Under Fire: A Tale of the Shenandoah Valley — page 84: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“LOYAL MOSB.” | 77 ited with making a short shift with many of his pris- oners, would have justified such an outrageous action. Colonel Trafton, however, had no qualms of con- science in the matter. He desired this man’s death above all things, - As he could not shoot him down in his tracks, he seized upon a despicable pretext to cover the act of vengeance. 3 He feared that his rival might escape, and sooner than take that risk he took the law into his own hands. | It clearly showed the cowardly, villainous side of his character. ‘*Pull away, boys!’’ It was the colonel’s voice that rang through the woods. : Captain Chetwood realized, as the rope tightened about his throat, that his doom was sealed. ‘‘Good-by, old flas—good-by, Bertha!’ Then Royal Chetwood was dangling in the air. ‘’Thus be it with all Yankees.’ Spang! Captain Chetwood came to the ground in a heap. If he was not dead, the foremost hangman was. A bullet had sped to the guerrila’s heart, and his sudden release of the rope let Colonel Trafton’s vic- — tim down on the run. — | Other hands were on the rope, but the death of their comrade caused a panic, and the sudden relax- ing of the rope. Spang !—spang! | | Bright flashes startled the birds from their perches, and the sharp crack of rifles echoed like the knell of ~ doom in the ears of the startled Confederate troop. _ Po horse!’ screamed Colonel Trafton, in a parox- ysm of fear, at the same time bounding to the side of his own steed, and in his haste not waiting to untie — the halter, severing it with a blow from his sword. ~“comicbooks.co m +