Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-03-06


20 on! Whhaven't you wings:"
Heavens What is that ahead? Tents,
f white and Sostly in the glooml And
how manya them! The whole field is
Nearer Wmes the olatter from behind.
In front in sleeping regiment, brigade,
perhaps awhole division. 1t was not
there yessrday. 1t must be in transit
Oh, wbyshould it have halted just in
time toIock the way?
God help me, I must take my
chancesand 60 on"
Senfnels were pacing on their beats
about Tie camps In some cases the
beats IA along the road, but not across
it. RiEht through these chains Of senti.
nels, Hght into the heart of this Sleep
ing multitude of armed men, dashed
the vpman whose only weapons Of de-
fenxEere Bobby Lee and her antiquat-
ed phicle.
.Haltr
SO on, BobP'
Ashot. a bullet singing like tun.
INF fork in cars which already sang
lod enough in themselves with excite
mnt
k'Turn out the guardr'
.ssFollowing Miss Baggs came Corporal
Rtigan, to find the road in front Of
him blocked by half dozen men with
many muskets pointed right up in
rs face.
4 He uttered an involuntary "Thank
Godr' He must be delayed; the respon-
Esibility for the escape of the fugitive
would be with them. If indeed sho wero
Miss Baggs, he would regard himself
fortunate at the delay.
whats the NATTER" asked one Of
the men.
'I'm chasing some one in front l
suspect telegraph breaker.
"Ah! That's it, is it? Well, 60 on;
we've stopped the wrong person.
The corporal regretted that the inter
view had been so brief. tho interruption
So short. He had no option but to dash
ON. Before the fugitive there stood man
in the middle Of the road with mus
ket leveled straight at her, or rather at
tho coming mass, which he could not
distinguish. Miss Baggs did not see
him till she got within dozen feet OF
him and heard:
"Halt, or I'll fire"
Rising in her seat and concentrating
all her strength in one effort, she brought
her whip down on the horses back, at
the same time holding him in the CEN
ter of the road by the reins. Tho man
was knocked in ono direction, stunned,
and his musket went flying in the other.
And now each one Of the chain of
sentries through which the fair dis
patch stealer's horse dragged her and
her swaying buggy with series of
lunges, hearing shots, tho cries OF
guards, the clatter of horses hoofs, the
rattling of wheels, and seeing some
thing coming through the darkness rs
Miss Baggs approached, shouted Halt"
Turn out the guard" who comes
there?" and q score of other similar
cries, to none of which Miss Baggs paid
any other attention than to fly through
and from them as from the hand Of
death. A score Of shots were fred at
her along half mile Of road while she
was running the gantlet.
And now the last sentry is passed,
and tho woman shoots out from between
the rows of white tents into FREQ road
ahead. The noises are left behind. But
amid the confusion of distant sounds is
one which, coming with low, contin-
ued rattle, strikes terror into her heart.
A familiarity with war has taught her
its calls. She hears the beating of tho
"long roll" The whole camp is arous-
ed A legion Of Yankees may soon be in
pursuit.
Corporal Ratigan was stopped by ev-
cry sentinel who had tried to check Miss
Baggs. After an explanation to each he
was suffered to so OIL. The men who
stopped him transmitted the informa-
tion at once to the guard tent that some
one-doubtless an enemy-was being
chased The force was division Of in
fantry, with no cavalry except q mount.
ed escort to the general commanding.
Some of these were ordered in pursuit
There was hurried saddling Of horses,
sprinkled with oaths at the delays en-
countered, and three cavalrymen mount
cd and dashed after Miss Baggs and her
pursucr But before they started cou-
pie of miles had been placed between
her and tho camps.
The gray Of the morning was by this
time beginning to reveal objects with
greater distinctness. Ratigan, coming
to rise in the ground just beyond tho
camps. saw the buggy about two miles
ahead swaying like the dark hull Of a
ship rolling through the billows of all
ocean. For moment he hesitatod be-
tween his duty as q soldier and that
quick, sharp something, be it love, be.
witchment or natural sympathy OF
I man for weaker woman, while beads OF
cold perspiration stood on his forehead.
! 1t seemed to him that if he should do
his duty no would be acting the part Of
an cxecutioner, not only that, but the
executioner of woman-a woman
whose image had got into his heart and
his head and never left him moment 8
peace since she first threw the spell OF
her entrancing personality about him.
It was q hard struggle, and from the
nature Of tho case could not be long
one Duty Won. He shouted to his horse,
gave him dig with both spurs and
dashed forward.
There was depression i'll the ground
down which tho corporal plunged. Then
tho road ran along level for awhile,
with another slight rise beyond. AS hc
rodo down the declivity the fugitive
was OH the crest of tho second rise. She
stood up and turned to catch glance
behind her She saw horseman-she
was too far to recognize the corporal
dashing after her. Below her was q
wooded space, and she noticed that
which gave her glimmer of hope.
The road forked. Urging her horse Oh.
ward, she aimed to get OH ono Of the
two roads beyond the fork while her
pursuer was in the hollow back of her,
trusting that she might escape, as she
had escaped before, by forcing him to
choose between two roads, and trusting
that he might take the wrong one.
Down the declirity her racer plunged
while Ratigan was galloping down tho
one behind her. So steep was the road
and so swift her horses pace that the
danger of death by mangling seemed