The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1905-11-09

CHApTER XXNIX.-Continned.

ing of the mountain men. AT noon Ma
jor Ferguson sent q final express tc
Lord CORVALLIS, urging the hurrying
on of the reinforcements, not knowing
that his former dispatch had been in
.t~ercepted, nor that Tarleton had not as
get started to the rescue. A little later
the scouts began to come in one by one
with news of the approaching rihemen
There was but a small body of them
not above a thousand men in all, so the
spies said, and my heart misgaVe me
They We're without cannon II they
lacked bayonets. and moreover, wher
all was said, they were but militia, al
untried save in border warfare with
the Indians. Gould they successfully
assault the fortified camp whose de
fenders-thanks to the majors ingen.
uity-had fitted butcher knives to the
muzzles of their long guns in lieu OF
~bayonets? Nay, rather would they
have the courage to try?
Twas late in the afternoon before
these questions were answered. The
rain had ceased, and the chill October
sunlight filtered aslant through the
trees. With the clearing skies a colo
wind had sprung up, and on the hill
top the men covered behind the rock
b~reastwork and waited in strained ST.
lence. At the last moment Major Fer
guson sent Captain de Peyster to me
with the request that l take command
of the Tory force set apart to defend
the wagon barricade-thiS II my Weari-
ness would permit. 1 went with the
captain to make my excuses in per-
son.
Say no more, Captain" said this
generous soldier, when [ began some
lame plea for further exemption; " !
had forgot our sword-cut. Take shell
ter for yourself, and look on whilst we
skin this riffraff alive"
And SO he let me off; q favor which
will make me think kindly of Patrick
Ferguson SO long as I shall live. For
now my work was done; n had he
insisted, I should have told him fatty
who and what I Was-and paid the
penalty.
1 had scarce rejoined Tybee at the
wagons when the long roll of the drums
broke the silence of the hilltop, and a
volley fire of musketry from the rock
b~reastwork on the right told us the
battle was on. Tybee gave me n last
leproachful look and stood out to see
what could be seen, and 1 stood with
him.
Your friends are running" he said,
when there was no reply to the opening
volley; and truly, I feared he was right.
AT the bottom Of the slope, scattering
groups Of the rihemen could be seen
Fastening to right and left. But I
would not admit the charge to Tybee.
Il think not" I objected, denying the
apparent fact "They have come too
far and too fast to turn back now for
a single overshot volley."
But they'll never face the fire up
the hill with the bayonet to cap it at
the top he insisted.
Tha remains to be seen; we shall
know presently. All, l thought so; here
they comet"
At the word the f~orest-covered steep
at our end Of the hill sprang alive with
dun-clad figures darling upward from
tree to tree. Volley after volley thun-
dered down upon them as they climbed
but not once did the lodging charge
up the slope pause or falter. Unlike
all other irregulars 1 had ever seen,
whose idea Of battle is to let off the
piece n run, these mountain men
held their fire like veterans, closing in
upon the hilltop steadily and in a grim
silence broken only by the shouting en-
couragenents of the leaders-this until
their circling line was completed.
Then suddenly from all sides of the
b~eleaguered camp arose a yell to shake
the stoutest courage and with that
the w~ood-covered slopes began to spit
fire, not In volleys, but here and there
in irregular snappings and cracklings
49, SAAcN oi ~ q llld II
to pull trigger on.
The effect of this fine bead target
practtce-for it was naught else-was
most terrific. All along the b~reastwork,
front and rear, crouching men sprang
up at the rifle crackings to fling their
arms all abroad and to fall writing
and wrestling in the death throe. At
our end Of the hill. where the rock
barrier was thi7nest. the slaughter was
/ q o1liT - n M - I---z A.. H. -
firearms We could hear the beloved
commands OF the sturdy old Indian
fighter, Benjamin Cleaveland, urging
his men up To still. closer quarters. "A
little nearer, my brave boys; a little
nearer n we have them! Press on up
to the rocks. They'll be as good a
breastwork from our side as from
theirs"
You viii read in the histories that
the Tory helpers of Ferguson fought
as men with haIters round their necks;
and so, indeed, a-many of them did.
But thought they We're most pitiless
enemies of ours, l bear them witness
that they did fight well and bravely,
and no as men who fight for fears
sake.
And they were most bravely differed.
Major Ferguson, boldly conspicuous in
a white linen hunting shirt drawn over
M5 uIiLOtiu, Was mere ana there ana
everywhere. and always in the place
where the bullets flew thickest. His
left hand had been hurt at the first
patriot fire, but 1t still held the
silver whistle to his lips, and the shrill
skirling of the little pipe was the
loyalist rallying signal. Captain de
Peyster, too, did ample justice to HI
uniform he wore; and when Campbelrs
Virginians gained the summit at the
far end of the hilltop, twas de Peyste1
who led the bayonet charge that forced
| the patriot riflemen some little way
down the slope.
But these are digressions. No mar
| sees more of a battle than that little
circle of which he is the center; and
the fighting was hot enough at the
Wagon barricade to keep both Tybee
and me from knowing at the time what
was going OF beyond our narrow range
Of sight or hearing. You must picture
therefore, for yourselves, a very devils
pandemonium let loose upon the little
hilltop SO soon as the mountain mer
gained their vantage ground at the
fronting of the rock breastwork; cries;
frantic shouts of God save the kinet,
yells fierce and wordless; men in rec
and men In homespun rushing madl,
hither and yon in a vain attempt t.
repel o front and rear attack al. The
& Go 49, - AHE T--- 49, I-r REN