Gunnison news-champion., 1912-11-08

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Usso Oaa sesA.
Sace: thea saa hastily essr . packaSe
4 cen see no ksrm N asiaG - now.
major. He Mas sent to esO0Snieate
with . British osRcer-A psGnaiBent
7ory-whe has assocsatiooa wt4k Red
Fsein. and others In hoa0suah coua-
ty. This oaieer has " ths psst. for .
coasiderstion, furnished ~ With valu-
able information. eenersny through
young Mortimer. who knew him. He
had written us that he had more to
sell"
Where were they to meet?"
AT a rendezvous known ~ tbs Lone
Tree. not far from Medford"
Was the Tory oAcer named
Grant?-
He stared st me In surprise.
Il am not at liberty TO answer"
"Oh, very well; however, ] under.
stand the situation even better than
you do probably. Only ! advise you
one thing-dont condemn that boy un-
til you learn the truth. Grsnt is an
0tOdiufti,
and the treachery is his. YeuI leprn
that. il you wait long enough. Morti-
mer is either dead, or in Fagin's hands.
Good night"
! passed out, and was beyond the
guard. before he could call ne. even
had he desired to do 30. ! had no
wish to talk with him longer. felt
disappointed, sick at heart, and real
ized this STAFF officer was strongly
prejudiced against young Mortimer. II
seemed to me I saw . little hight, al.
though not much. Erie had been at
Elmhurst. and Claire WAS not Innocent
Of his presence in that neighborhood.
She was shielding hin, and It Was
through her help that his Ara report
to Lee had hseh sent hack by the In
dian. Thea Eric must have been in
the house while I was there Indeed
1t must have been Eric who made me
prisoner. And to protect hin she
had told me q deliberate falsehO0A.
As ] rode back through the niGht,
finding q path almost by Instinct
through the maze Of military encamp.
ments, ] thought Of all these things,
exonerating her from wrong and yet
wondering more and more at her real
connection with the various events.
The chief had not stated what tnfor-
nation Of value Grant had promised
to reveal; nor what Eric's first report
had contained. In my sudden disap-
pointment ! had forgotten to insuire.
And where could the boy be? What
could have happened to him? Some
thing serioUs surely to keep hin thus
hidden for nearly q month. Claire
would know, but she was probably
long ago back in Philadelphia IN the
heart Of the British garrison. Anl I?
Well. was tied hand and foot by Ais-
cipline; helpless to turn aside from
duty now In the face of this new cam
paign. Every man was needed, and
no personal consideration would ex-
cuse my leaving the ranks even for q
day. 1t was with heavy heart I ro2s
into the camp of my reeiment, ana lay
down on the bare ground, with head
pillowed upon the saddle. knowing the
drums would sound in a few short
hours.
1t was hard to work through the
routine Of the next few days, although
some excitement was given - a
MaHwell's brigade by scouting Aetails
sent across the valley TO observe the
movements Of the British patrols. On
such duty ! passed the greater portion
OF two days in the saddle, and, ~
chance, met both Farrell and Duval,
who were with the Jersey militiamen,
now rapidly coming In to aid us, a.
the rumors Of an impending battle
spread across country Farren came
at the head Of nifty men, rough hook
ing. raggedly dressed fellows, but wen
armed. and I had 4 word with him
while pointing out where Dickinson's
troops were camped. Unfortunately
he knew little Of value to me. Nor
timers column Of Queens Rangers
had passed his place on their return
to Philadelphia two days after ny ee
cape. Grant Was not with then. but
Claire was. while Peter had beeA beft
behind At Elmhurst Fagin had not
been overtaken, although the Rangerp
had engaged in q skirmish with some
Of his followers. losing two men.
Colonel Mortimer had been wounded
slightly. A to Eric he knew nOthine
no one had even mentioned tie laA's
name
1t was thus clearly evident I coult
do nothing, although I now poeossoec
wen defined theory Of just what hae
occurred To my mind Eric was II
the hands Of Fagin. either hidAeA se
curely away among the sand caves 70,
some purpose connected with Grants
treachery, or else with the Intention
q calming The reward for his captuf~
o1efed BY Howe. The former proA