Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-01-30

OpiiSeO 10 pass through feTEym1uc-
vile. and the wagon was stopped by
the cavalry company in which Web
ster had enlisted for spy. He was rec
ognized. but fortunately for him the fact
that he had revealed their plot to the
government was not known to them
Webster travelled on in company
with an Englishman whose confidence
he won. and the man revealed to him
that he was bearing dispatches to
southern sympathizers In Washington
When the two reached the environs Of
the capital. Webster. meeting one
whom he knew to be q Union man.
sent word by him to the picket guard
that he wished them to arrest both
him and his companion This was
done, but as soon as they were sepa-
rated Webster was released and went
to the White House. There he was at
once admitted to Mr.. Lincoln and,
taking on his coat and vest, ripped
open the lining and produced the dis
patches. They and those found on the
Englishman were Of vital Importance.
Possibly the latter were the more inn
portant, since they revealed that the
president was living in a city where
numbers of the enemy's sympathi1ers
were plotting for the capture Of the
capital
Webster, though he did not serve
Mr.. Lincoln personally. accomplished
a great work for him as president The
spy played a double game. He would
go south as q southern man and enter
the service Of the government for the
purpose of giving them information Of
the designs Of the Federal govern
ment. There he pretended to be a
Federal spy when he was really a Con-
federate spy. He was from the first q
Pinkerton detective. and when Pinker-
ton organized the military secret serv-
ice bureau of the United States gov
eminent Webster entered that service
and worked for the pay he received
in 1t. Ordinarily it Is hard to tell
which side a spy playing this double
game is really working for. But
Webster in the beginning saved the
tinued to take him important informa-
ton, while he had only to give the
Confederacy information that was I'M
true or would not avail it.
This being a story Of Mr.. Lincoln
rather than Webster, the many re-
markabIe romances in the life Of the
latter during his term Of service must
be passed over without even a cata-
logue of them. Finally, though suf-
fering from rheumatism, he started
south in company with a Miss Lewis.
who was in his confidence. The trip
was to be his last incursion into the
south. Unfortunately he was laid up
a long while in Richmond with rheu-
matism. Miss Lewis nursed him.
During this time nothing was heard
from him at Washington. and the
president and others who knew of his
mission became anxious about him.
1t was determined to send the mem
bers of the secret service force south
to look for him.
The two men went to Richmond.
They learned that Webster was lying
Ill at hotel and blundered by going
directly to see him without communi-
eating with him. In his room they
found a Confederate and were rash
enough to hand him a letter from AL
Ian Pinkerton which. they said. came
from a friend Of his In Baltimore.
They came again and unfortunately
met an officer from the provost mar
shaPs office. This meeting led to their
examination. They were identified by
a person who knew them, and all was
lost
When the news came to General Nc
Clellan's headquarters that the two
men had been arrested as spies and
had implicated Webster. Allan Pinker-
ton hurried to Washington to see Mr..
Lincoln and discover IN anything could
be done to save them. Singularly
enough. Webster had saved Lincoln's
life, and now Lincoln was called upon
to save Webster's life.
Mr.. Lincoln called a special meeting
of the cabinet to devise means to save
the spies lives. Nothing could be
done except to communicate through
the secretary of war calling the atten-
ton Of the authorities at Richmond to
the fact that the United States gov
ernment had always been lenient to
Confederate spies and had never tried
or sentenced to death any one caught
carrying information. The message
closed with threat Of inaugurating a
different code in future if the spies
were executed
Neither the fact pointed out nor the
threat availed. Webster was hanged.
Miss Lewis was imprisoned for a
year, and the two men who caused the
tragedy were imprisoned for twenty
two months. It is not probable that
they would have escaped had they not
implicated Webster. But II must be
remembered that they had only indi
rectly been spies.
The last event OF similarity between
Mr.. Lincoln and Webster occurred
three years later. when Mr.. lincoln
was again the object of the assassin's
bullet. The double tragedy contains
two singular condolences. Both died
for the cause. though neither OF them
as a soldier. and both died tragic
deaths. one being hanged for a spy.
the other murdered