Jasper County Democrat, Volume 15, Number 65, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 November 1912 — My Lady of the North [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

My Lady of the North

* IBILOVE STORY OF A GRAY JACKET

by RANDALL PARRISH

'-wnntwmsanoasvoskwo' bjcArihurT'WvlUamsofV

fir CCB&aßw&ACMpaueesca-i -j&7ZjeEDjirjz*Txa*ze3-xiU. mtzxMr

SYNOPSIS. i ________ CHAPTER I.—The story opens In a .tent of the Confederate army at a critical stage of the Civil War. Gen. Lee imparts to Captain Wayne a secret message to Longstreet, upon the delivery of '''hick depend great Issues. Accompanied by Sergeant Craig, an old army scout, Wayne starts out on his dangerous mission. CHAPTER IL—The two .messengers make a wild ride, dodging squads of soldiers, almost lose their bearings and finally are within the lines of the enemy, having penetrated the cordon of pickets unmolested. CHAPTER in.— Encountering a small party of soldiers in the darkness, Wayne is taken for a federal officer who came to keep an appointment, is accepted as . fd® representative, and a young lady on ‘■horseback is given In his charge. CHAPTER IV.—The female companion (Of the two southern scouts is a northern girl, who, when she becomes aware of their army affiliations, slashes Wayne with iher riding whip and attempts to escape but fails. CHAPTER V.—One of the horses giving out, Wayne orders Craig to get through with the dispatches to Long•treet. He and My Lady of the North are left alone near a rocky gorge.* CHAPTER Vl.—The Confederate officer and the Union girl thread the mazes of the woods. He discovers a lonely hut, and entering It In the dark a huge mastiff attacks him. Tbs girl shoots the bruts Just In time. CHAPTER VlL—The owner of the hut, .one Jed Bungay, appears and he and his wife give the captain a welcome. Suddenly a party of horsemen are observed coming down the road. CHAPTER V Hl.—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 Union 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 • Copse, sees files of Confederates pass the road at a distance and knows that Craig has delivered the message. CHAPTER Xl.—The captive is brought before General Sheridan who refuses to set him free unless he reveals the secret message. CHAPTER Xn.— 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 Xlll.—Wayne Is rescued from his prison by Jed Bungay. One of them must get a quick report through the lines to General Lee and Jed starts on the mission. CHAPTER XlV.—Finding the garb of an absent officer of the Union artillery, Wayne penetrates to the ballroom, where e social army function is In progress, and pretends to be Col. Curran of Ohio. t CHAPTER XV.—The disguised scout is introduced to a Miss Miner. She knows the Curran family and Wayne barely escapes being unmasked. Edith Brennan appears on the scene.

CHAPTER XVIII.

The Reputation of a Woman. Like a flash occurred to me the only possible means by which we might escape open discovery—an Instant disclosure of my supposed rank, coupled with indignant protest. Already, believing me merely some private soldier straying out of bounds with a woman of the camp as companion, he had thrown himself from the saddle to investigate. Whatever was to be done must be accomplished quickly, or it would prove all too late. To think

was to act. Stepping instantly in front of the shrinking girl and facing him, I said sternly: “I do not know who you may chance to be, sir, nor greatly care, yet your words and actions imply an Insult to this lady which I am little disposed to overlook. For your information permit me to state, I am Colonel Curran, Sixth Ohio Light Artillery, and am not accustomed to being halted on the road by every drunken fool who sports a uniform.” He stopped short in complete surprise, staring at me through the darkness, and I doubted not was perfectly able to distinguish the glint of buttons and gleam of braid. "Your pardon, sir,” he ejaculated at last “I mistook you for some runaway soldier. But I failed to catch your words; how did you name yourself?” “Colonel Curran, of Major-General

