Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-01-04
CHAPTER v.
A Disaster on the Road.


nothing deeper than this knowledge. She
had come to US undesired and in dark
ness, her form enveloped in a cavalry
cloak, her face shrouded by the night. As
to whether she was young or old 1 had
scarce means of knowing, saving only
that the tone of her voice and the grace
full manner of her riding made me con-
fdent that she had not lost the agility of
youth. But beyond this vague impression
tit was little more), and f1eetfng CLEAN
OF the starlight in her eyes as she faced
me in anger / was as totally unaware of
how she really looked as though we had
never met Her very name was unknown
TO me. Who was this Major Brennan?
was he father, brother or husband? And
was her name Brennan also? For some
reason this last possibility was repug-
nant to me. Yet 1 knew not why.
L turned these thoughts over in my
mind, specializing idly upon them. not
because l felt any interest in their solu-
ton, or in the woman riding at my side.
but because they seemed to fall into Or
der to the steady music of my horses
feet and the darkness of the night. No"
L said to myself, there is certainly no
leaving her except in a disciplined camp;
young or old, Yankee or what not, she is
in our care, and We'll keep her out of the
hands of those cutthroats between the
lines"
1 glanced toward her, wondering what
the morning light might reveal as TO her
easy in the saddle, yet seemed to ride
with her face averted from me.
You ride though born to the sad
die / said, pleasantly; and, although l
spoke low, we were SO close together that
my voice carried distinctly to her ears.
I'VE have been sufficiently conceited to
suppose that to be an accomplishment
peculiar to our southern women"
L have been accustomed to ride since
childhood" she replied, rather shortly,
and l was conscious of a restraint in her
manner far from pleasing. Yet / ventured
upon one more effort at conversation.
rs Major Brennan an officer on Sheri-
dams stafT?'
Il was not aware'-and I could not mis-
take the accent of vindictiveness in her
voice-"that prisoners were obliged to
converse against their will"
My lady certainly possessed a temper
of her own, and / was obliged to smile
there in the dark at her high head and
quick retort.
Il ask your pardon, 1 am sure" I re-
turned, Soberly. But my question was
not altogether an idle one have chance,
to meet several of General Sheridans
staff, and thought possibly Ma jor Bren-
nan might have been of their number.
Seeing that we must associate for a time,
I naturally felt it would prove pleasanter
for both of us if we might discover some
mutual tie
There was no response. Her eyes were
fastened upon the road ahead, and evil
IDENTIFY my lady possessed no desire for
the discovery of any such tie. Watching
her, l pressed my lips together and
held her as proud and silly fool.
l would perform my full duty toward her,
of course, but beyond that / would go no
further.
The pace we were travelling had already
told severely on the horses, although hers
was by far the best and freshest of the
three. My own brave sorrel had stumbled
several times already in a way that gave
me small uneasiness, yet l burst not
venture to dra rein laCken Speed
Already, beyond a doubt the patrol in our
rear had missed the picket stationed at the
crossroads, had searched until they found
the lifeless body where Craig had hidden
it, and were now hot upon our trail. Hard,
continuous riding alone could save US
riding with a thoroughly aroused enemy at
our heels. and yet another picket line to
pass before We could even hope for a clear
sweep into safety.
The road we were following here took a
sudden trend downward, and we could tell
from the sharper ring of the hoofs and the
splitting of fiinty sparks beneath that
we were among rocks once more. Then our
horses suddenly splashed into water, and
held them up long enough to drink. l felt
thirst stongly myself. and, slipping out of
the saddle, filled my canteen
Would you care for a drink" / asked.
stemming the stream to reach her side, and
holding the vessel within easy grasp of her
hand
1 actually believe her first impulse was to
refuse haughtily this proffered civility from
an enemy of her country, but the deep sense
of need conquered foolish pride, and caused
her to accept the Offering
Il very thankful to YOU" she said
handing back the canteen; vet the words
were spoken in mockery. 1 ignored them,
and swung into my saddle without re-
Spouse.
Another hill followed, and then another.
and finally we swept swiftly down a long
slope densely bordered by trees and with
irregular piles of rock appearing ugly heads
on either hand. A little edge of the
waning moon began to peep over the ridge
of the hill, and yielded sufficient light to
enable our eyes to discern dimly the faint
track we followed 1 remember remarking
the blacker figure of the sergeant ahead of
u.s. and already half way down the long
decline. l caught a swift glimpse of a
rough log house on the right so set back
among trees that 1 half doubted its real
crunching of a stone. a long stumble for
ward that fairly wrenched my hand loose
from the womans rein. and then, hope
iessiy struggling to regain his feet. my
horse went down with crash, head under
and was hurled heavily forward upon my
face.
Severely bruised by the shock, but fortu-
nately without broken bones, recall half
prisoner would grasp this opportunity for
escape. Quite probably the thought never
occurred to her; perhaps her womans
heart. In the stress of such accident, held
sudden crash behind him, spurred back to
learn the full extent of my disaster BY
this time l had regained my feet
I'm all right l think, sergeant" I said
hastily, but the soller has broken her
neck
He began to swear at our ill-luck but /
stopped him with a gesture he knew better
than to ignore.
Enough of that 1 commanded sternIv.
Bad fortune is seldom bettered by hard
words. First of all, help me to drag this
dead body out of sight"
On one side of us the bank fell away with
such precfpitancy that when we
once succeeded in dragging our load
to the edge, We experienced no difficulty in
sending it crashing downward. The body
plunged through the thick underbrush at
the bottom of the gorge. where l knew it
would be completely hidden even in the
glare of daylight, from the prying eyes of
any troopers riding hard upon our track.
With a branch, hastily wrenched from a
nearby tree. / carefully raked over the
track so that, as far as l could determine
in the dim light, all outward trace of my
accident had been fairly obIiterated.
AS We rapidly worked on this disagree
able task, thought and planned; two horses
and three riders-one of these latter a wo-
man in need of protection-a dispatch to be
delivered by daylight. at all hazards 1t
was indeed difficult proposition, and l
saw only single possible solution. One
OF our number must press on; two of us