The Post-Signal (Pilot Point, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 13, 1911 Page: 2 of 8
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A FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY WAR STORY
BY F A MTTCHE.L,.
Copyright. 1892. by American Press Association.
CHAPTEIt VI.
A DESPERATE SITUATION.
NKVr.lt was there a more sur-
prised look on any man's face
than on Mark's at tlie moment
lie discovered the men into
whose midst he had fallen, lie knew
the range of the Confederate picket
line, and was unable to understand
how this party could be a part of it.
The men looked equally surprised at
his appearance. Indeed they seemed
more disconcerted at his sudden com-
ing than lie was at their being there.
When lie made his leap among them
(bey were about to get into tlie boat,
and one of them held the painter in
his hand. Mark in a twinkling made
up his mind that they were not pleased
at his appearauce. lie determined to
play a bold game. lie had no defined
plan when he began to speak to them—
it came to him as lie proceeded.
"What are you men doing here?" he
asMfed in a tone that none but a sol-
dier knows how to assume.
No one answered.
"What regiment do you belong to?"
No answer.
"Is there a noncommissioned officer
among you?"
There was so much of authority in
Mark's tone (hat It compelled an an-
swer. and a respectful one.
"No, sir."
"You men are away from your com-
mands without permission. I can see
that plainly."
The men looked guilty, but said noth-
ing.
"You evidently don't know me. I am
an officer of General Rragg's staff on
an important mission of secret serv-
ice."
He waited a moment to discover the
effect of his* words and then proceed-
ed:
"It is a matter of the greatest mo-
ment that 1 get across the river at
once. 1 want you men to pull me
over and then report immediately to
your colonel Give me your names.
What regiment do you belong to?"
"The til Tennessee."
"The old story," said Mark severely.
"You men are doubtless from east
Tennessee. You are deserters, trying
to get back to where you came from."
Mark had hit tlie nail on the head.
The men looked terror stricken. He
knew, when he ordered them to pull
across the river, that they would obey
him gladly.
"Get Into tlie boat, every one of you.''
Every man got into the boat, and one
of them took I lie oars.
"Now if you will get me over quick
ly I'll see what 1 can do for you with
your commanding officer when I re
turn."
, Jakey was standing on the bank with
his eyes wide open at tills scene. Mark
had been a hero with him; now lie was
a little less than a god
"I)o you want to get across the river,
my little man?" asked Mark, as if he
had never seen the boy before.
"Does I want ter? Course I does."
"Jump in then, quick I've no time
to lose."
.lakey came down and got In with
the rest.
"Give way," cried Mark, and the
boat shot out from the shore
Not a dozen strokes had been taken
before Mark, who was delighted at the
success of ills assurance, saw a sight
that made his heart sink within him
A boat shot around Moccasin point
from the eastward. It was full of
armed men
As soon as tlie.v saw the skill' with
Mark and I he deserters in it for such
they were—they pulled straight I'm
them. In five minutes they were uloav
side.
"I reckon you're the men we're io >k
Ing for." said an officer sealed in I In-
stern.
"Who are you looking for?" asked
Mark, with as much coolness as li
could assume
"Deserters from the - tli Tonnes
see."
Mark knew it was all up with him
His assumption of being on General
Rragg's staff, which had been so sir
;essl'ul a ruse, suddenly appeared tc
him a halter about his neck.
"Hand over your guns." said the of
fleer.
The gnus were handed into fhe boat
all except .Takey's shotgun
"That other otic too."
"That's only a shotgun, captain," snlc
Mark.
"Well, never mind the popgun."
Every moment the deserters looked
for Mark to declare his exalted post
tlon on General Itragg's staff, but in.
such declaration came It seemed pos
silile to them that perhaps lie would
not wish to disclose his identity to so
many. At any rate they said nothing
Hail it not been for his assumption
Mark would have applied to tlie cap
tain to let a poor countryman and his
little brother pass. Had he done so
it is nuite possible that the men lie
had deceived, surmising that he was
a refugee like themselves, would not
have betrayed him; but Mark knew
that besides this danger the officers,
having found him in such company,
would not let him go.
