The Irish standard., 1911-10-07

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 a physical thing; surely
others besides us were upon this hill
top! For knew well-my every SOL
der instinct told me-that somewhere
out in that impenetrable mystery were
blazing the camp fires of an enemy.
Vigilant 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 a low tree beside
me, and the pleasant rustling mingled
like strains of music with the slow
breathing of the horses. I recall 1t
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
fate were closing down with a pres
sure which no strength of man might
resist. I was worn with fatigue In
the saddle, but did not dream Of
sleep; my mind, in firm endeavor
to cast aside the uncanny influences
of the hour, recalled in swift piano.
rama those three years of civil strife
which had run their course since I,
slender, white-faced lad, had stolen
forth into the moonlight from the por-
tails of the old home, to ride away into
the northward where the throbbing
drums called me. So deeply had my
every thought become merged in
these musings that Craig slipping ST.
lently as a ghost from out the engulf-
Ing darkness, laid hand upon my
bridle-rein before I became aware OF
his approach.
II got 'er all right now, Cap" no an
nounced quietly, peering up into my
face. I'VE uns are not more nor a
hundred yards ter the right of the
road, but l reckon you'll find Their way
bit rough"
He led both horses forward, NOV
ing slowly and with that silent eau
ton SO characteristic of his class.
With scarcely the scraping of hoof
on the hinty rocks we came forth in
safety upon the defined, hard-beaten
track. .,,~.
1.-THE south is over yonder ter the
left" he whispered, as he swung up
into saddle, IAN the trend of the road
is mighty nigh due west"
But in which direction does their
main camp lie, sergeant"
"Durn 1t; thets Just what can't
quite figure out. sir-whether we uns
be to Their north or south OF Their
white church. Then, somehow or 9TH
er, 1t seems like to me as If this
yere road lay a bit too close ter the
edge of Their plateaps ter ever be the
main pike what the Feds marched
over. reckon from Their direction
1t runs that maybe 1t might be a
branch like, or q wood-road leadin'
inter the other. If thet's the way it
is, then them fellers we uns is tryin'
ter dodge ought ter be down yonder
ter the left somewhat"
gazed vaguely out into the black
vacancy to which he pointed.
"Well, If We should chance to run
up against one Of their picket posts
We shall soon be enlightened" re-
turned, urging my horse carefully for
ward. But we shall have to take
the chances, for it would not prove
healthy for either Of US to be caught
here by daylight"
Not daring to venture on any gait
faster than a walk along this unknown
and ill-defined mountain trail, we SLOW
ly and cautiously worked our way
forward for more than an hour, meet
Ing with no human obstacle to our
progress, yet feeling that each step
forward was surrounded by imminent
peril. That we were now we'll within
the guarded lines Of the enemy
We we're both assured, al
though where or how we had succeed
ed In penetrating the Gordon of picket
posts unobserved we could only con-
lecture.
CHAPTER III.