Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1908-11-27

uDon a noble work Il Rrt reared upon
that commanding elniNblce to comment
oratc the deeds Of all heroic past, OF
which he had been an inglorious part.
The feeling was disPclled by a slight
movement of the group; the horse,
without moving its feet, lad drawn ls
body slightly backward from the
verge the man remained immovable
as before. Broad awake and keenly
alive to the Significance OF the sltua-
ton, Druse now brought the butt or
his rifle against his check by cautiously
pushing the barrel forward through
the bushes, cooked the piece, ana,
CHANGING through the sights, covered u
vital spot of the hOrscmun'S breast. a
touch upon the trigger and all would
have been well with Carter Druse. AL
that instant the horseman turned MS
head and looked In the direction or his
concealed Commissioned to look INTO
his very face, into his eyes, into his
brave compassionate heart.
Is it, then, SO terrible to kill an enc
my in war-an enemy who has sur
prised Il secret vital to the safety OF
ones self and comrades-an enemy
more formidable for his knowledge
than all his army for its numbers. Car
ter Druse grew deathly pale; he shook
In every limb he turned faint, and saw
the statuesque group before him rs
black figures, rising, falling, moving
unsteadily in arcs OF cirCies in a fiery
sky. His hand fell away from his
weapon his head slowly dropped I'M
til his head rested on the leaves in
which he lay. This courageous gentle
man and hardy soldier was nearly
swooning from intensity Of emotion.
It was not for long another moment
his face was raised from the earth, his
hands resumed their place on the rifle.
his forefinser sought the trigger; mind,
heart and eyes were clear, conscience
and reason sound. He could not hope
to capture that enemy; to alarm him
would be to send him dashing into his
camp with his fatal news. The duty
of the soldier was plain-the NJ must
be shot dead from ambush-without
warning, without a moments spiritual
preparation, with never SO much as an
unspoken prayer he must be sem to his
account. But, no-there is hope; he
may have discovered neutrality-suspicious.
he is but adMiring the sublimity OF
the landscape. If permitted, he may
turn and ride carelessly away in the
direction whence he came. Surely 1t
will be possible to judge at the instant
Of his withdrawing whether he knows.
1t may well be that his ixity of atten-
tion-Druse turned his head and look
ed below, through the deeps Of air
downward, as from the surface to the
bottom or a translucent sea. He saw
creeping across the green meadow a
sinuolrs line Of figures of men and
horses-sone foolish commander was
permitting the soldiers to water their
beasts in plain view Of a hundred sum-
mits!
Druse withdrew his eyes from the
valley and fixed them again upon the
group Of man and horse in the sky, and
again it was through the sight Of his
rifle. By his time the aim was at the
horse. In his memory as if. they were
Il divine mandate, ang the words of
his father at parting: "Whatever may
occur, do what you conceive to be your
duty" He was calm cow. His teeth
were firmly but not rigidly closed; his
nerves were as tranquil as a sleeping
babe's-not a tremor affected any mus
Gle Of his body; his breathing, until
SUSPENDED in the act Of taking aim,
was regular and slow. Duty had con-
quered; spirit had said to the body:
"Peace, be STILL" He fired.
At that moment an officer Of the Fed
| eral force, who, in a spirit Of adventure
or in quest Of knowledge, had left the
hidden bivouac in the valley, and, with
| aimless feet, had made his way to the
| lower edge Of a small open space near
| the foot Of the cliff, was considering
| what he had to gain by pushing his
| exploration further. AS a distance OF
a ouarter-mile before him, but appar-
entity at a stones throw, rose from its
fringe Of pines the gigantic face Of
rock, towering to SO great a height
! above him hat it made him siIdy to
look I'D to where it's edge cut a sharp,
rugged line against the sky. At some
uESLiuCc away " Mo iiDAI
a clean, vertical profile against a back
| ground Of blue Sky to a point half Of
| the way down, and of distant hills
hardly less blue, thence to the tops of
teh trees at it's base. Lifting his eyes
to the dizzy altitude Of its summit, the
| officer saw an astonishing siGht-a man
on horseback riding down into the val
low thrpy,Uh tho mir
Straight upright sat the rider, In
| military fashion, with a firm seat IN
the saddle. a strong clutch upon thu
rein to hold his charger from too i'm
petuous a plunge. From his bare head
his long hair streamed upward. a
| ing like a plume. Ills right hand was
! concealed in the cloud of the horses
| lifted name. The animals body was as
level as If every hoof-stroke 0
| tered the resistant earth. Its motions
! we're those of a wild gallop, but even
as the officer looked they ceased, with
all the legs thrown sharply forward
as in the act OF alighting from a leap.
| But this was a flight.
Filled with Amusement and terror
by this apparation of a horsema In
he sky-half believing himself the