The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1874-06-01
THE FATE OF THE SPY.


bastopol. Not O gun or 0 screetching
shell disturbed the painful silence,
which, 10 Imaginative minds, produced
feeling OF uneasiness and awe. ],
only q captain, was on outpost duty,
with revolver in hand, ready for any
emergency. Cautioning my men TO re-
port the most trivial stir that might
catch their ears, / ordered them to lie
down under cover Of some thorny
shrubs.
After some time / was in the act Of
rising from my concealed position,
when q muffled footstep caught my ear.
Ilnew not why, but the blood rushed
impetuously through my veins,
CHANGING over my shoulder, the figure
Of q man rose mysteriously before me.
He was mufled to the chin over his
shoulder was o white something, which,
in my hurried glance, Itook to be the
skin Of some animal. Evidently who
ever this parsonage was he had not dis
covered me. His steps we're bent
toward Sebastopol.
aLord aboyeip / mentally gasped,
"what II this wretch should be one OF
those Systematic spies, which are 10 be
found in all armies"
My forehnger instinctively sought
the trigger Of my revolver. One course
Twas determined upon, at oil hazards,
this mysterious figure should not
escape me. On IL tcame gliding, so TO
say, more like the movement Of q SER
pent than q man. Showing as II was,
and with the shadows Of night falling
fast and thick, there was something
which struck me that / had seen this
ghost-like parsonage before. But
where? That was o. question that at
that moment was most difficult TO solve.
Gradually ] rose from behind o thorpy
shrub, and confronted the intruder
with my revolver.
awho comes therel" said ], ener-
getically.
A perceptible stare warned me that
atlast 1 confronted a spy.
aDfove hairs breadth" said ],
"and you are dead man"
There was q sudden CLEAN Of dull
moonlight, and / in my turn started.
The face, though partially concealed,
was fpmiliar.
"Great heavens I" I exclaimed,
"Brown Of ours" M
Ere I could rightly recover, the fig.
ure glided past me. I fired, and called
loudly upon the outposts 10 shoot him
down. +
Crack crack ! went the rifles.
"Escaped u.s." Imuttered, grinding
my teeth.
"And gone right into sebastopol, =
growledj the sergeant.
Listen, said /. For Russian
sentinel that moment demanded field
cry or password. In vain we stretched
our ears to catch o reply ; naught but
the icy wind mocked us. / returned
to my hiding place full Of thoughts,
full OF suspicious. ~ \
"Couldi IL be possible, /" / asked my
sell, "that the figure was Lieutenant
Brown?p They were certainly the
buShy whiskers, the full diabolical
face and the thick figure. Lieutenant
Brown, as / knew well, was no fayoriie
in ours. He went by the cognomen Of
"foreigner,n yet he distinctly ayowed
that he was English to the back
bone.
remembered then that Lieutenant
Brown was clever at sketching. also
had seen him take notes, which I play
fully alluded to al the time, and in te-
sponse he informed meat dear rela-
tiyes' request-he kept diary. II was
certainly strange. A multiplicity Of
little occurrences rose up before me re-
specting our foreigner. His absorbing
interest respecting any intended attack.
His studious silence before others re-
specting the disasters Of the Russians,
and when in my hut, his eager inquirise
as to how, and why, and the wherefore
OF every trivial detail which occurred
in the camp.
The commanders Of the English and
theiFrench forces never rightly caught
the Russians asleep !; insofties, in open
attacks, they were always seemingly
prepared This was rnortifying. Ger.
tainly some Of our men had deserted
Ia the enemy, but this soon died out,
owing 70 the cruel treatment which
Swaited S chem. That there was o spy,
Who couid pass the English and French
lines adlibitum, did not for an instant
ugay q AZ all eyents,p said /, half loud,
u;fitbe this foreigner he must re-
turn,,n and tho bare thought was in.
tensely delicious.
tha ontiyine pickets, % he brought