Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1911-11-23

0IdQpeu lueL l near dleQ. Wnut be
they goin' ter dew with ye?"
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 CHASTITY in the dim
light. "Shoot We? Good Lord, Cap,
whut fer? Ye amt done nothin' as
knows on, 'cept ter scrap bit with
thet blasted Yank, an sure thet's no
shootin' matter, er else I'd a bin
goner long ago."
That Yank' has seen fit to charge
me with being spy; and as l 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, We don't say!" he muttered.
"Then. durn 1t, I'm in luck, fer all
they've got agin me is pot-shootin' at
niger soger up in Their mountings;
en- thet amt much, cause didn't hit
Their 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, Capt." he asked at last
reflectively; "leastwise don't see
none, less them thar dark corners hes
got holes in EN-"
The wall is entirely solid"
$50 sorter reckoned. But If yell
crawl through yere inter my boodour.
thar's a place whar reckon Their
tew of us tergether mought make a
try fer 1t. It's too durn high up fer
me ter git at alone. I reckon, Cap,
II ye cud manage ter git out o yere
ternight, an take some news ter Lee
thet I've picked up, 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 wud wake ye
VI.
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
Tomorrow. An more" he added rapid
ly, his eyes dancing wildly with sup
pressed Observation-Disclosures Is a
swingin' of his corps west ter meet
EN- thar, an reckon, as how tharll
be hell fer sartin up Their Shenandoah
in less ner week"
"But how do you know all this?"
questioned incredulously, as the whole
scene and Its dread possibilities I'M
rolled before my mental vision.
"Ther niger I held up ned a de-
spatch fer Heintzelman over on Their
left. an then Marian she sorter
pumped young fule staff officer fer
Their rest O. It," he replied promptly.
ooh. It's sure go, Cap, an reckon
az 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
was contagious. My blood leaped
within me at this call to action; all
lethargy fled, and with it every dead
ening thought of her who had SO sud-
denly woven about me the meshes of
her power. False or true, maid, wife
or widow, my duty as soldier to my
commander and the army to which
belonged, blotted out all else. Even
as this new rush of determination
swept over me, above us there
sounded clearly the dashing music Of
q military band in the strains of a
Strauss's waltz, and we could dis
tinguish the muffled shuffling of many
feet on the oaken floo- overhead
Caton's chance remark about the great
ball to be given that evening by off,
GERS of the headquarters staff recur-
red to my memory.
"That dancing up there will help US.
jed" 1 said quickly, my mind now
active to grasp every detail. you
say there Is chance for escape from
your cell? Then give me your hand,
and help me to crawl through that
hole"
It was narrow squeeze for man
Of my size, yet crept through with
out great difficulty. and found myself
/, in the dense darkness of a room
which, as Judged hastily from feel
ing about me, was similar in shape
and extent to the one In which had
been confined. Bungay, however, per-
mitted me little time for exploration.
Grasping me firmly by the arm, and
feeling his way along the wall, he
CROPPED across to the other SIDE
There's mighty big stone chimbly
comes down yere, Cap" he whispered.
AN Their openin' ter take out SCOT an
ashes is up thar, jist blow Their
fluer. It's sheetiron pan, reckon,
Their way 1t feels; an 1t must be thar
they put niger in ter clean Their
chimbly whin 1t gifts stuffed up. I
could git up thar alone, but couldn't
do no work. but tibet thar pan ought
49, III