Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1886-03-19

NANuF NuOUH 1T. uuN aNNN Au0lI4t
himseA, though be stoutly declared bis b.
Lief in the lad, and maintained that nothing
could make him think young Tom was a
traitor, except the most absolute and post
tive proof that such was the case For once
Lacy was absolutely angry with his best
friend.
my dear chap" be said, IN tones which
were distinctly tones OF remonstrance,
though he tried to make them those Of calm
r-easonableness, Hwhat-er-more pwrooe
can you want or havel The boy was sent
to get your flask filed with bWrandy he did
not get it filed with bwrandy or anything
else, but it is found instead only afewyards
from your own tent. The boy is gone-the
-er-dlspatch is gone too. Nobody else In
the whole camp IS missing. It Is wreally,
Boobies, perfectly absurd TO twry to shield
the young wrae cal any longer. The dis
patch-er-could not go by itself-its alb
surd-it-er-isn't in wreason.n
I'm reason or out of reason, Idon't and
won't believe that the boy has sold me-"
Bottles asserted O~bstinately.
BIT he has stolen the Dispatch Lacy
persisted.
sOh, nohsensei What on earth should he
do with it when he had got itT'
why, hand it over to Awrabi, Of course.
What else should he do with itT' retorted
Lacy, sharply.
'Oh he has never done that, though o m
one else may. That is likely enough an
swered Boobies carelessly.
But Beetles knew very well In his heart
that it must have been Tom and no other
who had taken the pocket book from of his
table, though he did not for a moment be-
leve that the lad had sold him.
The true solution of the mystery was that
the boy, by listening outside the ~coloneTs
tent, had, according to his idea, gathered
the object Of the mission with which his
master had been charged, and with that
knowledge had also CLEANED a very correct
idea Of the danger which must attend it.
that he had s.olen the dispatch, and was
now in hiding, with the ignorant idea that
If it were not there to be taken, his master
could not take it. That young Tom had
actually set off from the Scarlet Lancers'
camp to carry that paper across the five
miles Of difficult and dangerous country
which lay between the two British camps
was an idea which never entered for a mo-
ment into Bottles calculations.
But his opinion was not shared by any one
else, at least no one else hit upon that idea
as a solution Of the mystery Of TOMS con.
duct, and Boobies did not tell any one what
he thought; he only stoutly maintained that
he did not believe, and that he never would
believe, short Of positive proof to the con-
trary, that the lad had sold him.
So that miserable morning dragged its
slow length along. What a long, long day
it wasl The entire camp seemed paralyzed by
the loss Of that paper, which had contained
instru ctions for a simultaneous attack upon
the city and the rebel forces on the third
day from the date Of sending the dispatch.
1t was useless to send out duplicate; for
not only was the cypher probably already
in the hands Of Arab, but the vigilance Of
the rebels would be greatly increased, and
so render it impossible for q messenger to
pass between the two British camps.
Towards evening, when the shades Of
night were gathering around, an attempt
was made to signal to the other camp BY
means Of electric lights. Hitherto their
trials in this respect had bsen but dismal
failures, and 1t was as O last resort that the
Scarlet Lancers attempted it now.
To their intense surprise, however, Che
answering flashes came back with precision
and evident understanding, very different
from the confused answers they had received
before This time there could be no mistak.
ing their meaning, and apparently those on
the distant shore were experiencing the same
enlightenment. l ~
"AH YighN-Got your messdge.-WTU act
as you direct"
The signalist put the message together,
and the group Of officers, who were standing
round him stood staring blankly into one
another's faces, struck dumb with astonish-
ment and surprise.
"Are you quite sure?r asked Hartog at
length Of the officer who was in charge Of
the signals.
The signalist-a very smart engineer
laughed. s vi.
eyes. Quite sure" he answered.
''Then that boy carried the message to save
BootlesE' Hartog exclaimed.
SPY Jove!' calculated Lacy, oand I've
been vigorously ~blackening ths poor little
fellows character all day-evewry time |
had a chance. I-er-feel beastly ashamed
of myself"
'Ask again-ask who took the message,
and if he is there nowq' suggested Hartog to
the engineer, who complied willingly
enough, and sent the inquiry flashing across
the rapidly darkening sky, in which the
brilliant stars were beginning to shine out
one by one.
Then the reply came back In a series Of
vivid flashes;
"A boy left camp on return Journey with
reply before daylight"
''Then the rebels have got him. Hartog
cried, e~xcitedly. "Poor little chap, they've
got him sure enough"
The news spread through the camp in
next to no time, and within half an hour,
young Houp-La had as many good words
spoken for him as during the day he had had
bad ones. Everybody had something pleas
ant to say ia favor OF the brave little lad,
who had thEs heroically risked bis life, and,
poor fellow, had probably already lost it for
the sake Of The master whom he loved with
the fidelity Of a dog.
As for his master, he went straight to the
colonel and asked, with a strange huskiness
in his throat and a blazs in his blue eyes,
that a searching party might be sent out at
once, and as far as was safe, in case the lad
had been disabled and could not reach the
camp.
Certainly, certainly-and go yourself, if
you care to do it, Ferrers,n said the colonel,
hurriedly, brushing his hand across his eyes.
go yourself, il you care to do it. I have
much pleasure in returning your sword, ]
am sure / sincerely hope the lad has come
to no harm. 'Pon my soul, he is the hero
Of the ca~mpaign-'pon my soul he Isl and
then the kindly colonel shook bis favorita
:. . - vN LNMU a. H.