Morris tribune., 1895-03-20

l ~
mountain side before it gets within .
hundred feet Of the house.
In this comfortable and secluded re-
treat Mrs. Hendricks is at work during
the latter part of July. The mails are
kept qua rdedly down to correspond
ence of necessity and to the daily pa
pers from the large cities.
We can thus see how indifferent Hem
bricks was to the prospects of a siege.
He could safely and secretly direct the
I movements Ola vast organization seat
tered through the country while he
and his immediate forces were safe
from molestation or disturbance while
their supplies lasted.
| On or about the 2Sth of July,
Fenning succeeded in getting Mrs.
Hendricks to send for Miss La
ports assistance. But that young
| woman refused to leave Laran volun-
tarily. Fenning suspected the in
fluence of Stocking. Mrs. Hendricks
was sure of it. Preparations were then
made at Jennings suggestion to send
her at night under a strong guard to
meet him somewhere on the route,
when they were interfered with by the
news from Laran. This was on the
30th and Hendricks telegraphed;
Something of our secret is discovered
by the government. How much, ] do
not know. Watch the papers. A
United States gunboat anchored in the
river this a. m, opposite the bayou; q
strong force has been ashore. The
probability is that this is one feature
of general movement and other forces
are concentrated. 1t is therefore fool
hardy to send Miss Franklin at this
time"
1t was Mrs Hendricks custom to read
off these messages to Fenning while
she was at the instrument and he
wrote them down with pencil in
order to be sure of their meaning,
burning them Immediately afterward.
They never suspected or ever knew
that they wene read by somebody else.
But they were, and it is that curious
fact which enables us to follow the
details of his operations.
In the interval between the collision
with Gen. Luscomb and the departure
from Laran of Mrs. Hendricks and
Fenning, Calicot had had ample OPP
portunity to cultivate the acquaintance
of Miss Laport, whom he knew only as
Miss Franklin, and as the two young
women in the place were thrown much
together, he saw a good deal of Miss
Endicott. The doctor, who had found
him a well-read man, had become quite
attached to him and had told him
great deal about Miss Endicott's pc
culiar temperament and condition.
The young woman herself enjoyed
Calicot's society, and he and Miss La
port spent most of their evenings visit
ing her. On one of these occasions
she had lapsed into her trance condi-
ton and the doctor was not present.
Something that was learned from her
lips made Miss Laport and Calicot con-
suit long and carefully. The very next
night when they were alone with her,
she again passed into an abnormal
state, and Calicot, with his compan-
ions concurrence, questioned her. The
doctor was busy elsewhere; there was
no fear of interruption. Miss Laport
got the packet of hair that she knew to
be Mrs. Hendricks, and Calicot, with
curious interest, listened to the girl.
Then it was that she described the
scene in the Swiss cottage and read the
telegram which Fenning had written
bricks lips. Calicot was puzzled. He
had no means of finding out where
this place was. Miss Endicott could
only describe what she saw. She had
no explanations to make, but it sud-
denly dawned upon him that he had in
this young woman complete offset |
to Hendricks secret advantages. Miss |
Laport acknowledged to him. in corrob- |
Grafton of what he had heard, that she /
had refused to go away without her
father, and now that she had learned /
of the preparations to send her to Fen
ming, she was visibly alarmed. Calicot
encouraged her by every means in his
power. He pointed out to her how
great an advantage their discovery
gave them. She listened to him help
lessly; but they became confidential
confederates. He cautioned her to say
to Stocking at present and got
her to use her woman's influence with
the girl to carry on the experiments.
When he was alone the discovery
filed him with all manner of con-
lectures and alarms. It kept him
awake all night in an effort to make a
correct deduction from the informa-
ton furnished. The next day he
endeavored to test the truth
Of Miss Endicott's vision. He met
in the rotunda, and after
polite salutation said: 1T is impossible
for me to wander about in this place
and not hear the men occasionally dis
cussing your affairs. have just heard
that leads me to believe
that war vessel is watching the
bayou. Is that true?'
Yes replied Hendricks. ''She ar
rived yesterday morning. Iexpected
her before"
He then walked away as if disin-
,lined to talk further upon the SUBJ
Jet.
So this piece of information was alb
solutely correct. Calicot saw that the
affairs of Hendricks and his men were
now too urgent to leave them much