Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-12-08
CHAPTER XIV.
IN WHICH WE FIND WHAT WE
NEVER SOUGHT.

from the grazing uplands or the Broad
known as the Cowpens TO the lower
plantation region lying between that
stream and the further Catawba or
Wateree; and Richard Jennifer and i
amlSed the distance leisurely, as beflt-
led our mission and disguise, cutting
the journey evenly in half for the first
nights lodging, which we had at the
house of one Philbrick-as hot a tory
as we prenteded to be.
From our host of the night we
earned that within two days the Brit
ssh o~utposts on the Wateree n the
Broad had been advanced and h a
there were rumorS in the air that Lord
CORVALLIS, who was hourly expecting
General Leslie with two thousand of
sir Henry Clinton's men from New
York, would presently move on to the
Iong-deferred conquest OF North Caro-
Ina.
HAS CORVALLIS lost his wits?" Dick
would say, when we were a-jog on he
southwark road again. tbs a Drawer
lordling than / gave him cred
It for being--if he VIII put
his head in a trap that will
close behind him and cut him off from
his line and base"
1 laughed. You may wager Jennifer
House against an acre of the Cowpens
that Lord Charles will do no such UNI
soldierly thing. If this m be true,
we have heard only the half of it,
"And the other half will be-
THAT my Lord CORVALLIS will do his
prettiest to pun the teeth of one or the
other OF the trapjaws before he trusts
himself within them"
J~ennifer was silent for an ambling
minute or two. Then he said: twill
be our teeth he'll try to pull, then. The
Broad is nearer than the Pedee; and
ours lis the weaker of the two jaws"
Right you are" said ]. And now
we know what we have to discover. "
'Anan?' he queried.
I'VE must earn by hook or crook who
is to be sent against Dan Morgan, and
when"
THAT should be easy-if the use of It
afterward tie not choked out of us at
a ropes end"
1--WE can divide the ropes end chance
of failure by two. We may work to-
gether as the opportunity offers, but
once within the lines we must pass as
strangers to each other, or at most as
chance acquaintance of the road
Good said he; and then his jaw
dropped. But what il n of us be
taken? Never ask me TO stand by
stranger wise and see o hanged,
Jack!'
II shall both ask it and promise to
do the same by you. Your hand on 1t
before we go a step farther, If you
please"
TITS out of all reason" he demurred.
"'Tis the only reasonable course. Be
think you, this is no knight-errant ven-
ture; we are two of Dan Morgan's sol
diers bent upon doing a thing most
needfnl of the welfare of the country
and It's cause, 'Tis a duty higher than
any obligation friendship lays on Rich
ard Jennifer or John I%reton."
At this he yielded the point, though
/ could see that the proposal jumped
little with the promptings of his gen.
erous heart.
'Tis a scurvy trap you have set for
me- he grumbled. The risk is chiefly
yours, and you know 1t. You are known
TO Lord CORVALLIS, and TO God Knows
how many more of them, and belize
The interruption came In the shape
OF a troop OF redcoat horsemen gal
looping In the road to meet us. and we
were shortly surrounded and put
sharply to the question. We answered
each for himself. Dick was a loyalist
from Yorkville a eager TO be set in
arms against the bandit Daniel Nor
gan. i was a refugee from hornets
nest" Mecklenburg, also bent upon re-
venge
The troop officer passed US on, ONE
thing doubling. as / suspected. But we
were riding in h right direction, n
he was unwilling to clog himself with
"a pair of plain country gentlemen held
In leash as prisoners,
A few miles farther down the road
the same brace Of lies got us safely
through the loosely drawn vedette line.
and by evening we We're in sight of our
goal.
Viewing it from the rising ground of
approach, Winnsborough appeared less
as a town than as a partly fortified
camp. The few houses OF the village
were lost in the field Of tents, huts and
troop shelters, and measuring by the
spread of these, ii would seem that my
Corvallis army a been con-
siderably augmented since / had last
seen ii In Charlotte. l spoke OF this.
but Dick was intent upon the business
OF the moment,
Aye. there are enough OF them, God
knows. But tell me, Jack-Tm new to
this g~ame-whnt's TO do first when we
are among them?"
/ laughed at him. You are my troop
err commander, Captain Jennifer. Ills
for you to make the dispositions"
Have your joke and be hanged to
you. There are no captains here"
IF you leave 1t TO me. we shall ride
boldly TO the tavern. put up as travel
ers, and listen to h gossips. each for
himself ! replied; and this is what We
did.
The village tavern. servilely bearing
the king's arms thinly painted owe the
palmetto tree Of South Carolina on its
swinging sign board. was q miserable
doggery. full 20 ~overfiowing with =