The National tribune., 1902-08-28
A FRIEND WITH THE
COUNTERSIGN.
Continued from first paEe.)


OF every deserter from Lees army abou
Jones; for deserters Were coming iii ever,
night, some of them, | knew. from Gen
Hills troops, and it would not be stranS,
if scme of them should know something
In February l had sent York into Rich
mOnd, but he had returned without
word of news. Jones had not been seel
or heard of by any of his friends there
My anxiety became almost madness
Father was on the north side, and / coult
not see him, and l had nothing whatever
to comfort me. l knew something wa.
the matter with Jones. and my mind be
came so restless that l could not do gOot
work IN the hospital, and my condition
was rapidly growing worse. | imagined
Jones sick, in prison, starving, in danger
of his life from those Confederates;
felt sure they had taken him.
Very early one Monday morning late il
March L was greatly astonished to SEE
Col. Sharpe come into my ward. l wa
more than astonishcd-I was terrified. III,
came to me at once, and said, Mis-.
hhayme, are you strong?" My hear
NO, L had no heart-everything turned
black before my eyes, for | knew wha
he meant; but l had strength enough t,
say, Anything is better than supensc.
Col. Berwick is i'll great danger, my
dear young lady" Then l burst out cry
ing, for these words really brought lit
tie relief; l had thought that he was 20
ing to tell me that Jones was dead.
Where is he?" l asked.
"A prisoner" said he.
"Where?"
In front Of our left, beyond the Wei
don Railroad" said he.
How did you learn it?'' l asked.
Some deserters from McGOwans Bri
gadc came in last night" he replied.
And you say he is in dangcr!''
es; very grave danger; no man coulC
be in greater" were his words.
Then they know him?"
Yes; they know him. and worse"
"WOrse!' l cried. Tell me all-'
Pour days ago he was tried as de
serter from the Confederate army-ht
was acquitted; Saturday he was tried Il.
Il Federal spy and was convicted"
"Oh, no, no, nO!' | cried, although
knew that what he said was not surpris
ing.
1T is very sadly true said he; che
has but few hours
Colonel, l am going to Gen Lee
am going to Gen. Lee-help me, please
help me, to get to Gen. Leer' and wher
l cried out these words had no idea that
he would do it; but he said ut once:
You can't do any harm. and | will
y
not one moment to lOse!'
l sank down in chair and covered my
face with my hands, and l prayed. oh
how l prayed.
But l rose again and looked at Col
Sharpe.
IF | can only get to Col. PAUL." !
cried, II know he will see that / get t.
Gen. Lee.'
Il had expected yOu to try it, he said
and. oh. that gave me Il little hope. 81
came by Gen. Meade's headauaIter and
told him; and l have orders to help you
in every way possible. Now, just remain
here one instant" and he went away
but came back at once and led me out
Then / saw our ambulance with big
strong horses, and great yellow flag fly.
ing, and there We're five or six mounted
men, one of them an officer. and York
was sitting on the seat. Col. Shame
said something and gave something Il
the officer, who at once turned and rode
off to the south. followed hard by his
men, and then York rOared at his horses
and drove as fast AZ he could.
Where we were going | did not know
but | was sure that Col. Sharpe knew
and felt not one bit Of fear for myself
which was all the worse for me. as ii
kept my anguish full in thinking of Jones
Anead or us cannOnS We're firing and
smoke was rising, but after while we
passed beyond the smoke and turned
west, and / remember we crossed a rail.
road, and then went for long distance
through woods and fields, everywhere see,
ing our men in the long yellow trenches.
But we went even beyond the trenches,
and then turned north, York whipping
the poor horses at almost every step to
keep in sight Of the men before us.
We had not gone north very far when
l saw our horsemen stop, and we came
UP with them.
The officer handed me an envelope and
said:
we can go no farther. You are to
deliver this to its address in case you find
it advisable. 1t is from Gen Meade to
Gen. Lee, and | am ordered to tell you
that you are advised to be cautious in
handing it to him; you must not hand it
to him at all unless you know that it is
absolutely necessary, because it is posi-
BILE that he would be offended ut what
he might regard as interference threat,
you understand, madam. We are going
to remain here until We see that YOU
get safely within the rebel lines. You can
see them now. Have no fears of their
injuring you; the yellow flag will protect
you"
Then he ordered York to drive on. and
in the woods, but soon there were no more
woods, and l could see some men stand
ing in the road. Before the ambulance
reached them they said, "Haltr and
York obeyed. Then two of them stepped
forward and came close to the ambulance
and asked York what he meant by COM
ing.
l pulled aside curtain, and then saw
that one Of the men was wearing a
Il q
to Col. PAUL. He replied that he would
be compelled to keep me, but would send
for Col. PAUL, who was not on duty this
day. l begged him earnestly to lose no
time, but he did lose time; he was gone
so long that l thought he would never
return, but at last Col. PAUL himself rode
up, and demanded to know what was
wanted, and before could reply, he cried
out, by the Lord! | believe this is Dr.
Khayme's ambulanceD'
Then, in flood of tears, 1 leaned for
ward and tried to speak.
He dismOunted and came to me and
begged me to compose myself, saying that
no harm should come to me, and begged
me to tell him my trouble.
When, after more than one failure l
had made him know the reason of nv dis
tress, and had besought him to send me to
Gen. Lee at once, he instantly mounted
and told York to drive after him, and
away we went again-north, north, al
ways north, until-when it was full mid
day-w0 were going through the streets
of town, and l knew it was Peters
burg, for the noise of the cannons was
now behind us and at the east Col.
PAUL stopped and helped me out of the
ambulance; at the door of the house there
was sentinel, but he made no opposition
to our entering. We went upstairs. The
Colonel said to me, Remain here one