Being answered in the affirmative, he ran to the cabin to procure a jug or basin of the beverage. Meanwhile, as the woman approached, the General threw her a piece of silver, to allow him to taste the contents of her pail.
During this short interval, a bold and daring rebel, with fiendlike intent, like a serpent crouching in ambush awaiting the moment to inflict a deadly wound, was concealed in the covert of the hedge, the distance only of a pistol-shot from the General. Pausing for an instant with savage joy to feast his eyes upon his prey, secure within his reach, his certain victim, he deliberately aimed the weapon and pulled the trigger: the piece missed fire! A second attempt was made, but with the same result. What but the interposition of Providence saved the unsuspecting General, who, spurring his horse onwards, was speedily borne from the murderous aim!
Blasphemy and curses burst from the villain; he cast the weapon to the ground, furiously resumed it, picked the lock, essayed again, and with effect; the ball destined to fell the General to the earth lodged itself in the decayed trunk of an intervening tree.
A considerable sum had been offered by the chiefs of the insurrection for the General's head;
