The National tribune., 1901-01-03
SPY OF THE REBELLION.
Continued from first pare.)

1
cover IT she was the object of his visit, or
whether his appearance bore any relation 20
| her presence Mt the hotel She accordingly
sent for Scobell, and together they decided
| that he should carefully watch the move
ment of the peddler. and if nothing of a
| suspicious nature transpired, they would
renew their journey after nightfall
| Scobcll Immediately left the room, and
as he entered the barrOom he noticed that
the peddler was settling his score, prcpara-
tory 10 taking his departure. He remarked
| to The landlady. with the same rich brogue
| which Scobell had observed that business
was dull, and that he would have To walk
to Richmond.
| "-All right, my fine fellow" muttered
my operative, well see whether you are
going to Richmond or not"
The pcddler lighted Short-stemmed
| clay pipe, and, swinging his pack over his
| shoulder, set off at Il rapid pace on the
road to Richmond.
| Scobell hastened to the stable, and pro-
curing Il pole and line that he had OBJ
| served there IN the morning. started off in
the direction which the pCddler had taken,
| but taking q shorter cut to the river, which
would enable him to reach the road about
mile below the village and in advance of
| the pcddler. Sauntcring along until he
had gained the shelter of belt of timber
to his left, he then increased his pace until
| he was almost abreast of the peddier
| though entirely concealed from view. He
was now satisfied that with Il little effort
| he could keep his man in sight, and he con-
Guided not to pass him, he had at first
| intended, but 10 follow him until he saw
| him on his way to the rebel Capital.
When they were about three miles from
the village, the peddler suddenly left the
road and turned into the woods, leading di-
| rectly to the banks of the river, which ut
this point were remarkably high and steep.
| This movement WAS entirely unexpected
| by my operative, and his only recourse was
to drop hastily behind Il tree TO prevent
| being seen. He was not discovered, how
ever, although the peddler, after entering
| the timber, gaZed carefully around him, as
| if to see whether he was being followed.
| Apparently satisfied with his survey, he
resumed his walk. i'll happy ignorance of
| the fact that pair Of cleaning eyes were
| not far distant, noting his every move
mcnt. ---. --
Waiting until he had gone n sufficient
distance to render it safe, Scobcll rose
slowly from the ground and stealthily fol-
lowed his footsteps until the peddler
paused at the edge of the bluff, which ran
down into the river. Here he frightened
the strap of his pack, and after another
hasty glance behind lin, he began the de-
scent of the bluff, with the aid of the stout
stick which he carried with him. The
bank was almost perpendicular, and was
covered with heavy underground of
young timber and brush, which made the
journey rather n hazardous undertaking.
Wonder if he's going to swim to Rich
mond with that pack on his shoulders"
said Scobcll to himself, as he wonderingly
watched these strange movements Of the
peddler.
Fully determined to see the end of this
mysterious maneuvcr, but recognizing the
necessity of exercising the utmost caution
in his advance, Scobell slowly and noise
lessly made his way to the spot where the
peddler had vanished as completely from
his view as if he had sunk into the bowels
of the earth. Advancing to within Il few
feet of the edge of the bluff he threw him
self upon his hands and knees and drew
himself forward until he could overlook
the steep descent. He could see nothing
of the peddler, however, for the dense
growth of bushes completely INSTRUCTED
his view, but he could readily discern the
marks of footprints in the soft soil, which
had been made by him in his descent to the
bottom.
Here was n dilemma. He had lost his
man, and he dared not follow directly
after him, as the peddler might be lying
in ambush, and an encounter might be
fatal After Il few moments consideration
he concluded to walk along the bluff Il
short distance and cndeavor to find an
other path by which he might descend, and |
thus avoid the peddler, if he was waiting |
to surprise him. About hundred yards |
farther on he came upon a well-beaten
path, and here he began his descent. |
Everything was as quiet as the grave !
around him, and he reached the base of
the cliff in safety, but without seeing any |
thing of the man he was after.
Passing up along the lane by the river |
q short distance, he discovered n narrow |
path leading in the direction which the |
II 4 a ,,Ytl
of recent footprints. Passing cautiously |
along this path short distance, he saw |
that the high bluffs were gradually giving |
to more level banks, and that little far |
Their on the stream made a sharp detour 10 |
the right and swept out into the open and |
level country.
In the bend of the river, and on the |
same side, he noticed Il small cabin, half |
hidden by a clump of trees. Surmising |
that the peddler had entered this cabin, |
he resolved to hide himself and watch for |
q few minutes, hoping that the man would |
soon make his appearance. He had scarce |
ly taken a position where he could unob- |
servedly note all that was going on, when
q man, whom he ut once recognized as the |
peddler, made his appearance at the door,
and stood anxiously gazing around, as
though expecting some one. He still main
tanned his disguise and appeared to be
alone. Returning into the cabin, and
after few minutes, to the surprise of SEQ
bell another individual made his appear
ance. This newcomer, while about the
same size as the peddler, was Il very diff
ferent looking person indeed, for instead
of the red hair and ford complexion, he
noticed that this man had a closely crop-
ped head of black hair, while his COM
plexion was dark and swarthy.
80 there's pair of you" thought SEQ
bell.
The fellow, after apparently satisfying I
himself that the coast was clear, proceeded
to q small stable, that stood in the rear of
the cabin and almost on the edge of the
river bank. ScObell thought he heard the
faint whinny of horse, and shortly after
ward the man, mounted on a dark IRON
gray horse. appeared, and made his way
over the hill and out into the direction of
the river road.
1t instantly flashed across Scobell's
mind that this man was no other than his
peddler, and without hesitation he ap-
preached the cabin and knocked loudly at
the door. There was no response, and
after moments hesitation he lifted the
latch and entered. AS he had cOnjectured,
the cabin was empty.
TO be continued)
EDITORIAL NoTE.-The thrilling adven-
lures of Mrs. Lawton and Scobell on their
dash for the Union lines is the
subject of the next installment.
Indiana's Candidate for Pension Commits