CHAPTER V
THE DANGEROUS ROAD
The road led in the general direction of Lee's army and Harry knew thatif he followed it long enough he was bound to reach his commander, butthe two words "long enough" might defeat everything. Undoubtedly aFederal force was near, or the farmer and his wife would not besignaling from the roof of their house.
A plucky couple they were and he gave them all credit, but he was awarethat while he had secured breakfast from them they had put the wolvesupon his trail. There were high hills on both the right and left ofthe road, and, as he galloped along he examined them through hisglasses for flags answering the signal on the house. But he sawnothing and the thickness of the forest indicated that even if thesignals were made there it was not likely he could see them.
Now he wisely restrained the speed of his horse, so full of strengthand spirit that it seemed willing to run on forever, and brought himdown to a walk. He had an idea that he would soon be pursued, and thena fresh horse would be worth a dozen tired ones.
The road continued to run between high, forested hills, splendid forambush, and Harry saw what a danger it was not to have knowledge of thecountry. He understood how the Union forces in the South were so oftenat a loss on ground that was strange to them.
The road now curved a little to the left, and a few hundred yards aheadanother from the east merged with it. Along this road the forest wasthinner, and upon it, but some distance away, he saw bobbing heads incaps, twenty, perhaps, in number. He knew at once that they were theenemy, called by the signal, and leaning forward he spoke in the ear ofhis good horse.
"You and I haven't known each other long," he said, "but we're goodfriends. I paid honest and sufficient money for you, when I could haveridden away on you without paying a cent. I know you have a powerfulframe and that your speed is great. I really believe you're thefastest runner in all this part of the state. Now, prove it!"
The horse stretched out his neck, and the road flew behind him, hisbody working like a mighty machine perfectly attuned, even to itsminutest part. Harry's words had met a true response. He heard a cryon the cross road, and the bobbing heads came forward much faster.Either they had seen him or they had heard the swift beat of hishorse's hoofs. Loud shouts arose, but he saw the uniforms of the men,and he knew that they belonged to the Northern army.
He went past the junction of the roads, as if he were flying, but hewas not a bit too soon, as he heard the crack of rifles, and bulletsstruck in the earth behind him. He knew that they would follow, hangon persistently, but he had supreme confidence in the speed andstrength of his horse, and youth rode triumphant. It was youth morethan anything else that made him raise himself a little in his saddle,look back to his pursuers and fling to them a long, taunting cry, justas Henry Ware more than once had taunted his Indian pursuers beforedisappearing in a flight that their swiftest warriors could not match.
But the little band of Union troopers clung to the chase. They too hadgood horses, and they knew that the man before them was a Southernmessenger, and in those hot July days of 1863 all military messagescarried on the roads north of the Potomac were important. The fate ofan army or a nation might turn upon any one of them, and the lieutenantwho led the little Union troop was aware of it. He was a man ofintelligence and a consuming desire to overtake the lone horseman layhold of him. He knew, as well as any general, that since Gettysburg thefate of the South was verily trembling in the balance, and theslightest weight somewhere might decide the scales. So he resolved tohang on through everything and the chances were in his favor. It washis own country. The Federal troops were everywhere, and any moment hemight have aid in cutting off the fugitive.
When Harry eased his horse's flight he saw the troop, very distant butstill pursuing, and he read the mind of the Union leader. He wassaving his mounts, trailing merely, in the hope that Harry wouldexhaust his own horse, after which he and his men would come on atgreat speed.
Harry looked down at his horse and saw that he was heaving with hisgreat effort. He knew that he had made a mistake in driving him sohard at first, and with the courage of which only a young veteran wouldhave been capable he brought the animal almost to a walk, andresolutely kept him there, while the enemy gained. When they werealmost within rifle shot he increased his speed again, but he did notseek for the present to increase his gain.
As long as their bullets could not reach him his horse should merely gostride for stride with theirs, and when the last stretch was reached,he would send forward the brave animal at his utmost speed. His werethe true racing tactics drawn from his native state. He had no doubtof his ability to leave his pursuers far behind when the time came, buthis true danger was from interference. He too knew that many Unioncavalry troops were abroad, and he watched on either flank for them ashe rode on. At the crest of every little hill he swept the wholecountry, but as yet he saw nothing but peaceful farmhouses.
The day was clear and bright, not so warm as its predecessors, and hecalculated by the sun that he was going straight toward Lee. He knewthat a great army always marched slowly, and he was able to reckon withaccuracy just how far the Army of Northern Virginia had come sinceGettysburg. He should reach it in the morning, with full informationabout the Potomac, and the best place for a crossing.
