THE UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THE WILMER COLLECTION 
 
 OF CIVIL WAR NOVELS 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 RICHARD H. WILMER, JR. 
 
. / 
 
 '>-! 
 
 O/'/- GrrL, J ^^-- ^/-^. 
 
Digitized by tine Internet Archive 
 
 in 2009 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hil 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/lostdispatchOOwilm 
 
THE 
 
 LOST DISPATCH 
 
 GALESBURG, ILL.: 
 
 Galesburg Prixtixg and Publishing Company. 
 
 1889. 
 
Copyrighted 1889, 
 By Galesbukg Prixtixg axd Publishing Company. 
 
 xlll rights reserved. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In adding- this account of the finding of the "Lost 
 Dispatch" to the war literature of our country, I do 
 so without further preamble or preface than to say 
 that all persons connected with this narrative appear 
 on the following pages under strictly fictitious names. 
 
 For purely personal reasons, reasons that seem to 
 me right and proper, I still desire to remain unknown. 
 There are not more than twenty-fiv^e persons now liv- 
 ing, who, on reading this account, will be able to recog- 
 nize the writer. These I place on their honor not to 
 reveal their knowledge. 
 
 The Author. 
 
 603C21 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH 
 
 AN INCIDENT OF THE LATE WAR, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Union army lay impatiently waiting 
 until the plans of the leader of the Rebel 
 troops could be fathomed. His designs were 
 shrouded in so much mystery that the anxious 
 watchers could not determine whether the in- 
 vasion of Maryland was only a feint to draw 
 off the Union troops from the points they 
 were protecting, or whether he really aimed 
 to attack the Northern cities. 
 
 It seemed absolutely impossible to obtain 
 
6 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 authentic information. The stories brought in 
 V>y the stragglers and prisoners were wild and 
 improbable in the extreme. To have believed 
 them would have been to have believed that 
 the enemy had the power of marching in a 
 dozen different directions at one and the same 
 time, for each story gave the enemy a different 
 starting point, and a different aim and purpose 
 to their movements. 
 
 Of the scouts who had been sent out to all 
 points, many had been taken prisoner, or had 
 met a speedy death. In spite of their untiring 
 and daring efforts to obtain reliaVjle informa- 
 tion, the reports brought back Vjy the few who 
 did return were so unsatisfactory and contra- 
 dictory that no dependence could be placed in 
 them, for seeminsflv none of the soldiers and 
 few, if any, of the officers of the invading army 
 knew where they were going or for what. 
 
 At the headquarters of General Foster, 
 which that first week of September, ''62, were 
 located in an open meadow, half a dozen offi- 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 7 
 
 cers were o^athered in a low -voiced consultation. 
 Their faces were grave and marked with lines 
 of anxious thought, as they poured over maps 
 and compared conflicting dispatches. A young 
 oflicer, Captain Guilfoyle, who sat writing at a 
 table made up of rough boards, joined in the 
 conversation only when questioned by his supe- 
 rior officers, regarding some point in the topo- 
 graphy of the country, which could not be 
 determined from the imperfect maps they 
 studied. 
 
 An hour later all excepting the young officer 
 had left the tent. Stopping only to light a 
 candle as it grew too dark to see, he wrote 
 steadily on until his work was finished and 
 the papers lay folded on the table. He 
 arranged them ready for inspection, then rose 
 and walked back and forth across the narrow 
 limits of the tent to stretch his tired muscles. 
 At last, with an impatient sigh, he seated 
 himself again and after waiting a moment 
 drew from his pocket a long narrow book. 
 
8 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 It fell apart, as if accustomed to being opened 
 at one particular page, and the light from the 
 candle shone over a thick, long curl of fair 
 hair, which might have been cut from the 
 head bending over it, so exactly the same was 
 the color. At the sound of approaching foot- 
 steps and voices outside the tent he hastily 
 returned the book to his pocket. 
 
 Some one was asking for General Foster. 
 The next moment a man dressed like a team- 
 ster entered. His clothes were ragged and 
 dirty. One arm was wrapped around with a 
 piece of blood stained cloth and hung limp 
 and useless at his side. His face was pale 
 under the wide brim of his torn hat, and the 
 blood had trickled down one side from a fresh 
 wound in his forehead, making a wide mark 
 along his cheek. The man showed his utter 
 exhaustion in every movement, and staggered 
 from side to side as he went across the tent 
 and dropped half fainting onto a stool. 
 
 Captain Guilfoyle took a flask from off the 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 9 
 
 bed and held it to the man's lips, eyeing him 
 closely, until recovering somewhat, he straight- 
 ened up and removed the hat which partly 
 shaded his face. As he did so the Captain 
 recognized him as one of the scouts whose re- 
 turn they were anxiously hoping would bring 
 them the sorely needed intelligence and whose 
 report- General Foster had ordered him to re- 
 ceive if he got in during his absence. 
 
 " Yes, Pm here at last,'' replied the man to 
 Captain Guilfoyle's hurried interrogation, " and 
 I've nothing to report but a total lack of 
 success." 
 
 ^' I left poor Dedrick and Allison over there, 
 and barely succeeded in getting back myself. 
 You know what they were, — the best scouts in 
 the whole army. We did all men could do, 
 but luck was against us. We have learned 
 nothing except that the enemy are across the 
 Potomac, something any straggler can tell. I 
 have been four days getting back," said the 
 new comer, going on to give a full account of 
 
10 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 what he and his companions had tried to do. 
 " I tell you/' he added wearily, " I doubt if 
 any one can find out what they mean to do 
 until they do it, for I don't believe they know 
 
 themselves. They are .'' There the low 
 
 voice stopped abruptly and the speaker\s head 
 sank until it touched the table. 
 
 Calling in an orderly waitinor outside, the 
 officer applied restoratives, and as soon as con- 
 sciousness returned the sufferer was helped 
 away to a place where his wounds could re- 
 ceive much -needed attention. 
 
 Captain Guilfoyle returned to his seat by 
 the table to await General Foster's return. 
 After noting down some items in a well \vorn 
 dispatch book, he leaned his head on his hand 
 and gave himself to deep and serious thought, 
 until, finally, a look of grim determination 
 settled on his smooth, boyish face. 
 
 When the General returned, Captain Guil- 
 foyle rose to report his Avork finished. '' Mc- 
 Clandish has come in without any news of 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 11 
 
 importance; the two scouts with him were 
 killed and he is badly wounded,'" he reported 
 further, after receiving orders relating to the 
 disposition of the papers he had copied. 
 
