At this moment two Cowboys, who had been cut off from a retreat to their
own party, rode furiously through the gate, with an intention of
escaping to the open wood in the rear of the cottage.
The victorious Americans pressed the retreating Germans until they had
driven them under the protection of the fire of the infantry; and
feeling themselves, in the privacy of the lawn, relieved from any
immediate danger, the predatory warriors yielded to a temptation that
few of the corps were ever known to resist--opportunity and horseflesh.
With a hardihood and presence of mind that could only exist from long
practice in similar scenes, they made towards their intended prizes, by
an almost spontaneous movement. They were busily engaged in separating
the fastenings of the horses, when the trooper on the piazza discharged
his pistols, and rushed, sword in hand, to the rescue.
The entrance of Caesar into the parlor had induced the wary dragoon
within to turn his attention more closely on his prisoner; but this new
interruption drew him again to the window. He threw his body out of the
building, and with dreadful imprecations endeavored, by his threats and
appearance, to frighten the marauders from their prey. The moment was
enticing. Three hundred of his comrades were within a mile of the
cottage; unridden horses were running at large in every direction, and
Henry Wharton seized the unconscious sentinel by his legs, and threw him
headlong into the lawn.
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