Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1886-05-01

If not suspicious, and followed the man.
In half an hour was certain that he wassI |
spy and had been making an estimate off
our strength.
Without entirely losing sight of thesI
man, / communicated my suspicious toe
the officcr-of the-day, and the result wassl
an arrest. The man did not even changed
countenance when he found himself be-.
tween the bavonets, but marched off as if
such affairs were down on his programme q
calmly submitted to thorough search off
his person and pack. This lasted fulls'
hour, but we made no discovery of int
portance. The man denied that he wass
ever north Of the Ohio River, and claimed,
New Orleans as his residence He learneds
the song from vagabond musician whot
visited that city, and had sung'lt In hun i
drcds Of Confederate camps slnce'the war. L
There was absolutely no evidence against !
him. and he would have been set at hber-.
ty had | not entreated the officer to give,
me until next day to look UP something !
to confirm my suspicious.
at once mounted my horse and rode
through all the adjacent camps and |
found that the man had visited every one
Of them : He had certainly taken in |
whole corps in his round, and was heardaI
of among infantry, artillery, cavalry and !
even the hospitals. AS peddler he,
would have done this, but as spy he
the evidence could get was that he hads
appeared, played his fiddle sung hist
song and sold his notions, claiming to-
some to be selling on commission for a.
suter, and to others that he was in busi-'
ness for himself.
returned to headquarters clean done !
up and mad at myself for having madel
such mess of it, The man was all right
and I was all wrong. l went to the'
guard house to ask him few questions,
and it seemed to me that my sudden en-
trance rather confused him. While Il
questioned I also watched, and presently
I observed that he seemed to have a verys
large quid of tobacco in his cheek Mind
YOU / was looking for trlt1es, and L no
sooner noticed the fact l have mentioned
than I watched to see him expectorate
and soon realized that he was doing So
This wasn't at all natural, and I'began at
his head to look him over. When
came down to the third button on his
blouse there was no buttonsthere. All
the others were in place, buttthls one was
missing.
The man was talkative eand,even jovial,
; and by and by left him wlth'the remark
= that would 90 and report to'the officer
| and have him set at liberty. | stepped
ont. walked around for fifteen minutes
and then re-entcredt the guard house. The
third button on his blouse was now IN
Il place, and the quid of tobacco no longer
y bulged out his cheek. When ordered to
e "neel" his coat he hesitated for an in
slant and saw him change countenance,
but off it came and | carried 1t to head
quarters.
Every button on that blouse was not
Is only A hollow cylinder made to screw to-
n rethcr. but each cavity was filled witt
rs proofs to convict him as spy. He hao
,c worked all entire corps, and he had the
" number of men, pieces Of artillery, condl
70 tion Of arms, and whatever else might b'
asked for. 1t must havetaken hlm two
weeks to secure such full and explicit In
formation.
When he was brought before Gen. -
he felt that the JIG was up. There wer
to hi, own notes to confront him. He re
'd fused to utter one single word, am
1t seemed to have made up, his mind TO pa
st the penalty without fiinching. 1t was brle
O. work TO try. convict and condemn him
ne hut he was never executed. On tn
| n;oht before his execution he died on hi
he blankets. He was in the full vigor c
r. wears and health, having hearty appt
Il tite. and his death has ever remained
rs +~mystery. There was no wound OF an
/ sort on the body, and of the FIVE surgeon
en- summoned 10 investigate all were certal
that he did not take poison of any sor
10 After playing on his fiddle for half 8
'ai hour he lay down on the blankets wit
i the remark that il was his last night
"h sleep. A guard sat within ten feet
NJ him and saw hin, apparently fall into
he sweet slumber, hut two hours later
eo was dead - Dstroit Free Press.
he -
hit Had Badges On"