The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-08-15

ports of small arms and exploding hre'
works; whatever it is that arOuses him,
the Mar starts from dreams of imperial
power and ~splendor, shivering with acute
cold.
"Why, what is this?'' he asks himself.
'Is it not the morning of the Fourth of
July? Are not those guns l hear cele-
brating our last and greatest victory in
the Philippines-the Philippines of
which l shall soon be Emperor and Lord,
as | am already King, though Crown
less, of these United States? Why then
this extraordinary change in the tenn
perature? 1t is bleaker than an Ohio
midwinter. l am cold, cOld"-speaking
with chattering teeth. Il must get up
and ring for fire. l must see Mark and.
ask him what so phenomenal an. altera-
ton in meteorological conditions por-
tends"
He starts to his feet. One up
stretched hand seeks the electric bulb to
turn on the light. He grOpes for it an
instant vainly. Suddenly his lips part
in a cry of mingled surprise and alright.
He has thrust his hand into an entangle-
ment of twigs sheathed in cracking ice.
lord bless me!'' he calculates.
"Whats magic is at work here?"
He rubs his eyes and stares about him.
Is this the luxurious chamber in which
heis wont to pass the hours of repOse
Where are the fresCOed walls and cell
ing; where the sumptuOus draperieS;
where the velvet carpet into which the
foot sinks instep-deep at every step?
Gone. Around him is winter night
stretching away into measureless inn
mensities. Above sweeps a armament
filed with ragged blackness driven in
mad confusion. On all sides, under the
ghostly glimmer of the newly fallen
snow, is a bleak and f%Orbidding lands
cape, here starting into rocky bluffs
where spring a few low, sleet-hung trees,
there sinking into shadOwy valleys
where. waters roar amid blocks Of
grinding ice.
Was it this then that so rudely aroused
him-the rending and thunderOus impact
of these vast masses of ice in the river
whose lark waters are rolling here at
his feet?
As the question occurs to him he be-
comes aware that he is no longer alone.
In the dim CLEAN that flows upward
from the snOw-mantled earth he sees on
all sides the moving figures of an APP
parently endless host. The light Is too
faint to distinguish their features clear
". but quite sufficient to show that they
are armed with weapons of a cumber-
some and obsolete pattern, that some
of them are toiling with the few, gaunt
horses that drag the unwieldly cannon,
and that all are clad in uniforms of an
Gent fashion, which in many eases is in
rags, 'afording but a iseanty protection
from the bitter cold. '-
What troops are these?' the Man
asks himself. who commands this
ragamuffin crew. Good Lord! The
idiots Who raised such d howl over a
few thousand tons of decayed beef, and
swore We were trying to poison them be
cause some thousands of them took it
into their heads to die, ought to see
this mob. Why, these men are not only
half-Starved; they are practically
naked" "'.t-
He observes then that the troops, are
crossing the river. The whole surface
of the turbulent current is black with
them. On RATS, in boats. on floating
cakes of ice. urged onward by cold,
bleeding hands that grasp pole and sail
and oar, they are Fastening to the
farther shore to begin again after
months of enforced inaction the %strenu-
Gus struggle for freedom.
In the centre of the current, where the
broken ice masses move with threaten
ing impetuOsity. a stall and. stately
figure, standing erect in one of the largSt
boats, extends his arm. as if giving
directiops, though the Man on the
shore can hear no words.
6gan that be theE C0mmandepin-
GhtafK WONDERS he. -
YHeiBHfst one hand to, bis mouth trum-
3beetFSSses and Eafsto lin through the
.5um1f4 Of h65TfingE wi6d%f snd, roaring
hsre5 Qfyo1 know Jme4
s4R KihE#no5 PresidPnE q Fmeans of
JaIRdE ate Whatafmy is this
kefg In 9ch S6rS I1ightG EAnd
#K& 9taHs gre you ho{cqn1Rapd5itF" !
3HFfnA3sstfcf Eure hstkRboat,turns
mb6k na tim And thBsi1gh the Man
esGn5t aRder Bbe shad9Y the three
dS8hBpaf haze see tie EYES nE9hat face,
ssEfth ftalf lpefges but Findistinctly
the saFtdARdFhg shadows, his heart
bek3me4Bke wax in the flame; and the
AS4ffs 6ehis knees give way as the I'm
Edh~hgm Il deep and hollow voice re-
kfi9a Q so little of this long strug-
a4e{ fofffea8nI as to ask me that? Then
keh0JFET 49,
The HearEguard of the army are now
in deep ranks along the marge
of the river. The hand of the Unknown
points beyond them to the snOw-cOvered
hills over which they have come.
Is that hand gifted with supernatural
power? The dim snOw-light seems to
brighten and gather a tinge of azure;
and in its spectral fluctuations the Man
sees the snow all spotted with red dis
charlottesville tracks left by thou
sands of bare and bleeding feet.
Great heavens" he mutterS, aghast.
And 10! the Redeemed spots begin TO
shift and change. Before his starting,
eyes they assume the most fantastic
forms and glow as with s~elf-kindled
All at once they start out into
of flame, broad, quivering, blind
and this Is the legend he reads:
THE BLOODY TRAIL OF FREE
DOM'S SONS FROM VALLEY
FORGE TO TRENTON"
And the Man drops in the snow with
ont word or cry