Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-12-06

- --~-- oSNAD III shg ~ N--e----N 80
of an ancient female, which sacred apart
ment the bewildered and night-caPped
Mr.. Piekwiek entered by mistake and with
constantly increasing bewilderment. That
fiction was gay, but we are about to publish
fact which is gsyer. How would not
Dickens like to get hold Of sucha " coinci-
dence" as we are now about to state
Taken all in all, it must be considered a
recurrence of one of those rarest cases OF
q Gnasn's entertaining angels unswares." !"
We invoke the aid of the selectest muse
while we set forth clear as may be this
Cleveland romantic imbroglio.
About three weeks ago young man,
whose name and residence shall be name
less, came to this city and engaged board
ing at boarding house on - street, and
was put into a room occupied by a
oompositor in the LEADER office. whose
name also shall be withheld. hor con-
venience sake we will call them by the
singulsrly. startling names of Smith and
Brown, the stranger sailing under the for
mer colors, the typo under those of the
latter. Mr.. B. being engaged on a morn
ing paper never reaches his room before
three or four O'Clock in the morning, ex-
eept on Saturdays. Accordingly this twain
innocently shared the same board and bed
eating and drinking together, and jointly,
every night for week, enjoying Natures
sweet restorer, balmy sleep. Two weeks
ago last Saturday night, Mr.. B. being IN
occupied, they retired at an early hour at
the same time. MT. d. sprEng into bed
while Mr.. S. stiil sat on the Aoor unfssten-
ing his shoes, and Mr.. B. noticed that his
foot was very delicate and his stocking Sc
cured by an elastic. Still he thought
nothing further of this than that Mr.. s.
was dainty youth" only this and moth
ing more" They slept swsetly that night
Smith and Brown.
1t chanced that they retired again at the
same time, and very early, on Sunday
evening. There was Just the vaguest sus-
picion or thought in Mr.. BIS mind. Mr.. S.
dropped asleep soon, but Mr.. B. was wake
full, not being accustomed to retire at that
early hour. But he, too, at length, fell in
to ftful sleep, from which he awakened
about ten o'clock, and finding Mr.. SIS head
resting beneath one of his arms. On shift
ing his position, slipping his arm under
Mr. SIS head, his own arm dropped care=
lessly upon the bosom Of Mr.. S., when
hail horrors or Hail Columbial more
startling discovery than that of Christie
pher Columbus was made. CONSERVATION
seized Mr.. B., but his presence of mind re-
turned instantly, and he rallied to consider
the situation, and determined to arouse the
fair sleeper, and have an understanding.
He awakened Mr.. s., and charged him
with grave deception in the attemptto pass
for man. Mr.. s., or rather Miss s., pro
tested her innocence, but finally, being
hard pressed, made clean breast of it,
confessed the truth, and, after much hesi-
tation, but with great sdroitness, gave an
account of "himsslf," her history, and the
reasons of the mode of life she had adopted.
Briefly, then, her story:
Her home is in -, eitv in the
Southern part of this State, where her step
father, merchant, and her own mother,
still live. She went into the army about
two years since, enlisting in a Philadel-
Phis regiment, in company with "eousin"
of hers. Who this "cousin" was the splen-
did diamond ring on her engagement finger,
can probably tell. She gave elaborate &C
counts of the battles in which she, SER
geant in the Potomac Army, had been en-
gagged, and the accounts were so correct in
the main features, and so circumstantial, as
to preclude any doubt of her actual pres
ence and participation in them.
When establishment was expressed that
her secret could DO kept so long in the
army, she snoke Of the crisis through
which she had passed: The Quartermaster
made the discovery of her sex, and made
the charge with dishonorable propositions,
and this circumstance was, without doubt,
the compelling reason of her Withdrawal
from the army, which she left about two
months ago.
This young woman seemed about eigh-
teen years Of age, and had neat, small
figure, which was shown off to advantage
by the male sitizen's clothes she wore. A
cape wss the only article of military attire
she retained. She made fine looking
youth, had aruddy complexion, hazel eyes,
and dark auburn hair, somewhat colored BY
exposure to the sun. There was nothing
forward and brazen in her manner. On the
other hand she was modest, and seemed to
court privacy, avert eyes and avoid ques-
tions. She always spoke in an undertore,
and managed her voies with great adroit-
ness.
She had no business here, was merely
engaged in passing away time. She WIS
in DOUBT whether to return home, although
she said she couli do so and no one but her
relatives know ought Of the life she had
been leading during her absence. She
seemed waiting tae lapse of the first two
winter months, saying that she 1as to
meet her " cousin " in Cincinnati in two
months, adding in this connection, that
the person who put that ring upon her
finger was the only one in the world who
can take it of.
Our informant advised her to 60 home,
and she left the city last Wednesday, morn
ing, declaring home to be her destination.
The probable rationale of her case, as
made out in the judgment of our hero, is
this: The young woman is not dissolute
character. At the romantic, sentimental
age of sixteen or seventeen, she resol we'd to
&c into the army with her Oetrothed lover,
be be "cousin l" or otherwise, and accom-
Pany her twice lover to the field. An
affair of romance throughout, whose flow
ing tide was stopped by the untimely, un-
fortunate discovery of her sex, which
forced her to quit the service. Doubts as to
how her staid parents and friends might re-