 The 2:rave, anxious look that settled over 
 General Foster''s face as he listened, showed 
 how he regarded the failure of an undertaking 
 from which so much had been hoped. In 
 obedience to a word from his superior, the 
 young officer went on to give a full account 
 of all he had learned from McClandish. When 
 he had finished he made a moment's pause, 
 then added quickly, leaning forward and 
 speaking almost in a whisper, " If you will 
 allow me to go, I V)elieve I can bring full 
 and reliable information of the strength of the 
 enemy's forces and of his plans and intentions.'' 
 
 The General stopped his rapid pacing across 
 the tent and looked keenly at the slim, boyish 
 figure standing before him. '^If you could: if 
 we knew the strength of the Rebel forces and 
 where thev mean to strike, worn out and de- 
 
12 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 moralized as our troops are, we could surely 
 intercept them and turn them back," he said. 
 
 " I can try," replied Captain Guilfoyle. 
 
 '' You know the fate of the most of the men 
 who have gone," said the General gravely. 
 
 " But it may not be mine," returned the 
 younger officer. 
 
 " McClandish is one of our best lieutenants 
 and the two scouts with him were old, both in 
 experience and training. How can you succeed 
 w^here they and all the others have failed ? " 
 added General Foster after a long pause. 
 
 " I believe I can do it." 
 
 ^' How ? " 
 
 " If you will accept my services and see that 
 my destination is kept secret, and that I shall 
 never be required to tell how I gain any infor- 
 mation I bring back, I will be back at the 
 earliest possible moment and I trust with a full 
 knowledge of what the enemy mean to do," re- 
 plied Captain Guilfoyle firmly. "I only ask 
 that no person except yourself shall know for 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 13 
 
 what I have gone. Send me instead of Free- 
 land to Washington with these dispatches. Let 
 it be known I have gone thei-e, but after I have 
 delivered them let me follow my own plan. I 
 cannot tell just how long I must be away, but 
 you may be assured not one day, not one hour 
 longer than necessary." 
 
 A low, earnest conversation followed, which 
 ended in General Foster accepting the offer of 
 his young aid. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 From this point I will drop tlje cloak of an 
 observer and narrate events as they followed 
 fast upon each other. 
 
 After leaving General Foster's tent I went 
 to inquire after McClandish. I found him with 
 his wounds dressed, and though weak from loss 
 of blood and exhaustion, he had recovered 
 enough to give me some pieces of information 
 I wanted. 
 
 My preparations were not extensive, but in- 
 cluded the writing of some letters to be left 
 with General Foster and sent by him to various 
 friends in case I did not i-eturn. 
 
 Just as I was turning in for a few hours' 
 sleep. Major Larrabee, who shared my tent, 
 came in. We talked awhile on the outlook of 
 affairs, then I told him that I had been ordered 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 15 
 
 to the Capital with dispatches and was to set 
 out at dayljreak. 
 
 Joe had a cup of coffee ready for me before 
 daylight showed itself, and as I finished it he 
 brought around Bagdad, ready saddled. I 
 had not thou2:ht of it when ofivincr my orders 
 the night before, but as the horse gave a glad 
 wdiinny of welcome, I quickly decided to leave 
 him to await my return and take a less 
 valuable horse. I knew that in a few hours I 
 would have to change to a fresh one and it 
 would not be likely that once left I would ever 
 see him again. 
 
 I was soon on my way. I carried dispatches 
 to General Pennington and Colonel Barbour, 
 and important papers which I was to deliver 
 to the Commander-in-Chief, wherever he might 
 be. 
 
 The sun was just up w^hen I reached the 
 headquarters of General Pennington and de- 
 livered the dispatches. I learned there that 
 the troops had been moved; that the Com- 
 
16 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 mander-in- Chief was near R , so instead of 
 
 going on toward Washington I turned off and 
 saved considerable time by going across the 
 country. 
 
 I found the general headquarters on a slope 
 about three-quarters of a mile south of R — . 
 Without hard ridino; I reached there before 
 nine o'clock. As I dismounted an orderly 
 took my horse and called another, who con- 
 ducted me past the trim sentries and across 
 the tent-outlined square to the tent of the 
 Commander-in-Chief. He was ready to see 
 me and in less than half an hour I had deliv- 
 ered the papers and was on my way to Wash- 
 ington, where Colonel Barbour was to meet me 
 and deliver the dispatches which he and Gen- 
 eral Pennington wished to send back to General 
 Foster, so saving me the trip out to get them. 
 
 I found the roads so filled with vehicles. of 
 all sorts, mingled with cavalry and foot sol- 
 diers, as to be almost impassable in any direc- 
 tion, and at places they were completely ob- 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 17 
 
 structed, but by taking side paths I was able to 
 keep my horse at a fair speed. 
 
 At four o'clock I was to meet Colonel Bar- 
 bour at Willard's and in the meantime I had 
 enough to do. 
 
 As soon as I reached the city I made my 
 way to a restaurant for a nondescript meal, 
 which might be called either a very late break- 
 fast or an early dinner. From there I went to 
 Willard's, where I took a room and a hot bath. 
 Ever since I had decided to undertake the 
 hazardous enterprise on which I was bent, I 
 had had an intense desire to be off and avoid 
 all delay, and it required more time than I 
 cared to give to remove the traces of my long, 
 hard ride and furbish myself up into a tit con- 
 dition for calling, but the calls I was to make 
 were the preliminary steps in my hastily con- 
 structed plans and too important to be omitted. 
 
 The bright sun of the morning was almost 
 obscured by hazy clouds as I started out that 
 warm September afternoon. 
 
18 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 I sat ill four different parlors that afternoon, 
 and my fair Rebel entertainers little dreamed 
 that I, who had " looked them uj^ for old 
 acquaintance sake while I had a few hours' 
 leisure/' sat with every nerve strained, only 
 waiting for an opportunity to put the seem- 
 ingly trivial questions which were to gain me 
 the information so necessary to the successful 
 carrying out of my plans. All direct questions 
 had to be most carefully avoided and it was 
 discouraging to lead up to the subject and 
 then have the conversation go over and around 
 the point to which I had been so carefully 
 striving to bring it. 
 
