The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 10, 1902, Page 4

“Ho! ye'll see him soon enough, me frind—phat the devil are ye, tHough?” he added, as & ern was brought by some others, who ran up. “For the love o Gawd t lunatic is 1t?" he cried, when he cax & glimpse of my face and clothes. “Let me by, man! Who are you? Where am I7 “Ye're all right, me 1ad,” laughed the sentinel; “ye're me prisoner, and ye're Jist wan foot inside the Tiller's P'int picket line, goin’ north!" CHAPTER VL IN WHICH A PRISONER I8 TRIED AND ESCAPES HIS JAILER. idea of what I went of that night, I can escort to an old farm but one he few remal 1 was called out to the examining cer 1 heard the dy tread of a sen- a Sleep was_gone ot the rest I had Verplancks. me follow him. ow hall and st to be called leaned wearily ice as can arily. It was cer- f my friend John saved some da; n wood Gowan's Ferry and to 2 a hold upon me; seemed to carry ‘tis indeed your followed the fel- country mow for t of him and the ve grown T other racter from such mong officers and file of the Conti- . n lish accented ehowed & great degree of cul- g and clothes had he? nes might be changed,” ave seen that flend riding, always elways at night.” “True, eald the other; “he did, indeed, wear & great cape, and he rode down from the heavens at full speed to @isappeared 7 the smoke from a gun— gone.” 2 miles this side of Gow- Iy e first voice sald musing- “‘twes thereabouts I've come upon ““What set ye on the man, Rob?" asked the woice of Acton. I now, in good truth to catch every word, for I © man at least. he rose, John, but the fel- to double spy, or so the chief fears. But 'tis to Clinton. The 1 have the colonel's c . He goes by the name of Captain Hazeltine, end as sure as there is a God in heaven I will come up with the man yet. It grows now to be & personal thing twixt him and me!” ““Then the Lord he&g.hlml" inte: ted the other. And at t I was pulled by the siceve and marched into the room. As we passed through the door I caught & sudden exclamation, and, turning, rec- ognized the man I d 'helped on the b way, dressed now in a lieutenant’s uniform, and he knew he recognized me. ‘Well, we should see what might be the outcomse of it all; and iIf I were to have spoken my mind then I cared not a tink- er's dam. “Number 131 called out a & and, to me § then, irritating voice. ‘Re- port for exemination!" I cnly saw in the morning sunshine that the room was filled with a number seioned and non-commissioned end was about to move to the ace allotted to me, when he who called self Acton stepped up and frankly my hand Rob,"” ghook T friend, here you are! with calm disregard of the ex- near by; ‘““Rob, here is kept me from the worms.” P uttered the other. He h e, & fine, strong, face, e somber in expression, but to extent what the volce had inti- friend,” he added deject- re like the other than said the officer sharply, please you. We must pro- e examinations. Your name, hat man's parents,” stage whisper. le name.” to have order here, gen- cried the officer sharply. ite right, t00,” nodded Acton, with usness Colony,” said I sald “One of us tiemen “Q mock e of Liberty—next to Vir- d Acton in his ponderous rew a smile from every clea ned n 1 was laboring for me. turning to Acton, “I beg will let the examination proceed, ked me to call on you, and I do go this room ir “Your age? cried the examining officer *Occupation? “Lieutenant in the division of General Israel Putnam.” ““You are a soldier of the Colonles?” “Aye, a s r of the Colonies,” I said, raising my voice; for ‘twas beyond me to keep calm longer under this questioning, and, as I have already sald, ] was come to that frame of mind where I cared not a whit what might come of it all. Then fell a bombshell into that com- pany. “I do not belleve 1t!” half muttered the officer. That cooled me at once, and I replied “Thet is the remark of a coward, sir. ‘“You call me—he calls me coward, cow- ard!” roared the examiner, jumpihg up and thumping his desk, while a dead si- lence fell over the whole company. ' 'Tis further the remark of a bad offi- cer and a weak man.” “‘God help me, what dost say?” cried the man again. “I say that I ask to be taken to the com- mander of this fort. 'Tis said I must be examined. I say ‘Very well, proceed; ex- emine!’ and you begin by giving me the lie, when, as man to man, I have no re. tallation. You are, therefore, a weak man and a coward. You say this instead of putting to paper my examination, for your superior and better to read and judge. 