I saw him stoop suddenly, as if to examine the ground. An exclamation escaped him, and the words:
“Someb’dy’s crawled through hyar, or been dragged through—one o’ the two ways.”
“No!” added he, after a moment, “he’s not been dragged; he’s been creepin’ on his hands an’ knees. Look thar! the track o’ a knee, as clar as daylight; an’, by the tarnal! it’s been covered wi’ broad-cloth. No Injun kud a made that mark!”
We all bent over to examine the sign. Sure enough, it was the track of a man’s knee; and the plastic mud exhibited on its surface a print of fretted lines, which must have been made by coarse threadbare cloth!
“By Gosh!” exclaimed Sure-shot, “that eer’s the infantry overall—the givernment cloth to a sartingty. Petrick’s been abeout heer. Lordy, tain’t possyble he’s still living?”
“Shure-shat! Shure-shat! Mother ov Moses! is it yerself I hear?”
The voice reached us in a hoarse whisper. It appeared to rise out of the earth! For some moments, we all stood, as if petrified by surprise.
“Shure-shat!” continued the voice, “won’t yez help me out? I’m too wake to get up the bank.”
“Petrick, as I’m a livin’ sinner! Good Lordy, Petrick! wheer air ye? ’Tain’t possyble yeer alive?”
“Och, an’ shure I’m aloive, that same. But I’m more than half did, for all that; an’ nearly drownded to boot. Arrah, boys! rache me a hand, an’ pull me out—for I can’t move meself—one of my legs is broke.”