Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1911-09-16
c4ApT1. v

~ 00O09 Ut vi VIZ BVVO0s a.
70 me she was merely . woman
whom It had become my duty 20 pro-
tect, and Whatever Of chivalrous feel-
lne may have held toward her was
based uDon nothing deeper than this
knovleaoe. she had como to % unde-
j, Sired and IN darkness. her form on.
vsloosA n : cavalry CLOAK. her face
4 shfoudsd by the night. Az to wheth-
- H. VA young or old I had scarce
msans oe knowing, saving only that
\ the tone q her voice and the graceful
= manner of her riding made me conf
dent that shs had not lot ~ agility
Of youth. But beyond this vague i'm
precision Ut was little mors). and .
6o0eng gleam Of the starlight In her
eyes - she faced mo In anger, was
- locally unaware Of how she really
looked - though No had never met
Her voFy name was unknown to mo.
Who was this Major Brennan! Was
~ father. brother or husband? and
was her name Brennan also? For
some reason this last possibility was
repugnant % ma Yet knew not
WY.
.Yoa ride @ though born to the sad
49, said pleasantly; and although
4 spoke low, we were 90 close to-
1sthsr that my voice carried distinctly
TO hsr ears. I'VE hsve been sum-
cisntly concsitsd 70 suppose that to
be IN accomplishment peculiar to our
Southern women
Il havs been accustomed to ride
since childhood" she replied rather
shortly, and I WAS conscious Of Q ~
btraint In her manner far from pleas
hng. Yet yentursd upon ono more
effort ct oonversation.
rs Major Brennan IN omcer On
lSheridan's starr"
mistake the accent Of vindictivsness
In her voice. that prisoners were
Obliged TO convsrss against their
wfll."
Il ask your pardon. am sure" I
returned sobsr1y. But my question
lwas not altogsthsr an Idle one. I
have chanoel - Dsst several Of
I0sneral 0hlgs1a1is stan. and thought
iposBibly Mater Brennan might have
|besn Of their number. Seeing that
We must associate for . time. nat
Iurally felt II would prove pleasantef
lfoe both Of % II We might discover
Isome mutual Tie"
There Wa9 no response.
The road We were following hero
nook . sudden trend downward. and
We could To from tho sharper ring
Iof tho hools. and the splitting Of dinty
sparks bensa&A %, that We were
among rocks once moro. Then our
lhorsss sudAsaly splashed into water.
and I held them up long enough to
drink. I felt thirst strongly myself.
|and Slipping out Of the saddle filled
my cantsen.
Would you care. for . drinkr
asked. stemming TIL stream to reach
her Side. and holding the vessel With
I'm easy grasp Of her hand.
I actually beheye her frst impulse
wee 10 rsfuse haughtily this proSered
tcivility from an enemy Of her c0un.
try, but the deep sense Of need con-
tquefed her to accept the Offering. An
and finally We swept swiftly down .
long slope denssly bordered BY trees
and with irregular piles Of rock up
bearing ugly heads on either hand. I
caught swift glimpse Of . rough
hog house on the right, 30 set back
among trees that halt doubted tn
real exfstence. when-there was .
bltp. the crunching OF . stone, long
stumble forward that fairly wrenched
ny hand loose from tho woman's rein,
and then. hopelessly struggling to re-
gain his Feet my horse went down
With q crash, head under. and was
hurled heavily forward upon my face.
Craig, startled ut the sudden crash be-
hind him. spurred back to learn the
full sxtsnt Of my disaster. By this
t1ms ! had regained my feet.
I'm al right. think. sergeant" I
said hastily. .but the sorrel has brok-
en her neck.
He began 70 swear at our Ill luck,
but stopped him with q gesture hs
knew bettsr han to ignore.
s. Enough of that" commanded.
btarnly. bad fortune 10 seldom bet
ltsssd By hard words. First Of all,
lhssp mo to drag this dsad body out Of
tii6At"
4 On 90 ode Of % the hank fen away
lwfn inch precipitancy that when we
onbo succssded IN dragging our load
10 ~ edge. We experienced no dim
cu3ey n sending It crashing down.
Ewaf1. The BODY plunged through the
ltAfck undsrbTush at the bottom Of the
IogS1s. whore knew It would be conn
b3Nely hidden, even in the glare Of
DAYLIGHT from IL spying eyes Of any
Itroopars f1ding hard upon our track.
AS We rapidly worked on this disc
greoabls task. ! thought and planned;
Iltyx horses and three riders-one Of
silA0oo Z WOMAN Il need oe protection
- dispatch 70 b delivered BY day
el3Ak q al hazards. It was indeed
H. 1lecuk proposition. and saw only
l. a1ele possible solution. One Of our
lnu1lof must press on; two Of W
tmuSt re1nA1n behind. Which one?
WIT two? II rode with the dis
a4eA tand how eagerly longed to
AZ ysol) and succeeded IN bringing
Leoie Neg6aoe safs. to Longstreet, It
lmSent naneA 90 ms-promotion. dis.
if1nel1on, honor. On the othsr hand.
~ I rsnainels behind, and Craig sue
iOo1 sfully Carried out the duty which
- - socially intrustpd to me.
~.