Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1896-09-28
CHAPTER XIII
The FLIGHT IN THE HEATHEp MN
MUIR

IL.
More than eleven hours of incasso,,4
hard travelling brought us early IN tbo
morning to the end of a range If morn+
ans. In front of us there law Mo-,
OF low. broken, desert land. which va
must now cross. The sun was not lo ~ =
M Hp anu shone straight in our ewes: =
Hcue. lhln mist went uD from tho Pace
OF the moorland like smoke. so tbot
las Alan said there might have been
twenty squadrons of dragons thera and
we none the wiser. anu
we sat down, therefore. in q howe If
rne hillside. till the mist should have
drammach, and held council Of i war u
David" said Alan, '.this is the k;ttla
bit. Shall we lie here till it comes noht
OF snail we risk it and stave on ahead -
wen sad |, Il am tired indeed.
but l !, could o, walk as far again, if that
"Ay. but it isnae,'' said Alan. "nor vo+
the half. This is how we stand: An
PIN falr death TO us. To the south It's
az tampbells, and no to be thought Of
10 the north, well. there's no mucIle to
be gained by going north; neither for
YOU tnat wants to get to Queensferry,
nor yet for me, that wants to get 70
FRANCE. Well, then We'll can strike
| east 80 SLIM
East be itt!'' says I, quite cheerily; but
l. was thinking, in to myself: 90 man
| II you would only take one point
OF the compass and let me take any 9th
er. II would be the best for both of u.s."
wen, then, east, We see. we have the
Mulrs, said Alan. 'Once there, David,
ITS mere pitch-and-toss. Out on Won
bald, naked. fiat place, where can a BODY
turn to! Let the red-coats come over
a nil, they can spy you miles away: and
the sorrows IN their horses heels! they
would soon ride you down. It's no good
place, David; and I'm free to say, it's
| worse by daylight than by dark
Alan" said l, 'hear my way of it.
Appins death for us; we have none too
much money, nor yet meal; the longer
they seek, the nearer they may guess
where we are; it's all risk; and | give
my word to go ahead until we drop"
Alan was delighted. There are
whiles, said he, when We are altogether
pany for gentleman like me: but there
come other whites when We show your
sell a mettle spark: and it's then. David.
that | love We like a brother
The mist rose and died away. and
showed us that country lying as waste
as the sea: only the moorfowl and the
peewees crying upon it. and far over
to the east. herd of deer. moving like
dots. Much of it was red heather; much
Of the rest broken up with boys and
hays and peaty pools; some had been
burnt black in a heathfire; and in anoth
er place there was quite a forest of dead
frs, standing like skeletons. A wearier
looking desert man never saw; but at
least it was clear of troops. which was
our point.
We went down accordingly into the
waste. and began to make our toisome
and devious travel toward the eastern
verge. There were the tops of mountains
all around you are to remember) from
whence we might be Spied at any mo-
ment: so it behooyed us to keep in the
hollow parts of the moor and when these
turned aside from our direction, to move
upon it's naked face with infinite care.
Sometimes for half-an-hCur together we
must crawl from one heather-bush to
another. as hunters do when they are
hard upon the deer. 1t was clear day
again. with a blazing sum- the water in
the brandy bottle was soon gone; and
altogether, if [ had guessed what it
would be to crawl half the time upon
my belly and to walk much of the rest
STOPPING nearly to the knees. | should
certainly have held back from such
killing enterprise.
Toiling and resting and toiling again,
we wore away the morning: and about
noon lay down in thick bush of heather
to sleep. Alan took the first watch;
and it seemed TO me [ had scarce closed
NV eyes before [ was shaken UP to take
the second. We had no clock to go by,
and Alan stuck a sprig OF heath IN the
ground to serve instead, so that as soon
as the shadow of the bush should fall
so far to the east l might know to rouse
him. But / was by this time SO weary
that | could have slept twelve. hours at
n stretch: | had the taste of sleep in
nv throat; my joints slept even when
NV mind was waking; the hot smell OF
the heather, and the drone OF the Wlld
bees. were like possets to me; and every
now and again | would give jump
and find had been doing.
The last time | woke seemed TO come
hack from farther away, and thought
tho SIM had taken great start in the
heavens / looked al the sprig OF heatn,
and at that | could have cried aloud;
for 7 saw had betrayed my trust. MY
head was nearly turned with fear ana
shame. and at what | saw. when looked
ont around me on the muir, my heart
was like dying i'll my BODY. for SURF
onnuoh. a body of horse-soldlers had
en,,'a down during my sleep. and
Were drawing near to us from the
southeast. sDread out in the shape OF a
fam and riding their horses to ana ITO Ill
+ha deem parts of the heather:
When | walked Alan he glanced hTst
,t the soldiers, then at the marx anu !ie
nosition of the sun. ana knltieu nis
brows with sudden, quick look, poth
npjy and anxious. which was all the re-
nroach | had of him.
pf What are We to do now ,; I asked ss ed
ba "Do We see yon mountain
n Ts1in ne to one on the northeastern sky
.sAy." said l. -
Wen then" says be- hen let klda US t ftf IS
roI de, desert mountain full of hills and
H M,In, a.1 and if we can win to it before
the morn we may do yet. IN 4.o
But, Alan an r cried coming i 9' of the sol
ois Fl ken that fine" said he; but if we we
ara driven back on Appin, we are tive
dead men. SO now. David man. DC
Will With that he began to run forward '3;t On
h;s hands and knees with an incredlnle
qucEness Though hi it t msre too s h Rst Rep
way " soiS "a out in the lower parts CT