Halleck’s staff.” • “The hell you are! Curran, had a full gray beard a month ago.” He took a step forward, and before I could recover from the first numbing shock of surprise was peering intently into my face. “Damn it!" he cried, tugging viciously at a revolver in his belt, “I know that face! You are the measly Johnny Reb I brought in day before yesterday.” There came a quick flutter of drapery at my side, and she, pressing me firmly backward, faced him without a word. The man’s extended arm dropped to his side as though pierced by a bullet, and he took one step backward, shrinking as if his startled eyes beheld a ghost. “Edith?” he cried, as though doubting his own vision, and the ring of agony in his voice was almost piteous. “Edith! My God! You here, at midnight, alone with this man?” However the words, the tone, the gesture may have stung her, her face remained proudly calm, her voice cold and clear. “I certainly am. Major Brennan,” she answered, her eyes never once leaving his face. “And may I ask what reason you can have to object?” “Reason?” His voice had grown hoarse with passion and surprise. “My God, how can you ask? How can you even face me? Why do you not sink down in shame# Alone here,’—he looked about him into the darkness —“at such an hour, in company with a Rebel, a sneaking, cowardly spy, already condemned to be Ehot By Heaven! he shall never live to boast of it!” He flung up his revolver barrel to prove the truth of his threat, but sne stepped directly between us, and shielded me with her form. “Put down your pistol,” she ordered coldly. “I assure you my reputation Is in no immediate danger unless you shoot me, and your bullet shall certainly find my heart before it ever reaches Captain Wayne.” “Truly, you must indeed love him,’' he sneered. So close to me was she standing that I could feel her form tremble at this Insult, yet her voice remained emotionless. “Your uncalled-for words shame me, not my actions. In being here with Captain Wayne tonight I am merely paying a simple debt of honor —a double debt, indeed, considering that he was condemned to death by your lie, while you deceived nre by another.” “Did he tell you that?” "He did not. Like the true gentleman he has ever shown himself to be he endeavored to disguise the facts, to withhold from me all knowledge of your dastardly action. I know it by the infamous sentence pronounced against him and by your falsehood ta me." “Edith, you mistake,” he urged anxiously. “I—l was told that he had been sent North.” She drew a deep breath, as though she could scarcely grasp the full audacity of his pretence to ignorance. “You appeared to be fully informed i but now as to his death sentence.” “Yes, I heard of it while away, and intended telling you as soon as 1 reached our quarters." I could feel the scorn of his miserable deception as it curled her lip, and her figure seemed to straighten between us. “Then,” she said slowly, “you will doubtless agree that I have done no more than was right, and will therefore permit him this chance of escape from so unmerited a fate; for you know as well as I do that he has been wrongly condemned.” He stepped forward with a halfsmothered oath, and rested one hand heavily upon her shoulder. “I rather guess not, madam,” he said. “Damn him! I will hang him now higher than Haman, just to show Queen Esther that it can be done. Out of the way, madam!” Rendered desperate by her slight resistance and his own jealous he thrust the woman aside so rudely that she fell forward upon one knee. His revolver was yet in his right hand, gleaming in the starlight, but before he could raise or lire it I had grasped the steel barrel firmly, and the hammer came down noiselssly upon the flesh of my thumb. The next instant we were locked close together in fierce struggle for the mastery. He was the heavier, stronger man; I the younger and quicker. From the first every effort on both sides was put forth solely to gain command of the weapon—his to fire, mine to prevent, for I knew well at the sound of the discharge there would come a rush of blue-coats to his rescue. My first fierce onset had put him on the de fensive, but as we tugged and strained his superiority in weight began to tell, and slowly he bore me backward, untill all the weight of my body rested upon my right leg. Then there oc Vurred to me like a flash a wrestler’i

trick taugnt me years before by an old negro on my father's plantation. Instantly I appeared to yield to the force against which I contended with simulated weakness, sinking lower and lower, until, I doubt not, Brennan felt convinced I must go over backward. But as I thus sank, my left foot found steady support farther back, while my free hand sank slowly down his straining body until my groping fingers grasped firmly the broad belt about his waist. I yielded yet another inch, until he leaned so far over me as to be out of all balance, and then, with sudden straightening of my left leg, at the same time forcing my head beneath his chest in leverage, with one tremendous effort I flung him, head under, crashing down upon the hard road. Trembling like a reed from the exertioiJ; I stood there looking down upon the dark, form lying huddled at my feet: He rested motionless, and I bent over, placing my hand upon his heart, horrified at the mere thought that he might be dead. But the heart beat, and with a prayer of thankfulness I looked up. She stood beside me. “Tell me, Captain Wayne,” she exclaimed anxiously, “he is not —not seriously hurt?” “I believe not,” I answered soberly. “He is a heavy man, and fell hard, yet his heart beats strong. He must have cut his head upon a stone, however, for he is bleeding.” She knelt beside him, and I caught the whiteness of a handerchief within her hand.

“Believe me, Mrs. Brennan,” I faltered lamely, “I regret this far more than I can tell. Nothing has ever occurred to me to give greater pain than the thought that I have brought you so much of sorrow and trouble. You will have faith In me?” “Always, everywhere—whether It ever be our fate to meet aggin or not. But now you, must go.” “Go? And leave you here alone? Are you not afraid?”

“Afraid ?”she looked about her into the darkness. “Of what? Surely you do not mean of Frank—of Major Brennan? And as to my being alone, our quarters are within a scant hundred yards from here, and a single cry will bring me aid in plenty. Hush! what was that?” t. It was the shuffling tread of many feet, the sturdy tramp of a body of infantry on the march. "Go!” she cried hurriedly. “If you would truly serve me, if you care at all for me. do not longer delay and be discovered here. It is the grand rounds. I beg of you, go!” I grasped her outstretched hand, pressed my lips hotly upon it, and sped with noiseless footsteps down the black, deserted road. (To be continued)

State of Ohio, City of Toledo, ) Lucas County. ) sa - Frank J. Cheney makes oath that he ig senior partner of the firm of F. J. Cheney & Co., doing business in the City of Toledo, County and State aforesaid, and that Baid firm will pay the sum of ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS fdr each and every case of Catarrh that cannot be cured by the use of Hall’s Catarrh Cure. FRANK J. CHENEY. Sworn to before me and subscribed in my presence, this 6th day of December, A. D. 1886. (Seal.) A. W. GLEASON, Notary Public. Hall’s Catarrh Cure is taken internally, and acts directly on the blood and mucous surfaces of the system. Send for testimonials free. F. J. CHENEY & CO., Toledo, O. Sold by all Druggists, 75c. Take Hall’s Family PiHs-fpr constipation.

"Put Down Your Pistol,” She Ordered Coldly.