Middletown transcript., 1911-11-25

1 PAh " % SHSep A"SNS
pathos as he wrung my hand good
bye. Sheridan, he said, had gone
| down the lines, and both Brennan and
himself were under orders to follow IL
another hour. What instructions, Il
any, had been left regarding my case
he could not say, but he feared the
worst from the unusual secrecy. Sher
idan expected to return to his head.
quarters that same evening, as the
officers of his staff were to give q
grand ball.
felt no inclination to partake Of
| the rude supper left me, and just be.
fore dark was lying upon the bench
idly wondering if that was to prove
the last vestige of daylight 1 should
ever behold In this world, when, with
out slightest warning, the heavy iron
grating in the wall directly above me
fell suddenly, striking the edge Of the
bench, and clattered noisily to the
floor. The fall was SO unexpected, and
my escape from injury so narrow, that
/ lay almost stunned, staring up help
Iessly at the dark hole thus left bare.
A. gazed, a face framed itself in
this narrow opening, and two wary
eyes peered cautiously down at me.
There was no mistaking that counte-
nance even in the fast waning light,
and ! instantly sat up with an ex-
elamstion Of surprise.
"Jed Bungay, as / livei"
The puzzled face broke into q grin
Of delight.
Holy smoke, Cap" he calculated,
with deep sigh of relief, "is thet you,
sush? / wus SO burned skeered I'd
made mess O. it whin thet thar iron
drapped thet l near died. Whut be
they goin' ter dew with YET"
Il have every reason to believe It is
their purpose to shoot me at day.
break tomorrow"
"Shoot?-Hell!" He stared at me as
II he had just heard his own death
sentence pronounced, and his little
peaked face looked ghastly in the dim
light. Shoot ye? Good Lord, Cap,
whut fer? Ye amt done nothin' as
I knows on, 'cept ter scrap bit with
thet blasted Yank, an sure thet's no
shootin' matter, er else I'd bin q
goner long ago"
THAT 'Yank' has seen fit to charge
me with being a spy; and as / was
foolish enough to insult General sher-
idan last night, my fate is probably
sealed"
This somewhat complex statement
seemed to be too much for Jed to
grasp promptly.
Gosh, ye don't say!" he muttered.
"Then, durn it, Pm in luck, fer all
they've got agin me is pot-shootin' at
a niger soger up In ther mountings;
en- thet amt much, cause didn't hit
ther burned cuss.'
Jed was carefully covering every
inch Of exposed wall with his little
shrewd. glinting eyes.
"Ain't much show ter work out O.
yere, is thar, Cap?" he asked at last
reflectively; "leastwise / don't see
none, Tess them thar dark corners hes
got holes in EN-"
"Ths wall is entirely solid"
$50 sorter reckoned. But If yell |
crawl through yere inter my boodour,
thar's a place whar l reckon ther
tew Of US tergether mought make q
try fer It. It's too durn high up fer
me ter git at alone. reckon, Cap, |
If ye cud manage ter git out o. yere |
ternight, an take some news ter Lee
thet I've picked upA he'd bout make
both Of us ginerals.
News for Lee? I exclaimed, star.
ing eagerly at him through the now
darkened room. "Do you mean It?
What news?"
Thought maybe thet wuG wake We
up" he chuckled. '"This yere's gospel
truth: Sheridan hes started his in
fantry on half-circle march fer Min.
ersVille. Their first division left ct
three o'clock, an thar won't be nary
Yank loafin' on ther valley by noon
tsrmorrow. An more" he added rapid
ly, his eyes dancing wildly with sup
pressed exeitement,-"Hancock is a
sTingin' of his corps west ter meet
'em thar, an reckon, as how thar'lI
be hell fer sartin up ther Shenandoah
in less ner q week"
But how do you know all this?"
questioned incredulously, rs the whole
scene and its dread possibilities IN
rolled before my mental vision.
"Ther niger l held up he'd a de-
spatch fer Heintzelman over on ther
left, an then Mariar she sorter
pumped q young fule staff officer fer
ther rest O. it." he replied promptly.
Noh, it's sure go. Cap, an reckon
a. how maybe Lees whole army hangs
on one Of us gittin' out O. yere ter
night"
That he meant every word he spoke
felt convinced, and his enthusiasm
vas contagious. My blood leaped
within me at this call to action; all
ethargy fled. and with 1t every dead.
sning thought Of her who had SO sud.
ienly woven about me the meshes OF
her power. False or true, maid, wife,
,r widow, my duty as q soldier to my
commander and the army to which i !.
,elonged, blotted out all else. Even
ls this new rush Of determination
Jwept over me, above us there
clearly the dashing music Of
! military and IN the strains Of q
straua and We could dis
20 nffiing Of many