Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-03-18
DAILY SHORT STORY
A Mystery Of Fort Fisher.
1original.l


storming of Fort Fisher related to
Commander Hervey. 1t Will lie re-
membered that there was Il naval at |
tack by bluejackets which was repuls- |
ed with considerable loss. Hervey's |
body was found in depression in the |
sand in the extreme advanced position |
reached by his men of the Juniata. A |
handkerchief mot Hervey's) had been |
used for a tourniquet to stop the flow |
of blood from the commanders left |
ankle, which had been shattered and |
the artery cut by u rifle ball. The |
wounded man must have been killed |
subsequently by fragment of Il shell |
which had struck him in the head. |
Who had saved the captain in the first |
instance? 1t must have been some one
who had been killed in the action, for
no one claimed the credit
Some time before the Juniata. which |
Hervey commanded, Joined the fleet
she was refitted at the Portsmouth
navy yard. Commander Hervey's fam
lily were there in one of the officers
residences, including his daughter,
Irene, girl of seventeen. There was
a petty officer-not commissioned, but
an enlisted maintained Edgar Fori-
stall, who was cockSwain of the cap
tains dingey. He used to carry Irene
in the dingey to and from the Juniata.
On such occasions she sat in the stern
of the boat beside the cockSwain.
Though very young, she knew well the
difference in station between enlisted
men and officers and that it was not
becoming to have anything to say to
the cockswain. When any of her fam
lily, associates or officers were in the
dingey, she never made u remark to
young Foristall, but when none of
these was present she waXed quite
friendly. Later Foristall was in the
action at Fort Fisher, was severely
wounded and was promoted for BRAY
cry.
Ten years passed. One day Irene
Hervey was present at the launching
of United States cruiser. SUI
perintendent of one of the depart
ments of the works that had built
the vessel stepped up to her and
asked her if she remembered him. She
did not, and he Informed her that he
was the cockswain who used to carry
her in her fathers dingey to and from
the Juniata. Irene's face lighted up
at once. She was especially pleased at
meeting Foristall as a citizen and not
as an enlisted sailor.
Il have never seen you" she said,
''since the Juniata left us for the at
tack on Fort Fisher. saw the notice
of your promotion for bravery, how
ever"
| "Oh, everybody was brave on that
OCCASION" said the young shipbuilder.
"But it is pleasant to be singled out
from the throng.'
At that moment the ship was
launched and the remarks were inter
rupted. Nevertheless they We're the be-
ginning of 4 renewed acquaintance on
a different basis from that of blue
jacket and captains daughter Irene
had treasured remembrance of the
black eyed boy who used to sing out
the orders to his oarsmen so Justify,
though he had changed so much i'll
appearance that she had not recog-
nized him. The new man proved so
attractive to her that her heart slipped
| into his possession. Then she was
pleased that he offered her his own in
exchange. But what was her delight
when he opened the case of his watch
and showed her u little lock of her
hair that he had sdrreptitiously cut
from her "pigtail' one morning when
she was on his dingey.
They were engaged. and in time the
day was set for the wedding, but, I'M
fortunately, one evening when Irene
was in a bad humor she let fall re-
| mark indicating that she still had some
of the feeling that captains daughter
might have for bluejacket Foristall
at once broke the engagement Irene
when she had cooled longed to recall
him, but it is not an easy thing for a
woman thus to humble herself. So she
pinned and moped till her mother, found
something for her to do in getting up
material for Il biography of her father
to be published with those of other
naval officers who had fallen I'm the
civil war.
She was thus engaged when she came
upon a packet marked Papers found
On Commander Hervey's body" Open
ing it, she took out several letters,
shuddering that they had been drench-
ed in her fathers blood, and examined
them in turn. Suddenly she came upon
q few scarcely legible words on the
back of one of the letters scrawled with
some blunt instrument, possibly a fin
ger tip:
"Cockswain saved me. They will hit
me yet"
Like a flash from heaven the secret
attending her fathers death burst up
on her. For years she had wondered
who was the man who had carried her
father to a less exposed position and
had hound I'M his wound Was he
young or past middle life? Was he
dark or fair? Why had fate deprived
} her of the satisfaction of taking his
hand and expressing something of what
!, she felt with her lips and her eyes?
And now she knew that this man was
the young tar who had stolen lock of
her hair, whom she had wounded by a
reference to their former relative post