Mark's heart was heavy as the boat
in which he sat was pulled slowly
against the current to Chattanooga. He
realized that there was now no oppor-
tunity for Ills wits, on which lie usual
ly relied, to work. He was in the
hands of the enemy; ho would not be
released without a thorough question
Ing, and he could say nothing thai
would not tell against him.
On landing all were taken to the pro-
rust marshal's office The soldiers ac-
knowledged that they were member.; of
the —111 Tennessee regiment, but
stoutly denied that they were desert
ers. They were Union men. some of
the northerners who had been impress-
ed intH^ the Confederate service, or
had enlisted for the purpose of flying
to the stars and stripes as soon as •hoy
could pet near enough to warrant an
attempt. They were sent to their regi-
ment under guard. As they were leav-
ing one of them said to Mark:
"1 hope you'll keep your promise."
Mark did not reply; he had cherished
i hope that they would bo takeu away
before anything would come out as to
his assumption of authority.
"What promise?" asked the provost
marshal quickly.
"lie's an officer on General Bragg's
staff. You ought to know him, colo-
nel."
"The devil!" exclaimed the colonel.
"Oh, 1 saw the men were doing
something t!:>y were ashamed of, and
] I bluffed 'em to row me across," said
Mark with assumed carelessness.
"Who are you :"
"1 belong i i cast Tennessee."
"You don't belong to any such place.
You're not southern born at all. You
are a Yankee I thought you .were only
trying to get north with these men;
now i believe you are a spy."
"I'm a southern man. sarten." said
Mark, with such coolness that the offi-
cer was for a moment in doubt as tfj
his surmise.
"l et me hear you say New York."
"New York."
"New York," repeated the colonel
ironically. "If you were a southern
man you'd say Niew Yawk. 1 shall
have to hold you for further infornin
tlon."
"1 would like to go to my home in
Tennessee. 1 came here to buy a gun
for my brother. But if you won't let
mo I'll have to stay with you, 1 sup-
pose. Only 1 hope you won't separate
us. Jalcey's very young, and I don't
want to turn him adrift alone in a
strange town."
"I shall have to hold you till I can
report the case to headquarters," said
the officer, and Mark and .lakey were
led away to a room In the house oc
cupied by the provost marshal for pris-
oners temporarily passing through his
hands.
The reply that came to the iinnoui!"o
merit of thi; capture of the citizen and
tin' boy was to hold them under vigi
lant guard, it was reported that Mark
had been personating an officer of the
stalf, and this looked very suspicious;
Indeed quite enough so to warrant their
trying him for a spy by drumhead
court martial and executing him the
next morning
Mark was searched and everything
of value taken from him They went
through .Takey's porkets and fell of the
iiiiiiik of his coat, but as he was a
child the search was not very thorough,
or th'-y would have found the hills in
his boot They look Ills gun. but by
this time .Takey realized thai there was
sorneth'ng more momentous than a
squirrel gun at slake, and parted with
it without showing any great reluc
tanco He realized that Mark, for
whom he had by this time conceived
a regard little short of Idolatry, was
in danger, and the boy for the first
time began to feel I lint Ills friend
could not accomplish everything
.Takey stood looking on stolidly as
Mark was sea relied till he saw a sol-
dier lake Souri's red silk handkerchief
He had produeed the Impression on the
searchers he had at first produced upon
Mark —that he was stupid beyond his
years As the man grasped the hand
kerchief and was about to put it In
his pocket .lakey set up a howl
"What's the matter, sonny?" asked
one of I lie soldiers
"My hanchikufT," he whined
"Is It yours?"
"Yas."
"Give the boy his wipe," said the
man to the would be appropriutoi
"Don't rob a child."
So .Takey preserved his handkerchief.
