Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1915-06-15

to the hospital he was to eat enough
Of the others to effect the purpose. In
the letter written for inspection she
said that N. Chaud was trying to se-
cure a pardon for the prisoner. Chaud
being the French for heat
Now, It happened that there was an
Englishwoman who took care Of the
building in which Morrison was con-
fined whose sympathies were with the
British. When Morrison received Al
ices letter, not understanding the
mention Of N. Chaud, he laid It aside
while he thought Of the matter. The
next morning the woman was admit
ted to the room to put It to rights, and
the circulation Of air she made In dust
ing landed the letter on the hearth on
which a fire was burning. Turning
toward 1t, she saw pink letters writ
ten on the paper. They caught the
prisoners eye at the same time, and
he took up the letter from the hearth,
hastily reading the secret message.
The woman, suspecting that some
thing was wrong. told the ofhcer In
charge what she had seen. Meanwhile
Morrison, who was nearsighted, hold
ing the letter close to his face, breath
ed on it and noticed a slight diminu-
ton of the strength Of the pink letters.
It occurred to him that moisture might
efface them, and, dampening cloth, he
laid 1t on the paper. They at once be-
came invisible.
Later the officer In charge came In
and asked to see the letter. Morrison
handed 1t to him. He looked 1t over
and called to the woman who had re-
ported It to come to him. On her en-
trance he showed her the letter and
asked II It was the one on which she
had seen pink letters. She said that II
looked like the one she had seen, but
Il could not have been since the pink
letters were not on It. The officer rec.
ognized 1t as the one he had the even
ing before turned over to the prisoner
and told the woman that she must
have been mistaken in thinking there
was anything on the paper except
what appeared. This ended the Incl.
dent, and Morrison drew long breath
Of relief at the narrow escape.
When the apples arrived he ate one
Of them, and, the expected result not
coming as soon as he anticipated, he
ate all Of the others. The result was
that when next visited by the guard
he was In collapse. He was uncon-
scious for time, and when a glimmer-
ing Of consciousness returned soldiers
were moving about him and surgeon
was listening for his heartbeat Then
Morrison heard the surgeon say that
he thought he was dead, but was not
certain. Leaving orders that he was
to be watched, the surgeon withdrew.
Morrison recovered slowly, but 1t &C.
Cured to him to pretend to be still
unconscious. Persons came and went,
and since the prisoner was supposed to
be dead or dying no pains were taken
for his security. The guard was with.
drawn, and he was placed In charge Of
nurse.
Night came on. and Morrison con-
tinued to feign Inconsistencies. The
nurse finally fell asleep. Morrison
looked at the man between closed lash
es and when the fellow began to snors
slid of the cot on which he was lying.
His clothes had not been taken of him,
nor had his shoes been removed. The
latter he unlaced and carried them In
his hands. In his stockings he began
a slow movement past the slumbering
nurse toward the door. which stood
ajar.
That was the longest Journey Of .
dozen feet that Morrison ever Travelled.
he feared that the slightest creaking
would awaken the nurse and used the
utmost care, after trying a board on
which he trod, before bearing his
weight on It. One board creaked In
spite Of his caution, and the nurse
stirred. But he did not awaken.
Three steps, two steps. one step more
uQQ Tue uOOE was EedSuS0. ANS'Chtho
less he still stepped cautiously until he
reached a staircase. when. in order TO
avoid sound, he slid down the banis-
ter.
No one was up and about below. and
he had no difficulty In making an exit
Then, putting on his shoes. he ran like
deer till he suddenly brought up
against the watch.
The man was no Tory, and when
Morrison confided to him that he was
an american prisoner Of war escaped
from the British he was permitted to
proceed and before day came had LEFT
the city and was on his way to Tren.
ton, where he found bis comrades.
Captain Morrison's flight was kept
secret, the British commander hoping
to recapture him before 1t should be-
come necessary to report his escape to
headquarters. The first Alice Douglas
knew Of It was when she received q
letter from him dated at Trenton an
nouncing to her that an overdose OF
her medicine had accomplished hes
purpose and he was again In command