He arrived at the crest of a hill higher than the others, and saw theUnion troop, about a quarter of a mile behind, stop beside a clump oftall trees. Their action surprised Harry, who had thought they wouldnever quit as long as they could find his trail. To his furthersurprise he saw one of the men dismount and begin to climb the tallestof the trees. Then he brought his glasses into play.
He saw the climber go up, up, until he had reached the last bough thatwould support him. Then he drew some thing from his pocket which heunrolled and began to wave rapidly. It was a flag and through hispowerful glasses Harry clearly saw the Stars and Stripes. It wasevident that they were signaling, but when one signals one usuallysignals to somebody. His breath shortened for a moment. He believedthat the man in the tree was talking with his flag about the fugitive.Where was the one to whom he was talking?
He looked to both left and right, searching the fields and the forests,and saw nothing. Then, as he was sweeping his glasses again in a halfcurve he caught a glimpse of something straight ahead that made thegreat pulse in his throat beat hard. About a mile in front of himanother man in a tree was waving a flag and beneath the tree werehorsemen.
Harry knew now that the two flags were talking about the Confederatemessenger between. The one behind said: "Look out! He's young, ridinga bay horse and he's coming directly toward you," to which the one infront replied, "We're waiting. He can't escape us. There are fieldswith high fences on either side of the road and if he manages to breakthrough the fence he's an easy capture in the soft and muddy groundthere."
Harry thought hard and fast, while the two flags talked socontemptuously about him. The fields were unquestionably deep with mudfrom the heavy rains, but he must try them. It was lucky that he hadseen the flags while both forces were out of rifle shot. He decidedfor the western side, sprang from his horse and threw down a few rails.In a half minute he was back on his horse, leaped him over the fence,and struck across the field.
It had been lately plowed and the going was uncommonly heavy. It wouldbe just as heavy however for his pursuers, and his luck in seeing theirsignals would put him out of range before they reached the field. Butit was a wide field and his horse's feet sank so deep in the mud thathe dismounted and led him. When he was two-thirds of the way across ashout told him that the two forces had met, and had discovered the ruseof the fugitive. It did not take much intelligence to understand whathe had done, because he was yet in plain sight, and a few of thecavalrymen took pot shots at him, their bullets falling far short.Harry in his excited condition laughed at these attempts. Almostanything was a triumph now. He shook his fist at them and regrettedthat he could not send back a defiant shot.
/> The cavalrymen conferred a little. Then a part pursued across thefield, and two detachments rode along its side, one to the north andthe other to the south. Harry understood. If the mud held him backsufficiently they might pass around the field and catch him on theother side. He continued to lead his horse, encouraging him with wordsof entreaty and praise.
"Come on!" he cried. "You won't let a little mud bother you. Youwouldn't let yourself be overtaken by a lot of half-bred horses not fitto associate with you?"
The brave animal responded nobly, and what had been the far edge of thefield was rapidly coming nearer. Beyond it lay woods. But theflanking movement threatened. The two detachments were passing aroundthe field on firm ground, and Harry knew that he and his good horsemust hasten. He talked to him continually, boasting about him, andtogether they reached the fence, which he threw down in all haste.Then he led his weary horse out of the mud, sprang upon his back andgalloped into the bushes.
He knew that the horses passing around the field on firm ground wouldbe fresh, and that he must find temporary hiding, at least as soon ashe could. He was in deep thickets now and he galloped on, careless howthe bushes scratched him and tore his uniform. The Union cavalry wouldsurely follow, but he wanted a little breathing time for his horse, andin eight or ten minutes he stopped in the dense undergrowth. The horsepanted so hard that any one near would have heard him, but there was noother sound in the thicket. The rest was valuable for both. Harry wasable to concentrate his mind and consider, while the panting of thehorse gradually ceased, and he breathed with regularity. The younglieutenant patted him on the nose and whispered to him consolingly.
"Good, old boy," he said, "you've brought me safely so far. I knewthat I could trust you."
Then he stood quite still, with his hand stroking the horse's nose tokeep him silent. He had heard the first sounds of search. To hisright was the distant beat of hoofs and men's voices. Evidently theywere going to make a thorough search for him, and he decided to resumehis flight, even at the risk of being heard.
He led the horse again, because the forest was so dense that one couldscarcely ride in it, and he thought, for a while, that he had thrownoff the pursuit, but the voices came again, and now on his left. Theyhad never relaxed the hunt for an instant. They had a good leader, andHarry admitted that in his place he would have done the same.
