The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1917-12-13
A Pursuing
Shadow
By ELLIOTT FOSTER

"Captain." sad the general, here is
a dispatch Of Importance which l wish
you to deliver at once to General Tay. |
lor. l do not think there are any Mex
leans in the region between our two
separate forces. but there may be. You
a either take an escort or scout your
way alone"
Captain Allen Duane paled. His gen.
eral looked at his aid -de-camp curious
~, wonderingly. for he knew him to be
a brave man, then asked, (which
course will you adopt?'
II shall scout through alone"
AS If the captain had chased away q
disagreeable suspicion as to his cour-
age, the general turned complacently to |
other matters.
What was it that caused the color
m~omentarily to leave the cheek Of the |
young officer at being ordered up = an |
ordinary duty? He did not know him. !
self. He knew only that some vague !
message had come to him to tell him
that this would be to him a night Of
what? He did not know. More in fear
Of cowardice than danger, he shook off
the disagreeable impression, which
melted before his resolution like mist
before the sun.
Riding to the outposts. he left his
horse and moved away into the debata-
BILE land held by neither American nor
Mexican. A young moon shone down
on his shoulder. casting a faint shadow
to his left and to his rear. 1t annoyed
him. Turning to glance at 1t, he could
not refrain from a fancy that a figure
was following him. Looking straight
ahead. he fixed his gaze on the plain.
over which here and there grew scat
tered clumps Of tropical trees.
It was lonely out there on that DESC
late plain where the poorest Mexican
disdained to build even an adobe hut.
The vipers with which the country
abounds had crawled into their holes.
Despite his efforts to drive away the
impression that his shadow was some
n following him. this impression grew
stronger. Turning again. he cast a
quick glance behind. There was the
shadow as before. Raising his eyes to
the sky. he shuddered. The moon vas
UCuluu u ClUuu.
It was now clear to Captain Duane
that the mysterious follower was not
his shadow. What was it? If a hui
man enemy, 1t would have long before
this shot or knitted him in the back.
If a friend. why did it not declare it.
self? And why did he not hear it's
tread? He listened. but by the clo..est
attention he could not detect a foot
step. And why. he asked himself. did
he. a soldier who had been twice bre-
vetted for bravery. shrink from turning
and confronting this mystical intensity
Of shade? 1t was the silence. a dread
Of something more than the dangers he
had faced during the din of battle. that
kept his eyes fixed to the front.
BY an effort he gathered strength to
turn his head for one more glance.
There a the figure, more distinct
than before, yet not continuously so.
1t seemed to Captain Duane that his
eyesight was not capable of holding the
image long enough to see exactly what
It was. Now. for an instant, the head
and shoulders would keep their form
the face bony, with deep sunken eyes
4 broad. prominent mouth. Then the
legs, long thin mes, would be tramping
with n uninterrupted, unchanged
gait, the whole covered by q long flow
ing mantle which futtered in the wind,
yet there was nc wind.
Desperate, the officer halted and fac
Cd about.
"Who comes thereY" he cried.
The words broke the stiffness Ike q
clap Of thunder from q serene sky.
There was IN them q singular distress,
90 II they had been for ages asking .
question to which there had come no
seply. The figure stopped when the
speaker stopped. standing, waiting, a.
though neither impatient nor tired, con
Adent that the object Of its attention
would move on and it would again fol-
low.
The young captain did move on
Though his physical strength was un-
impaired, 1t seemed to him that his
sou was tagging; that 1t was slowly
but surely slipping away from him.
He was as ready to meet an accustom-
cd enemy and fight al bravely as v e
A. Captain Allen Duane he was stiD
independent; as q human soul 10 was
losing himself.
And now there In the distance Is
something white. He shades his eyes
from every ray Of moonlight and dis
covers white tents. He is nearing the
end Of his mission. A few more miles
and he will be within the picket line
Of a friendly army. Will this shadowy
tramper remain behind?
Captain Duane pushed on. The IN
equalities of the road were no obsta-
cles. he took no thought Of running
upon ONE rowing band Of Mexicans.
The mysterious figure vas closing upon
him. At last it came SO close that he
could almost feel its breath, like the
moldy chill from a tomb. :,
"Who comes there?" called the
picket.
Why did not Captain Duane reply,