Pittston Gazette

              ESTABLISHED 18ftO. " vol. xt^yi NO. .lO i Oldest Newspaper in the Wyoming Valley. PITTSTON, LUZERNE CO., PA., EHIDAY, MARCH 1, 1895. A Weekly Local and Family Journal. C1IICKAMAUGA. CHAPTER XII. A CHANGED ENEMY. (lashing on to where lies Miss Baggs and kneels tho corporal. Wlio'vi you (, . 'lit.. "It .s not your doing your duty, general, that fails to win my respect It is that you have not tho manliness to do it yoursolf, but must noeds put it upon some one elsa " tyrs, into his keeping, with death staring her in the face, and he perhaps to Inflict the penalty? Why, if ho must suffer this turning of tho tables by fate, could not the victim have been a man, gome coarse creature who would die fike a brute? And why had it not come upon him beforo love had introduced him to that instinctive delioacy, that gentleness, those finer heart impulses of woman? "Don't ask mo, Conover, me boy." "Why, Rats, yer look in as if ye were goin to be tried yersalf.'' "Tried? Oi'm to suffer on tho rack as one of me anoesters did once in tho old Tower In Lunnon." "How's that?" Ratigan. "A lady, sir." "The woman who run tlw guards la«* night?" A HUSBAND'S WISH. It ia so with tho colored brother. JI« came here rather against his wishes, but he is pleased with tho mean temperature, mean annual rain fall, moan humidity and mean annual watermelon, so he is going to remain. Corporal Ratigan had lDceii worked up to such a fever of excitomcnt by the ahase.and his complicated feolings toward tho object of it that when ho shot over tho rise in tho ground that hid tho fugitivo from his view his visago was distorted from tho expression of good nature usually stamped upon It to one which can only be called demoniac. His eyes wcro wild, that portion of his hair which extended below his forage cap seemed to glow with unusual redness, his body leaned forward like a jockey in a race, the whole forming a picture of eagor ferocity. In short, Corporal Ratigan resembled an escaped lunatic chasing a flying fiend who had been torturing him. "Promieo mo, Rats, that you will do nothing foolish," she asked pleadingly. "O God! Oi'in going to draw mo revolver on 'ejn." "Promiso." BILL NYE TELLS THE STORY OF A By Captain F. A. MITOHEL. "Oi captured lieron tho road I*low.' "H'm. Tho guard duly of this divi sion is in a fine condition when a worn an can run a whole chain of sentinels Get her out of that'' Again tho two pairs of eyes mot and clashed. Tho victory was with tho woman. Tho general lowered his to the SAD FACED WIDOWER [Copyright, ItSM, by American Prtwa Assoeia- "I can't" ground. "Oh, don't ask me, don't ask ma Oi oan niver endure this tri&L Oi'll doi, Oi'll doL" And Hoir uis Wife's Remains Were Final- I went up to tho senate chamber again yesterday to hear Mr. Allen of Nebraska. He is known as the man with tho greatest powers of endurance of any known pnblio speaker in tho oivilized world. tiun. ] Tho faintest traco of a smile, despite her desperate situation, passed over her faco as she imitated the corporal's pronunciation. Tho quaint humor, mingled with so many singular traits prominent in her that could show itself at so critical a moment, touched a responsive Irish chord in his Irish heart and brought him to terms. "For moi sako, Rats." "You may go," he said. ly Scattered—Krndltlon In a Barber's [continued.] "She's badly hurt, captain," said Ratigan, who had stepped down on to tho ground and saluted. As soon as sho was gone he went to a tent where there were writing materials and wroto a note, which he sealed and addressed. Giving it to the little captain, ho directed him to send it, with the prisoner and tho dispatches captured on her to tho officer whose name was on tho envelope. Shop—Senator Morgan's Great Effort. "O God!" he murmured, "suppose— suppose she were—Laura?" "Come, brace yerself. me boy. Yer In no oondltion to be goin before a court What Is it all anyway?" "What Is it all? A woman to be tried for her lifa And I caught her. Oi'm to bear witness against he*. O God, if they'd let me off by tyin me up by the thumbs, buckin and gaggin, carryin a log on me shoulders, drummed out of camp with shared head and feathers behind me ears, O Loud, O Lord, Oi'll doi, Oi'll doir Nye Moralizes on Breckinridge. Mho was atxrat to Dring ner norse to a stand and jump from her buggy when the clatter behind her—Ratigan had turned a slight bond in the road—sounded so lowd, so near, that instead of doing so slio gave him a cut with the whip. [Copyright, 1895, by Edgar W. Nye.] "I can alight," said Mies Baggs feelfy. And getting as best she could to tho door of the ambulanco Ratigan helped her out She looked faint, but stood by tho aid of tho corporal's arm. He could not bear to look and could not turn away. Fof a few moments the two gazed upon each other, wtnfe the woman's natural feminine discernment told her that she was pitied; told her something of what Maynard suffered; that her enemy was really her friend. She gave him a faint smile in recognition.Washington. When I was a strident at Yalo—just before my expulsion—I had several ohums who were quite noted in their way, but I have watched vainly for their names upon the imperishable scroll of fame. One oould write Lord's Prayer on a oent One could stay under water longer than any one else in tho college, and another oould wiggle one ear without moving the other ona One morning a few months ago a sad faced man, with a little tin can about ihe size of a small baking powder box, percolated into the private office of Colonel Wilson, the head of the Washington monument commission, and laid a very limber muskrat skin cap on the mantel. "There's no time now, Bobby. We must put a greater distanoe between ns and the Y ankea Get up, Bobby I Oh, go on I Why haven't you wings?'' "For your sake, darlin, Oi'll do it," ho said in a despairing voica "Take her in to the general," said the little captain. "IIo wants to see her." As tho tent was an ordinary wall tent, there was no great room in it Miss Baggs went insido, while tho corporal stood directly outside, with his hand on tho tent pola CHAPTER XIV. AN UNWELCOME PRISONER. On tho crest of the second rise he strained his eyes after Miss Baggs. Nothing appeared to denote her presence on the landscape except a horse in harness, which ho dragged in tho dust, trotting back tfward a hoap of rubbish on the road. A sudden dread took possession of the corporal It was plainly evident there had been an accidont He had been chasing a Confedbrate tele- Tliero was scarcely time for him to speak fho words—indeod they were whispored with his lips touching her ear—when tho threo cavalrymen rode up to where tho two wera It was 8 o'clock in tho morning. Colonel Maynard pushed back the tent flap, intending to stop outside and go to the mess tent for breakfast The brightness of tho morning seemed reflected in his countenance. His step was firm, bis bearing full of youthful, manly vigor. Ho had been rapidly gaining the confidence of his officers