Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-01-05

tiers fell in soft monptone upon the ear
From time to time some swift-winged in
sect peat the heavy air with soft, humming
sound that STEPPED the senses like an opiate.
Over the bosom Of the waters. in noiseless
| Hight, sweoped and circled brace of bats,
and once IN while: answering some i'm
and PUSHES under the bridge, the thick
| 1onage IN the overhanging trees, stirred
with dangerous murmur. and the lone SEN
| try found his eyelids closing with heavi-
| ness. Twice he shook himself awake, twice
| ne half rose, and, crouching still, moved
| nofselessly about in effort to Danish the
perllous temptation. Toward o'clock Mr..
| Scarciifre again came creeping up the mar
| row pathway from the picket. and there
was a brief muttered conference. 81
.hought you'd be on later, Holt" whispered
me lieutenant. Just before dawn is the
dangerous hour: That's why we had you
| on third relief
I'm taking Brennan's place." was the
answer. Hes played out. If you WISH I'll
a sound thus far" And Scarcliffe went
back to the reserve and said the foot bridge
was all right anyhow, with Holt there till
sun up Whereat Malloy, pacing nervously
up ana down in front of the wooden church.
| Whlrled about and asked how that could
! be, and was told.
little later the senior officer of the
guard called up the sergeant of the reserve
| anu pdde MIN send two men to camp with
| ORDERS to bring out between them kettle
| OF coffee as hot as possible. They were
| pack In half an hour or so, and Malloy,
| after seeing coffee distributed to the wax
ing men Of the guard, told the carriers to
| follow MIN out to the supports and picketS,
Where men also drank the comforting cup.
t ana went about their duty. refreshed;
so thoughtful. At ConnoIys picket Bren-
nan still slept the sleep Of weakness and
exhaustion, so they did not rouse him.
But the corporal and Private Darcy were
glad OF a steaming mug and q nibble of
harotack, and then Connolly bethought
MIN or Holt, 100 yards farther out to the
front at the edge Of the water. "Oh. GER
fanny said the lieutenant "by all means.
stream
They come in now, SIR" said the SER
g gsa only Holt stays-doing double
Then carry him a couple of bareback
ana give me the biggest tin cup you've
got said Malloy. Lead on, corporal"
II was then about a quarter to 4. Away
seemed to be waking up. The distant bark
OF Watch dogs broke the silence, and in the
forest beyond the stream a lone Whip-poor-
VIII mao again reused and was pouring his
weru pant into the drowsy ear of coming
dawn SO absorbed seemed the sentry in
so:netnlhs at the front that not only the
,n5'o.s were close upon him did he note
anu mutter challenge. No 'honors'' are
omcer, non-commissioned officer and mi
Vate sentry crouched together. "Heard
with
molly. "pieu ooh-
Two screech owls began about ten min
utes ago They seemed to have mined m
very suddenly" was the muttered answer.
ana twice in ten minutes / have heard
see nothing" wv e es'ii
Heres coffee and bareback the Iieuten-
ant Drought out to the boys" murmured
Ana eagerly Pink Hn1t rad IT.! freshen you up
at his hands, as Malloy had passed # AND
look long deep draft. 49, CIV"
mere Is nothing that so clears and re-
foe sues son on long night duty as Soldier cof-
zee when properly made. II sent n srata
Iui glow all through his tired bod ra,
oe .1f ms senses again keen and alert
hoo .4 the officer of the picket should |
ns tii s.s sounds for himself" said Holt
as as ne listened again with strainine aar
since the night on the River omaa,, al
pnce had word been EXCHANGED het,,na, |
nm and the lieutenant commandine HI |
barsb tei.ner forgotten nor forgiven the |
harsnhess of the officers Iangnape nov ~
e en'hlty Which he well knew had nromntad |
Al an But Observation-Disclosures was ~
IN W W.: one false step now would place him
der stran ,h power One bar on the shout |
ndissioh would make him MaIlov's en,oI ~
lanh. and then would Malloy be maI NIL AZ AZ
49, Meantlne, soldier subordinatior
And as 81 TIDE oe forgotten for an instant.
itL iu ds they crouched there listenina
" itn beating hearts, again the uair5 AM,
o. the screech owl arose on III. etiu cry
81. sh,h was IT answered well over to the
ST. ana from somewhere along the ON
pcslte bank but to the east Of ne op-
1Mere came the impatient neigh of y bantso
rem again all was still. Five. ten W.
beard. o' d SOUND was |
r, n might crawl over there" uh,.ro,,,
INTuhhlo!ly' could see or hear hetter
w noever they are they keep away froI,
know he yfG ont OF this foot bridge. They must
was thinking Of that" answered NAL
10y, al n, m cutter tone. Connolly was a
not bny,1 Lavorte. man to be considered
to know whether they are lining nm ", IKE IKE
Mpous yohder, just as they did at shiloh
" men tney Jumped into the ARMY of the
lie, ehnessee: Do you think-Coud You crawl
Whatever you say, Sir" was J he nror,+
answer OF the Irish lad He never vet
mad shrunk at dare" 1t was Holt Who
Mouio nave opposed-Holt who strove to
swer: o INSTANT an
Then try it. corporal. TIN be a feather
m I, the Emmets' cap If we can discover and
try. Be ready to back him If he needs
help, III slip back and bring up some
With that Malloy backed cautiously to-
ward the shrubbery behind them whiIe
Connolly. crouching low, stole ont nnnn
the narrow foot bridge and was speedi.
~ lost to sight in the shadows of the On
pnsite shore. Norman remained alone
Norman. who few minutes before re-
jolced in the new life and energy the COT
fee had given him-Norman who now found
It ebbing. oozing away and some stranpa
dangerous spell stealing over his senses
Norman, who with keen anxiety and dis
appreciation had heard the words that sent
his gallant comrade upon a perilous proba-
bly, a useless errand, yet who found himself
poWerless to demonstrate or to act. Malloy
had vanished Holt was utterly alone
alone with this strange stupor that duIIed
the flow of the life blood in his veins numb
I'd his nerves. darkened his sight. deadened
MS hearing. What did 1t mean? What
could 1t mean? He rose to his feet In deter
mined effort to shake off the deadly drows
ness fast overcoming him. He stumbled
olirdly down the dark bank knelt at the
drink and dashed the cool water over head
md face. shook himself vehemently, kicked
tut with one leg, then the other, thrashed
with his arms in air-all to no purpose.
He remembered he had left his rife on
The grassy slope by the bridge abutment. a
dozen feet away now. He must not quit
cis rife. He must not quit his post. Yet
that post-that bridge seemed slowly turn
ng. revolving about some hidden axis: so
we're the trees beyond and the black shad-
ows underneath; so was the ground under
mis- feet, and he was growing dizzy and
weak. and his knees seemed bending be.
neath him. This wouldn't do! This would