Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1896-09-28

|
we lay as still as the dead and were
afraid to breathe
Inc aching and faintneSs of my body.
the laboring of my throat and eyes in
the continued smoke of dust and ashes,
4ad soon grown to be SO unbearab1e that
l would gladly have given up. Nothing
| put the fear of Alan lent me enough of
!. Iaise KIND OF courage to continue. AS
Tor himself (and you are to bear in mind
Inat ne was numbered with a great-coat)
ne had first turned crimson, but as time
| went on. the redness began to be min
Sled with patches of white; his breath
cried and whistled as it came; and his
voice, when he whispered his observa-
tlons IN my ear during our halts, sounded
IKE nothing human. Yet he seemed in
no way dashed in spirits, nor did he at
an abafe III his activity; so that | was
driven 70 marvel at the mans endur-
| ance.
AT length, in the first cleaning of the
night, we heard a trumpet sound, and,
looking back from among the heather,
| saw the troop beginning to collect A
little after, they had built a fire and
camped for the night, about the middle
| of the waste.
At this / begged and besought that we
might lie down and sleep.
/ There shall be no sleep the night!
said Alan. ''From now OF, these weary
dragons of yours viii keep the crown
OF the muirland, and none will get out
OF Appin but winged fowls. We got
through in the nick of time, and shall
we leopard what we've gained? Ma, ma,
| when the day comes, it shall find you and
me IN fast place on Ben Alder
Alan | said, ''its not the want of
will; it's the strength that l want. II |
could, would; but as sure as I'm alive,
l cannot"
very well, then" said Alan ''I'll
| carry ye."
| looked to see if he were testing: but
no, the little man was in dead earnest:
and the sight of so much resolution
shamed me.
Lead away said I. "I'll follow
He gave me one look, as much to say.
well done. David!' and off he set again
at his top speed.
1t grew cooler and even a little darker
(but not much) with the coming of the
night. The Sky was cloudless: it was
still early i'll July, and pretty far north:
in the darkest part of that night, you
would have needed pretty good eyes to
read, but for all that, l have often seen
1T darker in a winter midday. Heavy
dew fell, and drenched the moor like
rain; and this refreshed me for awhile.
When we stopped to breathe, and | had
time to see all about me the clearness
and sweetness of the night, the shapes
of the hills like things asleep, and the
fire dwindling away behind us, like Il
bright spot i'll the midst of the moor, an
ger would come upon me in a clap that
| must still drag myself in agony and
eat the dust like a worm.
BY what | have read in books, I think
few that have held a pen were ever
really wearied, or they would write of
it more strongly. | had no care of my
life, neither past nor future, and / scarce
remember there was such a lad as David
Balfour. / did not think of myself, but
just of each fresh step which | was sure
would be my last, with despair-and of
Alan, who was the cause of it, with ha-
tired. Alan was in the right trade as a
soldier; this is the officers part to make
men continue to do things, they know
not wherefore. and when, if the choice
was offered, they would lie down where
they were and be killed And [ daresay
/ would have made good enough pri
vate; for in these last hours, it never
occurred to me that | had any choice,
but just to obey as long as | was able,
and die obeying.
Day began to come in, after years,
thought; and by that time, we were past
the greatest danger, and could walk upon
our feet like men. instead of crawling
like brutes. But, dear heart. have mer-
cy! what pair we must have made, go
ing double like old grandfathers, STUN
bling like babes. and as white as dead
folk. Never word passed between us:
each set his mouth and kept his eyes in
front of him, and lifted up his foot and
set it down again, like people lifting
weighs at a country play Village fairl;
all the while, with the moorfowl crying
''peepv' in the heather, and the light
coming slowly clearer ii the east
| say Alan did as | did; not that ever
l looked at him, for [ had enough ado
to keep my feet but because it is plain
he must have been as stupid with weari-
ness as myself and looked as little
where we were going, or we should not
have walked into an ambush like blind
men.
It fell in this way: We were going
down a heathery brae, Alan leading and
| following a pace or two behind, like
Il fiddler and his wife; when upon a sud
den the heather gave a rustic, three or
four ragged men leaped out and the next
moment we were lying on our backs
each with a dirk at his throat.
/ don't think | cared; the pain of this
rough handling was quite swallowed up
by the pains of which | was already full:
and l was too glad to have stopped walk
ing to mind about the dirk. | lay looking
up in the face of the man that held me;
and l mind his face was black with
the sun and his eyes very light, but |
was not afraid of him. | heard Alan
and another whispering in the Gaelic:
and what they said was all one to me.
Then the dirks were put up, our weap-
OnS were taken away, ana we were set
face to face, sitting in the heather
''They are Cluny's men, said Alan.
1--WE couldnae have fallen better. We're
just to bide here with these which are
his out-sentries, till they can get word
to the chief of my arrival.
Now Cluny Macpherson. the chief of
the clan Vourich, had been one of the
leaders of the great rebellion six years
before; there was a price on his life;
y
France. with the rest OF the heads of
that desperate party. Even tired as
was, the surprise of what | heard half
Weakened me.
WHAT" l cried. rs Cluny still
here?"
GAY is he sou said Alan. 'Still in
his own country and kept by his own
elan. King George can do no more"
l think / would have asked farther.
but Alan gave me the put-off. Il am
rather wearied,'' he said, land l would |
like fine to get Sleep" And without |