 At the end of my second call I was ready 
 to curse the luck which made further effort 
 necessary. During the third call I began to 
 get the desired enlightenment, and at the 
 next house a few freely volunteered remarks 
 rounded my scrappy knowledge. That I did 
 not change countenance, I knew from the face 
 of my entertainer, and she little guessed the 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 19 
 
 lov I felt when she causallv^ told me what I 
 had been striving so hard to find out. My one 
 desire then was to get away, and it required 
 some eifort to keep up my part of the conversa- 
 tion. If I had followed the predominant im 
 pulse of the moment I would have sped away 
 and " stayed not on the order of my going/' in- 
 stead of drawing my call out to the proper, 
 lingering length. 
 
 When I again reached Willard's, I inquired 
 if Colonel Barbour had yet arrived, and learn- 
 ing that he had, I went directly to his room. 
 There were three or four other officers there, 
 all anxious to learn any news I could tell and 
 eager to question, but as I was not personally 
 acquainted with any of them, I cut all conver- 
 sation as short as I could without actual rude- 
 ness, and avoided beins: detained lono-. I 
 ordered my horse, and feeling the necessity 
 of eating while I had an opportunity, I went 
 in to dinner. 
 
 After a hasty meal I left the hotel. The 
 
so THE LOST nrsPATCII. 
 
 street was full of moving troops. As I rode 
 slowly along I had to draw up close to the 
 pavement several times to avoid the crush, and 
 several times came to a full halt, until the 
 moving mass of troops, vehicles and pedes- 
 trians had suro^ed past. I finally reached the 
 small restaurant on a side street, where, as 
 previously arranged, I met an orderly sent hy 
 General Foster. I gave him the dispatches I 
 carried, telling him to proceed at once with 
 them to that General's headquarters. As soon 
 as he was out of the \vay I was free to follow 
 my own jolans. 
 
 The streets were comparatively deserted in 
 the direction I took on leaving tlie restaurant, 
 and I met with no detention. After leaving 
 the city fairly behind me, a sharp three- 
 quarters of an hour's ride brought me to a 
 small, old house standing somewhat back from 
 the road. A decrepit negro took my horse 
 and I went in at a side door opening onto the 
 drive. 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. ^1 
 
 It was dark when I left the house again, but 
 even in daylight I do not believe any stranger 
 would have recognized in me, the well gotten 
 up young officer who had entered half an hour 
 before. I had discarded all my accouterments 
 and my uniform, which, notwithstanding the 
 rough usage it had lately been through, still 
 retained much of its new freshness and glitter 
 of brass and gilt. In its place I had on a 
 pair of blue trousers, a gray flannel shirt and 
 a large, soft felt hat, all considerable the worse 
 for wear. I had also changed to a fresh horse. 
 The one I took was not much in the way of 
 looks, but had considerable speed in him, and 
 was not too valuable to abandon to the enemy, 
 as I was well aware I might have to do at any 
 moment. 
 
 Leaving the place by a gate near the stables, 
 which led into a grove, I threaded my way 
 throu2^h it then turnins: ^vest I rode across a 
 meadow and through another grove, where I 
 came to a road which I followed until I 
 
22 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 reached the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. I in- 
 tended to avoid observation as far as I could. 
 I carried passes which would prevent any 
 serious trouble if iny detainers were our own 
 troops. But a meeting with any of them might 
 require me to lose considerable time. There 
 was, besides, the possibility that I might 
 chance on a party of Rebels lurking around 
 and I was particularly anxious to avoid such. 
 
 Fortunately I met but few persons. Some 
 passed without accosting me. Three times 
 when approaching sounds indicated more than 
 a single individual, I drew off into shelter 
 and squads of four or five men rode rapidly 
 past. Who or what they were I was too far 
 off to distinguish. 
 
 As soon as I was on the tow-path I put my 
 horse to a gallop and passed rapidly over a 
 number of miles. Several times I was oblig-ed 
 to make my way up and down the steep banks 
 to avoid being stopped. At one particularly 
 forbidding spot, where the rocks overhung the 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 23 
 
 path, some guard at an exalted altitude sang 
 out a question about my destination, which I 
 did not stop to answer. He repeated his in- 
 quiry and emphasized it by sending a bullet 
 after me. Luckily it went wide of the mark. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Another hour's riding, a ten minute's pause 
 to reconnoiter, and I crossed to the other side 
 of the Potomac by a rough and almost impass- 
 able ford. Making the top of the rocks which 
 faced the river, I" gave my horse time to get his 
 breath, while I sat on a stone beside him. 
 Night and darkness had almost shut in the 
 view on every side. The moon was up but 
 was obscured by clouds except for a moment 
 or two at a time. I could hear the faint swish 
 of the water as it flowed over the stones imme- 
 diately below, but save for that an intense still- 
 ness prevailed. 
 
 Rising after a fe^v moments' contemplation 
 of a landscape, which I could l)ut faintly see, 
 I buried my passes and the one other valuable 
 paper I carried under a huge stone. I then 
 
 24 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 25 
 
 felt that I was fairly started on my perilous 
 undertaking. I was on the Virginia side of 
 the river, in a region known to he swarming 
 with Rebels who asked nothing better than to 
 catch a Union spy. I well knew that if I 
 should run across any of them in such a way 
 as to arouse their suspicions my life would not 
 be worth the asking, and I wouhl share the 
 fate of many who had tried before. 
 
 As I no\v had no passes or any way of prov- 
 ing my identity, I also had to guard equally 
 against meeting any of our own troops, for 
 unless I should chance on an acquaintance 
 among them, they would be certain to hold me 
 prisoner. My endeavor was to avoid every 
 one, for a small foraging party or a few belated 
 pickets might prove as disastrous to me as '' an 
 army with banners.^' I had determined that it 
 would be necessary for me to avoid all well- 
 traveled roads and all towns, even the smallest 
 villao;es, and to make mv wav throusfh the 
 dense woods when ever I could, taking: advant- 
 
2fi THE LOST DTS PATCH. 
 
 age of such bridle-paths as I could find run- 
 ning in the direction I wanted to go. 
 
 Before I had rode many miles I became con- 
 vinced that a s^eneral move toward the Poto- 
 mac of some sort was going on. When ever I 
 approached a road I could tell from the sounds 
 that persons were passing along it, not rapidly / 
 or in any large sized bodies, but mostly on foot 
 and singly, or in small squads of six or eight. 
 They seemed to be pressing on too steadily for 
 ordinary skulkers, yet in a too " go as you 
 please'' style for troops under command. 
 
 At last I decided to gratify my curiosity, 
 hoping to gain at the same time some informa- 
 tion that would be of use to me. 
 
