The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-01-09

! with the irregulars who were harass ing Sheridan's rear to prevent his car rying out General Grants orders to cut Lees railroad communications by which supplies were brought from the south for the Confederate army at Pc [ tersburg.
 And what has General Early done with the prisoners he brought here ?" Gertrude inquired, with sinking heart.
 Sent them on to Danville, maybe to North Carolina. and the officers prob
 ably to Richmond" was the vague re-
 ply she got. You see, miss, it's hard enough Scraplng now to reed our own
 men,"
 KerchivaI West was among these | prisoners, and so was Captain Hearts
 ease, and both were seemingly in con
 dition to bear transportation. This
 much information was eltcited on
 trustworthy authority, and it compen
 sated for the hardships and anxiedes through which the dauntless Virginia [ girl had passed. From Staunton she sent these reassuring tidings to Jenny Buckthorn, who remained with her fla ther at Winchester, and to Madeline West. whom General Haverill had sent
 with an escort to Washington. Love alone must guide her in her search, Gertrude declared, but she had the courage to resolve that love should
 win Her home was broken up, the valley desoIated, and the cause upon which all had been staked was mar rowing down to a deadly crisis where mere self interest, fortune, even life
 itself, had to be thrown unhesitatngly into the balance.
 While she waited at Staunton for some clew, some enlightenment to de termine what direction her pilgrimage i should take now that the. winter was about setting in, a detachment of the , wild mounted troops came up the val ley from a successful raid on the Bal timore and Ohio railroad in West Vir- sinia. A bearded savage rushed with
 l glad cry at Gertrude--and she was laughing and crying in her brothers arms.
 F'Oh, Rob- she faltered, 'I was be- ginning to think I should never see you again nor any one else Ioved!'
 Don't give up, sisr' he enjoined, but
 his tone was worried and serious. 'We
 are not beaten yet. If we have to
 leave the valley the enemy can't stay
 here either. He is trying to prevent
 us from joining General Lee at Peters
 burg, but in the meantime we are keeping him and an army bigger than
 all our forces put together from going
 to help General Grant, who, after all, is no nearer to Richmond than Me
 Clellan was two. years and half ago."
 ''Oh, never mind the armies now! Where can I find those two poor prison CTS ?''
 Bob shook his head and paced the | floor in troubled silence.
 Where is Thornton now?'' asked Gertrude anxiously.
 '"To my certain knowledge he is
 keeping in touch with Mosby at Lees
 burg or UpperviIle. It is not at all
 likely he even knows that Kerchiva1
 was captured at Cedar Creek. But he is such a vindictive devil that sup
 pose he will always be looking out for the satisfaction of his private revenge
 before the interests of the service"
 In the Federal camps at Kernstown and Winchester the hustle of confident activity and a general air of hopeful expectation were as marked as the spirit of grim, dogged determination was behind the scenes at Confederate
 headquarters. At the beginning of the
 new year one of the two divisions of the Nineteenth corps, under General Buckthorn, was sent to Petersburg, re- ducing the effective force of the Army of the Shenandoah to one division of infantry and three of cavalry, General Haverill's among the latter
 General HaveriIPs mood of somber reserve was matter of inquietude to
 his friends and a puzzle to those of the army who knew him only in his soldierly capacity. He went about his military duties in the silent, dispirited
 manner of a fataIist. Not a man in the army dared to formulate the ques- t1on that was in the minds of many Did the general suspect that the he roic Lieutenant Bedloe, who sacrificed his life at Three Top mountain, was
 his own disgraced son? Those who knew best declared that he did not and the famous dispatch to Washing ton in praise of Bedloe's deed was ad- duced as confirming evidence
 When Gertrude Ellingham wrote for particulars as to KerchivaI Vests vio-
 lation of the order of arrest to particf-
 pate in the battle of Cedar Creek. the
 general replied with formal brevity
 that he must disclaim responsibility as well as any special knowledge in the matter. When Jenny Buckthorn oues-
 tioned him personally in the hope of
 getting some clew that might aid in
 finding Captain Heartsease, wounded
 and captured in Lieutenant BedIoe's
 raid upon the enemy's signal station,
 he was scarcely more communicative.
 except on one point-that Captain
 Heartsease, following the practice of
 Major Young's scouts had worn a
 Confederate uniform which would put