in the breast, as he is probably kneeling
down."

Before him he noticed a deep gully cut in the bank, by which he could
get down to the water's edge where there was a clump of paw-paws
projecting out toward the willows. If he went down there it would make
his shot surer, but there was much danger that he would be noticed and
fired at on his way.

"I'm goin' down there," he said, after a moment's deliberation.
"Providence has sent me on this job, and intends I shall do it right,
which I kin by goin' down there. Providence'll take care o' me while
I'm goin'. Same time, Providence expects me to show gumption, by not
exposin' myself any more'n possible."

Therefore he cut a young, thick-branched cedar and held it in front of
him as he crouched and made his way to the gully and down it.

He had nearly reached the cover of the paw-paws, and was beginning to
congratulate himself that his cedar screen and the turmoil on the bank
above had enabled him to escape attention, when a bullet struck a stone
to his left, and threw it against him with such force as to almost knock
all the breath out of his body. He fell to the ground, but retained
coolness enough to understand that this was to his advantage, and he
crawled slowly forward until he was safely behind the bushes.

"That come from that hound in the willers," said he to himself. "He's
a sharp one. He got on to me somehow, and now it's me and him fur it.
Anyhow, he didn't kill a mule worth $150 with that bullet. But it'll
take as much as six bits' worth o' porous plaster to take the swellin'
out o' my side where that rock welted me."

He hitched forward cautiously a little farther, to where he could peer
through the bushes, being exceedingly wary not to repeat his opponent's
mistake, and set their tops in motion. A rock protruding through the
ground in front of him made an opening through which he could see, and
also afforded a rest for his musket. He looked sharply, and at length
was rewarded by seeing the gun-barrel come out by the side of the barked
willow, rested on a bare limb, and apparently aimed at the hill beyond.
He took a long breath to steady his nerves, stretched out his legs
to make himself more at ease, pushed his musket forward until he got
exactly the right poise, aimed about nine inches below the level of his
opponent's gun-barrel, and a little to the left, drew his bead down to
a hair's nicety in the hind sight, and pulled the trigger just as the
rebel