Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1901-04-06
TIT $ 1900 SWlgWSgYE "a.
handkerchief, a trophy of t

-
handkerchief, a trophy Of the
Monmouth campaign, which / had pre-
served with great care.
Hold out your hands," / said.
What would you do?'' she asked,
turning upon me a look of fire.
But | was firm. My experience had
been too great.
"Hold out your hands, +" | repeated
II intend to bind them together. You
play too many tricks"
"You are not a gentleman"
"You have told me that three or four
times already. 1t won't bear further
repetition.
II will not submit to such a thing. .
"Then | will have to use force, which
will make it much more unpleasant for
you" G
/ hated to do what / had planned. /
was rude and severe, but then there arr
rev who have had women prisoners
like mine, and consequently there are
few who are in a position to judge me.
/ prefer greatly to deal with the regular
forces, but in this case | had no choice.
and so | strengthened my will and pro-
ceeded.
Hold out your wrists, " | repeated.
II shall not hurt you. / merely wish to
keep You out of further mischief.
II shall never forgive you. " she said.
/ could afford to laugh at such a
threat.
II trust that nobody will forgive me
until / ask for forgiveness, " l said.
She looked at me, her eyes full of re-
bellion. / thought she was going to
raise her hand to strike me, but women
are so changeable and uncertain. In
stead she held out her hands meekly.
| bound her wrists together and no.
ticed that they were white and we'll
nodded. The handkerchief was soft and
could not pain her at all, and, besides.
her hands were bound in front of her
and not behind her. She need feel no
Inconvenience, but she must realize that
her opportunities for mischief were di-
minished vastly. Old Put looked at her
with an air of triumph, as much as to
say, Nov, miss, you are being pun
ished, and punished deservedly, for beat
ing me SO much That seemed to be
her own understanding of herself.
We resumed our march, the horses
walking behind us. The rim of the SUI
was now meeting the rim of the earth.
and the western skies were tinged with
ruddy fire. In the east the misty gray
of twilight was descending ON field and
forest, and the chill of night was creep
ing ove everything. Even in u South
Carolina ATTITUDES the nights are cold in
midwinter, ard shivered as a twilight
wind, with a raw edge to it, swept over
the plain.
There was a heavy cloak hanging at
her saddle horn, for she had not ven
tured upon her journey u%nprepared. i
took it off and threw it over her shoul-
ders. 1t fell below her waist like a greas
coat, and I buttoned it securely around
her neck.
"You are a barbarian, " she said.
81 know it, l replied, "but / do not
intend to let you suffer more than is
necessary for your w good, That is
the kind of barbarians we are in this
country"
The country was lone and desolate,
for we were on the sterile slopes of the
hills. 1t was thinly peopled at the best
of times, but now, raided necessarily by
Tarleton's legion, which knew no mercy
to anything, whether animate or mani
mate, and plundered, too, by wild bands
which claimed to belong to either army,
as the occasion served, and perhaps be-
longed to neither, the people had fled to
securer regions, where one side or the
other was master. Only those who have
seen it know the sufferings of a country
harried by opposing armies and preda-
tory bands. l had hoped to find some
friendly farmer holder thar the rest with
whom my prisoner and l could find
shelter, or if not that, at least some
abandoned house which would give us
a roof, but | saw no sign of a human
face except our own, and no roof appear
ed either in the fields or among the
trees. 1t was a solitude bleak and cold,
and the declining sun, now half way
behind the earth, warned me that ii
would soon be time to stop, for the
darkness would be upon us, and in a
land of hills, gullies and no roads we
could not travel well without light.
Despairing of such shelter as l had
expected, | turned our course toward a
thick grove of trees rising like a great
castle on the left. When we entered it,
the shadows already made darkness
there, and the night wind moaned
among the dry branches of the trees. ]
saw the girl shiver, and again l felt
| pity for her in spite of all that she tried
to do, though l lost none of my distrusi
and caution.