The country grew rougher, being so steep and hilly that it was not easyof cultivation, and hence remained clothed in dense forest andundergrowth. Twice more Harry heard the sound of pursuing voices andhoofs, and then the noise of running water came to his ears. Twentyyards farther and he came to a creek flowing between high banks, onwhich the forest grew so densely that the sun was scarcely able toreach the water below.
The creek at first seemed to be a bar to his advance, but thinking itover he led his horse carefully down into the stream, mounted him androde with the current, which was not more than a foot deep.Fortunately the creek had a soft bottom and there was no ringing ofhoofs on stones.
He went slowly, lest the water splash too much, and kept a wary watchon the banks above, which were growing higher. He did not know wherethe creek led, but it offered both a road and concealment, and itseemed that Providence had put it there for his especial help.
He rode in the bed of the stream fully an hour, and then emerged fromthe hills into a level and comparatively bare country. It was a regionutterly unknown to him, but with his splendid idea of direction and thesun to guide him he knew his straight course to Lee. The countrybefore him seemed to be given up wholly to grass, as he noticed neithercorn nor wheat. He saw several farm hands, but decided to keep awayfrom them. That was no country for the practice of horsemanship by alone Confederate soldier, nor did he like to be the fox in a fox hunt.
Yet the fox he was. He chose a narrow road leading between cedars, andwhen he had advanced upon it a few hundred yards he heard the sound ofa trumpet behind him, and at the edge of the woods that he had left. Hesaw horsemen in blue emerging and he had no doubt that they were thesame men whom he had eluded in the thickets.
"Their pursuit of me is getting to be a habit," he said to himself withthe most intense annoyance. "It's a good thing, my brave horse, thatyou've had a long rest."
He shook up the reins and began to gallop. He heard a faint shout inthe distance and saw the troopers in pursuit. But he did not fear themnow. Numerous fences would prevent them from flanking him, and he sawthat the road led on, straight and level. He shook the reins again andthe horse lengthened his stride.
He felt so exultant that he laughed. It would be easy enough now todistance this Union troop. Then the laugh died suddenly on his lips. Abullet whistled so near his face that it almost took away his breath.An elderly farmer standing in his own door had fired it, and Harrysnatched one of the pistols from his own belt, remembering then withrage that it could not be fired. He shouted to his horse and made himrun faster.
A bullet struck the pommel of his saddle and glanced off. A boy in anorchard had fired it. A load of bird-shot, a handful it seemed toHarry, flew about his ears. A bent old man who ought to have beensitting on a porch in a rocking chair had discharged it from the edgeof a wood. A squirrel hunter on a hill took a pot shot at him andmissed.
Harry was furious with anger. Decidedly this was no place for avisitor from the South. He did not detect the faintest sign ofhospitality. Men and women alike seemed to dislike him. A powerfulvirago hurled a stone at his head, which would have struck himsenseless had it not missed, and a farmer standing by a fence had ashotgun cocked and ready to be fired as he passed, but Harry, snatchingone of the useless pistols from his belt, hurled it at him with all hismight. It struck the man a glancing blow on the head, felling him asif he had been shot, and then Harry, thinking quickly, acted with equalquickness.
He reined in his horse with such suddenness that he nearly shot fromthe saddle. Then he leaped down, seized the shotgun from under thehands of the fallen man, sprang on his horse and was away again,sending back a cry of defiance.
Harry had never before in his life been so furious. To be hunted thusby a whole countryside, as if he were a mad dog, was intolerable. Itwas not only a threat to one's life, it was also an insult to one'sdignity to be treated as an animal. Although he was armed now theinsult continued. The call of the trumpet sounded almost withoutceasing, and the Union troopers uttered many shouts as do those whochase the fox, although Harry knew that their cries were intended torouse the farmers who might head him off.
The chase grew hotter, but he felt better with the shotgun. It was afine double-barreled weapon of the latest make, and he hoped that itwas loaded with buckshot. He was a sharpshooter, and he could give agood account of any one who came too near.
Yet with the trumpet shrilling continually behind him the huntsmengathered fast on either flank. It was yet the day when nearly everyhouse in America, outside a town, contained a rifle, and bullets firedfrom a distance began to patter around Harry and his horse. Theriflemen were too far away to be reached with the shotgun, and itseemed inevitable to him that in time a bullet would strike him. Hewas truly the fox, and he knew that nothing could save him but forest.