 Some miles back I had struck a path which 
 I had been able to follow. When it again 
 crossed a road, 1 stopped a few rods back, 
 slipped my horse's bridle ov^er a sapling and 
 made my way to the edge of the road, which, 
 as I soon made out at this point, ran along a 
 sort of gully. On the side I was on the bank 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 27 
 
 was at least four feet above the road, and 
 along the edge of the V)ank was a rough 
 attempt at a rail -fence pieced out and propped 
 up here and there with stones. I crept noise- 
 lessl}^ behind this shelter and waited until two 
 stragglers came along. When nearly opposite 
 me they accosted a third who must have been 
 restincr V>y the roadside. 
 
 We all went on together; they on the road 
 and I behind the fence. From their inter- 
 change of confidences, scraps of which came up 
 to me, I soon learned that they were Rebels 
 and belonged to Knapp^s division, and that in 
 the first advance it had been left behind on the 
 James, but had just crossed the Potomac and 
 gone on to join Luce. The men seemed 
 to be stragglers who had dropped behind 
 from pure physical inability to keep up. and 
 their great anxiety, as well as I could judge 
 from their conversation, was to p-et there before 
 anybody ^'fit." 
 
 Having learned all I was likely to from 
 
28 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 them, I retraced my steps and mounted my 
 horse. I had to keep him at a walk, for I was 
 in a rough piece of woods and could not see 
 two feet beyond my horse's head. I had not 
 rode long when I heard faint sounds of mus- 
 ketry in front of me and a little to my left, in 
 exactly the direction I was traveling. I list- 
 ened intently, and concluded it must he a 
 chance brush between a party of our troops 
 and some of the Rebels. 
 
 The Uring was directly between where I was 
 and the place where I intended to get break- 
 fast and hoped to get a fresh horse. I did not 
 want to miss stopping there, for it was the only 
 Union man^s house I knew of any where near. 
 I could not afford to circle around the fighting, 
 as it might lead me considerably out of my 
 road. A skirmish, even if a small affair, is a 
 very unsatisfactory thing to go around, not 
 being exactly station aiy. 
 
 I carried an old silver watch which I had 
 procured during my stay in the Capital, but it 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 29 
 
 was too dark to see the time without strikino- a 
 match, which I did not care to do. I judged 
 from the distance I had come it must be near 
 daybreak. So, anxious as I was to get on, I 
 knew it would be wdse to halt until it began 
 to get light and the dispute ahead should be 
 settled. 
 
 I tied my horse to a tree and went as far 
 away as I could to be within hearing distance 
 of his movements. As soon as I discovered a 
 log, w^hich I did at last by taking a header over 
 it, I lay down behind it. Though in point of 
 fact I did not know which to call the front or 
 back, considering it as a barrier to an ap- 
 proaching foe. 
 
 I' was too weary to more than reach a recum- 
 bent position before I was asleep. I had been 
 asleep long enough to feel completely chilled 
 from the cold fog when somethino- awoke me. 
 I aroused with a start and a feeling that some 
 one w^as near me. On the alert at once I 
 waited with baited breath for some further 
 
30 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 noise to indicate in which direction the distur- 
 bance had been, Vjut none came and I linally 
 concluded that I had })een mistaken or dream- 
 ing. 
 
 I went over to look at my horse and make 
 sure that he had not pulled loose. He was 
 where I had left him and had evidently spent 
 his time nibbling off every tender branch in his 
 reach. 
 
 I determined to look around before mount- 
 ing. It was barely daybreak and there was 
 a light fog, \vhich made all excepting near 
 objects indistinct. I made my way through a 
 shallow, dry gully and across a wide flat cov- 
 ered with trees. I knew I must then be near 
 the road which I had been skirting the latter 
 part of my ride, so I paused a moment before 
 advancing further. Hearing nothing I went 
 on around a jutting point of rocks on a thicket- 
 covered slope and stopped at the head of a 
 washout, made by the summer rains. 
 
 As I stood listening the ground suddenly 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 31 
 
 gave way with me and I went down a steep 
 bank, to find the road sooner than I expected, 
 and myself in the company of two Rebel sol- 
 diers and a broken down army wagon. 1 
 found out with a vengeance what had aroused 
 me, and as is sometimes the case with investiga- 
 tors, learned more than was desirable. 
 
 The men had evidently been half asleep, 
 when my abrupt appearance brought them to 
 their feet. 
 
 A man has to think quickly in moments of 
 danger. I took in the situation at a glance and 
 in the same brief time decided to enter into 
 conversation with them. 
 
 '' What's up ? " I asked. 
 
 " Broke down," replied the liveliest looking 
 of the two, while both kept their muskets sug- 
 gestively convenient and eyed me suspiciously. 
 
 The wagon was heavily loaded and the back 
 axle-tree had broken in two, letting down the 
 end. I looked it over because I had nothing 
 better to do. One of the men volunteered the 
 
32 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 information that it ^va8 twice too niLK-li of a 
 load. 
 
 '' You dont expect to sit here with it all day, 
 do you?'' I asked, intending to offer to go 
 ahead and find some one to help them right 
 matters as an excuse to get away. 
 
 " No," said the man who had not spoken 
 before. '* Holly, 'es gone on thar an' 'ell bring 
 back some of our squad to help." 
 
 As he spoke, faintly approaching sounds in- 
 dicated that '' Hollv " was coming^ back with 
 assistance. There was no chance for me to 
 leave and nothino; better suo^o^ested itself than 
 to act so that whoever came back would think 
 I belonged there. I proposed to the men that 
 we mio^ht as well see what we could do while 
 we waited. 
 
 When a dingy officer and eight men ap- 
 peared on the scene, we were all three busy 
 inspecting the damage and no awkward ques- 
 tions were asked. So for a short space of 
 time I served in the Confederate army, — at 
 
THE LOST DTS PATCH. 33 
 
 least I jDulled at the wheel of a Confederate 
 army wagon, Avith a great sliow of work and 
 no real exertion. 
 
 The officer in command, it Avas impossible 
 to tell his rank from his dress, l)nt as he 
 assumed more airs than a Brio-adier- General, 
 it is safe to sa}" he was not above a Sergeant, 
 ordered the men around as if he were recon- 
 structing an entire train. 
 
 His obstancy was soon apparent to my very 
 alert observation. No matter what one of the 
 men began to do, he stopped him and set him 
 to w^ork in another manner. 
 
