Jasper County Democrat, Volume 15, Number 61, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 November 1912 — My Lady of the North [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

My Lady of the North

IB LOVE STORY OF \A GRAY JACKET

by RANDALL PARRISN

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BYNOPB4B. I L—The story opens In a 'tant of the Confederate army at a critical fl*** of * th ?._ Civll War - Qen - Lee Ca P taln Wayne a secret ?l es3£ L® e . to . Longstreet, upon the delivery f‘} , h depend great issues. Accom- £ a l,,? d b y Ser geant Craig, an old army Wayne starts out on his dangerous H-—The two messengers make a wild ride, dodging squads of soldiers, almost lose their bearings and final*y are within the Hues of the enemy, havPenetrated the cordon of pickets unmolested. . m-y-Encouirtering a small soldiers in the darkness. Wayne is taken for a federal officer who came to keep an appointment, is accepted as his representative, and a young lady on horseback is given in his charge. J?HAPTER IV.—The female companion or the two southern scouts is a northern J? who, when she becomes aware of their army affiliations, slashes Wayne with but fails 18 and attempts to escape CHAPTER V.—One of the horses giving out, Wayne orders Craig to get through with the dispatches to LongHe and My Lady of the North are left alone near a rocky gorge. _ VL—The Confederate officer ana the Union girl thread the mazes of the woods. He discovers a lonely hut. aajl * n the dark a huge mastiff attacks nim. The girl shoots the brute Just in time. CHAPTER V it—The owner of the hut, one Jed Bungay, appears and he and his wire give the captain a welcome. Suddenly a party of horsemen are observed coming down the road. CHAPTER VHL—They are led by a man claiming to be Red Lowrie, who orders Mrs. Bungay to give them food, and her husband to act as a guide. The woman discovers the man to be a disguised impostor, attacks the intruder and there is a general melee. CHAPTER IX.—The disguised leader Proves to be Major Brennan, a Federal officer whom the Uniqn girl recognizes. He orders the arrest of Wayne as a spy. The girl protests and says she will appeal to General Sheridan. CHAPTER X. —-Wayne held prisoner in a copse, sees files of Confederates pass jy*. rood at a distance and knows that Craig has delivered the CHAPTER Xl.—The captive is brought before General Sheridan who refuses to set him free unless he reveals the secret message. CHAPTER Xll.—-Captain Wayne is led to understand that the woman he admires is Edith Brennan, wife of the Federal officer, who hates him. He is given the choice of revealing the Lee message or of being shot as a spy.

CHAPTER XIII. A Strange Way Out. Caton came in once more about the middle of the afternoon, bringing me some blankets; but he had no news, and his boyish face was a picture of

pathos as he wrung my hand goodbye. Sheridan, he said, had gone down the lines, and both Brennan end himself were under orders to follow in another hour. What instructions, if ■any, had been left regarding my case he could not say, but he feared the worst from the unusual secrecy. Sheridan expected to return to his headquarters that same evening, as the officers of his staff were to give a grand ball. I felt no inclination to partake of the rude supper left me, and just before dark I was lying upon the bench idly wondering If that was to prove the last vestige of daylight I should ever behold in this world, when, without slightest warning, the heavy iron grating in the wall directly above me fell suddenly, striking the edge of the bench, and clattered noisily to the floor. The fall was so unexpected, and my escape from Injury so narrow, that I lay almost stunned, staring up helplessly at the dark hole thus left bare. As I gazed, a face framed Itself in this narrow opening, and two wary eyes peered cautiously down at me. There was no mistaking that countenance even in the fast waning light, and I Instantly sat up with an exclamation of surprise. “Jed Bungay, as I live!” The puzzled face broke into a grin of delight. "Holy smoke, Cap,” he ejaculated, with a deep sigh of relief, “is thet you, suah? I wus so durned skeered I’d made a mess o’ it whin thet thar iron drapped thet I near died. Whut be they a goin’ ter dew with ye?" "I have every reason to believe it is their purpose to shoot me at day-

break to-morrow. ~ “Shoot? —Hell!” He stared at me as if he had just heard his own death sentence pronounced, and his little peaked face looked ghastly in the dim light “Shoot ye? Good Lord, Cap, whut fer? Ye ain’t done nothin’ as I knows on, ’cept ter scrap a bit with thet blasted Yank, an’ sure thet’s no shootin’ matter, er else I’d a bin a goner long ago.” “That ‘Yank’ has seen fit to charge me with being a spy; and as I was foolish enough to insult General Sheridan last night, my fate is probably sealed.”

This somewhat complex statement seemed to be too much for Jed to grasp promptly. “Gosh, ye don’t say!” he muttered. “Then, durn it, I’m in luck, fer all they’ve got' agin me is pot-shootin’ at a nigger soger up in ther mountings; en thet ain’t much, ’cause I didn’t hit ther durned cuss.’'

