Middletown transcript., 1911-10-28

sired and In DARKNESS Ker form q
Yeloped in q cavalry cloak, her face
shrouded by the night Az TO wheth'
eY she was young or old had scarce
means Of knowing, saving only that
the tone Of her voice and the graceful
manner OF her riding made me conf.
dent that she had not lost the agility
of youth. But beyond this vague Inn
preston (it was little more), and q
feeting CLEAN Of the starlight IN her
eyes as she faced me In anger, was
as totally unaware of how she really
looked as though we had never met.
Her very name was unknown to me.
Who was this Major Brennan? WaS
he father, brother or husband? and
was her name Brennan also? For
some reason this last possibility was
repugnant to me. Yet I knew not
why.
"You ride as though born to the sad
die" l said pleasantly; and although
spoke low, we were so close to-
gether that my voice carried distinctly
to her ears. I've have been sufl-
ciently conceited to suppose that to
be an accomplishment peculiar to our
Southern women"
'T have been accustomed to ride
since childhood" she replied rather
shortly, and l was conscious Of re-
straint in her manner far from pleas
ing. Yet l ventured upon one more
effort at conversation.
'Ts Major Brennan an officer on
Sheridan's starr"
Il was not aware"-and / could not
mistake the accent of Yindictiveness
in her voice-"that prisoners were
obliged to converse against their
will"
II ask your pardon, am sure, /
returned soberly. But my question
was not altogether an idle one. I
have chanced 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 a time, nat
uralIy 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 finty
sparks beneath us, that we were
among vgcks once more. Then our
horses suddenly splashed into water,
and 1 held them up long enough to
drink. l felt thirst strongly myself,
and slipping out of the saddle filed
my canteen.
Would you care for a drink?" l
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 a swift glimpse of a rough
log house on the right, so set back
among trees nat l half doubted its
real existence, when-there was a
sip, the crunching of stone, a long
stumble forward that fairly wrenched
my hand loose from the woman's rein,
and then, hopelessIy struggling to re-
gain his feet, my horse went down
with crash, head under, and l 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 had regained my feet.
I'm all right, think, sergeant"
said hastily, but the sorrel has brok,
en- her neck
He began to swear at our Ill luck,
but stopped him with a gesture he
knew better than to ignore.
Enough Of that" commanded,
sternly. bad fortune is seldom bet
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 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, 1 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
a difficult proposition, and l saw only
a single possible solution. One Of our
number must press on; two Of US
must remain behind. Which one?
what two? If rode with the dis
patch (and how eagerly / longed to
do SOD and succeeded In bringing
Lees message safe to Longstreet, 1t
meant much to me-promotion, dis
ttnction, honor. On the other hand,
II remained behind, and Craig sue
cessfully carried out the duty which
had been especially intrusted to me,
| should be fortunate indeed to escape
with a reprimand instead of more Sc
rtous consequences. If failure result
ed, it meant certain and deserved dis
grace. Yet l could absolutely trust
him with the dispatch; he was sol
der, and would faithfully perform a
soldier's duty. More, he would carry
the message with even greater Ger.
taiuty than /. for he knew the roads
much better, and-T write the words
hesitatingly-I could not trust him
there alone with the woman.
/ glanced aside at him as I thus