He was
calm now His teeth were firmly but not
rigidly closed; his nerves were as tranquil
as sleeping babe's-not tremor affected
any muscle of his body; his breathing, un-
ill suspended in the act of taking aim, was
regular and slow. Duty had silenced con
science; the spirit had said to the body,
peace, be still" lie fired.
At this moment an officer of the Federal
force who in a spirit of adventure or in
quest of knowledge had left the hidden
bivouac in the valley, and climbing the
slope had made his way to the lower edge
of a small open space near the foot of the
cliff, was considering what he had to gain
by pushing his exploration further. At
distance of quarter mile before him, but
at "A stones throw, rose from its
fringe OF pines the gigantic face OF rock,
towering to so great a height above him
that it made him giddy to look up to where
its edge cut sharp, rugged line against
the sky. At some distance away to his
right 1T presented a clean, vertical profile
against a background of blue sky to a
point half the way down and of distant
hills hardly less blue thence to the tops of
the trees at its base. Lifting his eyes to
the dizzy altitude of it's summit the officer
saw an astonishing sight-a man on horse
back riding down into the valley through
the airl
Straight upright sat the rider, in military
fashion, with firm seat in the saddle, a
strong clutch upon the rein to hold his
charger from too impetuous a plunge.
From his bare head his long hair streamed
upward waving like plume. His right
hand was concealed in the cloud of the
horses lifted name. The animals body
was as level as if every hoof stroke encoun-
tered the resistant earth. Its motions were
those of wild gallop, but even as the
officer looked they ceased, with all the legs |
thrown sharply forward as in the act OF |
alighting from leap. But this was a
flight.
Filled with amazement and terror by this |
lpparition of horseman in the sky-half |
believing himself the chosen scribe of some
new Apocalypse the officer was overcome |
by the intensity Of his emotions; his legs |
Jailed him, and he fell. Almost at the |
same instant he heard crashing sound in
5he trees-a sound that died without an |
echo, and all was still.
The officer rose to his feet trembling. |
The familiar sensation of an abraded shin |
recalled his dazed faculties. Pulling him |
.nlf