The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1913-09-19


} was shining mo- sir" he repeated
Il was Just about to send II by his or
, ders. when he countermanded It and
/, tore up the dispatch"
And what dispatch was IT."
1T was one signed by the secretary
OF war. sir, removing Marston's divi
sion from Cemetery HILL"
You hear. gentlemen" said the gen.
eral, and. not giving them time to an
swer he turned again TO Foray
What we're Captain Thorne's words
at the timer
He said he refused to act under
that commission. and crumpled It up
and threw 1t away"
That will do, lieutenant" said
General Randolph triumphantly. He
turned to Arrelsford again. III you
are not satisfied. Mr.. Arrelsford, beg
to inform you that we have a dispatch
from General Chesney at the front, in
which he says that no orders were re-
ceived from here. He got an uncom-
pleted dispatch, but could not make
anything out Of IT, Marston's division
was not withdrawn from Cemetery
Hill, and our position was not weak.
ened In any way. The attack there has
failed" There was low murmur of
astonishment from the group Of men
in the room. Edith Varney did one
significant thing. She made two steps
In Thornes direction. That young
man did not dare to trust himself to
look at her. 1T is quite plain" con-
tinued the general, that the court
has been acting under an error. The
president of the Confederacy is. there
fore compelled to disapprove the find
ing, and 1t is set aside. He happened
to be with the secretary when the find
ing came in"
ATelsford made one last desperate
effort
General Randolph" he said. and, to
do him justice, he did not lack cour-
age, this was put in my hands,
and"
Il take It out of your hands," he
said curtly. Report back to the war
Office, or the secret service office. with
my compliments
But there are other charges upon
which he could be tried" persisted
Arrelsford. "He is a spy anyway,
and"
q believe l gave you your orders,
Mr.. Arrelsford," interrupted the gen.
eral, with suspicious politeness.
But hadn't l better wait and
see"
by God, sir" thundered Randolph,
do have to explain my orders to the
whole secret service Of the Confed-
eracy? Don't wait to see anything
Go at once, or | will have you es-
corted by a file of soldiers"
Arrelsford would have defied the
general If there had been the least
use in the world in doing it, but the |
game was clearly UP for the present. |
He would try to arrange to have |
Thorne re-arrested and tried as a |
spy later. Now he could do nothing. |
He walked out of the room, pride en-
abling him to keep up brave front,
but with disappointment and resent
ment raging in his heart. He did not
realize that his power over Thorne
had been withdrawn. In the great
game that they had played, he had
lost at all points. They all watched
him go, not a single one in the room
with sympathy, or even pity
Now, sergeant" said the general,
as they heard the heavy hall door
close; 81 want to speak to the priE-
oner"
Order arms!" cried the sergeant.
Parade rest!" AS the squad assumed
these positions in obedience to his
commands, the sergeant continued,
Fall out, the prisoner"
Thorne stepped forward one pace
from the ranks, and saluted the gen.
eral. He kept his eyes fixed upon that
gentleman, and it was only the throb-
bing of his heart that made him aware
that Edith Varney was by his side
She bent her head toward him; he
'elt her warm breath against his
cheek as she whispered:
"Oh! Why didn't you tell me?
thought you sent it, thought you"
Miss Varney!" exclaimed the gen
9ral in surprise.
But Edith threw maidenly reserve
o the winds. The suddenness of the
'evelation overwhelmed her.
There is nothing against him, Cen
,ral Randolph, now; is there? He
lidn't send it. There's nothing to try
,itn fort" she said
General Randolph smiled grimly at
Ter.
You are very much mistaken, Miss
yarney," he answered. "The fact of
lis being caught in our lines without Z
is proper uniform is enough to hang
i'm in ten minutes"
Edith caught her heart with her
and with sharp exclamation, but
ieneral Randolph turned to speak to d
he prisoner. h
Captain Thorne," he said. "or Lew "
J Dumont, IL that is your name; the Il
resident is fully informed regarding b
le circumstances of your case, and p
eedn't say that we look upon you as
cursed dangerous character. There h
mt any doubt whatever that you Y,
lght to be shot right now, but, con- ta
dering the damned popularity Of
our behavior, and that you refused to b,
md out that dispatch when you n;
light have done so, we've decided to
eep you out of mischief some other
ay You will be held a prisoner Of
ar" in