The Devil's Own: A Romance of the Black Hawk WarParrish, Randall
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The Devil's Own: A Romance of the Black Hawk War
Parrish, Randall
Black Hawk War, 1832 -- Fiction
We crept out through the door, underneath a mass of debris, into the
gray of the dawn. How sweet the air, how like a benediction the song
of birds. Neither of us looked back, and I held her close against me
as we moved onward, past the big tree, and down the long slope. It was
a wondrous view of peace and beauty, the broad green valley, with the
silver thread of water shining in its center--the valley of the Bureau.
We followed the faint trail, which wound in and out among small copses
of trees; the sun began to brighten the far east and her hand stole
into mine. The light was upon her face, and gave me a glimpse of the
sadness of her eyes. Beyond a little grove we found some horses
browsing in the deep grass; they were those that had brought us from
Yellow Banks, and whinnied a greeting as we drew near. Two of them
were fit to ride and the others followed, limping along behind.
A half mile up the valley we came to a beaten trail, running straight
across from bluff to bluff, and disappearing into the prairie beyond,
heading directly toward the sunrise. We stopped and looked back for
the first time. There on the side of the slope, under the shade of the
big tree, stood the cabin. Only for the wreck of the roof it spoke no
message of the tragedy within. The sun's rays gilded it, and the smoke
from its chimney seemed a beckoning welcome. I reached out and took
her hand, and our eyes met in understanding. What I whispered need not
be told, and when we again rode forward, it was upon the trail to
Ottawa.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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