The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1888-06-23

7 q
/ young man inspected me very closely,
and when finally left him he did not
seem altogether satisfied as to my iden-
| tity. He asked me several questions
about Guntown, which had to answer
at random, and my account Of how my
SON. had left home was not as clear as it
might have been. My first move after
losing sight of the milkman was to go to
a hotel. There ! boldly registered as
John William Richardson, Mobile, and
dropped hint TO the clerk that / was.
furnishing Beauregard with supplies. As
soon as went to my room / peeled off
my outer suit, removed wig and spec
tacles, took out three of my false teeth,
which were on plate by themselves,
blackened my eyebrows, and in ten
minutes | was in a new disguise. went
down to breakfast. and then slipped oveIn
to the other hotel and registered and
took room as Professor E. G. S. La
Due. New Orleans" / had the French
twist to my speech, and | also had dis
covery relating to new explosive.
had come to the front'to put it in practice.
1t was about 10 O'Clock when | started
out, and who should run against the
very first thing but my friend of the
milk business. He had sergeant and
three privates with him, and as they
passed me he said:
"Oh. can tell him mile off. His
gray wig got rumpled up. and saw
light hair under it, but he was off before
knew what to do. y
l followed them to the hotel where l
bad first registered, and entered it just
as they went up the stairs to my ROOM
They Thought they had their man. but
were doomed TO disappointment Two
OF the men were left in the Office. how
ever. while the other two, accompanied
by the nlilkman. went out to look for
me on the Streets This was on the goth
of May. Beauregard had concentrated
everything on the short line and the Con-
federates believed they had sure thing
in case they were attacked in their in
trenchments. I picked up the acquaint-
ance of dozen army officers before
night. and the subject Of the new ex-
plosive proved interesting to all. They
pumped me for particulars, of course,
but my reply was:
I'm day or two hope to make
test and surprise the Yankees. =
Through the influence of Capt. John
son, belonging tC Marmaduke's COM
mand, and who had been wounded and
carried his right arm IN sling, secured
pass to carry me abo.M Corinth, and On
the second day of my arrival posted
myself in many details. Everything was
excitement and hubbub. as everybody
thought a great battle imminent, and no.
body paid any attention to me. At my
solicitation Capt johnson reported nay
arrival to Beaurexard's adjutant, and
asked permission for me to experiment.
He came back and said:
II found him upside down. and he
felt like ordering me under arrest for dis
turbing him. Z
On the afternoon Of the third day,
while was returning from the Confed-
crate left, provost patrol picked me
up. My pass was all right and secured
my liberation, but it gave me an uneasy
feeling to observe that the milkman was
among the guard. He had evidently
pointed me out for arrest, for heard
him mutter to the officer:
II may be wrong, but can't get shut
of the feeling that he's the man. No
two men could have such eyes,"
knew / should be under surveillance
now, and the first thing | did after
reaching the hotel was to replace my
teeth, rub the black from my eyebrows,
part my hair in the center and give
new twist to my mustache, and as de-
scended to supper my left eye had a
slight squint. After supper, as sat in
in the Office smoking. observed the
milkman moving about as if looking for
me. went directly up to him and said:
my friend, were you looking for me2'
mo sir, !" was his prompt reply.
'sRnt you were with the man who ar
rested me this evening""
.Whatl Are you the fellow we picked
up near the depot2'
81 am.
He looked me from top to toe with
puzzled expression on his face, and / re-
marked:
Il overheard you say something about
my eyes. Is there anything wrong with
them?"
"N-no. sir"
''But why did you point me out to the
guardG Indeed, why are you civilian,
tramping about with the soldiers? pre-
sumo you hold yourself accountable for
any trouble you may cause gentle
mani"
He turned pale in an instant, and ask
ing me to step aside, he explained:
There was an old man rode in with
me the other morning. He called him
self Judge Lexington and said he lived at
Guntown. No such man has ever lived
there. This man also wore gray wig
to conceal his natural hair, which was
little reddish.
'sWell?''
..Well. he told an affecting story. and
passed him in as my father. believe
he was a spy"
.sYes. !"
And the soldiers believe it, and want
to find him."
'.And hope they will But you, my
friend. must use more discretion. If you
insult gentleman you must be pre-
pared to give him satisfaction. | feel
that '
Say, I'm sorry about this thing. and
hope you II let itdrop. Come and have
drink. .
held on for awhile and then bridged
the yawning chasm, and when he was
ripe for it | said:
Il have brother here-a citizen
who is just able to move about after
long illness. J want to get him away
before the battle occurs. How far out
do you i've"
sAbout nine miles9''
IF paid for it, couldn't yo;i take him
home for week or two?'
"T'll rake him without pay. ard he
only too glad to do you favor"
But wouldn't have it that way /
bargained with him that he should re-
ceive $40 for his trouble and that he
should call at the hotel the next evening.
Nothing was said about pass, but in
tended to see to that. The next day
Marmaduke's captain helped me to secure
it. What saw in Corinth satisfied me
there would be no fight While the
Confederates were shortening their lines
and intrenching, and while the great
mass Of soldiers believed that Beauregard
WAS aehinO f0r an aftaoI fha tai1rood