The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-02

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mot to-day. sir" said he, motionlng us in.
! am his prisoner said tho Colonel rather
I'm New York. said pringlc.
Yes, IL you get away" he said.
ITS my business to attend to that" tho cob.
bier %retortcd. AS 1t is, I was about TO Cross in
But your boat p the prisoner asked.
TITS down there In the bushes" he said.
But the patrols D.
81 know, the password! I'm on Sir Hcnry's
What trcachcry,' he cried. "Treachcry,'.
You cant depend on men In a town 80 di;;
grimly; and tho meaning OF that word trcach.
cry depends on the side You re on"
,, raye found that out said the prisoner rather
traitors when families like the Mordaunts are
SO much concerned" and he bowed to me.
Hero was tho little cobbior himsclf-ono OF those
whom civil war makes into darc-lcvils: here
was the proprietor n prisoner in our hands; and
hero was the still uncertain enterprise Of taking
him to The boat, and of getting the boat across to
had carried the enterprise, twas nothing to
led u" US U as %s i ! pIEE,sn'ii it "P pPST tosctSc eyes N s5Wu /
pear too smalli AS have said, he always WINS
need of sudden action, had made him rather OF
q coward: Yet YOU, can't call a man a coward
W '" :"a' 30 p" they not s Say that Str the i br"vd pses soldiers HS1s
run in their hrst battle, and why should not a
brave man make his resistance rather less be-
cause he never had boon a prisoner so taken, by
Ss siSi'$E S ! SPY S SSdss lRIf E'' % . s Sc the @Sl f@or nGE 81 81
H laS h indsoa t GSl.' vSS Fl A lad BUSINESS rs ! |
me well In that sharp tussle. Even IL then
s ! had ib. th %S wors the ss,n pist9l m aST wbeI he S,n 5GaI
together, To all these considerations wore
added his Amusement at discovering not only
civilian knew the word of the night. and could
pass the river. Who could have given iti he
was asking himself.
You win not spy much longer. fellow" he
observed to Pringle.
lam not the only one in New York" the
so0niof r~otMorsed. You yourself Will have
The proprictor's face turned ashen, and l in
Nome of that: 1 have promised to see Col.
Van Hal returned
Without an exchangei"
given my word"
Why not leave him here. II that's tho case 7
You w s sse. H MT. M Ta9 T%E 1' Ills s npo iYsT m S'I bn ,h n Ss'''
You will have to yet some other" said !.
Turn s~chooimastcr. for I've heard you were once
matter, Col. Van Hal crosses the river with u.s."
"a matter Of pride, ch |" said the cobbler.
shall we bind and gag you. Colonel
why not in my company" said 1.
There were no s%entincis near enough before;
you could have killed me; but on the river the
patrol will hear and catch you."
Yes" said |; you must tic his hands-no,
The prisoner looked abont as il meditating re-
sistAnce, but he saw IL was useless, las | took his
pistol and held it over him while Pringlc gagged
him, muttcring something low in his ears.
The candle In the rough room tiickcred on the
scene, An old rheumatic dog rose laboriously
Pringle slipped n hand about his wrists. beyond
my request. and then snuffed the candle. -.
II, u,1SnIl W TG Mi; Colonel; or we sn WIN m carry you"
little path where tho thick bushes swept our
faces, The moon was low on the horizon, and
once on the river. did not fear light so much: to
Sir Henry he was n spy on us; to us one on Sir
i'fPn ressen fS w we f SShSiI the sk SfF9T tho ho a priso ar9; en-.
tered without resistance. We put out. the cob
bier extending mo "A second, pair OF oars. He
WIS surprisingly strong, i'll the way of those lit
tie wiry men; men who have. too. astonishing
endurance. as l have known many times on
long campaigns.
The moon had dipped and the landscape fell
suddenly darker. 4 frieate doomed TO lceward.
and then We settled down to our steady work.
wildly over this part OF the adventure. l had
succeeded so far by an extraordinary association
OF chances. but l watched the still figure o: our
prisoner. who. without that gag. might have
spoiled all by q shout to the shipping:
wh hn, su 5as ! iIfSt q e 2f Ians '%hf ai ON o tsrl e sSnin ID:
leaned on their oars; Prinslo gave his own
to his presence on the river at night.
We had drawn on some distance when a voice
rang OUT Win ShrlIl IlStlnctncSS.
An escaped prisoner~a spy! Stop thcm!"
Ihnd no, noticed our prisoner for some mo-
monts. but now. looking around at this startling
i]ctteied. the gag out OF his mouth, Fo: an in.
slant he stood there poised. and then sprang
ITO your oars. man! IT'S life or DEATH" sang
out the spy. And l understood him.
We pulled on on for our lives knoTing they
small enough. What was tic surprising pnrt
was that when they he'd drawn him out Of the
came AFTER us, TO be sure. but not so briskly AS
they g might fIt:s ,hO co,on., :" s,,o p,,,o,,
/ did not think OF that then. Freedom for
which, l had, fought so hard was OF import
enough 10 make me forget all else. Not TIL some
limo after. when we grounded under tho cliff on
our own side OF the r!ver, and we were walking
pickcts. did | remember and ask:
The Colonel, sir. told them the truth, and
that they should let US get away"
Yes. you see / whispered in his ear. while 1
was ~gaSging him, that wouldn't tie him tight"
What dye mean. man = / cried. That's
NJ Mordaunt," he answered. "once when 1
ne money: that gentleman helped me out.
! intended giving him n chance"
said Gothing. thinking it all over. while the
~ n it were traitorous. can't I show 100 cases
where I've riske! my neck Now. l never can
go s ipto : S seiS 6 Go,b,m again th, III Congress z y holds it,"
w. . S''t' 'Nt'a''S ''N ~ wv.
- man must be human, even in war. | gave
him only u little chance: He might have been
drowned. but he took it, the spy went on with
sullcn persistence. 81. he'd bsen brought over,
he would nave had the appearance OF having
helped YOU"
Atlast | said:
II don't SEQ why l should report this
Then no cried out:
"Why. bless you. Capt. Mordaunt. l will re-
port it myself. II they don't think | deserve
some confederation. they can 20 and be hanged.
Tho %co5blcr's thin, wiry figure seemed to me
IN take on heroic nTnpOrtiOng. nl WE Nyalkpd
there together in that still, dark hour. II he had
lost me my prisoner, the prisoner equally had
let me escape. And, In fact, whom The matter
was reported at headquarters. without an cx-
tcnuatinR clause, the same view was taken of It,
and Pringlc was continued in the service with
the rank OF sergeant.
So the account ends as abruptly as 1t began;
but 1t may show. perhaps, the characters of the
runaway prisoner. Of the old tory, and Of the
spy, who. despite the usage OF war, could not
forget II favor-cycn though granted by n politi-
cal enemy.
MONTINJ'S FELON SCHOOL.