The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1889-08-15
VOL. 81.
THEPRISONER OF FORTON
-
II Tail Of the Revolutionary
Wdr by EdsOdrd Everett Hale.

Those of you who have had
cr4ndfathers or great-gran dfathers
who were taken prisoners Ot war
when they were cruising ia Aberi-
cnn privaIeei have heard, / do not
,.uubt, of the prison OF Forton in
England. 1t was Ia this prison
that the American prisoners taken
Ut sea were kept. And very hard
tune they had oft until Franklin
wa, able TO arrange tina.
they should be exchanged for pris-
oncrs taken by Jones and othe S
t ON English ships.
One OF the prisoners ia Forton,
who ieMAI..d there eighteen
months or 3.,, was Capt. Lee, of
Marb eh -: The privateefs OF
Sale II, J!ar5lehead and Beverly
were the terror OF all English'oen
who sailed upon the sea; but in
adventure, winch L need not tell
here, Cspt. Lee, of Marblehead, was
overmatched, aud so had been car
ried into Eng .and with his crew and
was imprisoned at Forton. Ex-
changes wtrc not then easy, for the
English government had not at first
decided on us course about ex-
changes,
One day te poor Capt. Lee had
fingered there more than year and
a half, he was callel to the door
aud told that Il gentleman wi he'd Ia
see him. This gen Lehman proved to
be man OF military air, who took
Capt. Lee into corner and pressed
into his hand. privately, purse,
which proved TO cor tain 10 guineas
With equal privacy be said TO bin
that with a past Of the money be
must buy, before night, from some
OF the attendant, the dress OF one
of the prison workmen, and tina,
when the relief came around, he
must be in IN -the-wal place
where he coula TAIL in with thu re
liet in the twilight and pass out
side of the prison proper unohsoiv
cd. But to go out of the whui
inclosure," said bis friend, "you
will need TO know the countersign.'
And SO he whispered to him the
counterslgn of the day. Capt. Lee
asked who IL was to whom be was
indebted, but the stranger would
not tell him
Ali fell ont just as this good fair,
hat H1id. Some loaler among the
workingmen was not proof to the
temptation of few bright guIneas
and Us night came on Capt. Lee
clothed himself in the suit OF clothes
which he had bought. He fell il
with the relief and no ane o 1serveC
him. He came To ore and another
seminal who challenged him, ant
he approached and gave the coun
tersign." lie passed out into tn,
dark town, and there he was puz
zled about the street, when he me
again his friend OF the morning.
The gentleman congratulated hin
on his libert put him into car
rage whic'i vas in waiting ano
sent him t "A seaport, whence b,
cou'd get passage for France.
ne whole experience was a.
great a wonder to Capt. Lee as /
the stranger had been an angel sen
from heaven, as in a certain sens,
he was. Heaven is very apt to senC
as It's messengers the persons who
have been moved by Kindness don,
TO them.
1t proved afterwards that tn,
mysterious stranger was no less 4
, person than Gen. Bnrgoyne. III,
also bad been a prisoner OF war
While he was at Cambridge. il
Massachu sets, he had been under
the immediate charge of Col. Lee
who was Capt. Lees brother
When Burgoyne was exchanged h,
had promised Col. Lee, for who's,
kindness to him he was grateful
that he would render any service II
his power TO the prisoner at Forton
Col. Lee had intrusted to him tn,
seventy-fiver guines VIII CHI he had
delivered to Capt. Lee, ard it wa.
he who had whispered the valua.
bl countersign to hip.-Sunp,
Hour.