The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-11-07

carrying dispatches to a general who has
been 10 months dead; you have an uncle
an ambassador whose name you have
forgotten. Will you take the shilling
and volunteer OF will you be given upT'
Neither" cried Redmond, and sprang
at the Prussian. But the officer pre-
scented a pistol at his head and two ser
geants rushed in with fxed bayonets,
which they held to Redmonds breast.
'1 volunteer" said he quietly, throwing
down his sword. Thus 1t was that Red
mond Barry, Esq, became private in
the army OF the Great Frederick and
served there through several campaigns.
II the discipline and hardships of the
British service had not been to Red
mond's liking, imagine what he felt under
the merciless rule of the Prussian serv-
ice. No man went through that mill
and came out with spirit neither bent
nor broken. In action he was well
enough. 1t was In camp or in barracks
In the short breathing spells of peace
that the iron entered his soul. and he
learned to sob like a child in hopeless
moments of deep dependency, and to
tremble at the sight of the sergeant's
cane, from the application of which his
whole body more than once was g. mass
of bruises. Yet he was foremost in all
sorts of wickedness when occasion pre-
sented-and he was foremost in fight.
Once, after he had distinguished himself
in battle. his colonel Bulow. called him
before the regiment and. presenting him
thee, now. but fear shall have to hang
| thee one day or other"
After the war Bulow's regiment was in
| garrison at Berlin, and Redmond, still
| having a soul above the station of a pri-
| vate soldier and being a fellow of re-
| sources, managed to get himself detailed
| as military servant to young Captain
| Potzdorff, nephew of Old Fritz's Minister
| of Police, to whom he made himself very
useful not only by acting as valet to the
| captain, but by keeping him informed Of
| the gossip of the barracks. of all matters
| which went on among the soldiers and
| other scraps of information, all of which
| the captain carried to his uncle, the police
| minister, who made of 1t as he saw
fit. If some of his fellow soldiers got into
| trouble through this means and a few
| were hanged or sent to prisons was it
Redmond's fault? He generally reported
| only the facts, inventing only when a
| dearth of news made 1t absolutely nec-
| essary. Perhaps 1t was the fact that Red
| mond's fellow soldiers began to suspect
| him and that it had become highly unsafe
| for him still to remain in the barracks
| which induced tho captain to employ him
on secret mission not connected with the
| army. In fact one soldier had gone SO far
| as to tell Redmond to his face that he
| was a spy, which insult, of course, the
| high spirited youth resented by calling his
insulter out and killing him in duel.
! 1t was at this time that our hero, who
had not failed to regale Captain Pdtz-
dorfr with marvellous stories OF the nobil-
| ity of his birth and the splendor of
| his family connection, asked and received
permission to write to his mother, which
good lady he had not communicated with
| for some six years. The letter was secret
| ly read by Potzdorff, as Redmond knew 1t
| would be. before 1t was sent out on its
( journey. 1t was not only filed with
| praise Of the captain and expressions OF
| satisfaction with his present duties, but
spoke of his hopes Of soon being an
! officer, and was SO artfully worded as to
| bolster up all the stories regarding tht
Barry and Brady families which Red
| mond had told his employer. In course
Of time oanss an answer from Mrs. Barry