Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-05-14

The voices of soldiers standing upon
the bridge were audible as Darrell crept
I'D in the shadow. and he could hear
the tramp Of many feet. A regiment
was marching. but not upon the high
way. There must be q road interspct
ing 1t and running parallel to the pres
ent course of the stream.
The stream was so high that IT left
only q fringe of wet rocks on each side
of the arch. and Darrell worked his
way along with considerable difficulty
He succeeded In getting through with
no worse misfortune than hard fall
on the rocks. and presently he was
again within the shelter or the trees
beside the water. A hundred yards far
ther along. the stream bent sharply to
the left and passed under the road
upon which the troops were marching
1t was not an easy task to elude oh.
servation under such circumstances
and Darrell narrowly escaped squad
of soldiers that had taken advantage OF
q halt to ill their canteens. He lay
within ten feet Of them for many min
utes and overheard snatches Of their
conversation. from which he learned
that this force had come by rail to n
point not far north Of Vladikaukas and
had made q circuit Of the city. that It
was composed Of troops from the prov
ince Of Stavropol and that 1t was de.
pending upon re-enforcements concern
ing which there was rumor Of delay.
The men were recalled at last. and
Darrell passed the second bridge. A
little later he ascended Oil beside the
stream. and. being overcome with
WEAKNESS. he lay down to sleep just
as the moon began to light the sky In
the east. He awoke at daybreak. stiff
with cold and painfully lame as q re-
suit Of his fall upon the rocks. Hob
bling to the edg, Of the trees. he found
that he had accidentally chosen a spot
singularly favorable for observation.
Despite the roughness Of the region,
Darrell could see almost the entire ex-
tent of the Russian force. The line
as he saw 1t was about two miles long.
and doubtless there were skirmishers
beyond his vision. There seemed to be
between 5000 and 6.0O0 men. nearly all
infantry. The center was on the main
highway from Vladikaukas to Cred
skoy. and there had been great changes
In the disposition Of the force during
the latter part Of the night. The way
by which Darrell had come was now
the least practicable that his eye could
discover, yet he could see other places
where mau might pass aided by the
roughness Of the country and the dark
ness Of night.
His proximity to the line was an
element Of peril: indeed, he wondered
that the very spot on which he stood
was not held by picket guard. Re-
treating from the place, he became
aware Of MEN upon the north slope Of
the hill ascending. but lie eluded them.
passing around to the westward. He
encountered far less difficulty than he
had expected and was soon beyond the
reach Of anything except some chance
scouting party. 1t seemed to him that
the Circassian outpoSts around Vladi-
kaukas could not be more than ten
miles away, yet he was so lame from
his fall that even this short distance
involved q great eXertiOn and much
pain.
On the slender chance Of finding any
beast that man might ride he visited
several deserted farmhouses. securing
enough food for his needs. but no cat.
tie. He was in such q condition that
a sound OK would have seemed good
mount. but there was none to be had.
In one Of the houses he was greatly
surprised to discover gun. almost the
last thing he would have supposed
that a fleeing tenant would abandon.
1t was muzzle loading weapon of the
type Of many years ago; but. as there
was a supply Of ammunition. Darrell
thought the gun worth taking.
During the day he made very little
progress. being twice compelled to lie
hidden while Russian scouting parties
were about. Sunset found him far to
the west of the highroad. uncertain Of
his way and suffering both from eX
haustion and the injury that he had
sustained on the previous night. He
came at last to q road that was scarce
ly more than trail through the woods,
and by the side Of 1t he sat down to cat
such food as he had and to rest. He
fell into doze. with his back against
the moss covered stump Of tree, and
1t was dark when he awoke.
Something had startled him. He
felt thrill Of vague alarm as he strug-
gled back to consciousness. and the
rusty gun that he had taken from the
farmhouse was in his hands without
an effort Of volition. He heard the
sound Of horses feet. and immedi'
ately the beast and his rider came into
view. dim In the starlight.
Without thought In his half waken
ed mind. except that he needed horse,
Darrell sprang out into the path, with
the gun in his hands. and cried out.
"Haltw 1t was the horse that obeyed
the order The rider continued to ad-
vance, by the law Of inertia, and he