"I heard firing in front," he said, "and I thought you might be
concerned in it. If it hadn't been for my orders I'd have come forward
with some of the men."
"Sergeant," said St. Clair, "if you were in the west again, and you were
all alone in the hills or on the plains and a band of yelling Sioux
or Blackfeet were to set after you with fell designs upon your scalp,
what would you do?"
"I'd run, sir, with all my might. I'd run faster than I ever ran
before. I'd run so fast, sir, that my feet wouldn't touch the ground
more than once every forty yards. It would be the wisest thing one
could do under the circumstances, the only thing, in fact."
"I'm glad to hear you say so, Sergeant Carrick, because you are a man of
experience and magnificent sense. What you say proves that Harry and I
are full of wisdom. They weren't Sioux or Blackfeet back there and I
don't suppose they'd have scalped us, but they were Yankees and their
intentions weren't exactly peaceful. So we took your advice before you
gave it. If you'll examine the earth out there tomorrow you'll find our
footprints only five times to the mile."
Far to the right and left other scattering shots had been fired, where
skirmishers in the night came in touch with one another.
Pages:
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301