The Springfield herald. (Springfield, Baca County, Colo.) 1887-1919, 1912-12-27
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- Illustrations by HENRY InTH

rauding. had not seriously consld-
cred 1t then, but now-why. possibly
1t was true. l read the lines almost at
glance, scarcely comprehending at
first. and then suddenly realized the
base villainy revealed:
Have the money and papers. but
the girl got away. VIII wait for you
at Lone Tree tonight Don't fail. for
the whole country will be after me
as soon as the news gets out about
Elmhurst. FAGIN."
So that was the reason for this raid
Grants personal affair. He had re-
turned to Elmhurst. leaving his men
to trudge on into Philadelphia under
their Hessian officers SO that he might
communicate with Fagin. What pity
1t was had failed to kill the fellow.
instead Of leaving him unconscious,
The papers! Perhaps they were In
the coat also. Surely Grant had no
time to change or destroy them. as he
must have ridden directly to Elmhurst.
l searched the pockets of the garment
hastily. finding a note or two. his
orders to escort Delavan, and small
packet tied securely by cord. felt
no hesitancy in opening this. and as
certaining its contents. The lines l
read hastily seemed to blur before my
eyes; could barely comprehend their
purport. Little by little grasped the
meaning Of 1t all. and then my mind
leaped to recognition of Grants pu7.
pose. They were notes Of instruction.
brief orders. suggestions. memoranda,
such as might be issued to secret
agent greatly trusted. These were ad-
dressed simply Mortimer" many I'M
signed. others marked by initials. but
instantly recognized the handwriting
of Washington. Hamilton and Lee.
Without question this packet was the
property of Eric Mortimer. but why
had the boy preserved these private
instructions. covering months of op-
erations. should Judge. although
scarcely one was dated? And what
caused them to be of value to Cap
tain Grant?
cion-the colonel He could be threat
ened with them. blackmailed. dis
graced before Sir Henry Clinton, driv-
en- from his command. They were ad-
dressed merely to Mortimer" discov-
cred at Elmhurst, and were sufficient
to convict of treason. 1t was fiend-
ish plot. well conceived. and Grant
was fully capable of carrying it out
to the end. l could realize what the
possession of these papers meant to
him-military advancement, distri-
hut ,f ho ctoto IN, whit cl
he would doubtless share. and fresh
hold on Claire whereby he could ter
rify the girl into accepting them.
stood there In uncertainty, turning
these papers over and over In my
hands, striving to determine my duty
Should I return to Elmhurst? To do
so would only bring me into renewed
peril. and would apparently benefit no
one. Without this packet Grant was
helpless to injure Colonel Mortimer.
AS to Claire, Seldom would protect her
for the present, and as soon as the
father returned, he would doubtless
compel her to accompany him back to
Philadelphia. The best service could
render was to destroy these notes. and
then seek out Eric Mortimer. in Lees
camp, and tell him the whole story.
All that anyone could do now was to
warn the Mortimers against Grant, to
let them know his treachery. and this
could be best accomplished through
Eric Although in different armies,
striving against each other in the
field, there must still exist some means
of communication between father and
son, or, If not, then between brother
and sister.
With flint and steel l built small
fire of leaves in cleft beside the
road, and fed to the flames one by one
the papers from the packet. glancing
over each one again to make sure OF
its contents: all were addressed alike,
simply Mortimer" but upon two
found the word "Elmhurst." 1t was
easy to see how the discovery Of such
communications would tempt an un-
scrupulous scoundrel like Grant to use
them to injure another, and win his
own end, but why had that young Eric
failed to destroy them as soon as re-
ceived?
When the last paper had been re-
'duced to ashes, l stamped out the en-
bers of fire under my boot heel. and,
with lighter heart. rode down the hill
toward the ford.