Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1911-09-08

will"
Il ask your pardon. | am sure" I
returned soberly But my question
was aot altogether an idle one. /
nave CHANGED to meet several of
General Sheridan's staff, and thought
possibly Major Brennan might have
been of their number. Seeing that
We must associate for time, nat.
urally felt it would prove pleasanter
for both of us if we might discover
some mutual tie
There was no response.
The road we were following here
took sudden trend downward, and
we could tell from the sharper ring
of the hoofs. and the splitting of flinty
sparks beneath us, 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 strongly myself,
and slipping out of the saddle filled
my canteen.
Would you care for drink"
asked, stemming the stream to reach
her side, and holding the vessel with
in easy grasp of her hand
l actually believe her first impulse
was to refuse haughtily this proffered
civility from an enemy of her coun-
try, but the deep sense of need con-
quered her to accept the offering An.
other hill followed, and then another,
and finally we swept swiftly down a
long slope densely bordered by trees
and with irregular piles of rock up
rearing ugly heads on either hand |
caught swift glimpse of a rough
log house on the right, so set back
among trees that / half doubted its
real existence, when-there was a
slip, the crunching of a stone, long
stumble forward that fairly wreached
my hand loose from the woman's rein,
and then, hopelessly struggling to re-
gain his feet, my horse went down
with crash, head under, and | was
hurled heavily forward upon my face.
Craig, startled at the sudden crash be-
hind him, spurred back to learn the
full extent of my disaster. BY this
time l had regained my feet.
I'm all right I think, sergeant"
said hastily, but the sorrel has ,brok-
en- her neck"
He began to swear at our i'll luck,
but | stopped him with a gesture he
knew better than to ignore.
Enough of that" commanded,
CT 1x, Do IL,
tered 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 precipitancy that when we
once succeeded in dragging our load
to the edge, we experienced no diff
Guilty in sending it crashing down
ward The body plunged through the
thick underbrush at the bottom of the
oggre, where l knew it would be COM
pletely hidden, even in the glare of
daylight, from the spying eyes of any
troopers riding hard upon our track.
AS We rapidly worked on this disa-
greeable task, l thought and planned;
two horses and three riders-one OF
these a woman in need OF protection
"a dispatch to be delivered by day
light, at all hazards. 1t was indeed
difficult proposition, and saw only
a single possible solution. One OF our
number must press on; two of us
must remain behind. Which one?
what two? If I rode with the dis
eyar1u lnnyad IN
do SOL and succeeded In bringing
Lees message safe to Longstreet, IL
meant much to me-promouon, dls-
tinction, honor. On the other hand,
if l remained behind, and Craig sue
cessfully carried out the duty which
had been especially intrusted to me,
l should be fortunate indeed to escape
with reprimand instead OF more Sc
rious consequences If failure result
ed, it meant certain and deserved dis
grace Yet | could absolutely trust
him with the dispatch; he was a SOL
der, and would faithfully perform
soldiers duty. More, he would carry
the message with even greater GER
tainty than |, for he knew the roads
much better, and write the words
hesitatingly-I could not trust him
there alone with the woman
l glanced aside at him as thus
turned the perplexing situation over
in my mind--a tall, gaunt mountain
eer, whose sole discipline OF mind ana
body had been the army; hardened by
service until every muscle In his iean'
sinewy frame was Ike steel, cavalry
man who would follow his leader into
the very jaws of he'll, but whose NOR
ais were those of the camp, ana
whoee face revealed audacious devil
try such as no man would care to see
in one to whom he intrusted the wei
fare OF sister or wife.
Sergeant" l asked fingtng aside
the improvised brush. ''how far do you
suppose we are from Longstreets
picket Hne?" >,
"Ten miles at the very best Sir
he answered promptly, IAN reckon