The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1861-08-16

| lea. was seated with NUMBER OF his olhcer
in his comfortable quarters in the upper par
Of the city of New York. A hickory fir
was cheerfully blazing upon the huge hearth
and every thing wore an AR Of comfort ant
luxury, Notwithstanding the weather wa
biting cold without. Presently the orderl.
at the door put in bis head, and said to Si
Henry:
There is q man that would like to SCI
your e1cellency.'
SHOW him in here
The orderly disappeared for moment ant
then returned, ushering in Albert Fearing
Sir Henry instantly caught glimpse Of tb'
continental uniform beneath the great Goa
which Albert had purposely lett unbuttoned
and said:
.Ah, an American soldier, are you p
And what do you want, my man? Wher
were you taken prisoner, ehg
Il am not a prisoner, your excellency.
am deserter from West Point, and have
come to join your army If you will permit
it,
'Ah. FROM West Point, are your replied
Sir Henry, evincing more interest than he
had hitherto done; sit down, my lad,
want to have some talk with you.'
Fearing seated himself, and Sir Henry be
gan to question him about the situation ol
the fort he had Just left, the number Of men
in the garrison, and what OF discipline they
were in. Albert, who had been previously
instructed on the subject, told him that there
were at least FIVE thousand well disciplined
soldiers in the tort, that they were constant
ly drilled and exercised, and that the fort
was well defended at every point. He exag-
gerated us much as he dared to at every point
connected with the defences, and having salts
fed the curiosity OF the commander.in-chicf,
he was dismissed, the orderly being in
structed to take him down to the barracks,
and to have his name entered on the rolls Of
the army.
1T will never do, gentlemen" said Sir
Henry to his officers, as Fearing departed,
"the place is too strong and too well defend
ed for us to make an attempt upon it the
present winter. BY Juno, who would have
thought the rebels could have gathered to-
gether five thousand men in that mountain
strong-hold' Well, you will postpone all
preparations for thecxpeditiOn, until further
orders"
"very good sir" replied the several officers
one breath, and all departed.
Our hero was conducted down 10 the bar
racks, where he was kindly received by the
soldiers among whom he was to serve, and a
great many questions were put to him in re-
gard to the composition the discipline and
the numbers of the troops Of the fort he had
so recently left, all of which Fearing ans
wered in sush manner as to carry out the
instructions he bad received on the night in
which we introduced him to the reader
He made the soldiers believe that the fortress
was almost, iinot quite imprcgnable, that it
was amply defended by large; determined,
and well.disciplined force of five thousand
men, and that any attempt to carry the works
by assault would be madnoss on the part of
the British commander-in-chief. These rc-
ports were circulated from one TO another,
until the whole army were cognizant OF the
strength of the post, which all had been
so anxious to assail. and the war tune was at
once changed to one more pacific.
The next morning Fearing was regularly
enlisted, and was attached to a corps OF
loyalists. or tories, as the Americans styled
them. Here he had abundant opportunity
for observation, and he did not fail to i'm.
prove it. lie watched every movement Of
the officers and troops with eyes like those Of
q ferret or lynx, and listened with quick ear
to every rumor and every report that found
its way into the barracks. and made himself.
as far Us practicable, acquainted with the
plans Of Sir Henry Clinton. In this manner
he was rendering important services to his
country, and few men could have been selected
who would have more faithfully performed
the object. of their mission than Fearing.
1t was fine, bright morning in the early
part of January, and the drill having been
completed, our hero obtained permission to
be absent for the remainder Of the day. and
sailed out to have look at the city. All
was activity and hustle in the streets, for
the sleighing was fine, and the splendid
equipages were dashing along through the
streets, drawn by spirited steeds. and freighted
in many cases with officers Of the British
army in the gay scarlet uniforms, accom-.
panied by the fair daughters Of the wealthy
loyalists Of the city, who deemed in an honor
to have their children thus attended.
Fearing was slowly sauntering up Broad
way, and had arrived in the vicinity of Cum
berland street, when team Of powerful
horses that had been LEFT fastened to post q
short distance up Broadway, became fright
ened, snapped the halter with which they
were tied, and dashed down the street with
the impetaOsity Of an avalanche. The young
lady was utterly paralyred with fear, and in.
stead OF running for her life. as is frequent
ly the case under like circumstances, she
stood stock still, and would inevitably have
been run over by the maddened stceds, had it
not been for the bravery of Fearing, while
all the PEDESTRIANS upon the sidewalk stock
aghast, and with u sort Of horror awaited
the catastrophe, our hero, at the risk Of al.