and was coming to bo admired and beloved by his men. All misgivings as to his fitness for his responsible position had melted away. Colonel Mark Maynard was the man most to be envied of those no older than himself in the Army of the Cumberland."May I inquire if I am now addressing Colonel Wilson?'' he said as he wiped the dust from the top of his foot by drawing it across the calf of the other leg. Heavens, what is that ahead? Tents, white and ghostly in the gloom I And how many of theml The whole field Is covered I There was something in the smile tba£ was even harder for him to endure than had she shed a tear. Hers was a winning smile, and her position was so desperate. She was so brave, so ready to saorifioe for her struggling people. She bore her trial with such gentleness, yst with snoh firmness. The corporal mounted his horse and was soon jogging along at a snail's pace toward Oolonel Maynard'b headquarters. There he was directed to where the court was sitting. Mr. Allen possesses the remarkable gift of being able to occupy the attention of a stenographer without giving birth to a thought. He is the man who held the floor bo long at one time without feed or water. When he secures the floor, other senators may be seen moving stealthily toward the door. Even tiie galleries thin out, and 6oon nil that is heard Is the growth of the deficiency. Mr. Allen was absent some time as an official mourner at the grave of Mr. Post In January. The senate thought that would be a good way to dispose of him, but since that he has been moro eager to speak pieces in the senate than ever before.Nearer oomes the olatter from behind. In front is a sleeping regiment, brigade, perhaps a whole division. It was not there yesterday. It must be in transit Oh, why should it have halted just in time to block the way? "What's it all about, corporal?" asked ono of them. "I must have you soarchod, " said the general to the prisoner. Then he added, somewhat hesitatingly, "It's rather awkward not having a woman in camp. " "Yes, sir. I am Colonel Wilson," the kindly official did straightway make reply."I found this—this lady—lying here. Her buggy is broken. Sho is badly hurt" Tho Corporal spoko tho words haltingly, and drops of sweat stood out on bis forehead. "Corporal Ratigan, you're late," said the president sternly. "I will relievo you of tho necessity," said tho prisoner, with dignity, and putting her hand into her pocket sho drew forth a bundle of papers, which sho handed to him. The corporal sainted, bat said nothing. fie was directed to wait till some preliminaries had been disposed of, and he took position in a oorner. It needed all the strength at which be was possessed to maintain himself on his legs, and he tried to keep his eyes from looking about the oourtroom. He feared that if they rested on the prisoner, erven for a moment, be would sink down on the floor, a heap of bine uniform and boots. Nevertheless the eyes will not always be controlled. Despite his efforts, Ratigan's gave lnvolantary glances here and there until suddenly they rested on the object they were expected to avoid, sitting opposite, surrounded by guards, pale, but self possessed, and a pair of glorious eyes looking at him with such sympathy and enoouragement that the poor man felt as if the windows of heaven had been opened and an angel was looking out to give him strength. Onoe his eyes were riveted on hers there was no getting them away until he was suddenly aroused by a vdioe. "Well, sir," said tho strange man, caressing a sore finger which was done up in a rag, and which smelled strong She was a woman, and she must die. "God help me, I must take my chances and go on." "Who is she?" He turned almost fiercely and strode back to bis tent Reaching it; he found the man who had brought the prisoner waiting for him. The soldier sainted and handed him another envelope. "Why did you not give me this with Ihe other?*' asked Maynard, surprised. "I handed it to yon, colonel, but yon aid not see it" "Well, that's to bo found out some other time. One of ye'd better ride back for an ambulance and a surgeon." Sentinels were pacing on their beats about the camps. In some cases the beats led along the road, but tpt across it Right through these chainsof sentinels, right into the heart of this sleeping multitude of armed men, dashed the woman whose only weapons of de- "What art) these?" asked the surpris ed commander. • "Never mind tho surgeon," said Miss Baggs faintly. "Copies of intercepted telegrams." Ho had scarcely passed from his tent when, glancing down the road beside which his camp was located, his attention was arrested by an ambulance ooming slowly along driven by a man in a soldier's blouse and smoking a short clay pipe. On either side rode a oavalrym.m. The colonel paused to watch tho coming vehicle and its attendants. Had it not been guarded he would have supposed it to contain a sick soldier going to hospital. As it was, it must either hold an officer of high rank or a sick or wounded prisoner. Whatever it contained, there came to the man watobiug it an uncomfortable feeling that it waa in some way a link between himself and misfortune. The bright, happy look of a moment before disappeared, to bo replaced by a troubled expression, though he could not have given a reason for foreboding. When tho ambulance stopped opposite his tent, ho muttered with a knitted bruwi "Well, bring tho ambulanco anyway," said Ratigan. "Ye can all go back if yo lika Oi'll stay with her. She's mo own prisoner." The general uttered an exclamation, and taking tho pa}Dera ran them over with his eye. He looked up at the woman, who, savo for the pallor occasioned by her fall from the collapsed buggy, stood apparently unmoved. Tliero was admiration in tho eyo of tho man who gazed at her. IIo was astonished at tho coolness with which she handed him documents that would warrant his hanging her to Maynard stared at the man without making any reply. He had been preoooupied, deprived of his ordinary faculties. Opening the envelope, he took out a small bundle of papers, on the back of which was Indorsed, "Intoroepted dispatches found on the person of Elizabeth Baggs, capturod Sept —, 1868." When Mr. Allen begins to give evidence of "going undor control," as the spiritualists say, you will see Mr. Oibson sneak out of his desk a pamphlet on the care and cultivation of the terrapin and a speech that he is preparing, in which he urges that in tho next Democratic platform a plank shall be inserted suitable for preparing the planked shad. reuse were tsoDDy Lioe ana nor antiquated vehiclo. "Halt!" "There's no need of all going," said tho man who had spoken. "I'll go myself." '» "Go on, Bob!" A shot a bullet Ringing like a toning fork in ears which already sang loud enough in thomselves with excitementHo turned and rodo away, while tho others dismountod and threw tho reins of their bridles over a fence rail. One of them caught Bobby Lee, who was cropping the grass near by, occasionally looking