80
THE RESCUE.
With charms of lightning-riven twigs,
And stones their foes must shun,
And, borne at their belts, the sacred meal
For offerings to the sun.
In horror and despair we gazed,
When, hush! a bugle call
Came winding, winding through the air,
And up the mountain wall!
"The saints above watch o'er us!"
In Leon's ear I sighed;
"By this I know in the plain below
Our gallant soldiers ride!"
And stones their foes must shun,
And, borne at their belts, the sacred meal
For offerings to the sun.
In horror and despair we gazed,
When, hush! a bugle call
Came winding, winding through the air,
And up the mountain wall!
"The saints above watch o'er us!"
In Leon's ear I sighed;
"By this I know in the plain below
Our gallant soldiers ride!"
The chief has caught the note! His scouts
Creep wary through the grass;
And stern with hate and fear he sets
His braves to guard the pass;
All eyes are bent upon the plain,
As hawks in mid-air hover;—
We breathe a prayer, and noiselessly
Slip through the dense pine cover!
And once again that bugle-call
Is borne upon the wind,—
Our Lady's grace!—and on we speed
To leave the fiends behind.
Creep wary through the grass;
And stern with hate and fear he sets
His braves to guard the pass;
All eyes are bent upon the plain,
As hawks in mid-air hover;—
We breathe a prayer, and noiselessly
Slip through the dense pine cover!
And once again that bugle-call
Is borne upon the wind,—
Our Lady's grace!—and on we speed
To leave the fiends behind.
Silent as startled quail we stole
Beneath the kindly shade,
Till we turned the brow of the precipice
And gained a quiet glade;—
Beneath the kindly shade,
Till we turned the brow of the precipice
And gained a quiet glade;—
