Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1896-07-26

! why they're doubtful about attackin',"
rs Major Langdon there?" inquired
Nathan.
No, lad, he amt; but unless my ears
deceived me it was him give the party
their orders. l seen young Godfrey
Spencer sittin' by the fire. An Simon
Glass was there as big as life, waitin'
fur the bullet that's in my pouch to
reach his black heart. There's nine in
the party-all British cavalrymen, ex-
cept Glass-but they're wearin' plain
clothes instead of uniforms The horses
are the same way-no brass an polish
ed leather flxin's."
Il reckon they want to pass for Amer
leans" said Evan Jones'
That's jest it," assented Barnabas.
An now look TO your fints, men, an
your powder an balls. I'm goin' to lead
you straight again the enemey. Wen
| shin over the tree an fall on EN- by sur
prise. If they expect us at all they're
countin' on our comm round to the
bridle-road by the ford, which is five
hundred yards further up the creek"
We're six to nine, Barnabas," Nc
! Nicol suggested in a dubious tone.
'We're worth a dozen Britshers
man, stoutly declared Barnabas. We'll
| have the first fire, an that ought to drop
! five or six Of the enemy. The rest will
run-if know 'em right-an' then we'll
grab the horses. It's the horses we
want most. They'll take us gallopin
over the bridle-road, an into Wyoming
! long afore sunset"
| Daru a1ac had S-r.1cly tho r.iobf cord
The hope of reaching their imperiled
friends within few hours was a
! stronger inducement 10 the men than
vengeance for poor Lindsay. Without
a dissenting voice they approved their
! leaders plan, and examined their load
! ings and fints. Five minutes later they
were following Barnabas in single file
through the thick wood now cold and
gray in the breaking light of dawn.
Nathan alone was gloomy and sad.
At every step he saw before his eyes
mental picture that made him saudder.
Godfrey will be there" he reflected.
He may kill me or | may have to fire
at him. Some one else will likely shoot
him if | don't He is Tory and an en-
envy. and he betrayed me that night
in Philadelphia, but / can't forget that
we were old friends. | must do my du
~. though. And will do it, come what
may. He frightened his lips and
marched on resolutely.
With a warning gesture Barnabas
halted; and the men behind him, half
hidden in the laurel scrub, shifted their
muskets noiselessly and peered past
their leader with strained, intent faces.
There was danger in the still air, trag-
edy and death bTOOded over this dense
woody spot in the mountainous soil
tudes of Pennsylvania. The brink OF
the chasm was three yards away-a
chasm that dropped seventy feet be
tween narrow. hollow-out walls OF rock
to the deep and sluggish waters or me
creek. Through the vistas of foliage
and timber could be seen the trunk OF
the fallen pine, with many bushy on
shoot. that spanned the gorge from BANK
TO bank. But there was no sound OF
enemys voices on the farther SIDE; no
evidence of the camp save a curl OF gray
smoke drifting upward to the blue SKY,
now rosy-fushed with the first light OF
day.
"1,ool5s like they'd finished their
breakfast an gone" Barnabas said IN
a low voice; "but then, agin, they may
he LAWN a trap fur us. 1t amt safe 10
calkerlate when Simon Glass is around.
"Wen DO no good tarrying here
man" grumbled McNicol. "Yonder's
the tree, an we're ready to follow.
Barnabas thought Of poor Lindsay and
the horses. and suddenly flung prudence
10 the winds. forward he whisper
ed. and striding quickly through the
scrub he planted his feet on the iailen
nine. Nathan followed with beating
heart. and the next man had just stepped
out when musket-barrel was poAed
from the bushes across the chasm-
"Raek men, roared Barnabas. Get
to cover" and as he turned around and
gained the rear bank by an agile spring:
a thunderous report woke the echoes OF
the gorge. -. :.
too late. He saw the flash and the pun,
and felta singing pain on the right SIDE