Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1902-04-30
COPYRIGHT. 1901,
BY CHARLES o.
E1IiERINGTON.

1SSNySSvrySSSSSSsSSo1
toward the east, might pass on, leav-
ing the way clear for resuming the
| Journey on the morrow. He himself
cherished no such delusion, knowing
very well that the main road would
not be left unguarded. The caravan
would never get through until the mil
itary operations of the Russians should
be transferred to another field 1t
might be possible, however, for one
man to get through the lines or to work
his way around them without too great
expenditure of time.
When the night had fallen, Darrell
crept out of the camp which lay SO
silent in the wood, n man guarding ev-
| cry animal and ready with knife In
hand to cut Its throat If it should dis
turb the stiffness with such voice MS
nature Ind given it. For mile or
more he followed the edge of the high
way, and then, without warning from
eye or ear, he was us near us possible
to running straight into the arms of
Russian pickets. He dropped into n
clump Of bushes not 100 feet distant
from the guards and there lay quiet for
awhile, undecided what to do. Upon
his left was bare and open ground.
Even under cover of the darkness he
scarcely dared risk crossing 1t. To go
the other way was to approach the
head of the army, for 1t was moving
eastward, and he was afraid it might
throw down d spur toward Gredskov
and thus cut him off completely. The
better course would be to work to the
westward, though that would involve
crossing the army's line of communica-
ton with its base, wherever that might
be.
AS he lay there rejecting upon this
problem he heard some one advancing
along the highway. Whoever it was,
he came on without caution, the sound
of his steps plainly audible in the still
night. Darrell could detect move
ment of the picket guards, indicating
that they, too, had heard the sound.
His position was such that the man in
the road was nearly opposite him be-
fore he came into view. Then he recog-
nized the idiot piper by the cloak that
he had worn, a garment that had once
been bright red and gaudy with gold
thread, but was grotesquely stained
with age and ragged and furnished.
Suddenly picket cried out, 'Halt!"
The idiot stopped, hesitated mo-
ment and then answered: "I'm Musef
the Traveller. You'll let me pass"
Then voice, not the one that had
spoken before, but the most surprising
ly harsh and rafting tone that Darrell
had ever heard from n human throat,
said:
Come on, here! Give an account of
YOURSELF"
If the voice had been ordinary, the
idiot would probably have obeyed with
out fear; but, as 1t CHANGED, he was
frightened by this raucous cry, like
beasts and he turned to run away.
Instan-y 10 shots were fired, and
Darrell heard the soldiers advancing.
The idiot had sprung out of the 70
and was running across the .peA
ground. Darrell, being too nearly in
the line of the soldiers, dared not re-
main. He got upon his feet and fed in
the same way that the idiot had taken.
1t appeared that in the darkness they
both escaped the view Of the soldiers
at first. Darrell had run almost hun
dred yards before another shot was
fired, and II went wild. He reached
unframed the shelter of the bushes on
the other side Of the field and, looking
back, could see no sign of his pursuers.
Turning to continue his flight, he came
to stream that looked too deep to be
crossed without swimming. He fol-
lowed 1t toward the left through some
thick brush, from which he emerged
upon smooth, sloping bank. It was
spot upon which the starlight seemed
to fall with an especial radiance. per-
haps because of the darkness from
which he had come. AT any rate, Oar
rell saw the sluggish stream, the droop-
ing trees beside it and the smooth
slope quite plainly and upon the grass
the figure of man lying with his face
toward the sky. 1t was the idiot, Mu-
SET the Traveller, and he had come to
the end Of his Journey.
Pm hurt in the breast" he said us
Darrell lsnelt beside him, "but guess
it isn't very bad. feel pretty well,
but thirsty. l was going to get a
drink"
Darrell raised the mans head and
saw that his eyes were quite calm, not
restless, US they had been.
II was gathering honey with my
brothers." he went on. land fell from
a high rock. All, well, that was long
while ago. But remember 1t. re-
member-many things"
He looked up with a smile, tried to
speak again and choked in blood, yet
without the appearance of much pain.
Then, in moment, the poor fellow
was but clay, the crippled soul set free
upon the wind of the night.
Darrell laid him down and was about
to cover him with the red cloak, but
upon second thought he threw the gar
ment over his arm and took up the pipe
with which Musef had amused the car
avan. Some seconds later he had found
n place to ford the stream, and as he
crossed he heard the Russian soldiers
calling to one another In the field.
| CHAPTER XII.
THROUGH THE RUSSIAN LINES.
|