up as though suspicious that something had happened. The men loitered about, now and then approaching to take a look at the prisoner, but noon turning away again, quito willing to 1» free from the responsibility which Corporal Rati gun seemed disposed to take upon himself. "Turn out tho guard I" Following Miss Baggs came Corporal Ratigan, to find the road in front of him blocked by half a dozen men with as many muskets pointod right up in his face. He put the neck of ahattcrcd canteen to Without looking at their contents he dismissed the man who had brought them, and turning went into his tent. When Mr. Allen begins on one of his speeches, which is really equivalent to an extra session, one may notice the pages beginning to seek long needed rest on the pedestal at the foot of the president's desk, and Senator Peffer buttons his beard Inside his vest ready to start forth into crisp air. It iathe general impression that, bard as times are now, they are going to bo worse before they are better, and yet congress has already taken notice of tho fact that times are hard. Individual hard times cannot be fixed by legislation, bat national hard times nnder existing circumstances are inexcusable. tier lips. graph stealer that he might turn her over to tho military authorities of his own army to be hanged, and now he was suddenly plunged into terror for foar she had been killed. He wont on, but with a now object distinct in his mind. It was not to injuro Miss Baggs, but to suwor her. It was noon before the courier sent to announce tho capture of Miss Baggs rode up to Colonel Maynard's headquar- He uttered an involuntary "Thank God!" Ho must bo delayod; the responsibility for the escape of the fugitive would bo with them. If indeed she were Miss Baggs, he would regard himself fortunate at the delay. ' 'Corporal Ratigan!" Mechanically he staggered to a plaoe designated as a witness stand, and holding on to the baok of a chair steadied himself to give his testimony. "State how you first saw the prisoner tampering with the telegraph line on yesterday morning, Sept —," said the judge advocate, an offloer very tall, very •lender and very serious looking. "01 didn't see her at alL " "What?" "It was too dark to see anything." "Well, state what you did see." "Rats," said Miss Baggs, who was now rapidly recovering strength and coolness, ''it will not bo long before 1 shall be separate} from you. Before then I wish to lh:mk you for the kindness, tho interest, even tho tenderness, with which you have treated a fallen enemy. And I wish to ask your forgiveness for tho deception I practicod on you onco wheu you wore deputed to see mo through tho lines." DISCUSSING STATUARY. of liniment, "last summer I lost my wife. Aftor a long and painful illness she passed on to her reward, sir, but before hor death she made a request of me. She asked that her body be cremated. It has been done, colonel, and I have her here." "What's the matter?" askod one of men. He soon came to tho heap of splinters and iron which marked the point of collapse of Miss Baggs' buggy. Miss Baggs was not visible. Had she takon to tho wood beyond the fork of tho road? For a moment thero was a delightful sense of rolief, but it was soon followed by the animal instinct of the savage chasing an object of prey. Stimulated by this, or a return of a sense of duty, or both, he was about to ride into the wood, when, looking down on the long grass by the roadside, ho descried the unconscious body, the face apparently white in death, of tho woman ho sought. "What does this mean?" One of the attendants dismounted, went to the door of the ambulance, opened it and handed out a woman, who desconded to the ground with some difficulty, as though in a weakened condition. The two then came directly to where Colonel AJaynard was standing. The woman was attired in a striped calico dress. Her head and faoe were bare. The colonel knew at a glance that ho had seen her before, but oould not tell wboro. She walked slowly, for she seemed scarcely able to drag herself along, and he had time to study he* foatures as Bho ciune on. The two stopped before him. The soldier saluted, and drawing an envelope from his bolt banded it to Colonel Maynard. The oolonel took it without looking at it- He was still studying the features of the woman."I'm chasing some one in front I suspect a telegraph breaker." "Ah! That's it, id it? Well, go on; wo'vo stopped the wrong person. " It is the same old story, too, of legislating oertain improvements and then refusing appropriations necessary to oarry them out It is like insurance. One set of polite men take your risk, and a totally different and hard hearted set of men refuse to adjust your loss. The corporal regrettod that the interview had been so brief, tho interruption bo short He had no option but to dash on. Before the fugitive there stood a man in the middle of the road with a musket leveled straight at her, or rather at the coming mass, which he could not distinguish. Miss Baggs did not see him till she got within a dozen feet of him and heard: He then knooked the top of the can with the knuckles of his right hand. "She also asked that her ashes should be scattered to the four winds of heaven from the top of Washington monument "What was that compared with what Oi'vo done?" ho moanod. "Do you forigvo cie?" "Oi da But Oi've notbin to for- Two pair3 of eyes met and clnshcd. a tree without a moment's delay, and abovo all there was about her a divine consciousness of having dono a duty, a look of triumph under defeat, that compelled his reverence as well as his admiration."I only thought I saw something." "Come, oome," said the president sternly, "we have no time to waste. Tell the story of the capture." "Now, sir," said he, stepping over to the fire and putting it out by means of a well directed expectoration, after which he mopped his mustache with the lining of his coat pocket, "I've been forbid the right to carry out the desire of my dying wife by them hirelings of yourn at the monument, and I came to see you for an order, sir, to carry out her wishes." The solicitor loves and admires you for your sterling worth, while the adjuster secretly believes that you are in the habit of setting fire to your own house. "And, Rata,you have nnconsciously let mo know that you—you feel more kindly toward mo than"— give." In a moment tho corporal was off his horse and on his knees beside her. The chaso in which ho had been so eager and tho cause were both forgotten on seeing Miss Baggs lying apparently cold in doath at his feet Thua commanded, the corporal braced himself to give the desired account. Looking at hit prisoner. Rising in her seat and concentrating all her strength in one effort, she brought her whip down on the horse's back, at the samo time holding him in the center of the road by the reins. The man was knocked in one direction, stunned, and his musket went flying in the other. "Halt or I'll Are!" "You've robbed me of mo heart in tirely." "Are you