Rural Retreat times. [volume] (Rural Retreat, Va.) 1892-1918, 1912-04-05

to the aid of his wife, but as he ig-
offered her my arm, and silently led
| the way to the room designated. the
others following as best they might
The apartment was unoccupied. exhib-
iting no signs of the late struggle, and
! found comfortable resting places for
all Miss Minor was yet sobbing soft
ly, her face hidden upon her moth
er's shoulder. and l felt constrained
to speak with her.
Il shall go at once I said kindly
Ito ascertain all can regarding Lieu
tenant Cation. and will bring you
word"
She thanked me with a glance of
her dark eYes clouded with tears, but
as ! turneA hastily away to execute
this errand. Mrs. Brennan laid re-
straining hand upon my arm
Captain Wayne" she said with
much seriousness. you are very I'm
selfish, but you must not go until
your own wounds have been attended
to; they may be far more serious
than you appreheEd."
AS gazed at her. surprised by the
anxiety she SO openly displayed,
CHANGED to behold myself reflected
within large mirror directly across
the room. One glance was sufficient
to convince me her words were fully
Justified. My remains of uniform lit
orally chung to me in rags, my bare
shoulder looked a confused mass of
battered flesh, my hair was matted,
and my face blackened by powder
stains and streaked with blood.
i certainly do appear disreputable
enough, ! admitted; but can u.s.
sure you 1t is nothing sufficiently Sc
rious to require immediate attention y
AS | stepped without and closed the
door behind me, was at once start
led by the rapid firing of shot from
the rear of the house, and the next
moment encountered the young. red
faced officer hurrying along the hall
way at the head squad of Federal
cavalrymen. Recognizing me in the
gloom of the passage he, paused sud
| denly.
i owe you belated apology, Cap
TAIN" he exclaimed cordially. "for hav-
ing mistaken you for one of those mis-
creants, but really your appearance
was not fattering."
Having viewed myself since within
mirror replied, Il am prepared to
acknowledge the mistake a most nat
ural one However. | am grateful to
be out of the scrape, and can scarcely
find fault with my rescuers. Five min
utes more would have witnessed the
end"
I'VE rode hard" he said, land were
in saddle within fifteen minutes after
the arrival of your courier. You evi-
IDENTIFY made hard fight of it; the
house bears testimony to a terrible
struggle. We are rejoiced to learn
that Lieutenant Cation was merely
stunned; we believed him dead at
first, and he is far too fine fellow
to go in that way"
He is truly living, them" ex-
claimed. greatly relieved. Miss MI
nor. to whom he is engaged, is sor-
rowing over his possible fate in the Ii
brary yonder. Could not two of your
men assist him to her? She would
do more to hasten his recovery than
any one"
Certainly" was the instant re-
spouse. "Haines. you and Mcdonald
get the officer out of the front room;
carry him in there where the ladies'
are, and then rejoin u.s."
left, remembering then my own
need. BY using the back stairway I
avoided unpleasant contact with the
traces of conflict yet visible at the
front of the house. and finally discov-
cred bathroom which afforded facilt-
ties for cleansing my flesh wounds
and making my general appearance
more presentable. found l could do
little to improve the condition of my
clothing. but after making such
changes for the better as were pos
sible, soaking the clotted blood from
out my hair. and washing the powder
stains from my face, | felt l should
no longer prove an object of aversion
even to the critical eyes of the women,
who would fully realize the cause for
my torn and begrimed uniform.
glance from the window told me
the Federal cavalrymen were bearing
out the dead and depositing them be-
yond view of the house in the desert
ed negro cabins Ebers and one or
two OF my own men were standing
near. carefully scanning the uncovered
ftces as they were borne past, while
scraps of conversation overheard
brought the information that the long
dining room where | had passed the
night on guard had been converted in
to temporary hospital.
lrresolute as to my next action, |
passed out into the upper hall 1t was
deserted and strangely silent. seem
ingly far removed from all those ter
rible scenes so lately enacted in the
rooms beneath. My head by this time
throbbed with pain; | desired to be
alone. to think, to map out my future
course before proceeding down the
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