It was in his favor that the country was so broken and wooded soheavily, and fixing his eyes on trees a half-mile ahead he raced forthem. If none of this yelling pack dragged him down he felt sure thathe might escape again in the forest. The trees swiftly came nearer,but the shots on either flank increased. More than ever he felt likethe fox with the hounds all about him, and just one slender chance toreach the burrow ahead.
He felt his horse shake and knew that he had been hit. Yet the braveanimal ran on as well as ever, despite the triumphant shout behind,which showed that he must be leaving a trail of blood. But the woods,thick and inviting, were near, and he believed that he would reachthem. The horse shook again, much more violently than before, and thenfell to his knees. Harry leaped off, still clutching the shotgun, justas the brav
e animal fell over on his side and began to breathe out hislife.
He heard again that shout of triumph, but he was one who never gave up.He had alighted easily on his feet. The trees were not more thanfifteen yards away and he disappeared among them as bullets clippedbark and twigs about him.
He breathed a deep sigh of thankfulness when he entered the forest. Itwas so dense, and there was so much undergrowth that the horsemen couldnot follow him there. If they came on foot, and spread out, as theymust, to hunt him, he had the double-barreled shotgun and it was adeadly weapon. The fox had suddenly become the panther, alert,powerful, armed with claws that killed.
Harry went deep into the thickets before he sat down. He had no doubtthat they would follow him, but at present he was out of their sightand hearing. He felt a mixture of elation and sadness, elation overhis temporary escape, and sadness over the loss of his gallant horse.But one could not dwell long on regrets at such a time, and, advancinga little farther, he sat down among the densest bushes that he couldfind with the shotgun across his knees.
Now Harry saw that the horse had really done all that it was possiblefor him to do. He had brought him to the wood, and within he wouldhave been a drawback. A man on foot could conceal himself far moreeasily. Everything favored him. There were bushes and vines everywhereand he could be hidden like a deer in its covert.
He looked up at the sun shining through the tops of the trees and sawthat he had kept to his true course. His flight had taken him directlytoward Lee at a much faster pace than he would have come otherwise. Theenemy had driven him on his errand at double speed. He felt that hecould spare a little time now, while he waited to see what the pursuitwould do.
His feeling of exultation was now unalloyed. Deep in the forest withhis foes looking for him in vain, the spirit of Henry Ware was oncemore strong within him. He was the reincarnation of the great hunter.He lay so still, clasping the shotgun, that the little creatures of thewoods were deceived. A squirrel ran up the trunk of an oak six feetaway, and stood fearlessly in a fork with his bushy tail curved overhis back. A small gray bird perched on a bough just over Harry's headand poured out a volume of song. Farther away sounded the tap tap of awoodpecker on the bark of a dead tree.
Harry, although he did not move, was watching and listening withintense concentration, but his ears now would be his surest signals.He could not see deep in the thickets, but he could hear any movementin the underbrush a hundred yards away. So far there was nothing butthe hopping of a rabbit. The bird over his head sang on. There was nowind among the branches, not even the flutter of leaves to distract hisattention from anything that might come on the ground.
He rejoiced in this period of rest, of the nerves, rather than purelyphysical. He had been keyed so high that now he relaxed entirely, andsoon lay perfectly flat, but with the shotgun still clasped in hisarms. He had a soft couch. Under him were the dead leaves of lastyear, and over him was the pleasant gloom of thick foliage, alreadyturning brown. The bird sang on. His clear and beautiful note camefrom a point directly over his head, but Harry could not see his tinybody among the leaves. He became, for a little while, more interestedin trying to see him than in hearing his pursuers.
It was annoying that such a volume of sound should come from a bodythat could be hidden by a leaf. If a man could shout in proportion tohis own size he might be heard eight to ten miles away. It was aninteresting speculation and he pursued it. While he was pursuing ithis mind relaxed more and more and traveled farther and farther awayfrom his flight and hiding. Then his heavy eyelids pulled down, and,while his pursuers yet searched the thickets for him, he slept.
But his other self, which men had thought of as far back as Socrates,kept guard. When he had slept an hour a tiny voice in his ear, nolouder than the ticking of a watch, told him to awake, that danger wasnear. He obeyed the call, sleep was lifted from him and he opened hiseyes. But with inherited caution he did not move. He still lay flat inhis covert, trusting to his ears, and did not make a leaf move abouthim.
His ears told him that leaves were rustling not very far away, not morethan a hundred feet. His power of hearing was great, and the forestseemed to make it uncommonly sensitive and delicate.
