Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1896-04-09

drawn Its body slightly backward
from the verge; the man remained i'm
mobile as before. Broad awake and
keenly alive to the significance Of the
situation, Druse now brought the butt
OF his rife against his cheek by eau
tiously. pushing the barrel forward
through the bushes, cooked the piece,
and, glancing through the sights, COW
cred q vital spot OF the horseman's
breast A touch upon the trigger, and
all would have been well 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
b art.
Is 1t, then, so terrible to kill an
enemy in war--an enemy who has sur
prised secret vital to tho safety Of
ones self and comrades-an enemy
more formidable for his knowledge
than all his army for its numbers?
Carter Druse grew deathly pale; he
shook in every limb, he turned faint,
and saw tho statuesque group before
him as black figures, rising, falling
moving unsteadily in arcs OF circles in
. 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 forefnger 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 mbush--without warning, with
out moments spiritual preparation
with never 80 much as an unspolSen
prayer he must be sent to his account.
But, no-there is hope; he may have
discovered nothing perhaps 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
withdrawing whether he knows 1t
may well be that his fixity of atten-
| ton Druse turned his head and
looked below, through the deeps of
air downward, as from the surface to
the bottom Of 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 hundred
submits.
Druse 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 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 q 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 ad-
venture or in quest OF knowledge, had
left the hidden hivouac 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 q
distance Of quarter-mile before him,
but apparently at a stones throw, rose
from it's fringe of pines the gigantic
face Of rock, towering to SO great
height above him that it made him
giddy to look up to where its edge cut
a sharp, rugged line against the sky.
At some distance away to his right it
presented a clean, vertical profile
against background of blue sky to
point half of the way down, and Of dis
tant hills, hardly less blue, thence to
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 horseback riding
down into the valley through the air.
Straight upright sat the rider, in
military fashion, with firm seat in
the saddle, strong clutch upon the
rein to hold his charger from too i'm
petuous plunge. From his bare head
his long hair streamcd upward, wav-
ing like plume. His right hand was
concealed in the cloud of the horses
lifted name The animals body was
as level as If every hoof-stroke en-
countered the resistant earth. Its mo-
tions were those of wild gallop, but
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 a fight
Filled with amazement and terror
by this apparition of horseman in
the sky--half believing himself the
chosen scribe of some new apocalypse,
the officer was overcome by thef in