aware," ho wild, "that with these dispatches in your posses sion, and beyond our lines, you would bold this army at your mercy?'' ten and banded him a dispatch. It was as Maynard feared. He was informed that In the present exigency the matter oould not be given attention at general headquarters, but it was deemed important to deal summarily with spies, be they male or female. He waa therefore ordered to convene a "drumhead" oourt martial, try the prisoner, and if found guilty execute the sentenoe, whatever it might be, without delay. When Colonel Maynard read this order, every vestige of oolar left his faoe, He oould not believe the evidence of ht» senses. Was it possible that he, Mark Maynard, onoe oondemned to be executed for a spy, was oalled upon to superintend the trial and the execution which would doubtless follow of another for the same offense, and that other a woman? Yet there were the Instructions duly signed "By order," and only one meaning oould be attached. He held it listlessly in his hand for awhile and then handed it to his chief of staff. "Oi was rldln to camp—after bavin posted the relief, and oomin along the road—it was the road 01 was oomin along. Oi—-Oi—oolonel, it was so dark none of ye oould have seen yer hand before yer faoe." The corporal stopped and gave evidence of sinking on the floor. The secretary of the treasury is the saddest looking man in Washington. I used to think I would like to be secretary of the treasury and print greenbacks and bonds as I needed them, but looking "Well, I'm both glad and sorry. It is delightful to bo loved, but sad to think that your vory love must make you grieve. Our meetings have been few and strange—very strange," she added musingly. "Who are you, Rats? I know you aro well born. I can seo it in every word and motion." "Darlin, are ye hurt?" "I am." "Well, my friend," said the polite oolonel, "I would be glad to aid you in this case; but, you see, the height of the monument is so great that an ordinary shot dropped from the top would by the force of its own gravity pierce a three inch plank at the bottom of the structure. Now, you see, there are always about the grounds more or less visitors, and they are most generally looking up toward the top of the monument. Naturally their curiosity causes them to open their mouths at the same time, for they imagine that they can see better in that way. Now, it would he exceedingly unpleasant under those circumstances for a visitor to get a mouthful of your wife. Thero was agony in tho corporal's voice. Ho put an arm under her head to raiso it With the other ho grasped her hands. "And that captured with them on your person your life is forfeited?" "A communication from General , colonel," said the man who banded him tho paper. As the soldier spoke Colonel Maynard recognized the woman he had met at Mrs. Fain's. His hand trembled as he grasped the envelope and tore it open. And now each one of the chain of sentries through which the fair dispatch stealer's horse dragged her and her swaying buggy with a series of lunges, hoaring shots, the cries of guards, the clatter of hones' hoofs, the rattling of wheels, and seeing something coming through the darkness as Miss Baggs approached,shouted "Haiti" "Turnout tho guardl" "Who comes there?" and a score of other similar cries, to none of which Miss Baggs paid any other attention than to fly through and from them as from the hand of death. A score of shots were flrod at her along half a mile of road while she was running the gantlet There are peoplo who cannot brook a steady stand In one who may be naturally expected to break down in their presence. The general was one $Df these. In proportion as ho admired her flrm- " Certainly." "Well, go an." "To tho divil's own keepin with tho war anyway. What's it good for except to injure innocent women and children?""There was somethin black in the road or by the side of it 01 stopped to listen. Then Oi thought some one might be tamperin with the line— mind ye, Oi only thought it—and Oi oalled on whoiver it was to surrender. Then Oi heard a 'get up,' and wbativer it was dashed off. 01 followed it as fast as iver Oi oould, callin on 'em to stop and firin me Colt Divil a bit did any one stop." "Oi'ra soooud son of Sir Thomas Rat igan, Esq., of County Cavan, Oireland. At his death me older brother succeeded to the estate. So I came to Am«!rica to shift for meself. A year ago Oi enlisted In the Union ranks, and here Oi am. Oi wish to God me brother was in bis coffin and Oi in possession of the es tates, that Oi could give them all to save your lifa " In that ncn resistance of unconscioaane88 he forgot that this woman had been engaged in what tho world condemns openly, if not secretly, as illegitimate warfare. To him she was innocent, not that he reasoned npon her acts, bnt because a mysterious somothing—a breath from spirit laud—had made her more to him than all the world beside. He laid his head down upon her breast to listen if tho heart boat; ho chafed her hands and arms; ho took off his cap and fanned her. Still she lay limp in his arms without a sign of life. ness was bio desire to force her to show some giving way. He did not analyze bis feelikgs and attribute his dosire to any such cause. Ho yielded to it without ntfdizjncr Hiat tKo C»*nao  The uAtnral method of procedure In this case," ho said, looking at her sternly, "is for mo to report your cap turo and the circunistancos attending it to headquarters. Word comes back to try you by 'drumhead' court martial and hang you to tomorrow morning. " "Well?" HiuiwjrARTBRa — Dmrnom, I Aumv ok rn* CruBERMjro, D Is tub Fieij), Supt. —, Ittt J Oolonel Mark Maynard, Commanding the —th Cavalry Brigade Coi»KEiy—I wnd you a woman who tMi morning was caught tampering with the telegraph line, and who has evidently been taking off oar ilW»w tehee. Being In transit and about to move on this morning, I take the liberty to send hox to yon under guard, with the HUgfteetiun that you do with her as amis beat to you. I have two tor the limited number of men prewent for duty on my eaoort, and this Is my apology for troubling you. Yours is the neorixt command to which I can send her. 1 am very respectfully your obedient servant, The corporal paused again. It looked as if be were not going to get any farther,"No, no, Rats. You are a soldier and an honorable man. Remember what I have told yon. You will do your duty hereafter as you have dono it heretofore. Your words in that respect are meaningless. Your sense of honor will always triumph over your sympathy when that sympathy is alloyed with dishonor. For this I have conceived for you an unbounded respect Perhaps wero I not so soon to be"— "However," he said thoughtfully, "there is 110 such rule regarding the dome of the capitol. You might go up there and set her adrift. Then, if she happened to descend upon a new member of congress and inspire him with an uncontrollable desire to make a few remarks, it would not startle any one." "Go on, my