The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1912-07-11


noise might arouse suspicion. No., s4se
Claire stiH chung to my hand h,,t ISIS ess
to whisper sentence Of iDstrns..Un'y
go straight north, major, nntsS
reach the hedge; follow the ssaS you
Of that beyond the orchard, ana Ia .S
take the road running wastw...
Don't mount until you reach tbsr : !
goodby."
aGoodby, you viii not forget mo-.
I'll am afraid not, but--but vo,,
must go!"
I left her standing there, a ,o,n4
CLEAN Of white against the dark shrub
berry, motionless.
There is no incident OF that night,a
ride which recall distinctly. ! mere.
" pushed on steadily through the
darkness, leaving my mount to choose
his own. course, confident we We're
headed toward the river. ! was sui
ficiently acquainted with the valley OF
the Delaware. when daylight came, to
decide upon the nearest ford. AS 70
the British patrols, must run the risk
Of lodging these, but felt safe from
such an encounter for several hours.
In truth met no one, having no occa-
sion to even draw rein, although we
passed through two small villages, and
by a number Of farms. could not
even determine that these houses were
occupied; they were dark and silent,
even the galloping hoofs Of my horse
failing to awaken response.
1t was already daylight when drew
IN on the bluff summit to gaze down
into the river valley. In the middle
distance small villages faced each
other across the stream, and toward
these most Of the roads converged-
proof of the existence Of a ford. I
could not be mistaken as to the town
Burlington on the Jersey shore, and
opposite Bristol. / should be safe
enough In the latter, even if we had
no outpost stationed there. knew
homes along those shaded streets,
where food would be forthcoming, and
where l could probably procure fresh
horse. It was the nearer town, nestled
on the Jersey bank, that ! studied
with the greatest care, but, so far as
/ could see, the single street was de-
serted. To the south, certainly two
miles away, squadron Of horse were
riding slowly, surrounded by a cloud
of dust. Without doubt this was the
British patrol that had left the village
at daybreak.
1t was hot, close morning, and the
padded Rangers coat heavy and tight
fitting. I took it off, fiinging it across
the saddle pommel. AS l did SO a
folded paper came into view, and I
drew it forth, curiously. MY eye caught
the signature at the bottom of a brief
note, and / stared at it in surprise.
Fagin! How came Fagin to be writing
to Captain Grant? He pretended to
be Tory to be sure, yet both armies
knew him as nlurderous outlaw,
plundering loyalists and patriots alike.
There came to me a memory Of Far
relI's chance remark that Grant had
some connection with this fellows ma
randing. / had not seriously consid-
cred it then, but now--why, possibly
1t was true. read the lines almost at
a glance, scarcely comprehending at
first, and then suddenly realized the
base villainy revealed:
''Haye the money and papers, but
the girl got away. Will 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
i 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.
1 searched the pockets Of the garment
hastily, finding a note or two, his
orders to escort Delavan, and small
packet tied securely by a cord. ] felt
no hesitancy in opening this, and as
certaining its contents. The lines ]
read hastily seemed to blur before my
] eyes; could barely comprehend their
purport. Little by little / grasped the
meaning Of it all, and then my mind
leaped to recognition OF Grants pur-
pose. They were notes Of instruction.