The National tribune., 1902-08-28

visit" - a.
He spoke wearily, yet with the utmost
| courtesy in manner and tone. And now
l stood before him. he sitting there and
looking up into my face. which / know
was red and distorted. And words came
to me-wordsI given by thoughts born i'll
that instant: =, ~
General, listen. A man comes into
your army dressed as Confederate; he
does nothing against you except that; as
soon as he gets npto your army God de
stroys his purpose; God makes of this
| Union soldier a Confederate soldier who
serves under Lee and Jackson; he serves
well; in the very first battlc-the first
victory which You won with this army,
General, this m:in falls far in front of
'hesitating men. He RECEIVERS and fights
for your army at Manassas and Harper s
Ferry and Antictam and charlottesville
and Gettysburg. Gen. Lee. are you go
ing to kill this man? No. You are not
the one to kill him. Let the Union men
kill him, if anybody must. They are the
ones he fOughtr'
But why should kill him? Who is
he? Tell me. Colonel; tell me this case.
| never heard of this. What is it? Please
be seated again, my child"
Col. PAUL told the General the case:
how that Il. Jones had been tried for de-
sertion and found not guilty, and that at
once he had been tried as a spy and had
pleaded guilty. and had been sentenced.
The General rose and went to the door,
and could hear him say Il few words
Third Corps-papers-.1on and !
could hear another voice in reply to him.
Then he came back to us and said:
Colonel. can you give me any eXplana-
ton of this matter? Why did this spy
join uST'
Before Col. PAUL could answer l ex-
claimed:
General. l have known Jones for
many years. Mr.. Berwick. who is known
rs Jones by your army, lost his memory
had LOST his memory more than once be-
fore-and he knew no better than to join
your army
Then Col PAUL added, timidIy |
thought, but i'll order, no doubt, not to
appear as Il voluntary adviser of the
great General:
AS / understand the matter, General
the charge to which Jones pleads guilty
is out of date according to Article So
What mean you. Coloncl!'
The olfcnse was committed more than
two years ago, SIR
''Ah, yes: but sou forget the condition
in Article SS-thc accused has not been
amenable to justice within the two years;
we haven't been able to get him-"*
"Amenable to Justice | cried: what
one of Gen. Stonewall Jackspn's men I'M
til Gen. jackson fell to be amenable?
Why was he not amcnable? Did he Us.
cape! Instead of escaping he joined you.
Did he absent himself from your JUS
ticc! Instead Gf that. lie became one of
you. He was one of you for nearly eight
months of your stipulated two years! Not
amenable to Justice! Why not? \ man
marching and fighting under Gen. \. L.
IA par IA 10
Amenaile for what: You did not even
know that any offcnse had been commit
tedr'
Gen. Lee rose. He said: 1--WE have
not very muclil time. 1t is now o'clock,
and at Chg did not finish. Colonel.
l shall ask YOU to serve me ut once by
riding to McGowan's Brigade. as it is on
to delay / shall give Miss Khayme the
pleasure Of taking to her friend "A written
respite for week; that is the best can
do, my child-Tn6, no. no: no thanks-l
wish | could do more-and maybe l can
in the end-but 1 must look into this
matter fully.
Col. PAUL had rushed from the room.
All my strength forsook me; | sank
back on the seat. Gen. Lee had disap-
peared. Oh. NY friends, you cannot IN
derstand the conflicting emotions which
now ragged in mc4f Had | succeeded? !
knew that ] had in a measure, but this
respite might mean only q prolongation
of agony. Yet / might well hope.
A weel, Of torturinG suspense and Jones
should then be free? Oh, no; | could not
hope for that. Hope that Gen. Lee would
let him go without any punishment at
all! How could i hope for that! Jones
would be held prisoner: even at the
best he would be held a prisoner until the
end of the war. Yet, | must say. my
physical weakness was not the result of
these thoughts: it came, i don't know
how or why-Father thought it was n
natural reaction.
Gen. Lee did not return; he sent out an
orderly. ! have always thought since
that the General did not wish to see my
emotion, perhaps wished to avoid my
overlooking gratitude. The orderly hand
ed me an unsealed envelope. and told me
that he was to accompany me in order
to show me the way. As soon as | was
in the ambulance again / opened the ell
velope and read the order which Gen. Lee
had written; it was couched in the fol-
lowing words:
Headquarters Army Northern Virginia,
March ~ 1860.
commanding Officer McGowan's Bril-
1.-THE execution Of the sentence in the
case against Il. Jones. alias Jones Ber
wick, will be postponed until further Or
dcrs. X. T.. LEE.
General Commanding"
York was crying by my side; / had
taken the seat i'll front
"Oh, York." said l, I'VE have saved
him. We have saved him.
Eyes, Miss Lydia, l hope sou said
York. "Col. PAUL told me when he came
out, but l think we'd betteh hurry upr'
1t was fully five miles, so | learned, af-
terward, to the place. We had three
quarters Of an hour only, but Col. PAUL
had an hour and was well mounted. But
YOrk's fears increased mine, and l told
him to drive hard-the orderly was a lit
tie distance in front of us, going rapidly,
but his horse was not a very good one
What, my God, what if something
should happen now!
At places all along the road we could
hear the cannons; but the noises were
far to our left hand the most of them,
and we were in no danger. We passed
troops Of all sorts, some of them going
and some of them coming, and once we
had to get out of the road to let them
march by. What if Col. Paul had been
detained.
And l begged York, though he needed
no begging, to beat those poor horses.
which had already been worked SO hard,
and We went on fast really, though the
pace seemed like creeping. And at last
we came to u place where we saw in the
distance some troops formed into three
sides Of square, and here we had to
pause moment, for the road had some
wagons in it, and as We paused l heard
the most dreadful music that had ever
sounded in my ears. Then | saw the or