man." And now the last sentry is passed, and tho woman shoots out from between the rows of white tents into a free road ahead. The noises are left bohind. But amid the confusion of distant sounds is one which, coming with a low, continued rattle, strikes terror into her heart A familiarity with war has taught her its calls. She hears the beating of the "long roll." The whole camp is aroused. A legion of Yankees may soon be in pursuit "Well, then we oame to the camp of Qeneral 's division, and I was halted by the guards, while what 01 had Been got ahead. So Oi lost sight of it entirely." "Well, that is tho end of the story." There was silence for a few momenta whilo they regarded each other. "At what hour shall the court oome together, oolonel?" "Darlin, darlin, come back to life. Come back, if it's only long enough to tell me yo forgivo mo for me cowardly ohasin ya Oi'vo killed ya Oi know it Oi wish some one would run a bayonet through me own rotten heart" Brigadier General. Colonel Maynard read the missive over twice, slowly, without looking up. He had not road a dozen words before he know that he held in bis possession one whose life was forfeited as his own life had been forfeited to the Confederates a year before. His keeping his eyes on tho paper was to gain time, to avoid speaking when his utterance was choked with a strange emotion. His thoughts were far away. He stood on the bank of the Tennessee river below Chattanooga. It was in tho gray of the morning. He saw a skiff tied t« the shore. He Jumpod down to seize it and found himself among a group of Confederate soldiers. "I presume at onoe. The order so directs, doesn't It?" "It Is not the end of the story, general. The story of a lifo has no end Death Is but a transition. It pleases the Great Commander to assign 1110 a fruitless task. It is not for mo to ask why. I am but one of his soldiers, fighting with my brothers for my peoplo." "How about the witnesses?" "Yon will have to send to the sonroe from whioh the prisoner came to us." "Proceed." MB. CARLISLE'S SAB FACE. "Well, wasn't it the fanlt of the guards stoppln me and lettin the other go on, and no fanlt of mine?" "Go on." The following day a lonesome man came down the steps of the capitol with the air of one who has performed a duty and tossed an empty tin can over Into the shrubbery with a sigh of relief. at Mr. Carlisle's sad face the other evening as we sat together about the festive board I was Impressed with the idea that I would rather live on my little oblique farm in the North Carolina hills, enriobing my asparagus bed with now and then a lightning rod agent, but living otherwise in perfect peace, than to have the responsibility of the nation's money, and yet be compelled to make a requisition on the government whenever I wanted a lead pencil to figure up the interest cm the national debt "Don't speak it, for God's sake don't speak it." A slight murmur, something like a groan, escaped her. "Well, Eats, we will try for the brief timo wo shall bo together to fix our minds on a pleasant picture. Let us think of that day when tho south will be independent, or at least when north and south will be at peaca This region, now trodden by soldiers wearing the blue and the gray, will be given up to those simple people who till the soil. Instead of the sound of shotted guns there will bo the lowing of cattla Instead of tho singing of minio balls there will be tho songs of birda There will be peaoe, blessed peaca Oh, if 1 could only live to see it I 'A'nen periiaps I may take you by the hand, say to you —But Rats, this can never be for ua It is only a fancy picture I've drawn to relieve that terrible suffering I see in vonr faca You've ased ten vears in a* many minutes. Don't look at mo in tnat dreadful way. I can't bear it" "In that event I will fix the hour for 8 o'clock this afternoon. The judge advocate will require a little time to prepare the charges and specifications." "As yon think best" Colonel Maynard turned and went Into his tent. Honrs passed, and he did not oome out. "The oolonel is in trouble, " said one. "They say he was onoe in the secret service himself," said another. "Then he knows bow it is to be in such a fix as the woman up in that bouse." "He's been there." "Itwas at Chattanooga a year ago. They say he brought tho news of Bragg's advance into Kentucky." "Well, if he has to exeoute a sentence of death on a spy, and that spy a woman, I wouldn't be in bis boots for the shoulder straps of a major general." "What's the nse of goin on? Oi lost sight of what was tamperin with the wires." "Praise God, there's life! If it'donly grow stronger! Ah, thank heaven, there's water!" Sho had conquered. Thero was something so forcible in her words, something so truly grand in her manner, that tho man who would break her spirit desistod. He regardod her admiringly and was silent. "All I ask, gonoral," sho said presently, seeing that be did not speak, "Is that there bo no greater delay than nooessary. Now I have a strength which may do worn away Dy long waning, with death staring mo in tho face." Corporal Ratigan was stoppod by every sentinel who had triod to chock Miss Baggs. After an explanation to each he was suffered to go on. The men who stopped him transmitted tho information at once to tho guard tent that some one—doubtless an enemy—was being chased. Tho force was a division of infantry, with no cavalry exoopt a mounted escort to the general commanding. Some of these were ordered in pursuit There was a hurried saddling of horses, sprinkled with oaths at the delays encountered, and three cavalrymen mounted and dashed after Miss Baggs and her nursuer. But before thev started a couplo of miles had been placed between her and the camps. Last Thursday I stepped into a barbOr shop on Pennsylvania avenue to get shaved and got into a little discussion with a stranger regarding some of the statuary afrtiio capitol. We warmed up considerably regarding tho matter, and especially 0:1 the subject of tho heroic statue of Washington and the allegorical subjects introduced. Wo were both getting into pretty deep water. So to get out of the discussion without humiliation I turned to a young colored man in the shop, and asking him to help me on with my coat I said, with a roguish twinkle of the eye: Laying her head down in the grass, he went to tho side of tho road where there was a runnel of clear water. Scooping some of it in his two hands, he throw it in her face. "But yon overtook it" "How can OI swear it was the same?" There was a smile on the faces of those present The questioner seemed puzzled at the corporal's device to avoid testifying against the prisoner. She opened hor eyes. Now and then a demagogue gets tho floor long enough to mako a speech on tho late war, but he is always unpopular, even with his friends. He is generally a man with a speech that has been lying in his trunk 80 years, and ho trots it Corporal Ratigail never forgot tho look with which his prisonor regarded him when sho