The San Francisco call., 1903-12-13

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Not unless they swim. horse and
foot" I objected. Twill be Macgow-
ans. more likely"
Having this uncertainty to resolve, we
must hang upon the skirts of the British
advance till we could make sure, and
THIS proved TO be most perllous ousl-
ness Yet by riding abreast Of the NOV
ing main we did resolve the uncertainty:
heard the orders passed from man to
man, and later saw a small feinting de-
tachment split OF to take the road for
Beattie's. while the main body held on
for MacgOwan's; all of this before we
were discovered in the cleaning of the
dawn by some of Tarleton's men.
Then. 1 promise you, my dears. il was
neck or nothing. with the devil to take
the hindmoSt. Away we sped toward the
nearby river. spurring our wearied
beasts as men who ride for life. with
dozen troopers so close upon US that
when / glanced over my shoulder the
foremost of the redcoat riders was hav-
ing his face well bespattered with the
mud from my horses heels.
Twas touch and go. but happily, as L
have said. the river was at hand We
came TO the high bank some hundred
yards above the fording place. and lack
ing Dick s example to shame me TO the
drawer course, l fear / should have re-
coiled at the brink. But when the lad
sent his horse without the missing of
bound far out over the eddying flood. L
shook the reins on the sorrels neck,
gave him the word and shut my eyes
After all, it was nothing worse than
cold plunge. with few pistol bullets to
spatter harmlessly around US when we
came up for air. Moreover, there were
the campfireS of DavidSon'S men on the
farther bank to encourage us: and so
swimming and wading by turns. we got
across in time to give the alarum
AS you would guess. there was a
mighty stir on our side of the river when
we had splaShed ashore and got our
news well born. AS IL turned out, Gen
eral Davidson's main camp was a good
II e Il ra1~ -E
the outfields of Appleby Hundred. So it
chanced there were upon the spot only
brave Joe Graham and his fifty riflemen
to dispute the passage of an army.
What was done at Macgowan's Ford in
the gray dawn of the morning of Febru
ary /. 1871. has become page in our
history But l protest that not any Of
the chroniclers do even-handed justice to
the little band of patriot riflemen doing
their utmost to hold hundred-to-one
outnumbering host in check.
Twas fine sight. be the onlooker
Whig or Tory. The Guards. led by the
fiery Irishman. OHara.- took the water
first, the men crowding shoulder to
shoulder to brace against the sweep of
the current, which, on the western side
Of the stream. was little less than a mill
tail for swiftness. After them came the
foot and horse in solid squares. and al
ways with more to follow. None the less.
our little handful did not blanch; and
when the Guards in midstream held
straight across instead of bearing to the
on our side and the fifty FASTENED up
from the forehead as one man to face
the enemy squarely.
Now il was that the brown -barreled
rifles began to crack and spit fire; and 1
DO think if We had had our other two
hundred and fifty out of that back field
on the manor lands we might at least
have made the wading redcoats hurry
little. Indeed. II was. the of the
Guards broke here and there, and we
could hear O'Hara berating his men as
nj hat LrfS Wit
blarneyings and curses intermingled.
Having no firearms save our wetted
pistols. Jennifer and l crouched in cover.
waiting to do what two swOrdsmen
might when the blades length should
bridge the fast-na rrowing distance be-
tween us and the advancing host.
Twas in this little interval of forced
inactiOn that We heard a most IA
miliar voice issuing from a clump of
holly just below our covert; voice lifted
now in fervent prayer and again in
Scriptural anathema on the foe.
Let God arise and his inimies be
char upon a threshing fioor'-"
The sharp crack of the old borderer's
rifle hlled the momentary pause. and
British officer in a colonels uniform
swayed drunkenly in his saddle and
plunged headlong in the stream.
Let them be as the children of Am
alex before the Mighty One of Israel:
make them and their princes like oreb
like as Zebah and Zd1munna-
o my God. make them like unto a wheel.
and as the stubble before the wind; like
as the fire that burneth up the wood. and
as the flame that consumeth the noun
taius.'"
Crack went the long-barreIed piece
again. and again an officer hallooing on
his, f'oundering battalion bent to his
saddlehorn and slipped into the turbid
flood.
My gorge rose. This picking off of Of
ficers has always seemed to me the saw
n h1rharffiaQ RI
OWNED my thought and purpose, know
not; but when 1 would have slipped down
to Yeates holly bush he laid a OBTAINING
hand on my arm.
Let be-" he said, "'tis murder if you
like. but all war is that When old
Eph's turn comes. they will kill him as
relentlessly as he is killing them
BY this time the British vanguard was
storming ashore through the shadows
below the tree fringe which served as
cover for Grahams men, and the kings
and belch by platoon and volley fire.
Jennifer craned his neck and took a
swift view of the situation.
BY the Lord Harry" he cried. "'tis
high time Joe Graham was getting his
lads in order for foot race. Once those
fellows come ashore they'll play hare
and hounds with us to the kings taste.
Keep your eye on the nags. Jack. 1t may
chance US to do what two men can to
cover a belated retreat"
We had tethered our horses in a thick
ct of scrub oak where they would be out
of bullet reach until the enemy gained
the bank AS 1 looked to make sure of
them. the sorrel gave shrill neigh to
welcome the pounding of hoofs on the
Appleby road. | made sure this would
be General Davidson bringing in the
serves: and so, indeed, il was; but he
came too late. O'Hara's men were al
ready climbing the bank; and Joe Gra-
ham was rallying his little company for
flight in the face of an onset that made
the tree fringe sing. with musket balls.
"'Tis our cue to run away Dick
shouted. dragging me to my feet ITO
the horses
But now we were too late. David
sons men were between us and the
scrub oak thicket and we must wait
till the column swept by
Dick swore fervently and put his face
to the foe and his back to a tree. Where
upon dragged him down as promptly as
he had just now dragged me up. telling
him his broadsword would make but a
poor shift parrying musket-balls.
What followed after was over and done
with in dozen fluttering heart beats
Seeing the case was desperate. General
Davidson gathered Graham's fifty into
III f,,tn