Jed was carefully covering every inch of exposed wall with his little shrewd, glinting eyes. “Ain’t much show ter work out o’ yere, is thar, Cap?” he asked at last reflectively; “leastwise I don’t see none, ’less them thar dark corners hes got holes In ’em.” “The wall is entirely solid.”

“So I sorter reckoned. But if ye’ll crawl through yere inter my boodour, thar’s a place whar I reckon ther tew of us tergether mought make a try fer it. It’s too durn high up fer me ter git at alone. I reckon, Cap, if ye cud manage ter git out o’ yere ternight, an’ take some news ter Lee thet I’ve picked up, he’d "bout make both of us ginerals.” “News for Lee?” I exclaimed, staring eagerly at him through the now darkened room. “Do you mean it? What news?”

“Thought maybe thet wud wake ye up,” he chuckled. “This yere’s gospel truth: Sheridan hes started his infantry on a half-circle march fer Minersville. Tber first division left et three o’clock, an’ thar won’t be nary Yank loafin’ on ther valley by noon termorrow. An’ more,” he added rapidly, his eyes dancing wildly with suppressed excitement, —“Hancock is a swingin’ of his corps west ter meet ’em thar, an’ I reckon, as how thar’ll be hell fer sartin up ther Shenandoah in less ner a week.” “But how do you know all this?” I questioned incredulously, as the whole scene and its dread possibilities unrolled before my mental vision. “Ther nigger I held up hed a despatch fer Heintzelman over on ther left, an’ then Mariar she sorter pumped a young fule staff officer for ther rest o’ it,” he replied promptly. “Oh, it’s a sure go. Cap, an’ I reckon at how maybe Lee’s whole army hangs on one of us gittin’ out o’ yere ternight.” That he meant every word he spoke I felt convinced, and his enthusiasm was contagious. My blood leaped within me at this call to action; all lethargy fled, and with it every deadening thought of her who had so suddenly woven about me the meshes of her power. False or true, maid, wife, or widow, my duty as a soldier to my commandef and the army to which I belonged, blotted out all else. Even as this new rush of determination swept over me, above us there sounded clearly the dashing music of a military band in the strains of a Strauss’s waltz, and we could distinguish the muffled shuffling of many feet on the oaken floor overhead. Caton’s chance remark about the great ball to be given that evening by officers of the headquarters staff recurred to my memory. “That dancing up there will help us, Jed,” I said quickly, my mind now active to grasp every detail. “You sar there is a chance for escape from your cell? Then give ine your hand, and help me to crawl through that hole.”

It was a narrow squeeze for a man of my size, yet I crept through without great difficulty, and found myself in the dense darkness of a room which, as I judged hastily from feeling about me, was similar in shape and extent to the one in which I had been confined. Bungay, however, permitted me little time for exploration. Grasping me firmly by the arm, and feeling his way along the wall, he groped across to the other side.

“There’s a mighty big stone chimbly comes down yere, Cap,” he whispered. “An’ ther openin’ ter take but soot an’ ashes is up thar, jist b’low- ther fluer. It’s a sheet-iron pan, I reckon, ther way it feels; an’ it must be thar they put a nigger in ter clean ther chimbly whin it gits stuffed up. I could git up thar alcfne. but I couldn’t do no work, but thet thar pan ought ter cum out all right. Dew ye think ye cud hoi’ me up, Cap? I’m purty durn heavy.” I smiled in the darkness at the little fellow’s egotism, and lifting him as I might a child, poised him lightly upon my shoulder. He struggled a moment to steady himself against the wftjL and then I could feel him tug-

As he worked, a dense shower of dust and soot caused me to close my eyes. “She’s a cornin’ all right,” he said, cheerfully, puffing with his exertions, “but I reckon as how this chlmbly ain’t bin cleaned out since ther war begun. Hold up yer right han’, Cap, an’ git a blame good grip on her, fer she’s almighty full, an’ll wanter go down sorter easy like.” I did as he suggested, bracing myself to meet his movements, as he s.ood straining on my shoulders, and in another moment I had succeeded In lowering the large sheet-iron pan silently to the floor. “Room ’nough yere fer two men ter oncet,” chuckled my companion, in rare delight. “ ‘The chief in silence strode before.’ Yere goes.” His weight left my shoulders; there was a slight scramble, another shower of dirt, then the sound of his voice once more.

“Lift up yer han’s, Cap; dig in yer toes on ther stones, an’ we’ll begin our vi’ge.” He grasped my wrists with a strength which I had no conception the little fellow possessed. There was a moment's breathless struggle, and I squirmed through the opening, and lay panting on the flat slabs which composed the foot of the great funnel. To afford me more room Bungay had gone up a little, finding foot-lodgment upon the uneven stones of which the chirimey was constructed. For a moment we rested thus motionless, both breathing heavily and listening to the music and shuffling of feet now almost upon a level with our heads. The noise, which was strong and

continuous, rendered discovery from any misstep highly Improbable, and as delay was dangerous neither of us was disposed to linger long. “Be ye all ready, Cap?” questioned Bungay, bending his head down. “Fer if ye be, I’m a goin’ up.”

