Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-09-18
SAVED BY A BULLET.
Retribution Strikes Down Through the
Heels OF a Mule.


Heels OF Mule.
At o'clock the advance picket, whose
station has been in the woods under a great
beech tree during the day, is moved to the
left hundred feet, where he has the cover
of the bushes There are bushwhackers
and guerillas about and they do not hest
tate at assassination. 1t is 10 O'Clock
when the relief guard begins its round and
10 minutes later before | relieve the man
on post No g. AS we change places he
whispers to me:
Look out to the south! ! have felt
pretty sure for the last quarter of an hour
that some one was creeping about in search
of mer'
1t is starlight night, but with heavy
masses of dark gray clouds driving across
the sky, and now anc then comes gust of
wind which bends the tree tops and rattles
down the dead limbs and dying leaves. 1t
would be nervous night for one in great
city while the farmer is wakeful as the
stronger gusts shake the house and whisk
away the shingles in want of a nail Here
in the woods, with enemies on every side
but the north-enemjes who will not come
with shouts and in battle line, but creep
ing and crawling like panthers-one feels a
chill at every gust, and his heart leaps into
his mouth at the fall of a branch.
Hist 1t is a long half hour since the
tramp of the relief guard died away. My
ear has become accustomed to all the
sounds created by the wind, and l start as
this new and strange sound reaches me.
Most of the leaves nave fallen from tree
and bush, and the scampcring of a mouse
can be heard yards away. This sound is
more like a footfa like the cautious
tread of a man parting the hazel bushes
and advancing step Y step. Now he stops
to listen Now he comes on again. Now l
catch the breaking O. twigs under his feet
Now he strikes a spot from which the
wind has cleared everything. When the
gusts come, they drown the noise. When
the wind dies out to a low signing among
the branches, | can catch almost every foot
fall. l saw pigs in these woods the other
day, but pigs do not roam about at night
There are opOssums and coons, but they
could not crush tw Is under their feet
A horse or mule strayed from camp? If so,
why so much caution? One of our scouts
or spies returnings Il so, he would boldly
advance, knowing tlat he would be chal-
lenged before being fred upon.
II is man moving from east to west
across my front-frOm the tree to some
point l know not. 1t can only be an
enemy, and that enemy seeks TO do muir
der. He may have been an hour creeping
through the forest 10 the tree under which
he had somehow learned the picket stood
during the day. He found the spot vacant
He knows the post has been shifted to the
right or left, and he is searching for It, |
haye caught the sounds Of his approach,
and yet he has moved with the utmost care
But for the warning Of the man | relieved
l might have been thinking Of home or
catching a wink OF 5 eep and heard nothing
but the dismal winds. Stepl' Step. Step!
A chill goes over me at each step. War
means kill, but here is n skulking assassin
working under cover Of night, with no
greater motive than robbery and revenge
If challenge him, | must reveal my pc
sition, and he will Perhaps rush upon me.
If fire in his direct ion at random, the re
serve picket will be aroused, and will be
reprimauded and riCiculed. ! drop to my
knees and noiselesslr draw back the ham
mer of my muskeJ Step! step. step.
Now he is just opposite and only 10 feet
away, and can make out the black figure
among the bushes. Now he has passed;
now his footsteps arr dying away. / draw
a long breath of relief. l have escaped him,
and l have not had to take his life TO pro
tect my own. The feeling is one of glad re
lief
Harki 1t isn't five minutes since ! lost
his footballs, but now ! eaten them again.
The fiend is beating mp the cover with a
grim determination to score Il victim be
fore he is through. This time he must find
me. He is coming N in a straight line,
and in his impatienCe he is not as cautious
as before. l will lot challenge him. but
fire the instant | can make him out. With
musket to my face and finger on the trig-
ger / am waiting, when gun Is discharged
back at the reserve. \ loose mule knocked
over a stack OF muskets, and one of them
was discharged. With the report comes
fall, curse, u grnan. The sounds are
scarcely % feet away. There are no more
footballs. l wait and listen, but only the
sounds created by tie winds reach my ears.
1t seems an age before the relief comes up.
l tell my story, and we push through the
bushes and find dead man-1ong haired,
ragged and wolfsh--a typical bushwacker.
Clinched in his right hand is murderous
knife; in his left q shotgun. From the re
serve the bullet found its way over bushes
and between trees to strike him in the heart
and lay him low as he hunted for a victim.
NJ. QUAD.