Semi-weekly Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1897-1901, 1901-08-06

81
"What are you thinking aboltT' asked
without any one suspecting you were
going on my account"
well, now, why don't yo' give me
| somet'n hard?"
go and get me newspaper or an
almanac
He was out of the room and back in
moment with n Huntsville paper OF
that mornings issue. scanned its
columns before looking at the date and
noticed this item:
The main body Of the Yankees are marching
from Nashville 10 Columbia en- route, II is sup
posed 10 Pttsburg Landing, where they will
doubtless Join ;he Federal General Grant
Looking at the heading l saw that
the date was the lst OF April.
"Now. Buck" ! said. get out your
pony; then come TO me for instruc-
tons
Look a-hyar. Mr.. Brandy Brandy
stone
"Branderstane."
well, Mr.. Brandinstane, If yo' got
any 'structious | reckon yo' better give
'em to me now. Mebbe If come back
hyar that doggone ole Lib'll come in an
yank me out
You're right. Reach me that sheet
OF note paper and n book to write on -
that thin one: now pencil. All right.
a EN- I hnya fnfchHI ~
wrote n message in as infiniteslmal
characters as was able on third Of
Il sheet Of paper:
Machine shops AT Huntsville IN good order FIJI
teen 70 20 locomotives. Nearly hundred cars.
No force in the town. To the east road runs
parallel with and near the pike fer several miles
and is handy TO cut. t. the west party TO cut
the road must pass round the city on the north.
Euc'uy gathering all possible forces at P!usburs
Landing. but several thousand men at Caatta.
mega.
put neither address nor signature to
II, as none was necessary, aud they
would be conclusive evidence against
ne If the message should fall into the
wrong hands.
Buck" | said. mount your pony
and ride to Huntsville. A few min
utes before II o'clock so into the Hunts
VILE hotel: you kuOw-the big brick
house ON the square. Go up stairs and
out on the front gallery. At l. o'clock
man with black eyes, long hair and
pointed beard will walk out on the
gallery. Don't say anything to him.
Wait, and after awhile he'll say some
thing to YOU"
"Wfll he?" asked the boy, his eyes
full of wonder. "What'll he say?"
Hell say. It's fine day."
"What, If it's rainin?'
Eyes; rain or shine, If he's the man
you want, he'll say, It's a fine day
Then you must say, Reckon you're
weather wise. stranger To that he'll
reply by asking you what kind Of
weather 1t was the day of the massa-
ere"
what massacre? What's a massa.
cree"
Never mind that. Stick to the les
son I'm teaching you. You must say
BLACK as night Then he'll say
what's the wordT and you can hand !
him this note. Now. suppose I'm the +
man with the pointed beard and you ,
20 through the dialogue with me-"
l put him through his lesson till he |
had learned 1t perfectly. Then ! sent |
him away with the injunction that. in |
case anything should so wrong with |
him. rather than part with the paper he
was TO swallow it. l rolled it into a
ball and put 1t into the lining of his !
hat. Giving his little hand squeeze.
babe him go, and he marched out as !
as If he had been appointed |
governor of Alabama. | had
no doubt he would execute his mission
to the best of his ability. but he was
very Young. and | feared he would
make some blunder.
What Il fool | am" / exclaimed as
soon as he was gone. II should have
'ailed to communicate rather than in
rust so important a matter 10 n boy.
However. I'll leave here tomorrow
and, If my message mis-
,arries. by the time it's discovered Ill
De somewhere else"
Helen came In soon after Bucks de-
and began TO set the room 10
lights. She attended 10 her work ST.
emily and did not even look ut me.
watched her as she moved about, ar
angling a curtain here, moving a chair
here or piling books on the table more
eatly. She was a true type of n
outhern woman-tall, willowy. head
ct on her shoulders in a way TO make
II artist involuntarily reach for a
rush. Her hair and eyes were az
lack as night. while on her cheeks was
bright color. There was something
n her mind. / could see that plainly.
fancied If | gave her time it would