The Washington times., 1913-09-09

ARLINGTON was daring young
soldier and he pushed far south
on the Cathorpfn road untn he
. q arrived at its junction with the
Shady grove road. There he divideo
his force and sent one moiety under
veteran sergeant to the west, while with
the other he advanced to the eastward.
Each party was to proceed cautiously
and after inspecting the road LOT
mile or so was to return to the Junction
where they separated. GRAFTON was iea'
alone at the junction with the reInalh-
ing sergeant anc a half dozen troopers.
The sergeant had orders to WITHDRAW
into the wood a short distance ana seek
a suitable place of Concealment where
they might pass the night. he was en-
Joined to guard his prisoner care1uliy;
He carried out his instructions 70 the
letter. Forcing a way back through the
underbrush for few hundred yaros tne
sergeant came ocress a small natural
clearing which he decided, with tne eye
of an experienced soldier. would do ad-
mirably for a camp when the other de-
tachments joined him. He left Grafton
severely alone, save for the presence
of his armed guard, who stood constant
" by him, ready to shoot him at the
first movement, while preparations were
made for the encampment.
1t had become dark long since, but
the sergeant did not dare kindle a fire.
The men ate from their haversacks.
sharing a portion with Grafton, and
then all but the sergeant and MS guard
stretched themselves out for a nap.
About / o'clock a picket which the ser
geant had placed at the Junction came
back and reported horsemen approach
ing. c., 1I,rr;ry
,o,,,s own detachment. They had rid
den Ave or six miles down the road ana
had seen absolutely nothing. shorty
after his arrival the other serseani
came up with his party. he reporuu
that a large force of the ehelnJ was
marching down the SHADY Grove roaa,
stated that he had experienced grest
difficulty in bringing his own men OH
without being observed
The Federal captain coaciunen tiiat
he had pushed his reconnaissance "a .ar
as was prudent. and the best thiiiS ioI
him to do now would De 10 return anu
report to the troops, wnlcn must Ly
this time nave occupied Tod's TaVern
and the Brock road. The horses Of The
fatigue party were saddled ana cue
Whole troop trotted rapidly up the
road over which GRAFTON
Rad galloped eight hours peto n,.n,
II was now after Il o'clock at nignt
and very dark Confident that MS
enemies were all behind him. ignorant
that there was road from tne W.
that led into the Catharpin road, mar
~ington advanced as rapidly as ilis
tired horses admitted, and, WIN iess
care than usual. kept somewhat neg
ligent watch ahead Accordingly, he ran
into a carefully prepared amDush en-
gineered by the advance OF EariE
corps and led by the remnants OF FL
sons troops. There was a sharp inelee
In the darkness. Harrington was shot
with one of his sergeants AMI several
Of his men, The remainder OF !is troop
scattered; some took to the WOODS
others raced back toward the ShadS
Grove road; some were captured; as
an organized force the troop was wiped
out.
The melee freed Grafton. As he made
no effort to escape of course. the Con
federates grabbed him unresisting. lie
asked for the captain of the detach-
ment and to him declared his name and |
rank After some difficulty he. per
suaded this officer that he was really |
what he claimed to be, an officer of the |
message for General Stuart. which !
should have been delivered six hours |
before In establishing his identity lie !
was helped by the story told by the |
men of Elson's detachment about the
assistance they rendered Mrs. Grafton.
and his assertions were borne out and
seconded by :he Union cap
tain, who was dying.
That girl UP North, like the girl down
South whom ElsOn had remembered,
would never see him again. The war
which he had deplored and for the ter
mInation Of which he had sighed few
hours before was over for him sooner
than he had fancied-and In a different
way. He lay on the ;,round breathing
heavily, dying from a shot through the
lungs. Some one held lantern over