The Republican., 1893-12-07

, stopped his horse, got down again, and
proposed to me that should ride in his
stead, adding that he was perfectly well
able to walk.
1t was, of course, far more pleasant
to ride, but as soon as l was well in the
saddle began to feel drowsy, and fear
ing lest might fall off my horse and
hurt myself tried to keep awake by
talking to the Cossack, who was walk
ing by my side.
And so you, too, were left behindP'
remarked.
"Yes," was the curt reply.
"But how did it happen?"
by accident!" replied he, unwilling
! ly, quickening his steps at the same
time.
The moon disappeared behind the
clouds, and the wood became uncom-
fortably dark. The horse stepped cGu-
tiously over the damp, marshy ground,
stopping frequently and snorting, and
could only be induced to advance by
frequent admonitions from his master.
Ibid you say that my battalion was
verst ahead of us?" l began again the
conversation, in order to prevent us
from relapsing into silence that threat
ened to become irksome.
who can tell? 1t may be more and
it may be less. Halo, stopping again,
are you? Confound the brute! There's
nothing worse than riding horse that
you are not accustomed to-"
Does this horse not belong to you?"
4 l.. h. 1~n. sxa
He hurt his foot and went lame. My
other horse was killed five days ago, so
that had to take this one from among
the militia horses and / have never in
all my life set eyes on such brute as
| he Is"
ut was your own fault after all.
You ought 70 have looked sharp when
you chose him"
"As If had time to pick and choose
horse at that moment Stop there!
Whoa! Where are you going to?
Straight into the swamp, I'll be bound.
can hear the water splashing under
his feet A little more to the left,
please"
guided my horse to the left, and
we became silent once more. / racked
my brain trying to discover some topic
of conversation, but my poor, aching
head was unable to bring forth any
thing.
what regiment do you belong to?"
l burst out at last in my despair.
81 am in a line regiment Good
Heavens! there is not one tiny star to
be seen," he added, with half-smoth-
cred sigh.
What do you want to see star for?"
"Why, because we're in a strange
place where it is easy enough to lose
ones way, and besides he is coming
after us all the time"
knew that he was thinking of the
Turks, and began to feel anxious. All
my drowsiness vanished, and, although
my head felt hot and heavy, still the
possibility of such terrible meeting
restored my lucidity of thought.
Are you sure that we have lost our
way?" asked my companion, timidly.
"How can tellP 1t may or may not
be So To the right, please, there's a
hole there-it is easy enough to lose
ones way under the circumstances.
D. the country!" he suddenly burst
out giving the horse at the same time
blow on the nose, which made the
frightened animal swerve aside, and in
doing so knock my leg violently
against tree. very nearly lost my
balance and almost fell out of the sad
die, but cared little for the pain, in
fact, hardly felt it My teeth were
chattering and my heart sank with
fear and anxiety.
"Where are we going to?" said l at
last, speaking with difficulty. Hadn't
we better stop here and wait till the
day?"
"0h, certainly; only we might find
ourselves skinned alive before morn
ing" answered the Cossack, grimly.
knew somehow that he, too, was wor-
ried and anxious, so held my peace.
Silence reigned once more in the wood.
The only sounds we heard We're the foot
steps of the horse and the cracking of
the dead branches beneath his hoofs.
Several times we stopped to listen.
The Cossack even put his ear to the
ground repeatedly, but we could hear
nothing. Once only n jackal howled
somewhere in the distance, but he, too,
was soon silent. There was no wind,
and the boughs of the trees We're per-
| fectly still.
II suppose that our men are bivouac-
| ing somewhere?" remarked my COM
rade.
why do you think SOP"
because / should have heard the ar
tillery going along when listened"
DO you think the day will break
soon?"
"Soon, did you say?-oh, no, the
nights are long here. lost my bear
ings," added he, after silence, when
l stopped by your side"
What bearings? What do You
mean|'
II mean the direction in which l
ought to have gone on. Because you
see knew l had found the right road,
especially rs he was lying in the right
direction.
/ was at a loss to understand his
last words, and asked him to explain
them. Little by little, and not with
out much hesitation at the outset, the
| Cossack related an awful tale to me
He had been tempted to leave his bat
1 4