 This amiable trait of his character I turned 
 to my own advantage. AVlien things were 
 righted and he called out that one man must 
 go back with a message and the rest follow 
 him, I said audibly that I would " go on," 
 and had my' expectations realized by his order- 
 ing me to go back to meet Captain Shuman. 
 
 Not being deeply impressed with the neces- 
 sity of encountering that individual, I followed 
 the road no longer than was necessary to take 
 
34 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 me beyond sight and bearing of the men who, 
 with the wagon, had started in the opposite 
 direction. Entering the woods, I returned to 
 my horse, mounted and hurried on. 
 
 As I n eared the place where the firing had 
 occurred, I kept a sharp lookout for a dead 
 Confederate in decent clothes, intending to 
 appropriate them. It is proverbially slow 
 work waiting for dead men's shoes, and I 
 found it considerably more tedious still try- 
 ing to acquire a more extended outfit. In all 
 the four miles to Petterbridge's there were no 
 signs of a skirmish visible, saving a dead horse 
 and a discarded musket or two. I wanted at 
 the first opportunity to discard my blue 
 trousers for a pair of the Rebel colors. Many 
 of the men in the Confederate army at that 
 time wore such parts of Union soldiers' clothes 
 as they had been able to get to replace their 
 own ragged and filthy garments. I knew the 
 blue trousers I wore would not be likely to 
 excite any suspicion, still I preferred to use 
 every precaution. 
 
CHAPTER TV. 
 
 Petterbridge's house stood in a small shel- 
 tered v^alley into which the sun had not yet 
 made its way, when I drew rein at the rail 
 fence at the side of his house. As I was not 
 known by the family, and might have had 
 trouble o-ettino: what I wanted from anv of 
 them, I was particularly glad when the old 
 man himself appeared at the back door. In 
 reply to his '^ What ere' want, stranger ? " I 
 dismounted and convinced him who I was. 
 As there was only the family at home, it was 
 safe for me to stop. 
 
 Here I got breakfast, a pocketfull of bread 
 and meat to carry with me, a fresh horse, a 
 pair of butternut trousers, and the news that 
 several houses supposed to belong to Unionists 
 had been burnt by Kebels during the night. 
 
 35 
 
36 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 Petterbridge also said that quite a body of 
 Confederate troops had passed down the valley 
 a mile back the day before, and ga\'e me the 
 agreeable bit of information that the country 
 ahead was worse, if possible, than what I had 
 just come through, being alive with raiders 
 and bushwhackers as well as overrun with 
 stragglers anxious to get to the front. 
 
 Devotedly hoping that I might miss all these 
 ill-regulated gentlemen, I left Petterbridge's 
 and pushed on. The horse I had taken was 
 only a fair traveler, but then he was not too 
 valuable to abandon to the enemy. 
 
 A number of times I met and was accosted 
 by single stragglers and skulkers. They were 
 a pitiful looking set of men, ragged as Lazarus, 
 generally barefoot, and gaunt almost to emaci- 
 ation. I always stopped at the least effort on 
 their part to enter into conversation, and asked 
 earnestly after a lost cow or a fictitious com- 
 panion, varying the inquiry as 1 thought my 
 interlocutor took me for one of the moun- 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 37 
 
 taineers indigenous to that region, or for one 
 of themselves. 
 
 I never willingly ran against them, but it 
 was impossible to avoid them entirely, for they 
 were making for the Potomac, and I was prac- 
 tically following its course and going across 
 their line of march. There was really little to 
 fear from them. They could not know that I 
 was a Union spy, and they were not a suspi- 
 cious set of men anyway. 
 
 It was the bushwhackers and raiders I was 
 most in danger from, and more from the bush- 
 whackers tlian the raiders. The latter, like 
 the stragglers, kept on and near the roads, and 
 there was always enouo-h of them too-ether to 
 make me aware of their presence by their noise, 
 so with due caution I would not be likely to 
 encounter them. More than a dozen times I 
 drew up into thickets and ravines to let a 
 party of them pass, and several other times 
 saw squads in the distance. From the bush- 
 whackers I had no protection. Singularly 
 
38 THE LOST DTS PATCH. 
 
 eDough I did not actually encounter any, al- 
 though I discerned a good many by the aid 
 of my imagination and had plenty of evidence 
 of their actual near presence. The whole 
 country was an extremely pretty one to bush- 
 whack in. I tried to let the fact slip my mind, 
 but I had an unpleasant, ticklish sensation in 
 my back the whole time and longed for an 
 eye in the rear of my head to keep a lookout 
 in the direction from which I particularly 
 anticipated a bullet. 
 
 I will here say I was in the bloodiest and 
 most hopless battles of the war, and I have 
 had a pretty steady diet of Indian fighting 
 since the war, having been surrounded by 
 half- frozen Indians of various tribes in Mon- 
 tana and Dakota, and chased and been chased 
 by red hot Apaches in Arizona and New 
 Mexico, but never have I undergone such 
 nerve -trying work as was that trip I made 
 as a Union spy, the account of which I am 
 telling. 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 39 
 
 There was never at any time more danger 
 than I met afterward, but there was no let 
 up. Every nerve was strung to its highest 
 tension and kept there, every sense was held 
 alert. There was never present the enlivening 
 enthusiasm of battle, Avhich warms a man's 
 blood to deeds of heroism; there was no emu- 
 lation to keep up one's courage; there was 
 always the demoralizing necessity of keeping 
 out of the way of danger; there was ever 
 present the fretting fact that self-preservation 
 only could insure success. No man is anxious 
 to be killed. No matter how strongly he is 
 imbued with a sense of duty and honor and 
 of love for his country, he is pretty certain 
 to feel that her good will be better secured 
 if he is on the boards to look after it, than 
 it would be if he had laid down his life at 
 her shrine. He prefers to live, but at the 
 same time he does not ^v^ant his personal safety 
 to be a matter of perpetual concern. 
 
 I was not a coward, but I felt decidedly 
 
40 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 averse to l^eiucr shot. I had started out to do 
 something and I wanted to do it; I had already 
 concluded that there was no " right time " for a 
 spy to l:)e killed. He does not want to be shot 
 until he has found out what he seeks to know, 
 and then not until he has told it. 
 
 It was about three oV-lock when I finally 
 stumbled on an oat stack in an odd little clear- 
 ing, far out from sight of the owner's windows. 
 