'Tis the method of a bad officer. You see, ’tis simple enough.” “That is a brave man,” came over the room in the deep tones I had heard con- versing but now with Lieutenant Acton. “He speaks the truth.” *“Why, you impudent scoundrel!” the infuriated officer. “Do you know whom you address?” He was too aston- ished to do more than stare at me in emazement. But I was bent on giving vent to the hours of pent-up misery I had just passed through, and it did my soul 800d to say so. “In my colony, when thers comes a fiflmner and shows by his manner that he as aught of importance to say, he i taken to the commanding officer, Evi- dently the military discipline of Ver- plancks is of a different sort.” “Sergeant!” roared the man. “Ser- geant! Here, take this—this—" He feil over himself in his endeavor to speak. “Take this—man away, and put him un- der guard!” At that two men stepped forward, and the unknown friend of Acton sald In a cold voice that seemed to command im- mediate attention: ““Captain, with your permission, I would #peak a word concerning this ma: “And what business is it of yours?" demanded his superior. ‘“You will retire, sir, at once!” 3 The slightest trace of a frown spread over the serlous face, and the man turned even a little whiter, while his voice, calm as before, seemed 'to cut the air in the roem with its decisive tone. *‘This is the case of the examination of a prisoner taken at the picket line, He has the right of witness and counsel. 1 act as both with my friend, Lieutenant Acton.” I turned to him in wonder; but he fixed his cold eyes on the examlnlnf officer and [n cried kept them there. Every one instinctively Grew up by the desk with that silent, mysterious movement that makes no sound, but means so much at times—the movement that precedes some coming event. Lieutenant Curtis, you will understand that you do not conduct this examina- tion!”” eald the officer, trying to control himself, but with his voice rising as he proceeded. “I do, however; and, by God, gir, I'll continue to do so! Do you reti; at once or I will place you under arres “Oaths have no place in an examina- tion, sir. 'Tis, therefore, in bad taste and in contradiction to martlal law—" “‘Sergeant,” cried the examining officer, ith blazing eyes and flushed cheeks, “I appear for this prisoner,” interrupted the imperturbable man, now the only one in the room who appeared perfectly com- posed and calm. “Appear for the devil in hell, if you like, but you appear for no one here!"” “And I tell you that no law in thi army permits you under such conditions to tell a prisoner he is a liar.” “‘Sergeant, arrest Lieutenant Curtis!" yelled the stupefled officer. “Gentlemen,” said Curtis, turning to the silent but interested spectators, “is tnis a court or is it perchance a collection of the benighted Insane?” And a cold smile drew back the corners of his mouth, ‘Who or what was this remarkable per- son? He was the picture of a calm, dig- mfied gentleman; and yet he defied mili- tary discipline, no matter how basely applied, without the °slightest apparent concern, and on account of a man whom he saw now for the first time. ANDGEOT THE— PAPERS oSSR A T “‘Bergeant, arrest that mani~ sounded through the room again. Every one wait. ed, and at last the sergeant approached Lieutenant Curtis and saluted him apolo- getically. There was the space of an instant, when the alr was charged with portentous pos- sibilities, and then an orderly entered and banded a note to the dazed examiner, which he, after reading with a reddening face, threw down on his desk; then turn- ing to the sergeant he cried out: “Take the prisoner to headquarters! And mark you, Mr. Merton Balfort, if you should turn out to be an officer of u{— any, mind ye—any army of the earth, I'll have ye out, sir, by God, I will!" And down came his fist, spilling the sand from the box by his inkstand and sounding through the room. Something had happened, surely, for 1 was therewith led away out through the camp, musing on the extraordinary char- acter of this military examination, but more especlally on the remarkable man who had defled it. Here and there, as I ‘walked along, stood farmhouses and barns and any sort of building turned into of- ficers’ quarters, or stabling room for horses, and rows of huts and tents for the infantry and cavalry of Colonel Living- stone’s command. It was, to my mind, as cleanly a camp, as good to look upon, as I had seen; but in reality there was little to grow gay over about it. Men moved here and there in ragged clothes, that bore but pitiable resemblance to uniferms, ver 1 got & glimpse int6 & hut of @ tent, only the bare necesgities of life were in view. As I walked along between two soldiers, there came to me the two men, Acton and his friend, who, whether according to the code of discipline or not I cannot tell, walked by my side. The jovial Acton thanked me indals own way for the little service chance had en- abled me to do him, and presented me to his friend, Robert Curtis. From the time I had heard the man’'s voice he drew me to him, and now that I saw his serlous face, marked by the lines of some sorrow or care, I took more and more to him. These two men spoke