recognized who he was. There were two expressions following each other rapidly—tho first, roproach; but when sho noticed tho pain with which it was received it melted into ono of tenderness. "Did you not ride on and overtake what yon had seen?" Personating a member of General Bragg's staff, ho commanded tbem to row him across the river. They started to obey. As they left the shore snddonly a boat swung around Moocasin point It was full of armed men. He was taken book to Chattanooga, tried and condemned to be hanged for a spy. "Divil a bit" "I know better. Yon went on and found something in the road. What did you find?" Still the oflioor did not speak. He was thinking—thinking how ho could get rid of so unpleasant a duty as the trial and execution of this splendid woman. He feared that should he report her capture to boadquartors he would get tho samo reply as in the case ho had cited. "What had yon seen?" "Didn't Oi tell ye it was so dark that Oi oonldn't see anything?" "Oi didn't find what Oi'd seen." out here at a time when the people are begging on bended knee for relief. Could anything be more depressing than a belated speooh on slavery at a time whon 65,000,000 people are imploring congress to relieve present distress? "George, what do you say about this allegorical business on tho left of Washington's chair? This man says it moans peace and war, and I say that the two figures represent before and aftor using the institutions of freedom." "Ah, Rats," sho exclaimod faintly, "how could yon do it?" All this passed before bis mind's eye as ho stood protonding to study the communication before him, not this bare statemont of it but each detail, each feeling of hopo, fear, despair, as they rapidly suooeeded oaoh other from the moment of his capture till bis escape and safo return to the Union lines. And so the oomments went on while the oolonel kopt his tent and Miss Baggs peered dreamily out of the window, watched by guards. Ho put his great bands—brown from exposure—before his eyos to shut out tho face which at every glanco kindled some new emotion to rack him. Now that sho had come to life another terror camo to him to administer an added torture. Ho knew that mounted men wore following; that they would soon appear over tho crest just behind tbem; that his prisonor would bo taken, tried and oondemnod. "That won't do, oorporaL You certainly followed something. Now, on ooining up with it what did you find it to be?" The gray of tho morning was by this timo beginning to reveal objects with greater distinctness. Ratigan, coming to a rise in the ground just beyond the camps, saw tho buggy about two miles ahead swaying like tho dark hall of a ship rolling through the billows of an ocean. For a moment ho hesitated lDetween his duty as a soldier and that quick, sharp something, be it love, bewitohment or a natural sympathy of man for weaker woman, while beads of cold perspiration stood on his forehead. It seemed to him that if he should do his duty bo would be acting the part of an executioner, not only that but the executioner of a woman—a woman whose imago had got into his heart and his head and never loft him a moment's peace since she first threw the spell of her entrancing personality about him. It was a hard struggle, and from the nature of the case could not be a long ona Duty won. Ho shouted to his horse, gave him a dig with both spurs and dashed forward. The two cavalrymen's backs were turned. They were strolling toward tho woods. Ratigan put his arms about her, and both yielded to a long embraca There wero no more words spoken. Words would have added nothing to what both felt There was more pain and more pleasure concentrated in the bosom of each than had been there in 6ll the years they had lived. "I will not harm yon," be said presently. "Some ono elso must tako the responsibility of this complication of death and a woman." It is far better to return to one's constituents and admit that one has not made a speech at all than to point with misguided pride to a four hour speech on subjects that have been settled even in the primary schools 20 years ago. CHAPTER XV. TRIED, "It wasn't whatOi followed. That whativer it was, bad gone out with the mornin light Oi reokon it was something ghostly." The colored gentleman smiled in a dignified way, helped mo on with my coat and said: "Certainly, if you are in earnest about it, I can tell you. The two figures represent the infant Hercules and his feebler twin brother. Heroules is strangling tho serpent, while Iphiclus, the brother, shrinks from the contest. The two figures represent the genii of North and South America. On the back of the chair in which Washington sits is inscribed, 'Simulacrum istud ad Magnum Libertatus exomplum neo sine ipsa duraturum—Horatio Greenough faoiebat,' which means substantially: "It does not matter who does tho work, so long as it must be done." When Corporal Ratigan left Miss Baggs with the general, to whom he had unwillingly conducted hor, ho was In such a condition of mind that he forgot all about bis horse and started to walk toward his camp. When a cavalryman shows such evidenoe of absenoe of mind, It is a sure sign that he ia in a condition bordering on insanity. Ratigan walked some distance before it occurred to bim that he was pursuing an unusual means of locomotion; then he turned back to get his horse. When he arrived at tho place from which he had departed, Miss Baggs had gone. Mounting, ho rode to his own camp, and upon reaohing there he first went directly to his tent; then, shunning his comrades, stole away to a wood and threw himself on his faoe in the shado of a large tree and gave himself up to grief. Looking up at last with an expression of commiseration which surprised the prisoner, he6aidi "Perhaps not to you. It matters a great deal to mo. My hands are cloan. I don't coro to stain thom." "Nonsense. Did yon not find the prisoner lying in the grass?" I used to think that it would bo very embarrassing to make a speech in congress, but it is not I used to believe that the great mass of surging brain all about me at such a time would depress and scare me into silence and idiocy; but, on the contrary, the congressman, as a matter of fact, has the whole room to himself. It is a good, quiet place to go and practioe in. One can there train his voice to fit the acoustics of a hall and fit himself for the lecture platform. Quite a number of men are doing it this winter. Colonel Breckinridge is already using his congressional robearsals to good advantage, and the lecture field is rapidly filling up. "Madam, will you please accept my heartfelt sympathies?" "Oi did," replied the witness, as if his heart would break, and he again showed signs of oollapse. Whilo this conversation was going on Corporal Ratigan was listening and observing the speakers with a palpitating heart Thero was something so cold cut in the general that the corporal felt a repugnance at his prisoner being in his ospoclal keeping. He preferred that