The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1913-07-16

mental condition I was amused Mt his
unique style of riding, although ]
would not wound him by laughing
II say, Cap" he said, jerking the
words out to the mules hard trot, and
grasping his saddle pommel desper
ately, Il sorter reckon as how ther'll
be some fun back thar afore long less
all signs fail
"Why?" | stared at him. now thor
oughly aroused to the thought that
he had important news to communi-
cate.
WAL" he explained slowly, "whin
ye wint off, sorter TUX a notion ter
look bout bit. Used ter be an OIL
stompin ground O. mine. So Dutchy
an me clumb thet big hill back O.
whar we halted, and by gum, down
thar In ther gully on T. other side
thar's burned big camp O. fellers."
reined up short. and with uplifted
hand signalled the men behind to
halt.
why didn't you tell me this be-
fore?' l questioned sternly. How
many were there? and what did they
look like?"
He scratched the back Of his head
thoughtfully, and answered with care
ful deliberatiOn. "Durn 1t, / didn't
jine ye till after y'd started, an
reckon as how 1t took me all O. tew
mile ter git this yere blame muel up
ter whar | cud talk. Thar's quite a
smart bunch, but they had some pick
cts out, an | cudn't git close 'nough
ter tell zackly. Dutchy thought thar
wus nigh onter two hundred o. 'em,
but | jist don't know. They wusn't
dressed like sojers O. either army, an
| reckon they're out O. ther hills"
/ glanced at my little handful Of
men, scarcely knowing what decision
it might be wise to make. Undoubt-
edly they would fight If occasion
arose, but the odds were terribly
heavy; besides, If Brennan came, and
his party got away that same even
Ing, as was planned for them to do,
then 1t might not be necessary for us
to strike blow. was certainly in
no mood to expose my small command
merely to save the empty house from
destruction.
"Ebers," / said, turning toward the
Sergeant, who sat his horse with ex-
pressionless face, you were with the
guide when he discovered this camp.
How many do you think 1t contained? /?
and who were they?"
"Vel, dere vos more as two gom-
panies, Captain, und dere vos some
horses, but dey vos dressed-vot you
calls it?-all Ober not ner samo."
"Not In uniform?"
dot vos it,
D., Have any of the rest Of you seen
anything that looked suspicious?" I
asked, glancing around into the diff
ferent faces.
Maybe 7 did," answered one of the
troopers named Earl "As we rode up
the first hill after leaving the house
my horse picked up stone, and had
to stop and get It out. l reckon l fell
behind a quarter Of a mile or more,
and just as l started l looked back,
and party Of ten or twelve fellows
was just riding In through them big
gates onto the front lawn. But them
fellows was soldiers for sure; they
rode regular like, and all Of them
wore caps. It was so far off couldn't
tell the color of their clothes, but
them caps made me think they was
Feds"
/ chose my course at once. This un-
doubtedly must have been Brennan's
party.
Thank you, my man; 1t would have
been better If you had reported that
to me at once" / said. However, |
understand the situation much better
now. Sergeant, we will go into camp
here. Post pickets in both directions,
but put your most careful men on
that hill yonder Let them report
promptly any signs of fire to the
southeast, or any sound of guns"
We completed all our cooking be-
fore dark. and when the night finally
closed down about us 1t proved to be
an exceedingly black one, although
the skies were clear. Sleep was an
impossibility for me, as my mind was
In constant turmoil.
Ebers was lying next me upon the
grass, solemnly putting at his huge
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