The Princeton union., 1899-11-09

held the sounds. Soon the men ahead
Began to leave the creek and enter upon.
q dirt road. The way grew lighter, and
caught sight Of our foremost files,
trotting up the road. "A few moments
more and we would have an open field
In which to fight for our lives, If we
must. It seemed during these last mo-
ments that i must spur ahead of the
slowly moving men, but there was no
room, and would never have dared
to pass before the general, for shame, il,
not for breach Of etiquette. At last the
closing files before us were out of the
creek, and we followed. I drew a long
breath of relief and glanced at the
general. He took off his hat and looked
upward. did not hear, but knew what
he said: = e. =.
My God, I thank thee.' 90:
Never was there clearer case of
playing at corners in the game of war.
We had gained the very road by which
the confederates were marching to cap
ture us, and as we entered it their:
last files were but few hundred yards
around bend to our left. Dashing
off to the right, we lost no time in
putting distance between them and
us. ~
The night was coming on, and tho
general, who took his place at the
head of the column, and whose horse
and whose impatience outstripped the
rest of us, soon placed a hundred PAGES
between himself and us, his figure
forming silhouette against strip of
twilight on the horizon. The brim of
his hat tapped with the trot of his
horse, and the skirts of his overcoat
futtered, while the animal was con-
tinually throwing up his head to catch
at his bit, or lowering it to give that
sputter peculiar to horse trotting
| along good road.
The stars came out; the air was dry,
and the spangled heavens seemed more
than usually thick with bright points
of varying magnitude, from the fam
ing Sirius to the faintest glimmer of
light The general had a way of look
ing, as he rode, up at the heavens, often
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Lyra, and I had noticed that when ON
one of his night forays and in dan
| gerous position he was sure to cast
his eyes heavenward, as if invoking the
aid of a presiding diety. Tonight I
saw him throw back his head for his
accustomed glance, and I knew that
our position was critical.
General" said Wilton, who was
vainly endeavoring to catch up with
him, "my horse is nearly done for, and
the same is true of every mount in the
command. We must halt for rest"
1T can't be done, colonel. We must
put more miles between US and the
enemy"
GAS you like, general. The men are
dropping out so fast that you will soon
ride alone"
The general made no reply. saw
him look up again at the star, as one
scenting danger will nervously finger
the handle of a weapon. At last, sud-
denly coming to a thick wood beside
the road, he gave an order to turn into
it, and, after gaining sufficient distance
from the road not to be readily seen
from it, we went into bivouac. Ven
dettes were posted, and the men or
dered to preserve silence, in the hope
that our enemy, who was doubtless at
> our heels, might pass without observ-
ing us.
Worn with a fatiguing days cam
paign, I rolled myself in my blanket,
> and, with dirt pile for pillow, was
asleep almost before I had stretched
my legs.
How long l slept never knew. It
seemed to me that I had but just lost
, myself when was awakened by shots,
= yells, every conceivable noise that
could be heard in a fight. Iknew the
confederates were on us. Through the
gloom 1 caught glimpse of the gen
eral already in the saddle riding among
, our men, inspiring them with his pres
ence and gathering them together in
,, the best formation practicable under
surprise. Walter was with him, stick
, ing to him like wax, though there was
!. no opportunity to use staff officer
while was separated from them by
some of our own men who were try
ing to get into line. pushed forward
but just then troop of confederates
came galloping down, firing their re-
volvers as they can.e-they had no sa
bers-and before l could cover the
space which separated me from the
general they rode through it, scatter
ing the half-formed platoons before
them, making wedge that divided me
and number of others from the res
of the command. Seeing number O.
us cut off from our comrades, they sur
rounded us, and at the point of hun
dred pistols our hands went up as i
\ we had been as many images worked BY
wire springs.
Hurried to the rear, we waited tn
result of the attack. The fight KEEP
% shifting, and 1 fancied that the gen
e. eral had gathered what men he coul,
b and was cutting his way out. My irri
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