The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1903-12-31
CHAPTER XVIII.
IN THE NICK OF TIME,

IN LIE NICK OFtTIME.
MAR. How far off lies these armies?
Mess. Within this mile aud half.
Mar. Then shall we hear their 'Iarum and
they ours" -4Shakspere
When it became fully evident that Bar
ney had secretly achieved his wished-for
horse trade, and had gone without so mucI
as by your leave, Squire's fedrs permitted
him no longer to rest; anything might be
apprehended from the man who had be-
trayed him, so he gathered his effects and
led Barney's horse away.
The. clouds were gone;. from the stars
he learned that day was NOT far, and he
made toward the ridge, Of the. mountain,
carefully choosing his way. q But present
fear was lessened by every step. and be-
sat down, bride in hand, to await the
dawn. his thoughts bitter from loneliness
and from dread Of n future caused by
Barney's desertion: for the younger me-
grO's conduct was now understood had
forcibly disposed of booty too dangerous
to keep in these parts, where Mt any mo-
ment he might run against Freeman's
himself and been done to the peril Of him
he deserted.
When daylight came, Squire trudged up
the mountain side. and. as the sun rose
looked out east and south and southwest
The region was in great degree familiar.
these woods and fields by night, for slaves
wandered far at times betEixt sun and
sun; and in the campaigns Of Lee and
Pope, and OF Stuart and PleasOnton, he
had learned little Of the more distant
country in regard to the main roads and
the villages. The smoke ut the southwest
where Stuart was now crossing the Hedge
man he knew was in Rappahnnnock Cetin-
ty; and the smoke nearer by, but little
to the left, he thought came from War
renton,, where were many camps. And
far eastward the atmosphere was a ming
ling of dust and smoke, which the negro
understood to mean the presence and the
army? Lees or Meades? It was far away.
Near the mountain the air was pure; for
10 miles there was neither dust nor
smoke, except thin spots that indicated
dwellings,; here and there in this quarter
the roads were yisible-but for very short
it not been for hills and woods watcher
with a glass of indefinite power might
have seen from this hight pano-
rama which the Governments of earth
would have trembled to watch, for on this
field the Southern army was moving once
more in hope to interpose between its
giant antagonist and his Capital.
Squire knew not what to do, and he sat
down. He was In good place; before
he would move he must know more. His
fears Of Freeman were SO great that at
one time he had almost decided to aban-
don the horse which he believed Barney
had considered an element af danger; but
he might ride even this horse into safety
il he could but know whittier to ride; he
would wait here, if need be. until night.
So on this mountain top the slave re-
mained, at each successive moment striv-
ing from some new Indication n thrown
% e. 4 tx hrv
sembled powers of North and of South to
solve it's meaning to himself. Down there
was Stuart, and he was coming. Squire
saw the smoke Of his cannon, but the
sounds and the smoke mingled with those
Of the Northern artillery, and he could
not divide them. Over at the southeast
stood the infantry legions of Sedgwick,
and Warren, and French, and Newton.
and Slocum-all unseen. by, the lone spy
upon the mountain, while to their north
rolled the visible smoke Of their camps
and the dust of their wagon trains hur-
rying back to Bull Rpn: but the dust
and the smoke drifted wfthont regard to
sectional prejudice, and their political
cause was unrevealed.
In the southwest the noise of cannon
died away, and Squire still held his post.
Yet he thought it prudent TO examine the
ground near him; he tied his horse,
and sought a spot from which he might
not half a mile away. white flag waving
from an isolated perch, waving nervously,
according to the ftful manner of the sig
nal folk. sprinsing ups--jerking down
right-left-left, left-right right, left up.
-zigzag. rapidly and incOhsrently, lacking
utterly the rhythmical Succession of the,
Drum Majors cOnceited baton. jerking and
iuttering in spasms of. apprehension and
warning. And Squire knew THAT they Were
signals of warning, but Of whom and to
whom the warning was projected who
could know? Yet, for alla his ignorance,
was he sure that the flags were waving
Federal signals to Federals to tell that Lee
was marching. He went hack to his form
er positln. and continued to strain his
eyes at the landscape under the blazing
sun; and as he gazed he still saw the
dust rolling northward and now kneY that
it's extreme southern limit had moved. He
took nm object, and after a little another,
and then yet 0 third. and then he prayed
to his God for Mahsk Chahley and the
Southern cause, for it. was plain as. day
that Meade was hurrs5hg his long trains
in retreat; and he knef That between the
mountain and those t2ains, and in rear
Of the trains, Meade's.dfvisions were seek
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