“All right,” I answered, struggling to my knees In the narrow space; ‘‘only take it slow, Jed. I’m a trifle bigget man than you, and this is rather close quarters.” “Wai, yes, maybe a matter of a poun’ er two,” he retorted, and the next moment I could hear him scraping his way upward, feeling for foothold upon the irregular layers of stone. 1 followed, pressing my knees firmly against the rough wall, and trusting more to my hands than feet for security against falling. There was evidently a fireplace of some kind on the first floor, with a considerable opening leading from it into the chimney we were scaling, for as Jed slowly passed, I could perceive a sudden gleam of light streaming across his face from the glare of the lamps within. He glanced anxiously that way, but did not pause in his steady climb upward.

A moment later I came opposite that same beam of radiance, and cautiously peered down the sloped opening that led to the disused fireplace. All I could perceive was a pair of legs, evidently those of a cavalry officer, judging from the broad yellow stripe down the seam of the light-blue trousers, and the high boots ornamented with rowel spurs. Hestood leaning carelessly against the mantel, talking with some one just beyond the range of my vision. At that moment the music ceased suddenly, and afraid to proceed until it should strike up again, I braced myself securely on a projecting stone and bent my head over the orifice until I could catch a portion of the conversation being carried on by my unconscious neighbors.

“No,” said the cavalryman, gruffly, and apparently In raply to some previous question, “the fellow was most devilish obstinate; wouldn’t tell the first thing; even a threat of treating him as a spy and hanging him outright proved of no avail. But Sheridan’s theory is that Lee has ordered Longstreet to hit our rear, while he makes a direct attack in front. That’s why the ‘old man’ proposes to get in his work first, and we march at daylight to form connection with Hancock. By Jove, Chesley, but that woman in black over there with Follansbee is the handsomest picture I’ve seen south of the line. Mark how her eyes sparkle, and how prettily the light gleams in her hair. Who Is she, do you cjiance to know?” “Yes,” lisped the other, languidly, “met her at breakfast, headquarters, this morning. Deuced pretty and all that, mighty good style, too, but taken, old man. She’s Brennan’s.” “What! not Major Brennan?” in surprise. “Why, he’s always posed as a bachelor among our fellows.”

"Don't know anything about that, dear boy,” Indifferently, "but the lady came In with him yesterday, was introduced to the crowd of us as Mrs. Brennan, and he called her Edith. Deuced nice name, Edith. As Bren-

nan has shown such poor taste as to be absent to-night, I am inclined to give a little of my time to his lady. Far and away the prettiest thing here. Well, so long, Somers; see you in the morning. I’m going to give the fair Edith a whirl.”

The cavalry legs shifted their position; the band resumed its functions, and in the renewed activity and noise I began again the toilsome climb, my mind now a bewildered chaos between my plain duty to Lee and my nearly uncontrollable desire to meet once more the woman who was dancing in the room below.

The little mountaineer, as active as a cat, and not especially hampered by lack of room in which to work, vm well above me by this time. The chimney, acting as a tube, brought down to me from time to time the slight noise of his climbing, varied by an occasional exclamation or comment, but I could perceive no other evidence of his presence. Above, all was as black as the grave.

“Holy smoke!” he ejaculated, probably unaware that he was giving utterance to his thoughts. “That was a sharp rock! Durn if thar’s a inch o’ skin left on my knee. Ough! stop thet! who’s got hold o’ my fut?” “Hush your racket, you little fool,” I said angrily. “Do you want the whole Yankee army to trap us here like rats? I cannot get up this chimney any further; it is growing too small to permit my body to pass.” “Is thet so, Cap?” he asked anxiously. “Whut be ye goin’ ter dew ’bout it?”

I made no answer for a moment; I was groping about in the darkness of our narrow quarters to see K I could determine exactly where we were. “How higtr is this house, Jed, do you know?”

“Three stories an’ attic.” “How far up are we?” “ ’Bout halfway ’long ther third story, I reckon; must be jist b’low whar ye are thet I stuck my fut down an openin’. Reckon’t was 'nother fireplace, like thet one on ther first flure.” I lowered myself silently, and felt along the stones until I located the opening, and roughly measured its dimensions. “I shall have to risk crawling out here, Jed,” I said finally, “for I shall surely stick fast if I go up another ten feet. Do you suppose you can squeeze through to the top?” “I reckon I kin,” he returned calmly. “But hadn’t we better stick tergether, Cap?” “No,” I answered firmly. “You go on, and one of us must get through to Lee. Don’t mind me at all; get down from the roof as best you can. If I am caught it will be all the more important that you should succeed.” “’T is done —‘I thank thee, Roderick, for the word; it nerves my heart, it steels my sword.’ ” Even as he spoke I could hear him creeping steadily upward. It soon became evident that his progress was growing slower, more difficult Then all sounds above me ceased, and I knew he must have attained the roof in safety.

(To be Continued.)

“I Am to Be Shot, Then?”

“Jed Bungay, as I Live!”