Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1910-09-08

band Of Southern sympathizers. and
Hamilton had established lines OF COM
munication with the leaders There
was scheme afoot to assassinate the
Governor, and he was to have done the
act. His line of retreat to the Ohio
had been carefully managed.
Hamilton had warning of the dis
covery OF the plot-there was Cop
perhead behind every loyal man here
In those days-and got away safely.
But you can see that, having vouched
for him and harbored him, / was put
In nice position with the authorities.
! offered to submit to arrest, but they
wouldn't have 1t. The Governor sent
for me and told me to go and hnd
Hamilton.
Il was captain of artillery and my
chances of advancement were good;
but / resigned my commission and
spent a year looking for him. He be-
came notorious as a spy, who slipped
in and out Of our lines with astound-
ing daring, He found out that was
after him, and we used to exchange
our compliments at long range. AS
think Of 1t now l got good deal Of fun
out of the chase. and"-the old man
smiled-T fancy the other fellow did.
too.
The story Is long and It wouldn't In
terest you. / never caught him.
went once into a circle of men In the
Gait House at Louisville where he sat.
thought had him sure. but he jump
ed up and bolted, following. We had
mad run for 1t there in the street,
but he got away He gave me this
and Merriam threw up his hands The
sleeve and cuff slipped back from his
right arm. showing an old bullet scar
on the wrist; and the old gentleman
eyed the spot for moment reflective
ly.
He gave me that" ne said and
smiled. "Hamilton's real name was
Pollock-your father"-and Merriam
bent his keen gaze on the young man
before him. II think l may be par
doned for not caring greatly for the
family. That business ruined my ca
reer in the army. There are great
many things that might have been DIFF
ferent. If 1 hadn't seriously compro-
missed myself in that matter. The con-
temptible thing was the abuse Of hos
pitality and confidence l probably
saved the mans life; and he betrayed
us all in the most Infamous fashion
possible"
Pollock rose abruptly. He had lis
tened with a puzzled look on his face
to Rodney Merriam's recital. He laugh
ed now. the nervous laugh of relief.
This man was a spy. sent out by the
Confederate War Department on spe-
clal errands for the Confederate Presi-
,trrI, 6o
That is correct He became one OF
the best known spies in the South. l
have no objection to him on that ac-
count. But he served me scurvy
trick-I ought to forget 1t, l suppose,
but. as 1 tell you I'm an old man. and
look backward a good deal. Your
father served me a nasty trick and
your presence here has reminded me Of
it very disagreeably."
That man, Mr.. Merriam, was no
more my father than you are"
Il can hardly be mistaken. Your
father was a Confederate offlcer-he
was Tennessee man"
HE was all that. sir. He was an en-
gineer on duty at Richmond through
out the war and was never a scout Or
spy in his life. II you had been AS
careful as you pretend to be In looking
up his record you would have found
that out"
But the name? 1t is your name"
The old man was greatly annoyed
and perplexed, and he rose now slowly
and stood facing the young officer
Frank Pollock. the spy was a re-
mote cousin OF my fathers. l don't be-
Heve father ever had any acquaintance
with him. was named for another
connection OF the family, who wasn't
Pollock at all Your man Pollock got |
into lot of scrapes after the war I'll
even grant you that he wasn't quite
reputable. If you wish to verify what
say I'll refer you to a hundred men in
Knoxville. Richmond, Memphis. Allan
ia, who knew my father and who knew
of this other man, too. Do you want
my references?"
ITO pp continued.l