The Grange advance., 1874-05-27
FAMILY CIRCLE. !.
THE FATE OF THE SPY.

bastapol. Not gun or screetchine
shell disturbed the painful silence,
which, to imaginative minds, produced
a feeling of uneasiness and awe. I.
only 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, l was in the act of
rising from my concealed position,
when muffled footstep caught my ear
| knew not why, but the blood rushed
impetuously through my veins
Giancing over my shoulder, the figure
OF man rose mysteriously before me.
lie was muff1ed to the chin over his
shoulder was white something, which:
IN my hurried glance I took to be the
skin OF some animal. Evidently who
ever this parsonage was, he had not
discovered me. His steps were bent
toward Sebastopol.
Lord abovev' I mentally gasped,
"what if this wretch should be one of
those systematic spies, which are to be
found in all armies "
My forefnger instinctively sought
thetrigger Of my revolver. One course
was determined upon, at all hazards,
this mysterious figure should not escape
me. On it came gliding, SO to say,
more like the movement of a serpent
than man. Showing as it was, and
with the shadows of MI ight falling fast
and thick, there was something which
struck me that [ had seen this ghost
like parsonage before. But where {?
That was a question that at that mo-
ment was most difficult to solve. Grad
ually l rose from behind thorny shrub,
and confronted the intruder with nv
revolver.
Who comes there ?'' said I ener-
getically.
A perceptible stare warned me that
at last [ confronted spy.
''Move hairs BREADTH" said l.,
"and you are dead man."
There was sudden CLEAN of dull
moonlight, and in my turn started
The face, though partially concealed,
was fa0iliar.
"Great heavens I exclaimed, "Lt
Brown Of ours"
Ere could rightly recover; the 6g
We glided past me. I fred, and called
loudly upon the outposts to shoot him
down.
Crack! Crack! went the rifles.
Escaped us, I muttered. grinding
my teeth.
"And gone right into Sebastopol,"
growled the sergeant.
Listen," said I, for Russian SEN
tinel that moment demanded field cry
or password. In vain we stretched our
ears to catch reply; naught but the
icy wind mocked us. I returned to my
hiding place full of thoughts, full of
suspicious.
"Could it be possible" I asked N.Y.
self, "that the figure was Lieutenant
Brown" They were certainly the bushy
whiskers, the full diabolical face, and
the thick figure. Lieutenant Brown, as
I knew we'll, was no favorite in ours.
He went by the cognomen Of & foreign
er,' yet he distinctively avowed that
he was English to the backbone
I remembered then that Lieutenant
Brown was clever at sketching. I also
had seen him take notes, which I play
fully alluded to at the time, and in re-
sponsc he informed meat a dear reIa-
tive's requess-he kepta diary. 1t was
certainly strange. 4 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 inquiries
as to how, and why, and the wherefore,
Of every trivial detail which occurred::in
the camp.
The commanders of the English and
the French forces never rightly caught
the Russians asleep; in sorties, in open
attacks, they were always seemingly pre-
pared. This was mortifying. Certainly
some of our men had deserted to the en-
emy, but this soon died out, owing to the
cruel treatment which awaited them.
That there was spy, who could pass the
English and French lines ad libitum,
did not for an instant doubt.
AT all events" said he, half aloud,
"if it be this foreigner he must return