Perth Amboy evening news., 1912-05-15

Copyright A. G. koC.urg 3 Co. 1sIL


home to a place called ElmhurBt near
Laurel Hill"
Il know the plantation, sir I said,
nay interest causing me to interrupt.
ut 10 on the Medford road"
"Ah, you have met the lad, possibly,
major" and he turned his face to-
ward me. The boy interested me
greatly"
mo, sir; I e~ndeavored TO find him
at Lees headquarters, but failed. l
have met his father and sister"
"A lovely girl. no doubt"
ITO my mind, yes, sir"
His grave face lighted with a sud
den smile.
81 sometimes imagine, Colonel Ham
ilton." he said quietly. that this un-
happy war might be very pleasantly
concluded II we could only turn our
young officers over to the ladies Of the
enemy. Would such a plan meet with
your approval, ma1or?"
II should prefer 1t to the present
method"
mo doubt, and Mistress Mortimer?
But let that pass, until we hold
council Of war upon the subject. Just
now we shall have to be content with
the more ordinary plans Of campaign.
| gave the boy permission to remove
his father, and they are upon the road
ere this. ! would that all the British
wounded had homes close at hand.
w., Ln,- I~pox,,aI N. poain,, nf his
mission, I presume, Hamilton. and
there is nothing need add"
HE understands clearly. sir"
Then I will complete the letter. Be
seated, gentlemen"
He wrote for several minutes stead
lily, once pausing to consult a map,
signed the paper, and enclosed It in
another sheet, across which he
scratched a line Of address.
"You will deliver this to General
Arnold In person, major; DO not spare
~horse-hesh. You were in the action
todayY"
with Maxwell's brigade"
That was a hard fight along the
stone wall; you came out unhurt?"
"A slight bayonet wound, sir; moth
ing to i~ncapacitste me from duty"
Very well; take ten dragons as
escort. Hamilton will write you an
order. I have told Arnold our victory
is practically complete. Clinton may
slip away In the night. for he Is a
willy old fox. but he has lost his pow
er to injure US in the Jerseys. I hope
to bottle him up before morning, 80
that any retreat will be impossible,
but even II he succeeds In getting his
army to the transports at Sandy
Hook, he has lost prestige, and the
victory Is ours. Goodbye. major. and
tho Lord guard you on your Journey"
Ten minutes later, mounted on a
rangy sorrel, my Dragon escort trot-
ting behind, I rode south on the
Pia1nsboro road. as swiftly as its ter
rfhls condition would warrant.
The evidences OF war. the wreck
are OF battle. were everywhere. Sew
erSl times w were compelled 70 leap
the stone walls TO permit the passage
Of marching troops being hurried to
some new posittonI several batteries
pass4A VI. rmnblinx Erimly through
thu night ana = squadron OF horse
gAllopsd by, the troopers greeting III
wish shouts q inquiry.
We TOOK to tho fields. but, as there
seemed no end to tho procession, !
turned my horses head eastward, con
ndent We already beyond the
British rear-suard, and struck out
across country for another north and
south road. We advanced now at q
swift trot. the sound OF our horses
hoofs on the soft turf almost tho only
noise, and, within An hour, came again
to parallel fences, and = well travelled
road.
This was the road running 4 milo
or so, TO the west Of Elmhurst- II
led as straight as any. toward Phila'
delphia. but whatever ~stragglers the
British army had left behind would
be found along here. However, they
would probably be scattered fugitiyes
unwilling to interfere with as strong
an armed party as this OF mine. II
I WAS alone 1t would be safer to turf
aside. Then, 1t was a strong tempta
ton to me to pass thus close to Elm
hurst. 1t would be after daylight
when we reached there; l might ever
got a glimpse across the apple orchsrt
Of the great white house. Would Claire
be there7 1t seemed to me quite prob
able, as Eric WAS taking the wounded
colonel home for nursing. Tho girl
face rose before me against the blaol
night. and my heart beat fast. Wher
/ came back, I would ride to Elm
hurst-surely she would be there then
The sergeant touched my arm.
Pardon me, sir, but there are horse
men ahead"
'Indsedf I was lost n thought
Conroy. Coming this way?"
NO, sir, they seem to be travelling
south slowly. I noticed them mrs
as We turned the corner back there
l could see outlines against the sky.
How large a partyf They form
merely a Jumping shadow to my eyes.
Not more than three or four, sil