He knew that the rustling of the leaves was made by a man walking. Byand by he heard his footfalls, and he knew that he wore heavy boots, orhis feet would not have crushed down in such a decisive manner. He waslooking for something, too, because the footfalls did not go straighton, but veered about.
Harry was well aware that it was a Union soldier, and that he was theobject of his search. He was a clumsy man, not used to forests,because Harry heard him stumble twice, when his feet caught on vines.Nor was any comrade near, or he would have called to him for the sakeof companionship. Harry judged that he was originally a mill hand, andhe did not feel the least alarm about him, laughing a little at hisclumsiness and awkwardness, as he trod heavily among the bushes,tripped again on the vines, and came so near falling that he could hearthe rifle rattle when it struck a tree. He did not have the slightestfear of the man, and at last, raising his head, he took a look.
All his surmises were justified. He saw a great hulking youth of heavyand dull countenance, carrying a rifle awkwardly, his place obviouslyaround some town and not in the depths of a forest, looking for a waryenemy, who knew more of the wilderness than he could ever learn in allhis life. Harry saw that he was perspiring freely and that he lookedmore like the hunted than the hunter. His eyes expressed bewilderment.He was obviously lonely and apprehensive, not because he was a coward,but because the situation was so strange to him.
Besides his rifle he carried a large knapsack, so much distended thatHarry knew it to be full of food. It was this that decided him. Asoldier, like an army, must travel on his stomach, and he wanted thatknapsack. Moreover he meant to get it. He leveled his shotgun andcalled in a low tone, but a tone so sharp that it could be hearddistinctly by the one to whom it was addressed:
"Throw up your hands at once!"
The man threw them up so abruptly that the rifle fell from his shoulderinto the bushes, and he turned around, staring face toward the pointfrom which the command had come. Harry saw at once that he was offoreign birth, probably. The features inclined to the Slav type,although Slavs were not then common in this country, even in the milltowns of the North.
"Are you an American?" asked Harry, standing up.
"All but two years of my life."
"The first two years then, as I see you speak good English. What'syour name?"
"Michael Stanislav."
"Do you think that anybody named Michael Stanislav has the right tointerfere in the quarrel of the Northern and Southern states? Don'tthe Stanislavs have trouble enough in the country where the Stanislavsgrow?"
The big youth stared at him without understanding.
"Do you know who I am?" asked Harry, severely.
"The running rebel that we all look for."
"Rebels don't run. Besides, there are no rebels. Anyway I'm not theman you're looking for. My name is Robin Hood."
"Robin Hood?"
"Yes, Robin Hood! Didn't you ever hear of him?"
"Never."
"Then you have the honor of hearing of him and meeting him at the sametime. As I said, my name is Robin Hood and my trade is that of abenevolent robber. I lie around in the greenwood, and I don't work.I've a lot of followers, Friar Tuck and others, but they're away for awhile. They're as much opposed to work as I am. That's why they're myfollowers. We're the friends of the poor, because they have nothing wewant, and we're the enemies of the rich because they have a lot we dowant and that we often take. Still, we couldn't get along very well,if there were no rich for us to rob. It's like taking sugar water froma maple tree. We won't take too much, because it would kill the treeand we want to take its sugar water again, and many times. Do youunderstand?"
"Yes," replied the big youth, but Harry knew he didn't. Harrymeanwhile was li
stening keenly to all that was passing in the forest,and he was sure that no other soldier had wandered near. It wasperhaps partly a feeling of loneliness on his own part that caused himto linger in his talk with Michael Stanislav.
"Michael," he continued, "you appreciate our respective positions,don't you?"
"Ah!" said Michael, in a puzzled voice.
"I've explained carefully to you that I'm Robin Hood, and you at thepresent moment represent the rich."
"I am not rich. Before I turn soldier I work in a mill at Bridgeport."
"That's all very well, but you can't get out of it by referring to yourpast. Just now you are a proxy of the rich, and it's my duty to robyou."
The mouth of the big fellow expanded into a wide grin.
"You won't rob me," he said. "I have not a cent."
"But I'm going to rob you just the same. Don't you dare to drop a handtoward the pistols in your belt. If you do I'll blow your head off.I'm covering you with a double-barreled shotgun. Each barrel containsabout twenty buckshot, and at close range their blast would be soterrific that you'd make an awful looking corpse."
"I hold up my hands a long time. Don't want to be any kind of acorpse."
"That's the good boy. Steady now. Don't move a muscle. I'm going torob you. It's a brief and painless operation, much easier than pullinga tooth."