 I let my horse take his dinner, while I kept 
 guard and ate a sandwich. In order to let him 
 make as good a meal as possible I delayed as 
 long as my impatience would let me and then 
 nearly made him Vjreak his neck and mine too, 
 by trying to canter liim down a place about as 
 steep as Jordalemet and nearly as slick, in 
 order to make up for lost time. 
 
 The country which liad been comparatively 
 level and well settled for some distance back 
 through the valley, became rough again as I 
 neared the mountains, and I had to make my 
 way more slowly and cautiously. 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 41 
 
 I seemed to have rim out of the stream of 
 Rebels. I determined to question the first per- 
 son I met. Before long I saw a weak minded 
 looking man driving a few sheep along a 
 narro^v path, and coming from the opposite 
 direction. 
 
 '' Howdy, stranger ? " I began. 
 
 " Howdy ? '^ he returned. 
 
 ^'You're pretty fortunate to get through with 
 them sheep, without their l)eing turned into 
 mutton." 
 
 "Met nobody to turn ^em; ain't nobody up 
 that way." 
 
 From this I judged that the country ahead 
 was free of both Rebels and Yankees as far 
 back as he had come. He eyed me suspi- 
 ciously while talking, but was evidently tell- 
 ing the truth as far as he knew it. He seemed 
 in a great hurry to get away from me with 
 his sheep, and after asking him for minute 
 directions for a road that turned to the right 
 about four miles ahead and which I did not 
 intend to take, we separated. 
 
42 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 After parting from him I shortly turned to 
 my left, having decided that as soon as I came 
 to it, which I knew would be in a little time, 
 I would avail myself of a road leading over 
 the mountains. 
 
 Riding slowly along through the dense for- 
 est, wondering if I dared treat myself to a 
 smoke, I turned full on a group of four 
 men, in dirty butternut, camped in a laurel 
 brake. They were chivalrous Southerners 
 without doubt, but built on the plan of 
 " He who fights and runs away.'' They evi- 
 dently thought they had been discovered by 
 Yankees and that the proper time to run had 
 arrived. One man, who was lifting a bucket 
 of coifee from the coals, ejaculated '* hell," and 
 taking the bucket wdth him, fled, followed by 
 the others. 
 
 To my startled gaze they seemed to dis- 
 appear in a dozen different directions at the 
 same time. 1 ^vould have been extremely 
 grateful to the leader if he had left the coffee 
 behind. 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 43 
 
 Knowing that a short stop made by me 
 might be lengthened out indefinitely if any of 
 the fugitives chanced to return. I departed 
 without much delay. As soon as I reached 
 the road I turned into it and had a compara- 
 tively easy time for the next few miles. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 I was 80 weary and Avorn out by my con- 
 stant riding and so in need of sleep that it was 
 only by determined effort that I could keep my 
 eyes open. Several times I roused to the un- 
 pleasant conviction that I had been asleep in 
 my saddle. I knew that would not do, for I 
 well knew that even in that seemingly quiet 
 district constant watchfidness was needed and 
 that later on fresh dangers would need fresh- 
 ened faculties and renewed energy to meet 
 them. So I decided to allow myself an hour's 
 rest. 
 
 As quick as I found a suital>le place, Avhich 
 I soon did in the shape of a narroAV, rock-hung 
 ravine, Avhieh branched olf at my right hand 
 between t^vo almost perpendicular Avails of 
 mountains, I stopped, and dismounting, led 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 45 
 
 my liorse in after nie. When we had pene- 
 trated several I'ods I tethered my horse ])ehind 
 some bushes, so that he could graze, and 
 crawled into a leaf cushioned hole between 
 two rocks. 
 
 I have always had the faculty of waking 
 at any predetermined time, and w^hen I roused 
 from a heavy sleep of exhaustion I had ex- 
 ceeded my hour's allowance by only ten min- 
 utes. 
 
 Passino; cautiously down the ravine before 
 leaving its shelter, I tried to make sure by 
 observation from a rock up the bank that 
 there were no obstacles in view. A little 
 spring a short way down the road made a 
 most inviting halting place and I did not want 
 to start out if it chanced to be occupied. As 
 the coast was clear, I Avas soon on my way, and 
 having the benefit of a fair road, made good 
 time. 
 
 As I turned a sharp corner I involuntarily 
 drew a quick breath at the scene before me. 
 
46 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 My suiToiiiidings were wild in the extreme. I 
 was riding along a limestone ridge, which 
 jutted out from the wall of mountains behind. 
 Looking down I saw before me dark, dense 
 forests covering lesser elevations. Looking up 
 toward my right the rock-ci'ested mountains 
 were outlined against a clear sky, from which 
 the sun had just disappeared behind their fan- 
 tastic peaks. As I gazed, the sun sinking- 
 lower, left the depths at my left in twilight, 
 the ravines became black lines and the thick 
 o-rowth of cedar and other trees fringfincj- them 
 looked only a shade less sombre. The whole 
 picture was one of dee23 solitude and wild 
 grandeur. 
 
 Since the dissolving view of Southei*ners to 
 which I had been treated I had not seen a 
 human soul. Ahead of me about ten miles 
 
 was the village of J and as all seemed 
 
 quiet, I decided to stop there, if nothing turned 
 up in the meantime, and get supper and some 
 imformation by which to shape my plans for 
 the next day. 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 47 
 
 The niglit, unlike the previous one, was 
 beautifully clear, and the moon, full a few 
 nights before, was up when I entered J . 
 
 I kne\A' very well ^vhere a notorious Rebel 
 b}' the name of Deputy lived, and thinking it 
 would do him good to serve his country for 
 once in his life by telling me what I wanted to 
 kno^v, I made my way toward his house, which 
 stood near the center of the village. 
 
 I found him swinging a tow-headed boy on 
 the grate, the urchin shriekinoc with delio;ht 
 whenever the clumsy thing came to with a 
 clap that threatened to dislodge him from his 
 perch. As Deputy caught sight of me he 
 stopped that interesting occupation and was 
 ready to ply me with questions before I had 
 drawn rein. He took me for one of Leonard's 
 men at once, which gave me a hint that they, 
 if not already in the vicinity, were expected. 
 
 I fostered his mistake and told him that I 
 was one of a foraging party sent on ahead and 
 that I had lost my way. This information was 
 
48 THhJ LOST DTS PATCH. 
 
 rewarded by a cordial invitation to '' light and 
 take supper/^ Going up to the open door he 
 called to some one inside: 
 
 ''Say, Sallie, hurry up supper, one of our 
 boys is a stoppin'.'' 
 