Then i lie.v were marched away to-
gether to a small building used for a
negro jail. It was two stories high,
though the lower story had no win
dows. The upper part was reached by
a long (light of steps outside the build-
ing The lower part was a dungeon,
and though used to confine negroes
there had been a number of east Ten-
nesseeans imprisoned there. The place
was kept by an old man and his wife
named Trlggs. Mark was put into a
room In the upper story. A guard was
stationed at the door, and the only
window was barred, nad Mark been
arresied with definite proof that he
was a spy, he would doubtless have
been put in the dungeon.
As it was, he was only guarded with
ordinary caution. This, however, seem-
ed quite sufficient to prevent his es-
cape. .lakey was put into a room by
himself., hut he was not required to
stay tiierd* He was suffered to gc and
come at will, except that the guard at
the gate was ordered not to let him
leave the yard
"Well. .Takey," said Mark, when they
were together in their new quarters,
"this looks pretty blue."
"Reckon it does."
"You'd bitter not stay here. Go out
in the yard and I'll try to think up
some plan. But I must confess I don't
see any way out," and Mark rested his
elbows on his knees, and putting his
face in his bauds thought upon his
perilous situation.
"Jest you don't worrit." said Jakey.
"sumep'n'll turn up sho."
"Well, go out Into the sunlight. Don't
stay here. If they sentence me to
hang I'll try to get tlieni to send you
home "
G
CHAPTER VI*
THE HE I) SILK HANDKERCHIEF.
REATNESS underlying an un
Inviting exterior is often call
j| ed out by circumstance."
! ri sideuf Lincoln would not
Uave I.e. "! 'h ■ "great emancipator" h :c
li" .I..'.*;! horn in the ni'-k of time
Ge!:"ttll Graut would not h:tv become
prominent as a soldier h id tli" ei\,
war occurred before or after lie v. <
of fit age to lead the Union armies, i i.
Jakey Slack—well. Jakey would i
have developed his ability as a sti i
egist had it not been for his friend
Mark Malone, and the negro Jail it
Chattanooga.
Jakey was as Incompetent to sit down
and think out a plan for his fsieud's
escape as he was to demonstrate a
proposition of Euclid. He could neither
add columns of two figures nor spell
words of one syllable; indeed he'eouid
neither read, write nor cipher, the
want of an ability to read or write be
ing a great disadvantage to him in
his present responsible position Uut
the desire to help his friend out of n
Vnd fix having got into his brain, from
the nature of the case It simmered
there, and then boiled a little, and sim
mered nnd boiled again Like most
people of geuius, Jakey was uncou
V
1 IS IlE ANGEL OB T>F, LO I) BriiAKEN TO
HIS BAHVENT?"
sclous of his own powers, but there
was one person in whom, next to Mark,
ho had great confidence; that was bis
sister Sourl. Then came the thought
that if Souri were only there "she
mought do a heap." This led Jakey
up to the problem how to get her
there. The problem was too difficult
for his young brain to solve, so he got
no further until circumstances came to
his aid, or may he not have had the
germs of reason within him to go fur
tlier without being definitely conscious
of them?
When he left Mark he went out into
the Jailyard and began to stroll about
wi'li his hands in his pockets To a
casual observer ho was simply a boy
with no playmates, who did not know
what to do with himself Occasionally
he would wander near the fence, first
casting a sly glance at the jail There
were tracks between the boards, and
Jakey was looking out for a good wide
crick to spy througli At last he
found a place to suit him and hovered
about it listening for a footstep, and
occasionally getting a quick glance
througli the opening by putting Ills eye
to it. But Jakey knew well fhat if
caught at this he would be called into
the jail and forced to stay there. At
last an old negro woman passed with
a basket on her arm, smoking a short
clay pipe
"Auntie!" called the boy.
"Lo'd a massy! Is de angel ob dt
Lo'd speaken to his sarveut from de
clouds?" said the old woman, startin;
and dropping her basket
"Auntie, hyar at the crack!"
"'Who is yo' cailen? Yo* mus' be a
chile from yo' vice."
