, 1881-10-30
"Confonnd It. that boy has lied again. This Is

not the right lGs: this is not b. ,: Now, Wick
low, you will find the correct 1G6 for us, or
Gone, as sure us guns! And, what is moro
| wc failed to tlld Il truce Of him. Here WIS III
awkward pretlicatncnt. l cursed my stupidit.
of no use to bother about TINT now. Wha
should LIDO in tho present circumstances =
that was the question. That girl n.iJtt bo 3
would not answer to tnke unbelcf for proof
SO hy ta a nqt y s and n to osan5 fS roon
preached the girls room. and to keep the land.
lord with them, nnd under strict watcn, untl
j to sec II all was right there yet.
l.. Yes, nil was right. And all remained right
| staid up nll night to make sure OF that Nothing
] happened, WIS unspeakably glud to see the
| dawn come avuin, 'and be able to telegraph the
! department that the Stars and Stripes foa,ed
| over Fort Trumbull.
hrcast: Still did NOT relax vigilance, OF course,
| NOR effort either; tho case wis too grave for
| harried them By tie hour trying to get them to
confess, but It was failure They only gnashel
! their teeth anu tore their hair, and revealed
About noon enrne
TIDISGs or MY MISSING BOY,
lie had been seen on tho road. tramping west
ward, souc eight miles out, ut + III the ,lorulng.
started cavalry Lieutenant and pri,ate On
twenty miles out. He had climbed feDce and
was wearily dragging himself acrossn slushs
tue edge Of n viliase. They rode through 4 Bit
Of woods. madc detour, and closed up OH the
hG 6pGss ae aAen
They slipped into the next room. which
tnst WIS us nlso unoccupcti the aoor from
yna room INTO hov fho 'front.' or ahang m
step through it when they heard q low voice; it
was somebody praying. So they halted reyer--
suw an old man and an old WOMAN kneeling In II
corner OF that sittins-room It was the old man
tn t1 was M a ss ay as be ws 1an
door and stepped i'll. Both of those old people
sprang Ut him and smothercd him with embraces,
''Uur hoy! our darling! God be praised.
The lost is found! He that was dead Is affvc
axaiu!' ;H,tt; s,. ,,,.. ,r.
WIS bor, ana reared on the homestead, u,sd bad
never been five miles away from 1t in all his
lite till the fortnight before be loarcd into my
or hist it's as true as Gospel. That old man
WAS his father--n learned old retired Clergyman;
and that Old lady was his mother.
Let me throw in word or two Of explanation
concerning that boy and his performances. 1t
turned out thAt he was
4 H4AyENors DEyoUEEl: OF -D1aiE NOVELS
and sensution-story papers-therefore, dark
mysteries nnd yaudy heroisms were just in his
iiue- Then be had read newspaper reports Ut
tho steulthy golngs and co1ntngs OF Rebel spies
IL our ItItdst, anu of their turid purposes and
their two or three startling achievements, till
his imagination was nll atlamc on that subject
His constnnt con,rade for some months had been
Yankee youth OF much tongue and lively
fancy; Who ", had served for conule OF years rs
tween New Orleans and points two or three
hundred miles up tho Mississippi-hcncc his
sasy :4s facility in handling the names and other
details pertaining to thut region. Now / hHd
spent TWO or three months in that part Of the
country before. the War; and l knew just |
enough about it TO be easily taken in by that !
boy, whereas born Louisiun1an would probl- |
bly hnye causht hin tripping before he had
talked fifteen minutes. Do you know the reason !
ot bis reasonable cnignas? Simply because he |
couldn't explnln them they hai no meaning; |
be had fired them our of his imagination with: I
out forcthou~hr Or afterthoughr; and So, upon |
sudden call. MT WASN'T able to invcu: an cxpla- |
nation OF them. For instance, he cnutnt re- t
veal what WAS hidden in the +" sympathetic ink |
letter, for the ample reason that there wasn't !
lnythlug hidlen in 1t,
IL WAS r1.-ASK PAPER oSI.1.
He hadn't rtIr anything into gun, and had
nerer intended to-for his letters were all
written to imaginary persons. and when he |
nd one In the stable he always removed the |
inc hc had put there the day before; SO he
'iucc ne was seeing it for the first time when /
howcd it to him: but lis soon us had let him
ind out where it came from he str1ightway
'doptea it, in bis rou1antic fashion, and got
or,c tine effects out OF 1t. He invented Mr-
Gaylord: there wusn't any Is bond street
ust @ thennit -, bud been pulled down three months,
'clted tho glib histories Of those tlufortuuutes |
fhom cAptared and confronted with him; he
nc nll,' say. for he didn't Know there 1csss such
nulntcr in the Eagle Hotel until he Went
here, lie stood ready to invent anybody, or
or "outsiac' spies, he promptly descrihed | !
trangers whom hc had seen ut the hotel, ana I
bose nanles he had happened to hear. Ah, he
81 nHSfRr{ntt%
urt1lg thusc few stirring days, and thiEk it :
as Etdt to him, aud that he enjoyed it clear
own to the buttou, OF his heart
But be made trouble enough for us-and just |
. end of humiliation. You see, on account Of :,
'm VIC had fifteen or twenty people under ar
sst and confinement i'll the fort, with scntiuets
cfnre their doors. X lot Of the cHpriyes were | 4
'ldiers nnd such, and to them | didn't have to
poIogize; hut the rest were trst-cInss citizens.
ON ult over the country, aud amount Of | {
oologies was suicientto satisfy theln-
THEY JUST FCaIED AND RACED,
I'd made IO end Of rr0ubics Aud those two Ia |
es-one was nn Ohio ConEressnlan's wife. tho t
I'd ridculc. and angry tears they poured out
l me made up keepsake that was ::ltkely
shall. That old lame gentle
nu with the goggles was college
:esident from Phiude!phia; who had come Y
ID never seen young Wicklow before, of
ursc. Well. he nor only missed tho funeral. | \
ID got Jailed as Rebel spy, but Wicklow had | "
ribed him as Il countcrfcitcr, nigger-trader, u
aud ltre-tug from the most notori- =
Is ruscai- nest in Galveston; and ths WIS 4
iu: which that poor old gentleman couldn't
cin to get over ut all.
And tho War Department! Bur, my soul, let's :
aw the curtain over thar part!
- j
NoTE.-I showed my manuscript to the Major, +
d he said: 'iour uufanltliarity with MILL !,
ry matters has betrayed you into some little |;
stakes. Still. they are p'cturcsques ONES
them 20: military men will smile at them, r,
y rest won't detect them. You have rot the e
lii fncss OF the history Ef1ht. ard have set Is
ELL down just about us they occurred u
u. T.
TO THE MOON. j