 Cominof back he put down a jj^ood l)undle of 
 fodder and soiue oats for my horse outside the 
 gate. I followed him in to the supper he had 
 called his wife to hurry up for me. 
 
 I gave that man more news about what had 
 happened down below than he had liad for a 
 lonof time. I did not care a hard tack about 
 keeping to facts and no punctilio prevented me 
 from arranofino; the stories to suit his taste. In 
 return he told me all he kne\v about the late 
 movements of troops, and as he had just re- 
 turned that afternoon from M , he was 
 
 pretty well posted in affairs across the river. 
 Returning to the immediate vicinity, I soon 
 discovered that the country in the direction I 
 was going was clear. I did not care what high 
 jinks they cut up down the other way just then, 
 as long as I was not detained. 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 49 
 
 I also learned that word had been hrouo^ht in 
 that afternoon that General Leonard and his 
 troops were to pass through the town Vjefore 
 morning, and that the red-hot Rebels which 
 made up the population were planning to give 
 them a loyal reception. 
 
 I was tinishing an excellent cup of coffee 
 when a shout from the little fellow at the gate 
 took Deputy out. I heard a call or two and 
 some hasty talking with passers by, then 
 Deputy entered, much excited. 
 
 " Lucky for you, some of Leonard's troops 
 are just crossing the bridge and some in ad- 
 vance have already stopped on the Square," 
 was his astounding announcement. 
 
 " Sure it's not some of the Yankees ? '' I 
 asked. 
 
 '' You bet it ain't ; Jim Buckner came in 
 with them and that man I was talkin' to was 
 Bill Stiver, hurryin' down to tell Jim's folks 
 to go \x^ and see him, because they ain't goin' 
 to 'tinner on long;." 
 
50 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 I did not wait for a very formal leave taking. 
 With a muttered excuse about my being obliged 
 to report at once, I hurried out, untied my 
 horse and was off. 
 
 I could see a crowd in front of the tavern 
 as I passed into a side street. When I turned 
 into my road again I struck into a gallop. As 
 I passed a road running into mine at an ol^tuse 
 angle, a small squad of cavalry was coming 
 down it at a leisurely pace. I saw plainly in 
 the bright moonlight that there were not more 
 than two dozen of them. They sang out a 
 challenge, but I neither stopped or increased 
 my speed. Looking back I saw them turn 
 toward town when they entered the road I 
 was on. 
 
 They must have had their suspicions roused, 
 however, and turned back almost immediately, 
 for I soon heard the sound of fast riding be- 
 hind me. I put my horse to his best speed, 
 but he was jaded, while theirs were evidently 
 fresh. The bullets soon came spattering against 
 the rocks and trees around me with alarming 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 51 
 
 frequency. They certainly did their best to 
 persuade me to stop, but did not haj)pen to 
 touch a spot to make their coaxing effectual. 
 
 The moment to lose my horse, which I had 
 been anticipating from the first, had come at 
 last. My pursuers were gaining on me and 
 the question of which of them should have 
 the pleasure of shooting me was merely a 
 question of who should hit first. They were 
 still too far behind and the moonlight too in- 
 distinct in the narrow and wooded gorge, 
 which the road had just entered, for them to 
 see me, but they were drawing closer every 
 moment. Freeing my feet from the stirrups, I 
 gave my horse a cut with the whij^ and slipped 
 to the ground. Lightened of his burden he 
 flew on with accelerated speed, his hoofs ring- 
 ing down^the rocky road and guiding my pur- 
 suers past where I lay at the Ijottom of a 
 ravine, down the sides of which I had tumbled 
 with celerity and a series of somersaults of 
 which a circus rider need not have been 
 ashamed. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 I was not in a very amiable frame of mind 
 and passed a bad quarter of an hour while I 
 sat down there on a stump, recovering myself 
 and decidino; what to do next. 
 
 I still had over thirty miles to go and instead 
 of reaching my destination before morning, as 
 I had just decided I would be able to do, I was 
 left without a horse and in very poor trim to 
 make good speed on foot. However, I started 
 on, determined to investigate every place along 
 my road and get a horse if possible without 
 leave or license, but fearing that all not already 
 confiscated were in too secure hiding for me to 
 unearth. I had some hope of finding my own 
 poor beast, but it was not realized. 
 
 Every house I came to was dark and for- 
 saken looking and all the inmates seemed to be 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 53 
 
 away or asleep. Ev^en the clogs made no dis- 
 turVjanee, if there were any around. My search 
 in stables, sheds and pasture lots only took up 
 time, without gaining help, for not a sign of a 
 horse did I find. 
 
 At last, w^hile making a circuit to bring me 
 around by the place of a man named Carter, 
 thinking he might have something left in the 
 way of horseflesh, as he had a remarkable 
 way of holding on to everything belonging 
 to him, I saw^ a light in a small cabin perched 
 near a road. I had come on the place from 
 the rear, as I w^as taking a short cut. Drawing 
 near with much circumspection, I could hear 
 the sound of voices and laughing. Evidently 
 from the noise a good time of some kind was 
 in progress. 
 
 I crept up in the shadow of the house near 
 enough to look around an angle and see into 
 the room. Three officers in Confederate gray 
 were seated at a table taking supper, and 
 laughing and joking with a long, lean moun- 
 
54 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 taineer, who seemed to be plying them with 
 (jiiestions, while his wife served them. As I 
 watched, a pretty girl entered from another 
 room with a jug of cider, which she proceeded 
 to pour out into tumblers. At the sight of the 
 foaming liquid one of the officers trolled a 
 verse of a rollicking drinking song. 
 
 It did not take me long to conclude that 
 they must be the very fellows who had been in 
 such hot haste after me, to infer that they 
 had given over pursuit and that their horses 
 must be somewhere near. I retreated into the 
 shadow of the trees and thus sheltered made 
 my way around to the front of the house. To 
 my exceeding joy, I found there three slick 
 Confederate steeds tied to the fence. I hastily 
 untied the halters, for while I did not intend to 
 perform another circus act by riding all three 
 at once, I did not care to leave any behind to 
 aid in my pursuit. I led them as gently as 
 possible down into the road and mounted one, 
 a powerful black. The other two at first 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 55 
 
 made some resistance, but an energetic pull 
 or two decided them to follow. The noise of 
 my departure brought out the pleasure-loving 
 cavalrymen in hot haste, but they were not 
 quick enough to do any effectual work. 
 
