us, casting an odd shadow against the face of the rock where it was
lighted by the flickering red blaze. It was all over in a moment, a
mere glimpse, but it formed one of those sudden pictures which paint
themselves on the brain and can never after be effaced. I recall yet
the long shade cast by the man's gun, the grotesque shape of his
flapping army overcoat, the quick change in the silhouette as he
wheeled to retrace his beat. But there was no noise, not even the sound
of his footsteps reaching us. Even as I gazed, lying nearly full length
upon my horse, we had crossed the open, and a perfect tangle of low
bushes hid us as completely as if we had entered the yawning mouth of a
cavern.

A hundred yards or more of sharply curving road densely lined with
shrubbery on either hand, and then Craig swung into saddle and again
gave spur to his horse.

"We must ride for it now," he said tersely. "When thet patrol makes
their round, them fellers will be after us hot."

I urged my tired horse to a gallop, pressing upon Craig's heels as
closely as I dared; nor did I glance back, for I knew well that a dead
picket was lying somewhere by the cross-roads, and that his comrades
would be heard from before the dawn.

We were moving bravely now; for the road under foot grew better as we
advanced, and gave back the dull thud of soft earth instead of the
rattling clang of the rocks we had been so long accustomed to. I forced
the scabbard of my sabre beneath the bend of my knee to keep it from
clanging against the iron stirrup, and only the breathing of the
horses, and their heavy pounding on the earth, broke the night silence.