The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-09-26

keenly alive to the significance of the
situation, Druse now brought the butt
Of his rifle against his cheek by eau
tiously pushing the barrel forward
through the bushes, cooked the piece
and, glancing through the sights, Gov
cred a vital spot of the horseman'S
breast. A touch upon the trigger, and
all would have been we'll with Carter
Druse. at that instant the horseman
turned his head and looked in the d.
rection of his concealed foeman-
seemed to look into his very face, into
his eyes, into his brave, compassionate
art.
Is it, then, so terrible to kill an
enemv in war-an enemy who has sur
prised a secret vital to the safety of
ones self and comrades-an enemy
more formidable for his knowledge
than all his army for its numbers?
Garter Druse grew deathly pale; he
shook in every limb, he turned faint,
and saw the statuesqus group before
him as black figures, rising, falling,
moving unsteadily in arcs of circles in
a 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 courageous gen
tleman and hardy soldier was nearly
swooning from intensity of emotion.
1t was not for long; in another mo-
ment his face was raised from the
earth, his hands resumed their places
on the rifle, his foreinger 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 be to send
him dashing into his camp with his
fatal news. The duty of the soldier
was plain: the man must be shot dead
from am bush-without warning, with
out moments spiritual preparation
with never 50 much as an unSpolzen
prayer he must be sent to his account.
But, no-there is hope; he may have
discovered neutrality-suspicious. he is but
admiring the sublimity OF the land
scape. If permitted he may turn and
ride carelessly away in the direction
whence he came. Surely it will be
possible to judge at the instant of his
withdraw whether he knows. 1t
may well be that his fixity of atten
tion-Druse turned his head and
looked below, through the deeps of
air downward, as from the surface to
the bottom of a translucent sea. He
saw creeping across the green meadow
a sinuous line of figures OF men and
horses some foolish commander was
permitting the soldiers to water their
beasts in plain view from a hundred
SUBMITS,
Druae 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 sight OF
his rifle. But this time the aim was at
the horse. In his memory, as If they
were 4 divine mandate rang the words
Of his father at parting: "Whatever
may occur, do what you conceive to
be your duty" He was calm now
His teeth were firmly but not rigidly
closed; his nerves were as tranquil as
sleeping babe's-not tremor af-
fected any muscle of his body; his
breathing, until suspended in the act
Of taking aim, was regular and slow.
Duty had conquered; spirit had said to
body: Peace, be still" He fred.
At that moment an officer of the
federal force, who, in spirit of adj
venture or in quest of knowledge, had
left the hidden bivouac in the valley,
and, with aimless feet, 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 a
| distance of Il quartermile before him,
but apparently 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 il
presented a clean, vertical profile
! against a background of blue sky to a
point half of the way down, and of dis
| tant hills, hardly less blue, thence tc
the tops OF the trees at its base. Lift
! ing his eyes to the dizzy attitude of its
summit, the officer saw an astonishing
sight-a man on horse back riding
down into the valley through the air
Straight upright sat the rider, il
military fashion, with firm seat il
the saddle, a strong clutch upon the
rein to hold his charger from too i'm
petuous plunge. From his bare heaC
his long hair streamcd upward, wav
ing like plume. His right hand wa:
concealed in the cloud of the horse
lifted name. The animals body wa
as level as if every hoof-stroke en-
countered the resistank earth. It's mo
tions were those of wild gallop, bu
even as the officer looked they ceased
with all the legs thrown sharply for
ward as in the act of alighting from
leap. But this was fight!
Filled with amazement and terro
by this apparition of a horseman il
the slly-half believing himself tn
chosen scribe of some new apocalypse
the officer was overcome by the in
tensity of his emotions; his legs faile,
him and he fell. Almost at the sam
instant he heard a crashing sound il
the trees-a sound that dies withou
an echo, and all was still.
After firing his shot, Private Carte
Druse reloaded his rifle and resume
his watch. Ten minutes had hardl
passed when a federal sergeant crep