she should bo sont to some one olse and was relieved when ho announced his intention to shift the responsibility. Besides tho corporal hoped that he would himself bo intrusted with her kooping until sho shonld arrivo at some camp where tho commander would bo willing torocoive hor. "uneyre comini iney u oe nero in a jiffy!" he cried wildly. "Toll me that yo forgive ma Tell mo that yo don't hate me as I hate meself." Miss Baggs, who had already recognized Colonel Maynard, simply bowed her head in acknowledgment without speaking, but fixing her large dark eyes upon his. When placed in a similar position, Mayuard had met his enemy's glance with affected coolness in a vain hopo of deception. Not so tho woman before him. Tho time for deception had passed with hor. Sho was a Charlotte Corday, knowing that the guillotine awaited her, a martyr in whoso oyes gleamed tho divine light of a willing sacrifico to a cause sho believed to be sacred. CHAPTER XIIL "turned oveii. " "And you bad reason to believe it was the person driving the boggy you followed?" There was a rattling of wheels on the soft road, and looking up Ratigan saw the messenger returning, followed by an ambulance. Driving to Miss Baggs, who was still lying in the grass, the driver backed it up to her, while tho messenger dismounted and opened the door. Tho cavalrymen stood ready to lift the prisoner into tho vehicle. But Miss Baggs waved them all away except the corporal, and taking his hand rose to her foot and stood for a moment supported by him. Tho effort was too much for her. Her head fell on his shoulder, and for a moment sho lost consciousness. Ratigan took her off her feet, and lifting her into tho ambulanco laid her on the cushions. "For doing your duty, Rats?" "Oi didn't see any buggy. It was so "Duty! Is it a man's duty to run down a woman like a hare? Don't talk to me of duty. If ye suffer for this, OI'll desert and go bagk to Oireland, and God be praised if he'll send a storm to sink the Bhip and me in it. There's a drop in me canteen—a drop of whisky. Will yo tako it, darlin—I mean—I don't know what I'm talkin about Let me put it to yer lips. Take n swallow. It'll revive yeC No?" Sho appeared to be passing back to unconsciousness. "Take it for moi sako, sweethoart. Only tako a good swallow, and ye'll be righted." dark"— [TO BK contikttkd.J '1 'This statue cast in freedom's stately form and by her e'er upheld—Horatio Greenough, sculptor.' " Tbe editor of the Linoolnton News was telling Judge Wars of a young man In Linoolnton who not very long ago made the following eatables quickly disappear down his throat: A box pineapples, a box salmon, a box mustard sardinos, a pound cheese and a pound soda crackers. Two Champion Eater*. I was bo pleased with the way 'he gave me this information, for he did it with a good deal of modesty, that I bestowed a bright now quarter on him and toldhim that I'd like to have him come down to Buck Shoals and take a position in my stables at Slipperyelm-hurst I most olose this letter with a brief referenoe to the sad case of Colonel Breckinridge. His was a most unfortunate experience and goes to show that temptation may oome upon us even in the antnmn of lifa Littlo did he dream In his deollnlng years that he might be led away from the path of rectitude by a mere stripling. Secure in his glorious past, be was practically kidnaped in the October of his life, and before he could oommonlcate with his parents his career was wreckod, and that which to him was more dear than famo or fortune was no more. "Shall Oi take her to hoadquarters, Honeral?" he asked. There was a depression In the ground down which the corporal plunged. Then the road ran along a level for awhile, with another slight rise beyond. As he rode down the declivity the fugitive was on the crest of the second rise. She stood up and turned to catch a glance behind her. Hho saw a horseman—she was too far to recognize the corporal— dashing after her. Below her was a wooded space, and she notioed that which gave her a glimmer of hopa The road forked. Urging her horse onward, she aimed to get on one of the two roads beyond the fork while her pursuer was in the hollow back of ber, trusting that she might escape, as she had escaped before, by forcing him to choose between two roads, and trusting that he might take the wrong one. "Ah, my man!" said tho general, as though awakenod from a reverio, "are you here? I hud forgotten you." "Madam," be said, "it is my duty to roport your case to my commanding officer for transmission to tho headquarters of this army. There is a little house across tho road. If you are able to go there, you will bo more comfortable while wo aro awaiting tho reply." The colonol spoke again: "O Lord, O Lord," he moaned, "if they'd organized corps of lovely women to be attached to each division of the army and the enemy, tbere'd be no more fightin for either cause. Each would fight the other about the,women and the causo would hev to take care of itself." Ho declined the quarter, and I was told afterward that he was the colored member of congress waiting for a shave That slightly stunned the judge, but after a short time silently spent in busily scratching his head he said: She opentjd her eyes. Evidently she bad beard. There was an expression on her faco indicating that his words had produced that effect upon her which might bo exjDectcd in a woman who bears a strong mail, unconsciously and unintentionally, declaring his love. "Oi can conduct her to hoadquarters if you desire it, general." "Oi'll ride at tho foot," bo said to tho others. "Ono of yo lead mo horse." "I ain not in tho habit of receiving suggestions from my brigade or regimental commanders, much less a corporal. " Senator Morgan is making a strong effort to send tho negro to Liberia, and there has been a good deal of disoussion here in Washington during the winter regarding it, but I do not think there is any chance for success in that direction. The negro is now as much an American as any other foreigner. He has been here as long, and he is identified with our history. "Corporal Ratigaul" "That is very good; but, young man, you may talk about eating, but some years ago I saw a man eat who was an eater. Five dozen eggs, seven ears of ooru and two bundles of fodder is what be consumed, and it's a wonder he didn't tackle the house!"