to me each in his own way &s we walked across the camp. And each in his own way gave me the encouragement that two manly beings can impart in unaffected ways. There was little said, but I knew that here were two men such as I had not yet met in my short life. 8o we came to the country mansion that Livingstone used as his headquarters, and I was ushered Into the library, or office, where I stood before the commander of the Verplancks detachment of Washing- ton's thin line that ran from Philadelphia, by way of Morristown and West Point, into New England. It was a detachment ever ready for a movement of Clinton's, ever watching; but to a close observer, almost hoplessly spread out, and by thre quarters less than what it should have been in numbers. “You have been sir, 1 see,” insulting my officer, said he, after questioning me station in life. . “You are misinformed, sir,” I answered. “How s0? I am reading here.” of the witnesses will tell you the and I repeated them, ‘sricoT Foom He sat a momenr, looking out of the Jindow in some thought. end then con- ed: ou fired on & picket. That is severe- 1y puntshable In martied law.”’ “I realize that fully, sir,” I sald. “But I was hurrying in the darkaess, and saw the muzzle of a gun suddenly thrust he- !o{-‘e“ma 'Twas instinctive to defend my- self.. {‘These letters, what are they?’ “As you see. 'One to me from General Putnam. The other to General Washing- ton, which you can read as well as 1.” “It is In cipher. Read it to me.” “I do not know the code.” “Then I can send it on to him.” “In that case 'twill mean little, as I am instructed to add certain details to it “You can tell them to me.” “With your pardon, Colonel Living- stone, I can teil them to no one but the commander in chief. And, sir, these re- ports are of such importance that I urge You to send me on to him, under guard if you choose, as soon as possible. will work little harm,” I added, smiling, “even should 1 prove to be a spy.” Again he sat for some moments pon- dering. Then, rising, he rang a bell, and, bidding an orderly call a Captain Bur- ton, he gave that officer orders to have me taken to General Arnold. “General Arnold! 4 I, involuntarily. “And why not, demanded he sharply, turning suddenly upon me and fixing his clear eyes on my face. 3 “Why not, indeed, except that it will cause unnecessary delay.” “That is for me to decide,” he an- swered haught out more ado. “Ah, friend Balfort, I ‘am glad tp see you again,” cried Acton as I left the house with the sergeant some momenis later. But I could say little to the two who stood waiting for me, and within a short time I was riding north under guard of a sergeant, having silently shaken ‘hese two new friends by the hand and 20dded my farewell to them. Arnold’s headquarters 1 knew to be in the house once the property of a Tory named Robinson, situated just across the Hudson from stpoint. Fishkill lay beyond, I knew not how far At this point I got my heed to thinking how I might rid myself of this escort and ride, or walk, past the traitor’'s house to the commander in chief. v, and turned away with- 0 4 in the aftermoon k was for the 28th. It must be done. 1 And then e man cscorting me. brow He had little bril though as he ro he carried the two could see them, patches, bulging from & how it turned ou the honest fact, ' as ever enterec During 1 a scheme my poo the first hour of riding I _con- al times to bump my horse naturally that he suspected nothing, when on a sudden at a lomely spot in the road I quickly stopped, grabbed his leg, and with a sharp twist sent him sprawling from his saddle to the ground. Befor could recover from his surprise I was off my horse and upon him, pinning him beneath me and secured pistol. “Now, sergeant, take off your clothes.” For an instant the poor felllow showed fight, but 'twas useless, and, with a chok- ing groan, he took off his uniform, and we changed clothes then and there by the countrv roadside. A few moments later Sergeant Ralfort, your humble servant, who shows his cheap conceit in telling this tale of his own great prowess, wa3s riding hard northward toward Arnold’s house—which was on the way to Fishkill, be it under- Stood—and a _countryman 'in a su HE cRIED OU~ OVER MmowTe v “You cmari EAS ride T made it, even though e. By 7 o'clock 3 a stop for 'rcgzc'f?rkr.m . W th the vil- of Fishkill, only to learn that Gen- al Washington had left for Hartford. 