Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-04-12


to the station at Vreachan, he has left
his marks. There was rain last nigh"
| had not so much hope myself. but
his plan was the only one before us,
i and SO we directed our steps toward
this crossroad. Down the valley came
the cry Of cock pheasant, and then
with whizzing and whirring Of wings
a covey sailed out of the deeps, be-
4 came momentary buzz about our
heads and disappeared into the brack-
en- beyond.
I'VE didn't startle those" said Mont
gomery.
How do you known" asked, though
the matter seemed Indifferent.
"Oh, / know pheasantsr' said Mont
gomery emphatically. They've been
scared down in the bottom there"
"You mean began.
Don't let's talk so loud,' urged the
boy. There's some one down there"
The notion put new blood into us all.
mo noise this time,'' said I, in warm
! ing, land no discovery. Let us go
ahead slowly"
1t was impossible to proceed through
that bracken without some sound, the
fern lay so thick about our legs. But
we moved with the utmost caution,
silently making for the distant patch
| of forest whence the pheasants had
started. No word was spoken be-
/ tween us, but we communicated by
gestures, which were just visible in
the faint starlight. Drawing close in
this manner, we halted at length upon
the margin of the spot over which our
suspicious brooded. Sheppard crawled
stealthily forward, and after a time
we followed him. He caught my arm
and pointed to the ground.
..Some one has passed here" he whis-
pered. Were on side track"
$50 much the BETTER" I answered in
the same voice. 1--WE shall make less
noise in walking"
| With that we resumed our way with
the same microscopic caution, and must
have covered, as should guess, about
the quarter Of mile, when suddenly
| Sheppard came to a pause.
Hear anything?" he murmured in
my ear.
| shook my head
II believe they're just ahead-several
of them," he continued "Step lightly,
for heavens sakew
] | needed no reminder, nor did Mont
gomery. We were like church service
for solemnity, and crept rather than
walked as we stalked closer upon our
prey All of a sudden Montgomery,
who was walking just before me, drop
ped on his knee and moved his hand
back to me. / followed his example
and crawled on all tours toward him.
"What is it," I asked.
There's some one behind that tree"
he whispered, pointing to huge oak
some ten feet from the path.
There ensued a deep silence, and
then, just as l began to find my posi-
ton intolerable and was thinking of
changing my feet, a twig cracked in
the forest and there came noise as
of feet among the dry leaves.
'sWhat shall we do?" he asked.
| To say the truth, had no idea, but
| it was plain that if we had been seen,
concealment was of no further use, and
if we had not, that the spy could not
now discover us through the under
growth. So we resumed our path,
rather speedily, and caught up with
Sheppard. He came to meet US in
state of excitement, laying his arms
upon our shoulders and drawing our
heads together.
NHood, as l liver he cried in a whis-
per.
"Did you see himg we both spoke at
once.
"Yes, he came from behind me and
crossed just in front. Lad barely
time to fall, and the light just took him
in the eyes. We're safe now"
Our hearts were full Of triumph,
and we pushed on with no more talk.
1t was possible that he had not seen
US, but | doubted that If he had, he
would throw his party forward with
greater speed. We were now, how
ever, upon his track, and we were sat
isfied, and each man loosened his PTS
toll and grit himself for the eventual
encounter That Hood would show
! fight / had no doubt, and it was more
than probable that he would endeavor
to trick us. We must be on the watch
for treachery. We wound along the
track for the better part of an hour.
now getting news o. TIE enemy and
again leaving space for them to get
away when our neighborhood seemed
in peril Of discovery. We had agreed
to postpone the attack until the party
reached its goal If Hood had not seen
us (and was now disposed y believe
that he had not that goal would even
tually be the hiding place Of the treas
ure. This was how we comforted our
selves, and upon this faith our spirits
rose to high pitch.
BY this time we had lost count Of
our direction in the innumerable wind
ings of the path, but apparently we
were now mounting hill, and judy