The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1909-05-01
She Served Her Country Well.

Mr.. Robert W. Chambers's story OF
THE Special Messenger ID. Appleton
and Company is really a number of short
stories held together by no thread that
is very important or perceptible. We
canno see that this matters.
The special messenger was a young
woman Of great beauty who was employed
as a spy and for all sorts Of secret and
subtle purposes on the Union side. and the
several sketches let us know how some Of
these were carried out. They are vivid.
beautiful, surprising. startling. occa-
sionally somewhat too powerfully senti-
mental and never n~eglectful Of an oppor-
tunity to tell how the messenger bathed
and changed her DISCUSSES in sylvan glens,
rude cabins wood EMPOWERED or sultry
headquarters when the artillery was
booming and the Colonel was shaving in
the next room.
She was a lovely, intrepid. competent,
formidable, tender hearted and clean mes
senger who could whack a blooming
young rebel senselcss with her revolver
butt as he opened his blue eyes after
slumber, kiss him tenderly upon the mouth
rs ne lay stark and unresponsive, like
wise uncognizant, speed away like the
wind upon his direpted and valuable
horse. manacle a traitor Of size caught
in the act OF sending of to the enemy
tissue paper messages attached to the legs
OF bees, remove her silk stockings and
stain her adorable ank les deceitfully with
berry juice. pray fervently for the soul
Of a spy for the other side as it winged
ita was in one direction or another while
the battle OF Gettysburg was going on. and
do other fairly interesting things.
Here she dropped saddle. saddle
bags and bride. "unstrapped her revolver
and placed it with them. then drew from
the saddlebaEs a homespun gown. SUM-
bonnet and a pair Of coarse shoes and laid
them out on the moss. Fatigue rendered
her limbs unsteady; her fingers twitched
as she fumbled with button and buckle.
but at last spurred boots. stockings.
jacket and dusty riding skirt fell from
her; undergarments dropped in a circle
around her bare feet; she stepped out Of
them, paused to twist up her dark hair
tightly, then. crossing the O to the
streams edge. picked her way out among
the boulders to the brimming rim OF a
pool
That was the way she used to do when
she found herself secure in the depths
OF willing and colluding nature. The
effect was pleasant and so was the sur
rounding scene. In the exquisite shock
OF the water the blood whipped her skin.
fatigue vanished through the crysta!
ma gic; shoulder deep she waded, crimson
checked. then let herself drift. afoat.
stretching out in ecstasy until every aoh-
ing muscle thrilled with the delicious
action. Overhead tree swallows darted
through a sky Of pink and saffron. pulsat-
ing with the promise Of the sun the tinted
peak Of a mountain, jaggediy mirrored
in the unquiet pool, suddenly glowed Grim
son. and the reflections ran crisscross
through the rocking water, lacing it with
fiery needles. She looked like soma ell
cate dawn sprite as she waded ashore
Happily the ~bandmaster. who was
thought to have been slain in the begin
ming, survived. and all came out right at
the last. A very readable book of thor
oughly incredible tales. To indicate
how brave the special messenger was
we may mention that she was not afraid
at all when she took of the tissue paper
from the legs OF the bees.