The Washington herald., 1915-07-18
Edited by Mary Marshall
A SOLDIER OF
LONG AGO
By n. X. McKECHNIC.

/ or Culloden, in Scotland.
, The English soldiers swarmed over
the land. Districts that had never seen
the Kings red-coats before saw them
| now in abundance Crowds Of women
and children pleading piteously for
food followed the troops as they
marched. while broken and starving
| men roamed the wild desolate moors
| living the lives of hunted animals.
1t was late one evening after a day
Of storm and rain that a weary fugi-
tive flung himself under the shelter
of an overhanging bush on the noun
/ tain side. For two days and a night
| he had travelled necessarily. stealthily
| creeping from refuge to reruge; lit
! tie oatmeal mixed with water in the
palm of his hand had been his only
| food. Now at last he had got ahead
| by circuitous routes Of the advancing
soldiery: their camp-fres were twink
ling in valley a good dozen miles
| behind. the way in front was clear;
in the west. and he could seek hiding
places where none could ever nns
him.
With a sigh of relief he dropped to
the ground and fell into a profound
sleep
AS he slept the wind dropped and
the night grew calm and still.
AS the sun rose higher and higher
the mists that lay in the valleys be-
low began to disperse. and the faint
notes OF far-away bugle call were
borne up upon the clear mountain air;
but the man still slept-the sleep Of
utter exhaustion.
The day wore on. but it was not till
the sun began to sink in the west and
one of his beams struck its way be-
awoke
He lay without moving for few
seconds. Then. after looking carefully
around him to see there was neither
bird nor animal near that he would
startle by his movements. he began to
creep cautiously out from under the
bush His long sleep had made new
man of him. The previous night he
had been SO utterly exhausted that
he would have accepted death or cap
tivity almost with indifference.
His first glance at the sun had told
him his prolonged sleep was likely
to have plunged him afresh into dan
ger, but into what imminent danger
he little knew until when, cautiously
raising his head above the surround
ing heather. his heart almost stood
still on seeing. not fifty yards below
him, the scarlet coats and flashing
weapons of a column of the kings
troops.
Like lightning the various chances
of escape flashed through his brain.
Should he run? No; they were too
close. and he had seen horsemen
among them.
Concealment? There was no avail
able shelter other than the bush be-
meath which he had slept. What! was
there no chance for him but that
slender one? None: and in a moment
he was back. pressed far beneath it's
branches. his fingers convulsively
grasping the earth. his heart beating
so wildly as TO make his breathing
come sharp and short.
Now the sound of the tread of the
approaching soldiers reached his ear.
The mufied tramp came nearer and
nearer. Now they were close upon him
ha,- h> ,l-
over his head-he could hear the
brushing of the heather against their
CATERS
II was an awful moment But he
was not yet discovered. Some must
have passed him now Would the
others follow in the same track?
Would there be straEglers? The cold
sweat burst from his dry and weather.
beaten skin and stood thick upon his
forehead. The vision of death rose
before his eyes. then Of that fate
worse than death-the slave-planta-
tations across the seas
Still the steady tread Of the red
coats marching above continued He
found himself listening to the snatches
of conversation that came to him from
time to time. He was a gentleman,
kinsman Of his CHIEF, and had often
times been in the low-country. and
understood the English tongue
Tom looks sad" he heard one SOL
der say. What's wrong with ye,
Tom?" Tom scorched his breeches in
the village down yonder." shouted an
other in reply. He would stay look
ing for the old woman's money-bag
after the old house was fired He be
a greedy one. be Tom"
So the rude talk and Jest went on,
and none of the soldiers dreamed that
almost within touch there was a liv-
ing. auaking fellow-creature upon
whose quiverinE ears their words were
falling to be remembered as long as
memory should last.
The moments dragged like minutes,
the minutes like hours.
At times the strain became almost
and the fugitive thought
he would be obliged to spring to his
feet and dash down the hillside. He
had to shut his eyes and grind his
teeth and bury his fingers deep in tho
damp black earth to avoid giving way
to the impulse. Still the soldiers con-