"Put yer eye c.tse up to de fence
aud y* can see me a • the crack."
The woman drew near and put her
eye to the crack. Jakey stood off a
little way, aud she could see liim plain-
ly Meanwhile he pretended to have
lost something ou the ground.
"Why bress my po' ole heart, honey,
ef y' ain't notlien but a leetle boy in
de jailyard. 'T'aught t' be nuff to keep
dem po' misable po' white east Ten
nesseeans dar what dey had in de
cellar widout keepen a chile."
"My brother's a prisoner, 'n so air
I," said Jakey in a melancholy voice.
"Climb olier de fence, honey, and
run away."
"The fence air too high, 'n I ain't a
goen fur to leave my brother anyway
See hyar. auntie, air you niggers Onlop
or seeesb?"
"Why. honey, do you t'luk we turn
ag'ln ou' own folks! Ain't de Yankee
sojers comen down fur to gib us lib
era tlon?"
"Ef y' c'd save a Union sojer from
bangen, w'd y' do it?"
"Fo* de Lo'd I would!"
"Then send this hanchikufT to Souri
Slack."
"Who Sourl Slack?"
"She's my sister. She lives at Farm-
er Slack's."
"Wbar dat?"
"On the Anderson road, close onter
the Sequatchie river."
While this conversation was going ou
Jakey continued his efforts to find
something at his feet. He picked up a
stone, rolled it in the handkerchief and
threw them over the fence.
"What good dat do?" asked the col-
ored woman, picking up the missile of
war.
"When Souri gits it she'll know."
"Will dat sn be de Union sojer's
neck?"
"Mebbc- 't niouglit. 'n inehlu> 't
moughtn't."
"I cain't go iiiyse'*—I'm too oie—but
I'll starl bit along Reckon de dar
kies'li tote It."
She picked up her basket and wu
moving away when Jakey clled to
her
"Auntie!"
"What, honey?"
"Yer mought git some un te tore lilt
:er an old nigger named Jefferson Pan
lolph. er. lives up a creek 'bout Ave
mxle f;om hyar. near the pike runnen
that a-way. Mebbe he'll pass hit on."
"Sho nuff."
"Yo' boy, tfcar!"
The jailer's wife was standing in an
open window regarding Jakey severe
ly.
"Come away from that ar fence!"
Jakey skipped along toward her, do-
ing a little waltzing as he went.
"Ef that ar boy wasn't slcli a chile,
I'd think he'd b'en up to sumep'n."
"What war yer a-doen by that ar
fence?" she asked when he came up.
"Nutben."
"What, war that y' throwed over?"
"Oil, 1 war ouly throwen stones."
"What yer throwen stones fhat
8-way fur?"
"Fur fun."
"Well, y' just keep away from th'
fence er y' shan't play in th' yard at
all. I'll shet y' up with thct big brother
o' yourn."
"Waal, I won't go thar no more."
And Jakey took a top out of his trou-
sers pocket and began plugging imagi-
nary tops on i lie ground.
Mark hoped that the preparations
the Confederates were making for the
expected move would cause them to
forget him. He was not destined to
be so fortunate. The second day after
his capture lie was taken before a court
martial held in a house occupied by the
staff department, to be tried on the
charge of being a spy.
The court was assembled and ready
to proceed with the case. An officer
had been detailed fo defend the pris-
oner. but he had not arrived and the
court waited. Presently a clatter of
horse's hoofs was heard outside, It
stopped before the door of (he house,
and in another moment Mark's coun-
sel entered lite room.
Mark looked at him with astonish-
ment. In the tall, straight soldier, with
black hair and eyes, mustache and
goatee, bearing about him that some-
thing which indicates "to the manor
born," lie recognized the officer who bad
called at the Fains' on the morning lie
'led ie"t tic ri Captain Cameron Filz
Hugh
As .i as he entered he beckoned
the pri oner to follow him to a corner
of the i i mi apart from the others for
consultation It was not a convenient
1 !a< e for sn h an important interview.
