ld that the triggers had been set and the
hammer raised.

The horsemen, much scattered by the pursuit, clattered onward. In ones
and twos, with wide intervals between, they reached along a half-mile of
the road. Two--the best mounted--rode together at the head. Two hundred
yards below the great white rock, which shone as innocent and kindly
as a fleecy Summer cloud, a broad rivulet wound its way toward the
neighboring creek. The blown horses scented the grateful water, and
checked down to drink of it. The right-hand rider loosened his bridle
that his steed might gratify himself. The other tightened his rein
and struck with his spurs. His horse "gathered," and leaped across the
stream. As the armed hoofs struck sparks from the smooth stones on the
opposite side, the rider of the drinking horse saw burst out of the
white rock above them a gray cloud, with a central tongue of flame, and
his comrade fell to the ground.

His immediate reply with both barrels of his shotgun showed that he
did not mistake this for any natural phenomenon. The sound of the shots
brought the rest up at a gallop, and a rapid fire was opened on the end
of the rock.

But the instant Fortner fired he sprang back behind the rock, and then
ran under its cover a little distance up the mountain side to a dense
laurel thicket, in which he laid down behind a log and reloaded his
rifle. He listened. The firing had ceased, and a half-dozen dismounted
men were carefully approaching the spot whence he had sent the fatal
shot. He heard the Captain order a man to ride back and bring up the
wagon, that the body of the dead man might be put in it. As the wagon
was heard rumbling up, the dismounted men reported to the Captain that
the bushwhacker had made good his escape and was no longer behind the
rock.

"Well, he hasn't gone very far," said the Captain with a savage oath.
"He can't have got any distance away, and I'll have him, dead or alive,
before I leave this spot. The whole gang of Lincolnite hellhounds are
treed right up there, and not one of them shall get away alive." He
put a bone whistle to his lips, and sounded a shrill signal. A horseman
trotted up from the rear in response to the call, leading a hound with
a leash. "Take the dog up to that rock, there, Bill," said the Captain,
"and set him on that devil's trail. Five more of you dismount, and
deploy there on the other side of the road. All of you move forward
cautiously, watching the dog, and ma