Eastern Colorado times., 1912-10-04
"Dressed hurriedly, probably. ana

"Dressed hurriedly, probably. and
forgot your uniform"
j have lately been serving with the
Jersey militia. asir. tas Captain Grant
can testify."I answered ciyilly.
3 "And Captain Grant is only too
anxious" broke in that officer impa-
tiently. III you will listen to me.
colonel. I'll tell you what I know in
two minutes or less. 1t will settle this
fellows status"
Mortimer glanced from my face to
that OF the speaker. evidently attract
ed by the vindictiveness Of the voice.
All right. Grant. go on" he said
shortly. only shall pass judgment
as soldier. and not because Of any
personal quarrel. What is 1t you
know" i
"That this man came into Philadel-
/ phia three days ago dressed as an Of
ficer Of British infantry. He claimed
to be Lieutenant Fortesque Of the
!'orty-second Foot. with dispatches
from New York. Howe vouched for
him. and furnished him with a pass
and orderly. He put in the whole day
studying the positions OF our troops.
and in the evening was guest at the
Mischianza-Andre gave him a card.
heard-and danced there with your
daughter. ! doubted the man from
him he was suspected. or else he had
our first meeting, and later picked up
certain rumors which convinced me
he was spy. Some words passed be-
tween us on the dancing floor. and as
consequence asked tho man to
meet me below. Some one either told
the heart of a coward. foT he failed
to appear"
did you intend to fight him?"
'No. we planned an arrest. l re-
ported to MacHugh what I had heard.
and he had Carter close at hand with
a squad Of the guard"
A very pretty trick on mere suspi-
cion." commented the colonel in some
disgust. But go on with your story"
Grant sucked in his breath quickly.
evidently surprised at the remark.
claire was waiting for me upstairs
in the dining room, but after Carter
had scattered his men to the outposts.
! took turn about the grounds in
hope Of thus running across the fellow.
Luck favored me, but. damn bim. he
jumped into me like a fighting cock.
struck me In the face. and taunted
me into meeting him there and then"
Good boyi the right stun. eh Sell
don7'' go
II supposed 1t all bluff." went on
Grant, paying no heed to the inter.
ruption. although his cheeks flushed.
but we went at It. behind the pavil-
ion, and had pricked him twice,
when the guard came up and separat-
ed us. At that the fellow took to his
heels. and by Cad! got away-swam
the Delaware. while we were beating
the west shore. The next I saw Of him
he was in command of those ragamuf-
he shows up here looting this house
on the trail of Red Fagin. Id hang
him offhand II It was me-"
Mortimer looked across at me ear
nestly. but with an expression of doubt
In his eyes. As for myself l hardly
knew what to say or do. Grant had
no corroborative proof Of his asser.
tions. unless l was returned to Phila.
delphia- could emphatically deny
that was the man. insist on my right
to fair trial. But how could I ac-
count in any reasonable way for my
presence at Elmhurst. or even success.
fully sustain my, claim to being Con.
tinental officer. could not tell
Colonel Mortimer that had been tax
en- prisoner by his daughter, masque-
rading as lieutenant of dragons.
Apparently he knew nothing Of this
escapade. and she would scarcely for
give me for exposure; besides. for all
I knew to the contrary. the girl might
have thus been attempting to serve
the colonies. and word Of betrayal
might seriously injure our cause. All
this flashed over me before Mortimer
spoke.
tTo BE coNrrNuED3