Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-12-01
freezing and starving. Look at our SHOES

freezing and starving. Look at our SHOES
our RAGS"
I'VE are freezing and starving!' repeated
the men behind him.
The mother did not spring to her feet to
clasp in her arms the boy she had not seen
for months. The father did not hold out a
hand of welcome. The four men looked
down at the floor and for the next minute
the snap of the fire was like a sound of
musketry, and the tick-tack of the clock
was as bell tolling out its death notes.
By and by the mother dropped her head to
/ the table and shiver passed over her, and
| in a low, stern voice the father asked:
What do you hear from Valley Forge?"
| There was no answer. With their eyes
on the floor the men moved their feet I'M
easily.
4 known shouted Zachariah In a voice
which thrilled and startled. AYE! 1 see it
in your faces! Ye are deserters from
Washington! Ye are traitors to the cause
of liberty! Because of the cold and the
hunger and the rags We have skulked away
and come whining back to your homes.
| God! God! And We. Zadok--ye have done
this-and ye Tom and William and George,
sens of my neighbors!'
But, father began Zadok. when the
old man rose up as If the pains in his knee
had suddenly departed, and swinging his
arm about he cried out:
''Skulkers FROM the camp! Deserters from
Washington. Traitors to the cause. Before
God, / would blast we where We stand but
| that We may atone for hundredth part of
!
your blood small troop of red coats
left here an hour ago to capture Colonel
Talbot and his brother officers. They are
ten to five, but we will fall upon them"'
"Zachariah!' whispered the wife as she
crossed over and laid a hand on his arm.
Away Abigail-away.' he fiercely
shouted as he shook off her hand and
| reached for his musket. You would speak
of food and drink and warmth before we
go but it shall not be. Were Zadok Scott
a thousand times my only child, he should
fast and chill and be unforgiven until he
has won back his manhood. Come on
come every one of ye!
''Muffied in great coat and as erect as in
the strength of youth-with his musket on
his shoulder and the night blasts finging
his gray locks abOut-the Zachariah who
would have given home. wife and his own
life for the cause of liberty, stalked out
into the night and was followed by the de-
serters.
groaned the old man as he trampled up the
snowy road.
eve did not mean to desert" whispered
each man to himself. I'VE were freezing
and starving and could hardly drag about.
and we wanted food and care. We would
| have gone back to the valley again"
! Behind them, in the farmhouse kitchen.
| the woman knelt down beside a chair and
prayed to God. The table was left unclear-
| ed, the sparks snapped across the floor I'M
needed, the clock stopped its ticking be-
| cause y o CLOCK ndu come ana gone ana 1t
| had not beea wound. She prayed-and
prayed. She prayed for the sOn-for the
| father-for herself She prayed with sob
bling in her throat but with dry eyes.
With heads bent to the wind and feet
| stumbling through the snow, the five men
| pushed their way along for two miles and
a half Then the sound of firing came to
! their ears, and they halted for a moment
They are fighting at Talbots-they have
not been captured yet!' exclaimed Zacha-
riah, as he looked around upon his men,
Forward, now-forward to smite them hip
and thigh, and spare mott!
The British troopers had hoped to take
the house by surprise, but the alarm had
been tiven. and a stout resistance was be-
ing made. Two troopers had been killed
and the captain was making ready to set
fire to the sheds and thus drive the pa :
triots out into the open. He had no fear of
rescue on such night and the coming of
the band of five created CONSERVATION for a
moment.
'smite them down. he heard voice
| crying through the night "Smite them
from head to heel, and spare not!'
The redcoats rallied. They were eight IN
! volled, and then it was five to five. and
with dubbed musket against saber and pis-
tol they fought across the snow ridges and
| back and forth under the great Iimhed Wal
! nut trees. By and by there were but two
/ left. 1t was the barrel of a shattered mus
| ket against an officers sword
| Smite them and spare not! Smite them
| and show no mercy" cried Zachariah. as
he whirled his weapon about his head and
| advanced and gave way and struck and re-
covered. Under the trees-oyer the ridges
cross wind-swept spots and the flower
| beds of summer they fought, and now and
| .hen they stumbled over men lying dead.
Al length there was but one left on his feet.
ne Threw away the sword red with life
| pieod and staggered and lurched like a
| drunken man as he made his way down 10
the gate The ten horses were tied there.
ahey had paved and reared and plunged
| as the noise of battle reached them Tbev
were quiet now. The staggering, gaspine
man ioosened one and mounted to the sad
uie with a groan, and as he gathered up
| lop. As the woman in the farmhouse PRAYED
she heard the hoofbeats on the creakins