Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1909-08-18
THE REBELS RuSE.
BY OUNCE wlNsoR.
copyright. 1908 by American Press Asso-
ciation.

copyright. 1903. by American Press Asso-
| ciationl
During the American Revolution a
| regiment of Continentals were placed
In Westchester county to observe" the
British then occupying New York.
| Denton Woodwork, bitter Tory. llv-
ing near the patriot force. discovered
that his daughter Evelyn and one Of
| the captains. Elderkin. had fallen In
love with each other. Woodwork was
| so Mortified at his daughter marry
| ing rebel that be decided to leave
his place in Westchester county and
take his family to New York city. The
evening before their departure Evelyn
| and Elderkin met clandestinely in a
wood near the house, then and there
| plighted their troth and before part
ing arranged method Of correspond
| ence. The next day the Woodwork
| family crossed the Harlem river. were
| admitted within the British lines and
was then and is now Bowling Green.
! 1t was not long after their settlement
| in their new quarters that Evelyn re.
| ceived letter from an intimate friend
| Of hers. living near her home In West
| chester county. 1t had been sent In
| with number of others under a flag
of truce Her father. thinking that the
| missive might contain some word from
Ederkin, opened and read it before
| giving 1t to his daughter. 1t was writ
| ten in a woman's hand and contained
| no mention whatever Of the rebel cap
! tain.
| Amelia Woodwork. sister of the
head of the family. was as bitter
| Tory as her brother and as deeply In
terested in breaking up the love affair
| between her niece and the young rebel
| captain. The evening Of the reception
| Of the letter from beyond the lines,
when Evelyn was in bed. Aunt Amelia
| concluded to do little detective work.
| Going into Evelyn's room. she asked
| her IL she would let her read the let
ter. Evelyn'sheart stood still: but. out
wardly retaining her equanimity. she
told her aunt where to find 1t. and
the old lady sat down by candle to
read it. After trying for a long while
to discover some code in 1t she fell
asleep. When she awoke the candle
had burned down to the socket. the
letter lay near the fame scorched. and
across its face was the fragment Of
sentence that had evidently been
written in green ink-"That old cat.
| your Aunt Am"
Indignation struggled with Joy at the
discovery for a time: then the old lady
| extinguished the candle and stole away
with the letter. Evelyn was awake
and saw what she did. but did not dare
| oppose her. Mr.. Woodwork had gone
out to Fraunce's tavern for tipple
and to learn II there was any news
of the military situation. His sister
waited patiently till be returned. then
| showed him the letter. To her sur
! prise the green letters had disappeared.
| Now, the old man loved his daugh-
ter. but did not get on with his sis
| ter He looked the letter over care
| fully. then told Miss Woodwork that
she might be in better business than
in spying-that she had in her mind
belief that she would make a dis
| covery and, suddenly awakening. had
| seen the writing only through her dis
| torted ina gination. Then he ordered
| her to take the letter back to Evelyn's
! room.
Evelyn knew that something had
happened. but what she was not sure.
since her aunt kept her own counsel.
Evelyn dare not destroy the letter for
fear of making matters worse. She
left 1t in her writing desk. and few
| days later when the rain was pouring
down and the air laden with moisture.
| the old woman. rummaging in the
desk. came upon another surprise.
There was the letter. and this time 1t
was covered with pink letters. In
| deed. she read love letter written
across the other from Captain Elder
| kin to her niece. in which he warned
| Evelyn to beware of "that old cat,
| your Aunt Amelia"
Taking the letter into her own room.
| she sat down before warm fire on
the hearth, laying 1t on table beside
| her She was rejoicing at the prospect
| of convincing her brother that she had
| been right after all. Then it occurred
| to her to copy the pink words lest they
| fade like the green ones. Turning to
| the letter. what was her surprise to
| find that they had already disappeared.
| Defeated again, she replaced the let
ter where she had found it. Thinking
| to discover some means for bringing
back the secret missive. she went there
next day for it, but Evelyn had mean
| while concluded to burn it.
A month later another batch Of let
tiers was sent into the British lines
and among them one for Evelyn from
the same friend who had written her
before. Unfortunately for the lovers.
| It fell into Miss Woodworth's hands.
Meanwhile she had confided her secret
! to friend. professor In King's-the
name was at that time changed to Co