The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-11-29

frequent adYnonitions from his master.
did you say that my battalion was
| verst ahead Of us?" began again the
conversation, in order to prevent us
from relapeing into silence that threat
! ened to become irfxsome.
| ''Vho oan tell? 1t may be moro and
it may be less. Halo, stopping again,
are you? Confound the hrute!. There's
nothing worse than riding horse that
you are not accustomed to" &
Does this horse not belong to your
! mo. mine is with the baggage train
| Ee hurt his foot and went lame. My
other horse was killed five days ago, so
! that had to t~ke this one from among
| the militia horses have never in
all my life set eyes on such brute as
| he is"
1T was your own fault, after all.
You ought to have looked sharp when
| You chose him"
| Gas 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.
1 can hear the water splashing under
his feet A little moro to the left.
please"
l 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 cut at last in my despair.
Il am in line regiment Good
Heavens! there is not one tiny star to
be SEEM he added. with half-smoth-
cred sigh.
what do you want to see q star forr'
"Why, because we're in Q 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 fel, not and heavy. still the
posi- bility of such terrible meeting
restored my lucidity of thought.
"Are you sure that we have lost our
way?' asked my companion, timidly.
How can tell? 1t may or may not
be So. To the right, please. there's
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 swcrve aside, and in
doing so knock my leg violently
against tree. I very nearly lost my
balance and almost fell out of the sad
die, but cared little for the pain, in
fact, 1 hardly felt it. My teeth were
ehattering and my heart sank with
fear and anxiety.
"Where are we going toe" said 1 at
last. speaking with difficulty. Hadn't
we better stop here and wait till the
day?"-
"Oh, certainly; only we might find
ourselves skinned alive before morn
ing" answered the Cossack, grimly.
l knew somehow that he, too, was wor-
ried and anxious, so l held my peace.
Silence reigned once more in the wood.
The only sounds we heard were 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 a jacksl howled
somewhere in the distance, but he. too,
was soon silent There was no wind,
and the boughs of the trees were per-
fectly still.
81 suppose that our men are bivouac-
ing somewhere?" remarked 10y COM
rade. : - -
''Why do you think SOP" -
because should have heard the ar
tillery going along when listened"
$40 you think tie day will break
soon?' -.'H.h' ~ ~
''Soon, did you say?-oh, no. the
nights arc long here. 1 lost my bear
ings," added he. after silence. when
stopped by your side"
What bearings? What do you
mean?"
81 mean the direction in which l |
ought to have gone ON. Because you |
see knew had found the right road, (
especially as he was lying in the right
direction"
l was at loss to understand this |
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
talon in order to steal the arms and |
the belongings of dead Turkish Off
Ger. He was riding IN the rear-guard
when he noticed the corpse, which lay
at u short distance from the path, and
remem bering that it would not be pos
sible for him to rob the body while the
others were near he quietly disap-
peared into the bush and set about his
horrible work as soon as the last man
had vanished among the trees
But how could you do it?' cried l,
filed with horror at his tale.
Our men used to say that one found
nice things sometimes" replied he, as
if apologizing for his deed
But don't you know that you have
a great sin?'
II know it quite well. and God has
punished me for it," said the Cossack
with mournful sigh.
began to feel still more uneomfort-
able after he had told me of this Incl
dent | remembered now that he had
been searching my breast pocket when
I opened my eyes Perhaps he had in
tended to rob me just like the dead
Turk, and if l had not regained con-
sciousness he would have robbed me
and left me to die alone in the road,
abandoned TO the tender nercies OF the
nyenas and the jackals
I - - nc vl I