The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1912-02-17

officers OF his staff vars to give
grand ball
| felt 10 inclination TO rartake OF
! the rudc supper left ME. and liist De-
| fore dark | was lying uroH the oench
idly Wondering If that vas 10 prove
| the last lestige vi daylight should
ever behold in this world. when with
! out slightest warning the heavy iron
/ eating In the wall directly above me
T, Ell suddenly. striking the edge oil the
bench. and clattered noisily TO the
floor The fall was so unexpected. ana
~. escape from injury so narrow. that
| lay almost stunned. starine up help
lcssly at tie dark hole thus lef' bare.
| As | gazed a face framed itself In
this narrow opening. and two wary
eyes peered cautiously down at me,
There was no mistakir- that counte-
nance even in the fast waning light.
and | instantly sat up with an ex-
| clamaton of surprise,
led Bungay. as live"
The puzzled face broke into grin
| OF delight
iitiS Nops hS
with a deep sigh OF relief. as tibet you.
suaho wus so burned skeered Id
made mess D 1t whin thet thar iron
drappeL thet | near died, Whit be
they goin ter dew with ye?"
Il have every reason to believe 1t 10
their purpose to shoot me at day
| break tomorrow,
nav" Ito ,forod ma Q9
Il he had Just heard his own death
sentence pronounced. and his little
peaked face looked CHASTITY IN the dim
light Shoot yeo GooL Lord. Cap.
whut fer: Ye amt done nOthin as
| knows on, cent ter scrap bit with
tibet blasted Yauk. an sure thets no
shootin matter, er else I'd bin
goner long ago"
That 'Yank' has seen fit to charge
me with being 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 1t. I'm in luck. fer ali
they've got agin me Is pot-shootin' at
a niger soger up IL ther mount1ngs:
en- tibet amt much. cause didn't hit
Their burned cuss.'
Jed was carefully covering every
inch OF exposed wall with his little
shrewd. glinting eyes.
Amt much show ter work out o
yere, Is thar, Cap?" he asked at last
reflectively: "leastwise ] don't SEQ
none. less them thar dark corners hes
got holes In EN-"
"The wall is entirely solid"
so I sorter reckoned. But II yell
crawl through yere inter my boodour.
ttar's a place whar reckon Their
tew of us tergether morght make q
try fer It. It's too durn high up fer
me ter git at alone | reckon. Cap.
If We cud manage ter git out o yere
ternight. an take some news ter Leo
tibet 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 lit
What news?"
Thought maybe tibet wud wake 70
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 Their valley by noon
Tomorrow An more" he added rapid
ly. his eyes dancing wildly with sup
pressed excitement.-"Ha Hancock Is a
.ingin' of his corps west ter meet
em tha.. an I reckon. as how tharll
be hell fer sartin up Their Shenandoah
in less ner a week"
But how do you know all thlsr I
questioned incredulOusly. as the whole
: scene and its dread possibilities UNI
rolled before my mental vision.
'Ther Niger held up he'd a de-
sratch fer Heintzelman over on Their
left, an then Marian she sorter
pumped a young fule staff officer fer
Their rest O. It," he replied promptly.
"Oh, It's q sure go. Cap. an l reckon
a. how maybe Lees Who'll, army hangs
on one of us gittin' out o yere ter.
; night"
| fro re CONTINUED