Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1911-10-05

slowly down behind those western
hills We had to climb.
| AS early as we deemed 1t safe to
venture, we were again in saddle,
| riding now straight to the westward,
along the smooth beaten pike, until
We caught sight Of the black shadow
OF Cotton church, in our front; then
We swerved to the left, and still NOV
Ing rapidly but with considerable care
for the horses, headed directly across
the more broken country toward the
foothills. 1t proved to be hard, toll
some climb up those long, steep
slopes rising before us; for we were
extremely careful now to keep we'll
away from every known route of
travel, and our horses, although Sc
lected from among the best mounts of
the cavalry brigade, had already been
thoroughly winded by their smart trot
up the valley.
An hour of this work passed.
Whether or not we We're yet within
the enemy's lines was largely conjec-
ture, for no human eye could pierce
the enveloping gloom, and no sound,
either Of warning or encouragement,
reached us as We strained our ears.
The sergeant rode slightly in advance
as We toiled- up the higher terrace,
for our sole dependence as to direc-
ton and distance was upon his mem
DRY, and even that could scarcely
serve for much on such a night as
this. l traced his passage upward as
best might, and pressed close after
him, guided not SO much by sight as
by sound-the occasional rolling of a
loosened stone, the rustling of leaves
as he touched bush in passage, the
faint clinking of his sabre, and the
heavy breathing of his horse-until at
last his long, slender figure rose suf-
ficiently above the dark hill surface
to be family silhouetted in deeper
shadow against the dim reflection of
the upper sky. Almost coincidently
with this my horse ranged up beside
his, where he had drawn rein in evil
dent perplexity.
What is 1t, DAM" questioned eau
tiously; for all could feel reasonably
assured of just then was that behind
any rock or tree in our front there
might be crouching a Federal picket.
TITS nothin', Cap" he answered
quietly, turning his face toward me as
he spoke I'm just tryin' ter mem
Der some landmark yereabout ter
guide from. Blamed If ever l see such
a dark night; It's like bein' inside
pocket, sir, an reckon as how 1t
must be nigh onter ten year since I
run loose in this yere country as
kid. Thet thar cutoff we took while
back has sort O. confused me; that's
fac, and don't just know whar l
am; but reckon as how the main
ridge road we're huntin' after ought
er run somewhat out yonder" He
pointed forward into the night.
Very we'll; hand me your rein, and
see what you can discover out there
on foot. Sitting here isn't apt to
mend matters. and we surely cannot
afford to cripple our horses among
those rocks
The sergeant, gaunt, tireless
mountaineer, slipped silently from his
saddle, swung his light cavalry car
b1ne from his back to the ho;;ow Of
his arm, and In another moment was
lost to sight in the darkness. A snake
could not have slipped away more
stealthily. I heard stone rattle I'M
der his foot, a half-suppressed oath,
and then the night had completely
swallowed him.
How utterly alone | seemed; how
intensely painfully still everything
was! The silence felt almost like a
weight, so greatly 1t oppressed me.
! Even the accustomed voices of nature
were hushed, as if war, with its I'M
speakable cruelty, had cast spell
over all things animate and inanimate.
1t was weird, uncanny. With every
nerve strained, I leaned forward
across the pommel of my saddle, lis
tening for the slightest sound out in
that black void My head burned and
throbbed as with fever, and felt that
strange, unnatural stiffness as though
1t had been physical thing; surely
others besides us were upon this hill
top! For knew well-my every SOB
der instinct told me-that somewhere
out in that impenetrable mystery were
blazing the camp fires of an enemy.
Vigtlant eyes were peering every
where in search of such as We How
far away they might Turk could not
even conjecture - perhaps merely
around some projecting wall of rock,
and we might even now be within
the range of their ready rifles l
could hear the quickened throbbing of
my heart, and my hand fell heavily
on a pistol butt in nervous expect
ancy.
The soft night wind, heavy with
pine odors, began suddenly to play
amid the leaves of low tree beside
me, and the pleasant rustling mingled
like strains of music with the slow
breathing of the horses. I recall it
now as one of the loneliest moments
OF my life, one Of those almost un-
accountable conditions OF mind and
body when it seemed to me that the
thin, sinewy fingers of an inexorable