100 miles farther on, some three days be- fore. Desperately 1 pusi riding h the night un n im had be I th 1c was done in less than an hour. e horse grew into my heart with his steady nerwe 1t was close upon 8 o'clock as I made the side of the old_house close under e o Sugar Loaf and turned into the drive that led to the side door. It was pa to the eye that something unusual was going_on. Harses stood about, ‘held by orderlies. e plazza walked several officer I guessed, talking to- gether, and voices ce be heard from within. Just as I pul up came the pitiable shriek of a womar No one paid the slightest attention {o me, and dismounting I s to h when the good d me so far, quietly I could not pause, fc that if I stood still long th be lacking to doe not behoov n looked at me, and aside without a word, ght an exclamation, but met no sistance from him. dining- So on Into a long, low One look told chief was the huge, som face with its sad eyes mouth—there he stood he moment of my ent said to - militar; in a companton that was still m, self-possessed volce, full of grief and sorrow: & “General, whom can we trust now? of Then the three occupants of the room turned and “What d stern voice of him just call “I must speak w 5 chief at once asked the al ed “Gen * said a deep voice. Washington added. What is it?"” said I, looking hers, “I h e somethi of st importance to say to you.” , say it quickly. These gentlemen r anything I can.” moment all heard again that wo- man's shriek. The general's face was im- mediately overcast with a look of pz - u said that some one was with Mrs. Arnold, Knox, did you not?" he ) “Yes, general. The maids are with her, man has gone across for a physi- , turning to me, “Here he is, my man. t young man, sald ‘Washington again. “I overheard, night before last, a con- versation, your Excellency, beiween—a British officer—Major Andr 4 *““Who is captured and in custody,” inter- rupted Washington. ndrand—” I hesitated. “Well? “And Major General Benedict Arnold—" “Who has this morning escaped to the British lines.' speak up,” “Sergeant,” sald the general solemnly, “tis the will of God.” This was spoken in a voice filled with infinite grief, sorrow and disapt’om!mvnl’i “But the you grasped the breakfast table to steady my- gelf. “Tell me what you heard.” “I overheard a conver: on between these two officers,” I managed to say, “be- low Haverstraw, night before last. I crossed the river and tried to reach you at Fishkill. I was captured at Teller's Point and treated as a spy because letters were found on me. 1 escaped from the g F took a horse, and have been riding since yesterday afternoon to catch you. ou ‘were not at Fishkill—I took the lower road for Hartford, and missed you; I found my mistake, went across to the upper road, missed you aggin. and—r~ds hack! I have g SEER TE - 3FiOOT QUiIcIs AN IED oww TO }HiS DA S¥oox ELIry ¥ clothes I was 80 in the road scratching his head, while a good horse was running well down the Toad toward Verplancks. CHAPTER VIL 10 1086 was standing GRORGE WASHINGTON. .S wes an hour later that the horse Wwhich had brought me from Verplancks carried me by the Robinsom house, filled now with so much more villainy than could ever have been there through a Tory’s principles. Robinson, at least, had stuck by his opinions and acknowledged them, bad as they were. But here was one who was professing patriotism end living a lie, and who, if T did not hastem, would endanger the existence of the whole country. = STRASSCH coverea a nundred miles since five yester- day, and now—now I am too latel It is fate! It could not have been otherwise!™ Several exclamations had burst from the third occupant of the room as I spoke, and he muttered to himself at the end: ordieu, but that was a brave ride!"” ‘It must have been, indeed, Lafay- ette,” said Washington. Then turning to_me he said: “You are hungry and worn out, ger- geart. Sit down and eat.” “I have not eaten in twenty-six hours,” I answered, ““but I cannot wait. I must, ‘!a wlill. find that man and bring him ack.” A sudden gleam shot into the general's eye. ‘“Patience, young man, patience!” he said in a voice that would make a man ashamed of his own weakness. “Wa will ind him. And he will be punished, never fear, whether we find him or not, and you shall have your chance. But who are you?’ And he looked at me with a glance that seemed to take In all my thoughts. :‘I am called Merton Balfort.” w¥ou are an American soldler, too?” “Yes, your Excellency. I am a liouten- l1¥, le}l‘—ving under General Putnam.’” ou have come from him re 73 asked Washington suddenly. Spe ‘“Yes, your Excellency, I am here to de- liver these two letters to you from him,™ and I handed him the two notes. E :“You may sit down, lieutenant,” salq the general, as he took the letters and moved toward the window. But, what- ever the desire might be, I would not sit in the vresence of this man. As he read the note from General Put- nam to myself, the chief glanced once or twice at me with a thoughtful look, and then went on reading. Opening the other note, and discovering it to be in cipher, he took a small book from his pocket and, with General Knox's assistance, made out. its meaning. As they slowly discovered its import the two generals conversed. ~Strange,” said the commander; “and Rochambeau knew