The National tribune., 1902-04-03
WHO GOE0THERE?
Continued from first page }

to myself also. l had got to the end of
that experience, for | had no doubt that
it was an experience of my own in some
incomprehensible connection with Jones.
Then | return to Willis again-and,
wonder of wonders, I see Jones and Dr.
khayme with Willis at the straw. There
is another man also. Who is he? / do
not know. He and Jones lift Willis into
an ambulance, and all go away into dark
ness.
My mind was now in tangle. Jones
had abandoned Willis, yet had not aban-
doned him. Which of the two incidents
was true? Neither? Both? If both,
which followed the other? l did not know.
| try to follow Willis; | cannot. l try
TO follow DR.. Khayme; | fail. l had tried
TO follow Jones, and had succeeded in a
measure; | try again, and fail.
Now | see this fact, which seems to me
remarkable: / cannot remember Willis
or the Doctor alone-Jones is always pres
ent.
JOncs-Jones-whcre have I known a
man named Jones? Jones. the Corporal
in Co. IL, was killed at Gettysburg; he is
the only Jones | can recall. Yet ! must
have had relations with a different Jones;
who was he? | must try to get him.
The Doctors face again; Jones, too. is
there. Jones is with the Doctor in a tent
at night, and they are getting ready-:set-
ting ready for what? 4 package has been
made. They are talking. The lights are
put out and / lose the Doctor, but | can
yet see Jones. In the dim light of the
stars he comes out of the tent; man on
a horse is near; he holds another horse
ready saddled. Jones mounts, and the two
ride away. And hear Jones ask, what
is your nameY and l hear the man re.
ply, Jones"
What folly!
But the other Jones asks also. Don't
you know me?' and then another picture
comes before me, but dimly, for it seems
almost in the night. Jones-this new
JOnes-is standing near n PROSTATE horse
as black as jet and is prisoner in the
hands of Union men, and the other Jones
is there, too, and ! see that he is joyful
that Jones is caught. What utter folly
Is everybody to be named Jones? | have
followed one Jones and have found two
possibly three. Who is the true Jones
Is there any true Jones? Has my fevered
brain but conjured up n picture, or series
of pictures, of events that never had eX-
listed? Why should one Jones be glad
that another Jones was caught? / give
up this new Jones.
Now / was thinking without method
in daze. Every line had resulted in an
end beyond which was n blank, or else
confusion. | gave myself up to mere rev
cry.
Somehow, l had trust / felt that / was
at n beginning which was also an end.
had come far. / had recovered the name
of DIR. Khayme, and of Lydia. of Serg't
Jake Willis, of Jones, with possibly an
other Jones; with these names | ought to
work out the whole enigma. I knew that
Jones was the man, who had broken his
gun; the man who had helped Willis: the
man who had been under the bursting
shell on the hill. Yes, and another thought
the man who had been wounded there.
/ knew that Lydia was the Doctors
daughter. A few more relations found
would untangle everything. But how TO
find moreE l must think. Yet thinking
seemed weak. ! believed that if | could
quit thinking, the thing would come Of
itself Yet how to quit thinking? | re-
membercd that | had received lessons upon
the power of the will from Capt. Haskell
nd-from-somebody- Why, DIR.
Khayme, of cOurse.i sl
And now another new thought, or fan
cy. What relation, If any, could there be
between the Captain and the Doctor? In
n confused way | groped in the tangle of
this question until | became completely
lost again, having gained, however, the
knowledge that DR.. Khayme had taught
me concerning the will.
lay back and closed my eyes, to try to
Danish thought; the effort was vain.
opened my eyes, and dreamed. / could
recall the Doctors dark face, his large
brow, his bright eyes,, and n pipe-yes,
pipe, with its carven bowl showing n
strange head; and l could recall more cas-
lily the Captains long jaw, and triangle OF
n face, and even the slight lisp with which
he spoke. What relationship had these
two men? If Capt. Haskell had ever
known DR.. Khayme, should I not have
heard him speak of the Doctor? I had
known the Captain since l had known the
Doctor; where had | known the Doctor?
Where had known him first? He had
been my teacher Where? l remem-
Doctor associate with Willis. who is dis
tinctly n Federal soldier, and with Jones,
who is sometimes a Federal? | can see
the Doctor in an ambulance-and in n
tent; he must be n Surgeon.
All! yes; Willis is a prisoner, after all,
and i'll the Confederate hospital.
The thought of a possible relationship
between the Doctor and the Captain con-
tinued to come. Why should | think of
clearer My people must be in Charles
ton. The Captain may have known the
Doctor in Charleston. They may have
been friends. They talked of similar sub
jects-at least, they had views which af-
fected me similarly. Yet that might mean
nothing. | tried to give up the thought.
Again the Doctors face, and the Cap
tain. For one short instant these two
men seemed to me TO be at once identical
and separate-cven opposite. How pre-
posterOus. Yet at the same moment l re-
membered that the Captain once had said
he was not sure that there was such q
condition as absolute individuality. Pre-
pOsterOus or not, the thought, gone at once,
had brought another in its train: | had
never seen these two men together, and
had never seen the Doctor without Jones'
Wherever the Doctor was, there was Jones
also. Here came again the former glim-
mering notion of double and even opposite
identity. Was Jones two? He was seem
ingly n Federal and Confederate.
had supposed, weakly, that he was Con-
fedcrate spy in Federal uniform; but his
conduct at Manassas had not borne out
the supp0sition. He had even broken his
gun rather than have it fall into the hands
of COnfederatcs, and had helped n wound
ed Federal. Yet, again, that conduct
might have been part of n very deep plan.
What plan? To deceive the enemy so fully
that he would be received everywhere as
one of them? Yes; or rather to act in
entire conformity with his supposed char
acter. He must always act the complete
Federal when with Federals, so that no
suspicion should attach TO him. No doubt
he had remained in the Federal camp un-
til he had got the information needed, and
had returned to the Confederates before
he had been wounded by the shell.
So, all these fancies had resulted in
worse than nothing; every effort | had
made, on these lines, had but entangled
me more. That Jones was n Confederate
spy, was highly probable; this absurd no.