The evening world., 1911-10-11

- him, sun gaSplng out with the
mists slowly clearing from his brain.
AROUND the lad pressed the cavalrymen.
. dozen or msre of them. Several still
carried theit revo,vers cooked in their
hands. prepared to drop him in his
tracks IN case he should make a dash
Sor safety.
But for the moment Max Clark had
not strength nor wind for anything so
suicidal. Instead, his eye roved from one
bronzed face TO another. Last OF all his
gaze fell upon his old acquaintance. the
farmer. who had betrayed his where
abouts. And at sight of the mans
heavy, cowardly face, lit now with a
grin of triumph, MaX's keen wits began
to work again.
Turning to a man with a lieutenant's
chevrons OF his faded blue coat and
who was apparently leader OF the hand
full of cavalrymen, Max squared his
shoulders and said carelessly:
Il am your prisoner. I'm sorry 10
leave field service for a war prison, but
] will probably be exchanged before
long"
There was an incredulous murmur
from the men. The lieutenant answered
quietly:
We don't send spies to prison. We
hang them.
Spies echoed Max. 40 you mean
TO say you take Me for q spy?"
Tie him up, boys, ordered the leu
tenant without replying.
But Max insisted an-rlly.
Il demand to be taken to Your s,.
per!or officer. II ne encourages his sub.
ordinates IN mistak!ng scouts, for
spies
"A SCOUT sneerei the officer. You
are
II am now on neutral ground. lust
beyond your lines" said Max, and as
such"
"You ars mistaken" returned the Of
ncer. "Our lines were advanced yester-
day TO a quarter milo north OF this
spot"
Even at that said Max, "r an IN
uniform. Since when has the South
hanged uniformed ~scouts?''
The Lieutenant had turned away, but
now whiried about and stared ~; Max
In angry doubt. For the first time IL
dawncd upon tho officer that the cap
ture might perhaps not be quite as note
worthy as he had hoped. He. like every
other man for miles, had been on the
iookoW, for an escaped spy. The farmer
had reported TO his ~detachment the spy's
whereabouts. The cavalry had given
chase. And
"Unlform,' scoHfed the lieutenant,
eying MLaX's mass OF ragged. blue cloth
ing, "Do YOU call that a Uniform"
"What | call Il or don't call It," re-
torted Max, doesn't matter, 1t Il a
uniform and you know that as well as
! do. See. such few buttons as are left
on my coat bear Uncle Sans imprint.
You Know the laws OF war, a soldier
of a hostile army captured within the
lines. In civilian dress he quoted. is
~presuppostd to be n spy. and may be
dealt with as such And I am not in
civilian dress. If n man has the bad
luck to he caught by you while recon
NOTHING In fun uniform inside your lines.
Is he to be hanged If 20 every scout
merits the rope
The lieutenant and Us mon looked lr-
resolute. They had had full description
Of the spy. hut tho description spoke of
a slack-lnwCl, shambing youth. with
lack lustre ewes ana stripped to the
waist. II said nothing Of an erect, stern
faced alert fellow IN fall Gf tOrn) regi-
mentals. The farmer, shaking off his
first amaZe at MaN's words lltched
forward eagerly, his lips parted 20 ex-
plain, But before the others could notice
I'm, Max was speaking again.
"Of course he said with a semhlaHco
OF fippancy, yet with his eyes on the
farmer, ''of course | might he n spy
And when ! was pursued ] might nave
: gone to some farm house and hrihed It's
owner to give me n full suit Of Federal
Uniform. case he happened to have
such a thina. In that case, ] would
tell all about him at my court martial,
And he and / would hang, side by side
The farmers rel face went gray!sh
yellow.
Mold on" he sputtcred, remorsefully,
sI reckon I've made n mistake, gents,
saw a Teller 1eaklng alor~ the hill
side below my house TINS morning, lie
looked IKE the spy they'd told me about,
so ! went ana exported It to you I'll,
But this amt the same ~feller.'
mot the same?" snortcd the lieu
tenant
"No, indeed, sir declared the farm
er after n second menacing glance from
. Max. '"rhls young imp-this gentleman
y I mean-lsn't n bit like him BESIDES
& tho chap | saw hadn't any clo'es or
but n pair Of overalls, And as we've
BEEN running this here chap ever since
It can't be the same. Cause t'otheI
couldn't have got hold OF a uniform
"-s''o we was after him. He was II