Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1901-04-13
lcoNTfSUED.i

Almost in the center of the grove was
q small open space, sheltered from the
rush of cold air by the great trees which
grew so thickly around it. 1t seemed to
me to be the likeliest spot we could find
for o camp. / hitched the horses to
boughs of the trees and took from my
pocket small flask of that cheer which
a good soldier seldom neglects. drew
the stopper and handed it to the girl.
"Take little of this, !" said You
must if you do not expect to catch your
death of cold"
81 would if could" she said, "but
/ cannot while my hands are tied. !"
II had forgotten the handkerchief,
/ replied, "but don't think we'll need
it any longer. You have been warned
sufficiently.
unbound her wrists and replaced the
handkerchief in my pocket.
"But don't forget, said, THAT this
handkerchief is an evidence that | have
put my mark upon you and that you be-
long to me-that is, you are my prisoner
until such time as / choose to give you
up"
Her face flushed.
twill not endure such talk, she
said, "from rebel who within six
months may be hanged by his outraged
king for treason.
lyon can't escape it, ! said land
the king can't hang me before he
catches me. It's long way from Lon
don to South Carolina and | hear the
king is fat and lazy and suffers from
seasickness.
But she drank the whisky, just lit
tie of it, though enough to put more
sparkle in her eye, and handed the flask
to me without word of thanks. Then
she sat down ON fallen tree and looked
idly in front of her as if she had no in
terest whatever in anything.
| gathered up armfuls of the dry
brushwood and tossed them into heap,
to which | set fire with the flint and
steel / always carried. The fire blazed
up rapidly and snapped as it bit through
the wood. Its merry cracking drowned
the desolate moan of the wind, and the
long red ribbons of fame and the fast
forming bed of live Goals threw out "a
kindly heat that Tended off the chill of
the night Even the girl, angry and hui
initiated as she seemed to be, felt the
influence of the light and warmth and
edged along the log until she was much
closer and the fire could shine directly
upon her face. Old Put was frank in
his appreciation, coming to the full
length of his tether and wagging his
head in a manner which said to me as
plain as day, "You have done well.
Even the stupid brown hack understood
and initiated Old Puts example.
Higher rose the fire and drove back
the shadows but the darkness was now
rolling up to the circle of light, and
beyond the sparkle of the flames began
to rise like wall The sun was gone,
and faint, fading pink tint in the
west marked the way his flight had
taken him. Over all the world the twi-
light dropped, and the winter wind
mourned the dead day
"Are there ghosts in the forest?" sud
denly asked the girl
None that l ever heard of, -" said
sit is so unlike England.
How"
$50 much wilder
had heard of their forests there, or
rather what they call forests-some acres
of trees, with the underground cut
away and the lawns shaven, every rod
patrolled by keepers or worBmen, mere
plaything Of a forest--but here in
America are the real forests, just as
nature made them, the desolate wilder
ness through which the wild animals
howl, while the lone wind plays its
song on the branches or leaves of the
trees This is the real forest, place in
which man becomes about as big as a
cork on the sea Never the lone hunter
though so years his home, fails TO feel
its immensely and desolation The girl
drew the edges of her cloak a little
more tightly and moved as close 70 the
fire as the end OF the log would allow
her
IF You will permit me, % l SAID. Il
will give You a better seat by the fire
than that. .
She rose without word. and | rolled
the log well within the warmth OF the
blaze She resumed her seat, and the
freight fiickered and played over her
face, tinting her cheeks with deep red
and spangling her bronze gold hair
with patches of scarlet and crimson.
The little red cap had been pulled Sc
curely down on her head, and, sitting
there in the alternate light and dark
ness, her figure 1.-the and strong, she
looked like some Saxon wood nymph.
But did not cease my good deeds. l
call myself a forethoughtful trooper,
and from the saddlebags l carried across
my saddle bow i took cold chicken, a
piece If cold boiled ham and some hard
biscuits, a dinner fit for a prince, or
rather an honest American citizen,
which was better, in these hard times