Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1899-05-10
CHAPTER XII.
THE DOVE TAVERN.


man. God knows I recoiled as felt the
plates of this fellows skull give beneath my
DIST, and, though knew my act to be
righteous one, and that had been discov.
cred would have had foot of cold steel in
my vitals 1 could not at once overcome the
feeling of having committed murder.
Whether or not the man was sentinel
could not tell. The shiftless way of leaning
his gun against tree and humming made
me doubt it, but it mattered little-he was an
obstacle whose removal was necessary.
was fairly sure there was more to overcome
beyond, but resolved to try strategy in pass
ing unless driven to open violence, and even
then my fist should not be my mainstay.
With my temper infamed, it BODIED i'll for
the man who crossed me; with my pulses
slow and even, it went against my grain to
spill human blood, especially that of one
doing his duty, and this fact alone would
have made me poor soldier for the ranks.
Now unshipped my sword, drew my
cloak about me, and walked on as openly as
though was an officer of grand rounds.
1t was miserable going. In the darkness
seemed to find and stub every stone and
shoot into as many brambles as might be
discovered in a ten-acre wood lot. passed
unchallenged through the shallow ravine,
and was wondering if by chance I had al.
ready cleared the lines, when the works Of
an advanced redoubt rose against the dim
sky, and at the same instant there came the
ring Of a musket and a voice called: Halt!
Who's theres"
1t was not my plan to halt, or answer
either, for that matter. had located the
voice to the right, but could see no one, and
was fairly sure that only the noise Of my
progress had been marked, and not myself.
Therefore swung toward the left and hur-
ried along as rapidly and silently as could,
soon having the pleasure of hearing the SEN
tinel stumble across my trail some distance
in the rear.
I had now the redoubt to flank, and, as the
woods had been cut down at its front as well
as on either side, there was an open space for
me to traverse. Here lowered my dignity
by getting on to all-fours, and, holding my
blade betwixt my teeth, crept slowly on
ward, taking advantage of every stump and
fallen tree as post to halt and listen. But
these latter were none too frequent, and ]
used at least an hour in getting the few
hundred feet which lay between the works
and the abatis protecting them. Having
gained the abatis, I rose and felt my way
through the tangled branches of the felled
timber, making deal of noise thought,
D0C hhdlly SVt pbSk duu lIkUO UuS WUUu6 De-
yond. These woods proved to be but a strip,
and narrow one at that, for soon came to
road which served me only in showing my
location, as knew of one crossing from the
Kingsbridge road to another leading to the
village of.Greenwich
Il was well satisfied with myself and my
progress, considering that the worst was
| passed, but my pride underwent a sudden
fall when, as / was putting my leg over the
snake fence, voice came out of the dark
ness:
HALT Who goes there?"
"a friend, but without countersign.
Where are you?"I returned, easily, though
made mighty start.
"Then stay where you be, or I fire"
Every good! Come to me-" answered,
| swinging myself back and retreating to
tree near by, and from that to another.
1t gave me infinite relief to hear the
tramp of q horse, and know the man was
mounted vidette, and in the course of few
seconds he went by me to where had an
swered him, though by then / had retreated
along the line of the road and was 40 feet
away. Hating his horse, he again chal-
lenged, but, on receiving no answer, fired his
| pistol into the woods and began cursing like
a pirate.
knew there would be trouble now, and,
indeed, the echo of the shot had scarce died
away when heard galloping coming from
either direction as his fellows hastened to
\ Join him. It would not do for me to linger
4 in the vicinity, 50 leaped the fence and
crossed the highway above him, gaining the
4 opposite timber just before another horse
man swept by toward the point of alarm.
4 At this juncture thanked my stars for
4 three things: First, for the wet and black
ness of the night; second, that the lines I
had run were the third or inner lines, COM
paratively lily guarded and but half
manned, established to be used only in case
\ of the fall of the outer defenses; and, third,
that my present destination lay not beyond
\ the next obstruction. never would have
\ dared attempt the passage of the barrier
gates," as they were called, strong and
h continuous work across the neck of land be-
A low Fort Washington; and even had this
been possible, the outpost of the British
n army at Kingsbridge would have foored
anything without a pass or wings. There,
in the face of the army of Washington, now
4 but a few miles distant, it would have be
come almost matter of creeping betwixt
the legs of the sentinels.
Y I was not possessed with great curiosity
regarding the outcome of the trouble had
rdl6tu Ou tue iOduy anu Bot NY seu away ~ VII
its locality as rapidly as was consistent with
rough ground, thickly growing trees and
underbrush and pitchy darkness. I felt was
safe at last, safe from immediate disaster,
and then awoke to the fact that, save from
being warm instead of cold, l was in about as
miserable position as any man unhurt and
shaking free foot could well be. l had eat
en- but little during the day, and man Of
l|my size and activity soon hungers, though
\ as yet my hunger had not become serious
matter. / was drenching, without shelter
and without prospect of shelter, and miles
from any possibility of helping hand. To
stumble onward might land me in some diff
Guilty from which / could not easily recover.
Il was now at distance from the cross road,
and knew not if was bearing out Of my
/ line northward or toward one of the two
/ great highways, to approach either of which
! was fraught with the greatest danger.
Therefore determined to settle where 1
was until glimmer of dawn should show me
Il my way onward l had no choice of spots,
4 and SO sat me down on the stump / had but
\ Just fallen over, and, drawing my cloak
about my head, emulated the EXTREMIST pa
thence Of Job, who. for ill his troubles, had
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