The National tribune., 1900-06-07

They waited patiently long quarter Of
an hour. Then, as the preacher thun-
tiercd ont. with urabatcd vigor his text
The spoilers are come upon all the high
places through the Wilderness" 81 began
gliding from tree to tree for the preach
ers bay Shorty stopped to see Pete
safely reach and mount spirited colt,
and turned his attention 20 the dcacon's
roam. So far they had been unobserved
| by the attentive or somnolent members
of the congregation But as Shorty laid
| his gun across the pommel and put his
| foot IN the stirrup boys voice piped out
shrilly:
20. dad. thar's some men out thar a.
ridin' of yer hoSses,''
Instantly they were all in the saddle
and dashing down the road. Al the turn
they refined up a little and looked back to
see the people SwarminS out of the church,
like bees from a disturbed hive, and wildly
talking and gesticulating.
The preacher seems 20 be throwing IN
usual soul into the exercises" observed
Shorty, crimly. Hes out the best hoSs
in the lot. He hardly expected his text
to come true so soon, and the spoilers
come down upon his thoroughbred through
| the wilderness"
They'll have feet stccds that follow
said young Lochinvar." quoted MONTY,
remembering his schoOl-room defamation
for the first time in weeks. We got the
pick o the lot"
Come on, come ON said 81. 'grhis
amt no time for Friday afternoon exer-
cises"
His quick glance had showed him tba.
the one-armed and otherwise MANNED
rebel soldiers were not wasting time in
talking, but were untying and mounting
their horses for pursuit.
The horses We're fresh and vigorous,
and went at a terrific pace, but ST was
good enough horseInan to know that, as
1.ttg
would not be well 10 wind his animals Mt
the outset. They had full half-miIe the
start of their pursucrs and would be wis
est to keep about that distance ahead for
awhile at least, and not over-exert his
steeds in that hot weather. He would
thus have n reserve for emergencies and
the finish. Therefore, after he had gained
about mile on those following, he slowed
DOWN, halted. gave the horses time to
breathe awhile, and then to drink. While
ne was doing this the pursuers lessened
the distance to probably half a mile
Shorty, who was carefully watching them
from Il short distance in the rear, ex-
claimed with disgust:
Blasted, if that feller in the lead amt
that measly old preacher. He jumped on
the best hoss we left-that blaze-faced
sorrel-that had notion to take-trust
preacher to pick ont the best hoss at
minutes notice-and he rides like an In
Jun-or n preacher. I'm afeared he's a
better hoss than the one Sandy Bakers
ridin'. Blast a rebel preacher. anyhow.
No good on earth but to preach treason
and stir up trouble. Wish l had my old
Springfield for five minutes. There'd be
Il charge somewhere without a reggerly
ordained pastor
ST led the squad ahead again at a gal.
lop, and soon widened out the gap be-
tween it and its pursuers, who were evil
IDENTIFY not conserving their horses
strength in that broiling sun. Several
men stopped and rode slowly off, as if
their horses were exhausted, and one man
was walking and leading his. The
preacher and two or three of the wounded
rebels seemed to be managing their
horses better than the rest, and drawing
far ahead of them. What was far more
dangerous, the preacher seemed to know
short cuts in the route, by which he could
make gains, and to lead unerringly through
them.
As 81 stopped for one Of his CUSTOM
airy breathing spells, Shorty was startled
to see the preacher dash out of one of
these cuts through the woods not 300
yards away, and shout encouragingly to
his companions to come on, that their
prey was in hand.
Great Jehosephat, must stop him,
somehow" said Shorty, leaping from his
saddle, and taking position behind a
clump of bushes in a fence-corner. He
thrust the rifie-barrel through. the bushes,
and drew bead on the blaze in the face
of the preachers horse. 81 hain't no hope
that that caps any good, after all the wet
it's bin through" he thought as he cooked
the gun; "but this is the time to try
whether it is or not. If it amt, I'll have
to knock that old Bible-banger of with
the BARREL"
He waited until the preacher was In
good easy 100 yards, and then pulled the
trigger. To his qualification as well as
some surprise the report instantly fol-
lowed, and the preachers horse fell over
on him, arresting the rush of those be.
hind.
Shorty's first impulse was to fling away
the now useless gun as an incumbrance in
the rush he had to make to catch up with
81, but he reconsidered. mo; a gun is
dangerous without lock, stock or barrel,
as the old woman said who was licked
with the ramrod. I'll keep it 1t may do
to scare with. if nothing else
1t was well that he did so. The sight
of it in his hand deferred the rebels from
closing in on him.
1t was now near sunset, with hours Of
daylight yet, and the haven of refuge in
the wooded foothills still miles away. A
new danger appeared in bodies of men,
aroused by messengers, or sig
nailed by the blowing of horns, riding
toward their road by converging routes.
As these had fresher horses, they might
cut them off before they reached the hills.
This was one of the emergencies which
81 had anticipated and for which he was
reserving his horses strength. Now had
come the time to use every ounce OF
strength left in the animals, and they
lashed them forward mercilessly. Twilight
was coming on, but the woods and hills
were still nearly a mile away. while n
party was bearing down on their right
and another on their left, with the
preachers squad coming up somewhere
behind. Sandy Bakers horse fell under
him. At Sandy's call, 81 looked around,
and saw that the beast was exhausted
The end was near for the rest. 81 leaped
from his horse, and called to the rest to
10 the same. They turned the animals
heads in the direction whence they had
come, and started them back with sharp
,uts from the switches they had used for
whips, hoping that in the darkness they
would encounter the parties coming from
different directions, and throw them into
1 confusion which would delay pursuit.
They ran forward little ways on the
'oad, and came TO a path running off to
he right through the woods. They took
his simply because it wandered from the
Dad which their pursuers would prob
IDLY follow. 1t led TO a cabin not far
rom the bank of a deep creek running
1t the base of the hills. They turned
oward the creek to avoid the cabin, and
pupJ in tho yyotar a loron tuli troo oonoo