He deftly removed the two pistols and the accompanying ammunition fromthe man's belt, placing them in his own. His belt of cartridges he puton the ground beside the fallen rifle, and then as he felt a glow oftriumph he passed the well-filled knapsack from the stalwart shouldersof the other to his own shoulders, equally stalwart.
"Is everything in it first class, Michael?" he demanded with muchseverity.
"The best. Our army feeds well."
"It's a good thing for you that it's so. Robin Hood is never satisfiedwith anything second class, and he's likely to be offended if you offerit to him. On the whole, Michael, I think I like you and I'm glad youcame this way. But do you care for good advice?"
"Yes, sir."
"That's right. Say 'sir' to me. It pleases my robber's heart. Then,my advice to you is never again to go into the woods alone. All theforest looks alike to those who don't know it, and you're lost in aminute. Besides, it's filled with strange and terrible creatures,Robin Hood--that's me, though I have some redeeming qualities--theErymanthean boar, the Hydra-headed monster, Medusa of the snaky locks,Cyclops, Polyphemus with one awful eye, the deceitful Sirens, the OldMan of the Mountain, Wodin and Osiris, and, last and most terrible ofall, the Baron Munchausen."
A flicker of fear appeared in the eyes of the captive.
"But I'll see that none of these monsters hurt you," said Harryconsolingly. "The open is directly behind you, about a mile. Rightabout! Wheel! Well done! Now, you won't see me again, but you'llhear me giving commands. Forward, march! Quit stumbling! No trueforester ever does! Nor is it necessary for you to run into more thanthree trees! Keep going! No, don't curve! Go straight ahead, andremember that if you look back I shoot!"
Michael walked swiftly enough. He deemed that on the whole he hadfared well. The great brigand, Robin Hood, had spared his life and hehad lost nothing. The army would replace his weapons and ammunitionand he was glad enough to escape from that terrible forest, even if hewere driven out of it.
Harry watched him until he was out of sight, and then picking up therifle and belt of cartridges he fled on soundless feet deeper into theforest. Two or three hundred yards away he stopped and heard a greatshouting. Michael, no longer covered by a gun, had realized thatsomething untoward had happened to him, and he was calling to hiscomrades. Harry did not know whether Michael would still call the manwho had held him up, Robin Hood, nor did he care. He had secured anexcellent rifle which would be much more useful to him than a shotgun,and his course still led straight toward the point where he should findLee's army on the march. He felt that he ought to throw away theshotgun, as two weapons were heavy, but he could not make up his mindto do so.
A hundred yards farther and he heard replies to Michael's shouts, andthen several shots, undoubtedly fired by the Union troops themselves,as signals of alarm. He laughed to himself. Could such men as theseovertake one who was born to the woods, the great grandson of HenryWare, the most gifted of the borderers, who in the woods had not only asixth sense, but a seventh as well? And his great grandson hadinherited many of his qualities.
Harry, in the forest, felt only contempt for these youths of CentralEurope who could not tell one point of the compass from another. Heguided his own course by the sun, and continued at a good pace until hecould hear shouts and shots no longer. Then in the dense woods, wherethe shadows made a twilight, he came to a tiny stream flowing fromunder a rock. He knelt and drank of the cool water, and then he openedMichael's knapsack. It was truly well filled, and he ate with deepcontent. Then he drank again and rested by the side of the pool.
As he reflected over his journey Harry concluded that Providence hadwatched over him so far, but there was much yet to do before he reachedLee. Providence had a strange way of watching over a man for a while,and then letting him go. He would neglect no precaution. The forestwould not continue forever and then he must take his chances in theopen.
Still burning with the desire to be the first to reach Lee, he put therifle and the shotgun on either shoulder, and set off at as rapid apace as the thickets would permit. But he soon stopped because a soundalmost like that of a wind, but not a wind, came to his ears. Therewas a breeze blowing directly toward him, but he paid no attention toit, because to him most breezes were pleasant and friendly. But theother sound had in it a quality that was distinctly sinister like thehissing of a snake.
Harry paused in wonder and alarm. All his instincts warned him that anew danger was at hand. The breath of the wind suddenly grew hot, andsparks carried by it blew past him. He knew, in an instant, that theforest was on fire behind him and that tinder dry, it would burn fastand furious. Changing from a walk to a run, he sped forward as swiftlyas he could, while the flames suddenly sprang high, waved and leapedforward in chase.
The Shades of the Wilderness: A Story of Lee's Great Stand Page 7
