The Washington times., 1933-12-06

room and lighted a candle, she
noiselessly locked and bolted the
door. The first thing she did
was to lift her white starched
skirt and cotton chemise. On.
der it, belted around her naked
body, was big knife in a velvet
sheath.
Portentous Rose
This she slid out and pressed
a spring in the buckhorn hilt,
which proved to be hollow. Out
Of it she drew some small bits
Of tissue paper, a tiny magnify.
ing glass, a crow quill pen
scarcely thicker than a hairpin:
a fine sponge, a small camel's
hair brush and three glass walls.
First of all, she dipped the
brush into one Of the phials and
with it, carefully stained the
half-moon at the base of her fin.
gernails a blush color. Then
she touched the base of each
pretty toe.
Then, completely disrobing
and removing her leather belt,
she filled a tin washbowl with
water and let fall into it few
drops of black liquid from an
other phial. She went over her
entire body, face and limbs with
the little sponge-the liquid
drying in a pale amber tint.
Now she replaced the two
phials and the sponge and brush
in the knife hilt, and dressed
herself.
The big Cherokee rose lay on
the table. From it she de-
tached a broad, heart-shaped
petal, laid it over a little square
Of tissue paper and. with a pair
Of sewing scissors, cut the It's
sue into the shape of the rose
petal. Then she sat down at a
pine table, dipped her crow quill
into the third phial and wrote
on the tissue paper-though her
wet pen showed no stain Of ink
and left no trace Of writing:
Major Allen:
Stuart crosses McCoy's ford
tonight, october 10th, riding
north toward the mountains,
Mercersburg and Chambersburg.
1.-TWO thousand cavalry, four
guns. Operator 49,"
Silent Waiting
This bit of tissue she pinned
to the white rose in place of the
petal detached; and the lovely
flower appeared to be perfect
again. Now she deliberately
rolled together the single de-
tached rose petal and the shred
Of tissue, swallowed the pellet,
extinguished the tallow candle
and went lightly to her window.
No light, now, in the quarters;
all was still. Not a sound save
the hushed tinkle Of the silvery
Opequon.
She opened her door, stole
downstairs. Hanging in the hall
closet was an old slouch hat Of
Mr.. Boyd's. There was a pair
of spurred boots there also. She
pulled the hat over her curls,
drew on the boots over her slip
pers, stole to the veranda and
on to the dew-wet lawn.
No light. now, in the village;
nothing visible yonder except
ghostly white porticoes, shadowy
galleries and tall, still trees in
the starlight. For the first time,
the little laundress felt afraid
or perhaps it was the chill Of
the river mist that made her so
cold.
She went up the road, then
through an orchard to the open
meadow. Not glimmer Of light
in Darkesville. Nobody could
guess that two thousand gray
Jackets were standing to horse
down there, or that galloping
mounted artillery awaited only
a whispered command to the
gunners astride their horses.
She could neither see Bower
House nor hear the distant
dance music. Down along the
river not a sound from the sent1-
nels and gray-jacketed videttes;
only a low belt of fog along an
invisible shore.
It seemed century-it was
less than 20 Misunderstanding
she heard a horse coming, not
fast. In a few moments the
hoofbeats ceased, and she saw
ghostly shapes of horse and
rider approaching.
When the horseman saw her
he dismounted and led his
mount toward her.
"Evenin', suh," said the little
laumdress softly. Hits night
of stars"
The pass-phrase of the United
States secret service.
The horseman replied with
the prescribed answer: YES
it's a night of stars and bars.
How many stars do you count?"
Thirteen"
add thirteen to ninety"
"Done. And the answer is?"
1.-THE Union forever"
He wore the uniform Of a
Confederate cavalryman. She
unpinned the white rose from
her kerchief. handed it to him.
"It's this petal" she whispered,