I :i one < barged with being a spy was
not likely to get many favors, and the
e::if eiicies of the case did not admit of
auciit except the bare forms of jus-
tice
"Will you give me your confidence,
my man. or shall I proceed at random?"
"At random "
"If you think it best to trust me, I
give you the word of a Virginia gentle-
man fhat I will uot betray you, and I
wlil do all 1 can for you I am a Fitz
Hugh "
He said this uucous ious of how it
would sound to a northerner To him
to be a Fitz IIug!i was to be incapable
of a disbouorable act Mark under-
stood him perfectly; indeed Ills counsel
Inspired him with every confidence
"I would explain everything to you.
captain, but my secret is uot all my
own. I would be perfectly willing to.
trust my fule in your hands if 1 could
honorably do so. You will doubtless
fail in your defense, but I thank you
for the effort you will make."
The trial was of brief duration. The
soldiers in whose company Mark was
taken were called aud testified to his
having masqueraded as a staff officer,
Knowing now that be was probably a
Union spy, they would have shielded
him, but they had already given up
the secret. Mark was asked where he
lived.
He had entered his name at the ho-
tel as coming from Jasper, so he gave
that place as his residence, but when
asked what county Jasper was in he
could not tell. The maps he had stud-
ied. being military maps, did not give
the counties. Then some Tennessee
soldiers were brought in—the town
swarmed with them—who testified that
they lived at Jasper and had never
seen the prisoner there The closing
evidence against Mark was given by
the recruiting officer with whom lie
had promised to enlist. Hearing that
a spy h."'' been taken, and suspecting
It might ik. his promised recruit, he
went to tiie courtroom and there rec-
ognized the prisoner Ills testimony
was sufficient The court had made up
its mind before the prisoner's counsel
had said a word
Captain Fitz Hugh seemed distressed
at not being able to bring forth any
evidence in behalf of the prisoner
When he arose to speak in Mark's de-
fense the court listened to him with
marked attention and respect—indeed
they were as favorably impressed with
the accused's counsel as they were un-
favorably disposed toward the accused.
The captain was oblige! to content
himself with warning the court against
convicting a ma,n of being a spy be-
cause his identity was not satisfacto-
rily explained and on circumstantial
evidence. He asked that the prisoner
might have more time than had been
given him in which to gather evidence
in his behalf.
To be continued.
\
THE DEATH DICE.
Hisvory of an Odd Gift of the Emperor
of Germany.
There is shown in the Hoheqzollern
museum a grft of the emperor of Ger-
many, the "death dice," with which
oue of his ancestors decided a difficult
case in the seventeenth century. Their
history is an Interesting one.
A young girl bad been murdered.
Suspicion fell upon two soldiers, Ralph
and Alfred, who were suitors for her
hand. Roth I he accused men denied
their guilt, aud even torture failed to
extract a confession from either of
them. Then Elector Frederick William
decided to cut the knot by means of
the dire box. The two soldiers should
throw for their lives and the loser
should be executed as the murderer.
The event was celebrated with great
pomp aud solemnity.
Ralph had the first chance aud
threw sixes, ihe highest possible num
her. The dice iiox was then given to
Alfred. He fell on his knees aud
prayed aloud: "Almighty God. thou
kviwest | am innocent. Protect me. i
I icseo' li I lleo"'
• Then he arose to his feet and threw
the dice with such force that one of
them broke The whole oue showed
six, the broken one also gave six ou
the larger portion, and Hie fragment
split off showed one. This was a
total of thirteen, one beyond llnlph's
throw. The audience held its breath
in amazement.
"God has spoken." cried the prince.
Ralph, appalled by what he regarded
as a sign from heaven, confessed bis
guilt a ml was sentenced fo death.
DR. COX's
BARBED WIRE
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Old papers for sale at this office
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The Post-Signal (Pilot Point, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 13, 1911, newspaper, October 13, 1911; Pilot Point, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth291187/m1/2/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Denton Public Library.