The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1913-05-30

from his command without q pass.
While inquiries were being made about
him he had given the guard the slip
and had disappeared At our head
quarters we wondered if the country.
man We had passed and this straggler
were not one and the same man.
While we were talking about 1t q
Telegram came in from the left of our
command stating that man who was
trying to steal through our picket line
TO go south had been fred on. but had
disappeared in a wood thick with tan
gled underground The officer of the
post sent sergeant with twelve men
into the wood. who deployed to cover
the ground and swept out every live
thing there. A man was seen run
ming to a small village. or. rather, a
clump of houses. half mile distant.
and before he could be captured had
disappeared among q group of few
men. more women and q lot of chit
dren When our men got there they
esuldn't tell which OF the men they
lid chased. The sergeant sent d pri-
vate to report the matter to the offi-
Ger Of the picket post, while the others
surrounded the people SO that none OF
them should get away The officer re-
ported the situation to the general. and
the general sent for me.
After going over all this that I've
been telling you the general told me
to 60 over with part Of the escort and
exercise my ingenuity to discover the
man who had tried to steal through
the picket line. "A spy" be said, has
undoubtedly been moving about our
camps collecting information and is
trying to get south with it. | rely on
you to find out which one of these peo
pie IS the man we want They are all
probably devoted to the Confederate
cause and will use every effort to con
ceal his Identity would suggest that
you threaten to shoot every one OF
them unless they give up the spy"
Taking couple OF men. rode over
to the place where the supposed spy
had been corralled and found the picket
line stretched around the group. ex-
amined all the men critically, but
could learn nothing from any of them.
Considering that it would be no use
to question the women. concluded to
adopt the generals suggestion. stood
the men 10 line. ordered the sergeant
to draw in his command and assemble
them for a firing squad When the
two lines faced each other | told the
citizens that If they didn't give up the
man who had been chased in among
them would shoot every one of them
Of course only did it to effect my
purpose. for had no orders to carry
out the threat and wouldn't have been
80 inhuman as to do so If had.
They all turned white, but not a man
spoke gave the word to the squad
to aim. and yet no one flinched. ! was
about to give up my bluff game when
window sash in one Of the houses
went up and man put his head out
of the window.
.'Don't shoot. cap'n." be said "Tm
POUR man"
1YC11S 0lC0 a. Lie AS0OAS Va ~
pedient. / turned my firing squad over
to the sergeant and sent the two men
had brought with me to arrest the
man who had confessed He proved
to be very young scarcely eighteen !
scanned his face with view to dis
cover II be were the fellow who had
driven the COW, but saw no resem
blance. though did not consider this
Of importance. for be had proeaply
been made up FOR every character pc
had played.
searched him. but, finding no pa
per1[ directed the men to search every
house IN the place. was not sur
prised that they found nothing. Tor
there had been plenty OF dine to burn
any papers be might have carried
Not finding any documentary evidence,
I took him to headquarters
AZ was the pluckiest young fellow
ever saw The general questioned
Nh and cross qaestioned him but
<peld get nothing ont of him. Asked
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