The National tribune., 1901-04-18


| reach of the fire and the smoke, with his
| glasses on. reading a newspaper. He had
his coat off, and leaning against the rock
| were an ak and a shotgun.
The Elder had ridden UP to the brigade
in time to see the JEFF. Davis Dragons
closing in around the cliff, and was with
I Maj. Spileman when he decided to roast
the Yankees under the cliff. In fact, it
was the Elder who suggested that pro-
ceeding, and helped manage its details.
With his fine scent for horsefesh, he had
noticed the horses in the cove, which none
Of the others had, and he did not call their
attention to them. When the regiment
was hurried away by the bugle call, he
| remained, anG then proceeded to put some
finishing touches IN the operation, and
make sure that the roasting would be
complete. 1t was he who had cut down
the fat-pine, and it was hard work for a
man as little used to the use OF the ak.
But in addition to his bitterness of re-
venge against the Yankees, he had pros
pect of IL fine horses to animate him.
He was now awaiting the fire to do its
work, and cool down sufficiently to allow
him to remove the horses. That might
not be until some time the next morning.
but IL horses were worth even a sleepless
night of watching to a dignified man of
middle age. He had a smack" with him,
as was his custom, SO that he would not
suffer from hunger, and he proposed to
attend to the matter all by himself, and
not have to share his booty with anyone
The Elder was a thrifty man, especially
about horses, as oldtime Elders were
likely to be.
Pete sighed that he had not brought
his gun with him, and after little further
look around, without seeing any rebels
slipped back to report to ST.
ID. L, 4 Al Cyl
became alarmed, and was busy, with
Sandy's help, in enlarging the passage so
that he could go in search of him. Pete
therefore, got in again, with little trouble
and they crowded around to hear his re-
port.
Pete wanted to take his gun and go
out and bushwhack the Elder, but Shorty
restrained him.
mo; Pete" he said, sit amt right to
! go out cunning for ministers of the Cos
pei, even if they are rebels, and tried to
fry US In our own grease. Allowances
must always be made for preachers. He's
naturally huffy at Yankees, and l must
say l don't blame him. I'll go out and
take look around for the rebels, and if
everything's all right I'll bring him in,
and we'll have some fun with him"
Shorty worked himself out, crawled up
on the rock, studied the smOke-drift until
he caught the lay of it, and could conceal
himself with it, and then made a recon-
noissance which satisfied him that all the
rebels were gone. He then circled around
to cut off the Elders retreat, and finally
came upon him leaning against a cedar
growing on the rock, and heavily doing
from his unwonted exertion. He seated
himself beside the Elder, took an easy
position, and then gave the Elder a sharp
nudge with his elbow.
The Elder awoke with a start, and
gazed with open-mouthed terror at the
Yankee sitting placidly beside him, re-
garding him coolly. For minute neither
spoke, and then Shorty broke the~silence
with:
"Howdy, Elder? Glad to see you again.
We seem to'ye gotten in the way of meet
ing up pretty often, haven't we? But you
don't seem to be as tickled as you might
be, seeing such an old acquaintance as /
am. tell you, old fellow, we've had
great time together. haven't wer con-
tinued Shorty, giving the Elder a slap on
the thigh, which made him vince. Now,
haven't we had great times, just? Moth
ing ever like 'em. Sometimes you seemed
on top, and then l seemed to throw you,
and so it went" Shorty laughed bolster
ously at the recollections, but the Elders
fat face was ashy.
Say, old feller," Shorty went on, 81
heard you preach that great sermon of
yours about the spoilers coming down
through the wilderness on to the high
places three several times. Lucky, wasn't |
1? Never had to put a cent in the cOntri |
button box, either. First time we were |
nearly starving to death, and we stole your
grub and your horses. Mean, wasn't it 2?
But hungry stomach has no conscience |
Say, that was a fine race we had across |
the country, wasn't it? Don't think that
was ever equaled in the State of Georgy. |
You have your faults. but you're good |
rider, and q dead hard one to get away
from in d stern chase. The next time l |
heard your sermon you were getting up q |
hanging bee, with me and my partner to /
play the star parts. 1t wasn't your fault |
that you slipped up at the last minute and
we were reserved for drowning at some
future period. The third time | heard |
your sermon-but the memory of that is
perhaps painful to you. Pll omit it. Say,