—Atlanta Constitution.When they came to tho place where each had successively emerged from tho oanip through which Itatigan had followed her before daylight, they found the road lined with soldiers, whoso curiosity brought them there to see the woman who had sncceedod in breaking through a whole obain of guarda They had all heard of tho exploit and crowded around the ambulanco as it passed, but were kept away by the guards in attendance, who dropped back to tho sides nnd rear. This prevented any further conversation botwoen Itatigan and Miss Baggs, except an occasional whisper, but tho corporal managed to keep her bund in his under a blanket, unobserved. At last tho ambulanco pulled up before tho headquarters of tho division whoso camp they had entered, and Ratigan suddenly lie-came'conscious of tho foot that ho must turn his prisoner over to others, doubtless to bo dealt with summarily, fur be well knew the case would naturaiiy receive prompt attention. "Ah yon like, colonel." "Perhaps it would bo better to use the ambulance." The corporal put his hands to his ears and groaned. "Corporal Ratigan, I say." Katigan saw that ho hart raarto a mlstako and Raid nothing. Tho general re- him with liis shrewd oyes. It was plain to him that tho man was interested in his priHonor. "Why do you wish mo to live, Rats? Don't let mo live. If you do, I'll die on tho gibbet." "I can walk. I would prefer it" Still the corporal woald uot hear. He knew that some one was approaching, for whether he would or not he oonld not help hearing his name called, eaoh time more distinctly. Presently a soldier stood looking aown at mm. "Will you accept my assistanoe?" 8bo took his offered arm, and the two walked slowly toward a farmhouse a few hundred yards distant. As the colonel passed a sentry ho direotod him to have the officer of the guard summoned and sent to him. On reaching the house and mounting the few steps that led up to the door, thny were received by a farmor's wifo nnd ushered into a small sitting room. Bowing to the prisoner, Colonel Maynard stepped outside to instruct the guard. It was not essential that he should hasten, but he did not feel equal to an interview. A woman under such circumstances oould go npon the stage and begin life all over again, but when a man falls be becomes an outcast. And now Colonel Breckinridge, with his beauty gone, robbed of his reputation as a seminary orator and opener of exercises on commencement day, is cast adrift, his box office receipts attached and he himself spurnod by those who once did liiiu reverence. His case is ono indeed to warn the thoughtless statesman here in Washington how insecure he is, and to Impress npon him the fact that whenever it is possible he should bring his parents here with him. "Oh, darliii, talkin thut way. Oi'll raiso a mutiny " ho moaned, "don-'t be Oi'll din mesolf first Oi'll"— "Corporal, you may go to your camp " "Yes, sir." A Handcuffed Prisoner'! Escape. "Orderly," called the general too man standing near, "take this woman to the ambulance." "Corporal Ratigan," he said, "yer wanted at the headquarters of Colonel Maynard, commanding the —th brigada"Antono Vital, a condemned raurderei who was a short time ago transferred from the San Quentln state prison while uniet sentence of death to the State Insane asylum In Stockton, Col., escaped from the latter Institution some time in th« night of Jan. 8. The prisoner was kept in Irons in a room on the top story of the building. Handicapped as he was by th6 shackles on his hands, he managed to remove the casing from the window, and taking out the sash weights he used thom to iircnk out enough of the Iron bars to admit of his body passing through. He pn luilily covered the weights with the l« (!• iiithing of his room, so as to deadeD IIhi sound. Ho then took the cords that held the pulleys, and making a rope of his bedclothes, which he tore Into strips, and tying them together fastened one end to one of the remaining bars and thus let himself down to the ground. The distance Is about 60 feet.—San Francisco Bulletin He does not claim to be the equal of the white man, but ho says it will keep us pretty busy to send him and his folks back to Africa when there are over 600 cunning little pickaninnies coming into the world every day on American soil. J . V. .. lie coulfl not go on. His •words mocked him. He well knew their futility. "Take a drop, sweetheart—only a drop for moi sake. " Down the declivity her raoer plunged while Ratigan was galloping down the one behind her. So steep was the road and bo swift her horse's pace that the danger of death by mangling seemed greater than death by hanging. Bhe reached the bottom, where the road ran level to the fork and the wood. Hope nrged hor. It was not 100 yards to the point she was so anxious to rmoh. As Miss IJaggs passed out tho eyes of tho two were fixed again on each other. While the general did not uso words ho .could not resist a last attempt with his presence, his masterful countenance, his piercing eyes, to overawe his prisoner. She met that gazo firmly, unflinchingly, till she was without tho tent; then with a final glanco of contempt she turned and walked toward the ambulanea What a change from tho day ho had jokingly asked her to take an oath for "moi sake!" "What's that for?" asked the cor poral without oliauging his position. "Witness for court martial." I interviewed in the interests of the reader the other day a colored clergyman in Washington regarding this question. Ho says that the negro is here to stay. Ho is pleased with tho country. He is like the drunken man who woke up in the midst of a gay dancing hall where he had been placed during the day by friends. Why will people ask questions explanatory of disagreeable events or mi« fortunes, the answers to whlcn tliey know well enough already? And why, when the information oomes, will they deny its truth? "For your sake, Rats. Givo it to mo." He put tho neck of a battered tin canteen to her lips, anil sho drunk a little of the liquid. It produced a beneficial chango at once. A tinge of color came to her cheeks, and sho breathed more easily. After seeing a sentinel posted on eaoh side of tho house Maynard turnod to go to his tent. He was drawn by somo unaccountable instinct to look once more at the abode of bis prisoner. Hlio was gazing out at him witli a pair of eyes melancholy* unresisting, full of resignatinn"If ye say that again, Conover, Oi'll break every bono in yer body." "What's the mather wid ye, corporal?"Passing over a rut at the very fork of tho road that seemed her only chance for escape, the old baggy gave a dismal groan, as mnch In sympathy with the tnlstress it had served bo well as a death tattle, and flew Into a hundred pieces. The general called her back. When reproached by the floor committee for throwing his hat in the air and with no remembrance of having ever oome there, he said, "By blanky blank, I did not come here, and, by blaukr blank. I'm not arointr away I" "Von do not seem well satisfied with my treatment of you," ho said in a tone in which there was something of sarcasm. "We soldiers must do our duty." v ,, A clattering of horses' hoofs, a clanking of sabers, mounted figures standing out against tho morning sky on tho crest behind them, and three cavalrymen are An (ifflcT with a captain's shoulder stmps came out from headquarters and surveyed tho ambulance. Iln was a What fiend bad suddenly thrown this beautiful woman, this queen of inar- Katigan by this time had got up from the ground, where he was lying, and approached his tormentor. duouer littlo fellow, fat and rod faced. Lodge rooms for rent. G. B. Thompson