WILD NAT, THE TROOPER; OR, THE CEDAR SWAMP BRIGADE. BY WILLIAM R. EYSTER. NEW YORK: BEADLE AND ADAMS, PUBLISHERS, 98 WILLIAM STREET. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, by BEADLE AND ADAMS, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. CONTENTS PAGE I. CATHERINE VALE. 9 II. THE TORY SPY. 14 III. GOING OUT TO SHEAR, AND RETURNING SHORN. 19 IV. THE WOLF AND THE LAMB. 29 V. CEDAR SWAMP. 34 VI. HOT WORK AHEAD. 38 VII. THE ASSAULT UPON THE BARN AT BLACK RUN. 46 VIII. TIMOTHY TURNER AFTER HIS GAME. 50 IX. THE CONSUMMATION OF THE CRIME. 54 X. AN UNWELCOME RECOGNITION. 64 XI. THE CAPTOR AND THE CAPTIVE. 70 XII. IN PERILOUS CIRCUMSTANCES. 76 XIII. FOILED. 82 XIV. THE HAPPY CONSUMMATION. 93 WILD NAT, THE TROOPER; OR, THE CEDAR SWAMP BRIGADE. CHAPTER I. CATHERINE VALE. There was a time in the history of our country when the stoutest hearts were filled with despair. The defeat of General Gates, followed by the overrunning of the Carolinas, the treachery of Benedict Arnold, and the general bad condition of our army, did not, certainly, tend to cheer those thousands of noble souls earnestly praying for the success of the American cause. It is of that period, of that darkest hour, which precedes the day, that we purpose to write.