The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1897-04-01

! he Carried Will ulu, uSIcAu, Sacl
half filled with grain.
Ezra, having reached his post, iron
which he could slip out of sight in al
instant, overturned his load, and cat
aract of golden wheat descended upo1
the unprotected face of the soldier.
In an instant be was awake. Con
fused and blinded by the shower, hs
, sprang to his feet, cropping vainly fol
his weapons. In moment he woulo
have been out and away, but Davids
voice rang out, sounding muf1ed by
the corn, like mans: eff thee moves
| will shoot thee" The captain stop
ped, irresolute. eff thee looks behind
thee, or tries to escape, will shoot thee
through the heart. Thee must do just
as / tell thee to do. Go out of the
door and follow the path to the left
and mind thee doesen't look behind
theep' David stopped startled at his
own boldness.
The Hessian, sulIenly obeying, stalk
ed out into the sunlight, followed by
David, the sword striking against his
bare legs at every step. Ezra slipped
down from the NOV, regaining, not
very joyfully, his pistol and came ON
behind.
The redcoat felt sure that the myste-
rlous command must be obeyed. Once
before he had heard that Quaker "thee"
and the memory was most clear if not
most pleasant. When first brought to
England from his German home, he
had, when given over to ale and ale
filed companions, tried to break up
one of the peaceful meetings of some
Quakers. He had vivid recollection
OF a young man In a cOllarless coat,
who following him out of the little
meeting-hou had said, "Although it
is to the great hurt Of my soul, it may
be to the betterment of thine, therefore
shall try to drive Satan out of thee,"
and had thereupon given him such
thrashing that it hurt him yet to think
of it.
With many muttered oaths and spec
ulatlons as to who his captors could be,
the Hessian strobe along, making no
effort to escape, for he heard the cllnk
Of the sword, and where 1t was he felt
the pistols must be also.
A strange and most ludicrous picture
the trio presented, as they marched one
after another down the path toward the
river, over the fields where the shocks
Of corn stood in the golden October
sunshine, and the pumpkins lay chang
ing from green to yellow. Down
through the rich meadows, shaded here
and there by great oaks and tulip-trees,
they marched, and through the spice
wood thickets close by the waterside.
At last they emerged from the BUSH
es into an open grove, beside which
rippled the Brandywine: Scattered un-
der the trees we're the white tents and
the nondescript lean-to's OF the Cont
nentals' camp.
No sooner-was the queer procession
seen than 1t was surrounded by laugh
ing, cheering crowd, of soldiers, for dis
clpline was not strict in those days, and
the merriment was redoubled when the
Hessian, daring at last to look around,
went wild with rage and chagrin upon
discovering the size of his captors.
But David and Ezra were on their
dignity, and without a smile they
brought the prisoner up to where the
gray-halred colonel stood, drawn from
his tent by the commotion. David
there called out, just as he had heard
the soldiers do, "Halt, prisoner Atten-
ton !" lie then brought the great
sword to his shoulder, and saluted with
the pistol, Ezra following suit.
.What is this, boys?" said the COL
onel, with kindly smile. "Have you
been ralding King Georges camp, and
brought back prlsoner?'
"No," answered David, "but, thee
sees, this soldier was sleeping in our
barn, and had killed our chickens, and
probably meant to do more, SO we got
his sword and pistols, and made him
come down here to thee, and"
Here Ezra broke in: "Thee won't
tell mother, will thee? For she would
think 1t was fighting, and then Friend
Cope would speak about us IN Flrst-day
meeting"
Ezra's voice was drowned by roar
Of laughter from the circle of soldiers,
and the colonel, smiling, promised to
make it all right with their mother by
going home with them aud telling her
what b,aye boys she had, if they would
first honor him by taking dinner in
camp. At which the boys were struck
with pride and embarrassment in a
way wonderful to see
That dinner! The boys looked back
to it with pride for the rest of their
lives How they toasted their country,