The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1911-10-14

sired and in darkness, her form en-
veloped In a cavalry cloak, her face
Bhrouded by the night. AS to wheth-
or 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 i'm
preston Ut was little more), and a
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
ihe 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
de-" said pleasantly; and although
spoke low, we were SO close to-
gether that my voice carried distinctly
to her ears. I'VE have been suffi-
ciently conceited to suppose that to
be an accomplishment peculiar to our
Southern women"
II have been accustomed to ride
since childhood" she replied rather
shortly, and was conscious of a re-
straint in her manner far from pleas
ing. Yet I ventured upon one more
effort at conversation.
rs Major Brennan an officer on
6heridan's staff?"
Il was not aware"-and I could not
mistake the accent vf vindictiveness
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.
have 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, l nat
urally. felt It would prove pleasante,
for both Of us If we might discove,
some mutual tie"
There was no response.
The road we were following herr
took sudden trend downward, ant
We could tell from the sharper rims
of the hoofs. and the splitting Of flint!
sparks beneath US, that we wer
among rocks once more. Then ou
horses suddenly splashed into water
and I held them up long enough t.
drink. I felt thirst strongly myself
and slipping out Of the saddle f1llet
my canteen.
Would you care for drink7"
asked, semming the stream to reacl
her side, and holding the vessel with
in easy grasp Of her hand.
I actually believe her first impuls,
was to refuse haughtily this profferet
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 6
long slope densely bordered by treet
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 bacl
among trees that I half doubted itt
real existence, when-there was {
slip, the crunching of stone, q long
stumble forward that fairly wrenchet
my hand loose from the woman's rein
and then. hopelessly struggling to re
gain his feet, my horse went dow
with crash, head under, and l wa.
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 thil
time I had regained my feet.
"Tm all right, think, sergeant"
said hastily, "but the sorrel has brok
en- her neck"
He began to swear at our Ill luck
but I stopped him with a gesture h.
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 O
sight"
On one side Of Us the bank fell ava.
with such precipitancy that when WI
once succeeded in dragging our Loaf
to the edge, we experienced no din
Guilty in sending it crashing down
ward. The body plunged through tn.
thick underbrush at the bottom of tn,
oggre, where knew it would be com
pletely hidden. even in the glare o
daylight, from the spying eyes Of an!
troopers riding hard upon our track
AS we rapidly worked on this disa
greeable task. thought and planned
two horses and three riders-one O
these a woman in need of protection
"a dispatch to be delivered by day
light, at all hazards. It was indeed
a difficult proposition, and saw onl!
a single possible solution. One of ou
number must press on; two Of III
must remain behind. Which one