nothing of this before yesterday.” s dated only a ks of tne affa.r a 1£Ling pia to him as to every one else; and, £ I had told him the ould not'have thougl had been t possibie which his face h ing famillar, as 1 known him D, he wore other as more than the he little mannerisms always carry m an hen bring tence to my garments. Nay, 't face. The voice, that 2 man w would all now culiar prior ex Yet it wa ous—so str cessity tried to learn something of his and antecedents. Here again 1 was ba fled. No one—not a soul in that regimen —knew augh$ of him back of a coup! w had joined with a Ik tenant's commission and had been placed under Captain Jacob Barnes, who com ed a company of Livingtone's foot. bad raised him to this pe- mind. st intangible and curi- so that I almost of ne- m Distinguished service the colonei's staff, John Acton, or Jack, as I, like all the world, at once called him, was of another type. Huge in size, he was big in every way—open-hearted, open-minded, full of a great, hearty laugh, careless of himself and all else, fond of a joviai evening, but as big in his semse of honesty and chiv- alry as he was in stature. They made a strange pair, Yet, perhaps by their opposites, they were drawn together. My dropping in with them was all Acton’s doing. Curtis I should never have known otherwise; for he did his best to avold meeting any one excepting Acton. 'Twas the latter who took me to his heart at once, and so 1 saw Curtis and became so strangely fas- cinated by the peculiarly familiar look and manner he seemed to have that, per- force, he had to tolerate me; and in a few days I came to the habit of being with these two men whenever we wers off duty. In such a camp lifelong friendships and enmities are quickly made, and the ex- istence of our American officers of those days, filled always with work, was re- lleved by the social life of little cliques and group: Such a one was I now taken into, and before long we three had agreed, among ourseives, that whenever occasion arose for special duty on the part of any one of us, that one would if possible se- cure the other two to help him carry through the affair. The especially important case in point was the capture of a Certain man called Hagzeltine. I had overheard something of him that morning in the guardhouse, and learned now that the man had become a soirt of mania with Curtis. The latter ha distinguished himself om several oce: sions in carrying out speclal work, and a direct order had now come from the comamander-in-chief for Lieutenant Curtis to watch and, if possible, take this man. I learned, too, that he was thought to be a spy of Clinton's—a Tory working with the English, in other words; but that he had passed for a short time as a private agent of Washington, coming well rec- ommended from two friends in New York. The commander-in-chief, however, with his unerring sagacity, had finally come to suspect the man, and had then lost him of a sudden. Curtis had seen him now four times, but never face to face, only in the dark- these two. ness. And the way the man had eluded him had hurt the young lleutenant's pride, besides giving his strong, serious nature a difficult task that fitted Into his desire for hard labor of any sort. So in the ten Gays that followed my arrval we spent half the time scouring the country, looking for this ghost with the cape coat and the phantom horse. To confess truth, I had some doubts of the importance of the work, which showed how little I knew of the in- triguing and under-current work going o at this otherwise stagnant period of the war. 'Twas on such an expedition that Acton had nearly lost his life when I chanced along: and, in fact, 'twas no child’'s play to roam about the country to the south of us, infested as it was with all the outlaws of the northern part of the colonies. Then, too, my mind would continually hark back to a face that would not down from my thoughts, and I wondered night after night as I lay in _my bed—for the colonel's aids actually did have beds— what she did now, and now; where she was; what might be her sorrow and_trou- ble that had taken -her from her home, and why fate should have set the insur- mountable barrier of a great war between u Of the episode of Gowan's Tavern in which one James Marvin had taken so significant a part, I thought but little and spoke not at all, because, indeed, it meant naught. And yet 'twas a strange satisfac- tion_that d run through my blood, to think that this one unknown woman of all others in the world had stood beside me there, had ridden with me the next morn- ing, and, whatever she migh( have felt, had certainly trusted me. If I could see her once again, under happy circum- stances! If 1 could watch the sudden changes of mood fly one after another across her fair face! Aye, if I could! If I could! If— And in walked Curtis with his usual ¥