 I followed the obscure, little -used road, on 
 which the house stood, for a short distance, 
 then turning from it I made a cut between 
 two hills and came out on a road running 
 
 parallel with the one I had started from J 
 
 on. After going several miles I turned the 
 extra horses loose and they soon stopped to 
 graze. 
 
 My late acquisition was possessed of pro- 
 digious activity and 1 soon made up the time 
 I had lost. I had no further detention and 
 as the gray dawn again a2:)peared I reached 
 my destination. 
 
 Turning from the road I walked my horse 
 slowly up the w^ide, tree-lined avenue toward 
 the mansion. Tired as I was and interested 
 in but one object, the deserted, desolate appear- 
 
56 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 ance of the place impressed me deeply, and I 
 drew rein for a moment to look around. I 
 knew the family had been away V)nt a com- 
 paratively short time, yet the house and sur- 
 roundings had already that uncared for, lonely 
 look that soon hangs over a closed house. It 
 was the first time I had ever seen that wide, 
 hospitable mansion when it was not filled with 
 life and mirth. It was the first time I had 
 ever come to it without receiving a warm 
 welcome. 
 
 Leaving the lawn in front, I made my way 
 to the quarters of the family servants beyond 
 the house. To my surprise I found them 
 emj)ty and deserted. I knew that Avhen the 
 
 family went to G all except two of the 
 
 servants had been left behind and I expected 
 to find them there. I knew my aunt would 
 not leave without making ample provision for 
 their comfoi't and I felt certain they were too 
 strongly attached to the family to run away, so 
 I could not understand the vacant cabins. 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 57 
 
 I could not believe but what some of them 
 were still around the place. I searched and 
 called without unearthing a soul, and had just 
 I'eturned from another tour around the house, 
 and ^vas pondering how best to effect an en- 
 trance into it when I caught sight of a gray- 
 head peeping out of an oj^ening in the top of 
 the kitchen, which stood a few rods from the 
 house. It was instantly withdraw^n, but not 
 until I had seen it Ijelonged to Ned, an old 
 negro owned by my mother, but who made 
 his home at S . 
 
 He had evidently been watching me from his 
 place of concealment, but had not recognized 
 me in my rough clothes. Going into the 
 kitchen it appeared as emj^ty as before, but 
 I finally discovered the frightened old negro 
 curled up on top of a wide set of shelves 
 behind a barricade of cooking utensils, taking 
 a reconnoissance from the ventilator just above. 
 
 '' Come down, Ned," I called, but he made 
 no sign of having heard. 
 
58 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 It was some time before I could convince 
 him who I was, but as soon as he could get 
 his scattered wits together his delight was 
 unbounded, and he came down from his ele- 
 vated perch to an accompaniment of rattling 
 tinware. 
 
 I soon learned that when my aunt found 
 she would be detained indefinitely, she had 
 sent back word for all the servants to go 
 to a neighl>oring plantation, which they had 
 all done with the exception of Ned, who had 
 staid behind intending to make his way to me 
 and beg me to keep him for my body servant, 
 an office he had always desired. 
 
 While Ned prepared and served me ^vith a 
 breakfast, which I insisted on taking in the 
 kitchen, he gave me the family news and told 
 me all about the death of his wife, which had 
 occurred a few weeks before. 
 
 After I had finished my meal and Ned had 
 fed my horse, he brought out the keys from 
 their place of concealment, and if I would have 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 59 
 
 permitted him to do so, would have thrown 
 open the whole house in my honor. Much to 
 his disappointment, I dared not allow him to 
 unclose a single shutter or even turn the slats, 
 except at the back of the house. I explained 
 to him that it must still present a closed ap- 
 pearance to any chance observer, and that no 
 one must know^ that I was there. 
 
 We entered the house and proceeded through 
 the long, dusky hall and up the wide stairs to 
 the second story. After Ned had gathered 
 everything necessary to my comfort into the 
 room which I occupied whenever I was at 
 
 8 , and which was always left undisturbed 
 
 in my absence, he left me. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Weary as I was I yet had something to do 
 before I could take the needed rest, which 
 every atom in my jaded frame was loudly 
 demanding:. 
 
 The time had come to test the feasibility of 
 the j)lan which had flashed into my mind as I 
 sat in General Foster's tent, and which I had 
 thought ov^er and elaborated along the way. 
 
 When the idea first entered my head that I 
 could personate my cousin Salome, enter the 
 enemy's lines, meet her Rel)el lover, and from 
 him learn what the enemy were going to do, 
 and by my own eyes determine the strength 
 and position of their forces, I had only thought 
 what a huge joke it would be. Had General 
 Foster returned at once the idea might have 
 died without further growth, but in the time of 
 
THE LOST DTSPATCH. fil 
 
 waiting I had idly thought over and over how 
 easily it could be done, and planned this and 
 that detail until finally the project seized a firm 
 hold of me, and I had determined, hazardous as 
 it was, to attempt it. 
 
 None knew better than I the dangers sur- 
 rounding such a trip, but I realized our need 
 of reliable information to take the place of 
 the flying rumors that could not be trusted, 
 and well I knew that I would stand every 
 chance of succeeding where others had failed. 
 My love of adventure, my ambition, my duty 
 to my country, all urged me on. There was 
 nothing to weigh against the last. 
 
 I was acquainted with every inch of the 
 country. 1 had gone more times than I can 
 number up and down both sides the river, to 
 and from Washington and places in the vicin- 
 ity. I was almost as much at home at several 
 places near Hagerstown and Frederick as I was 
 at S , and every inch of the country be- 
 tween was familiar to me. I had hunted over 
 
62 THE LOST DTS PATCH. 
 
 it and knew every cross road and rabbit path, 
 every short cut and ford, and I was well aware 
 that I could baffle pursuit from an enemy not 
 so entirely familiar with the country. 
 
 I had no fear but what I could successfully 
 personate my cousin. My cousin Salome and I 
 were within a few months of the same age. 
 She had but one sister and I was an only child. 
 We had been together so much that we rpiite 
 looked on ourselves as brother and sistei', and I 
 think our affection was strengthened by the ex- 
 ceedingly strong likeness we bore each other. 
 So strono; was the resemblance that when chil- 
 dren we were constantly taken by strangers not 
 only for brother and sister, but for twins. 
 One of the favorite pranks of my boyhood 
 had been to don one of Salome's dresses, and 
 answerino^ the first call made for her, deceive 
 even her own mother, until a closer view 
 proved the fraud. 
 
 Since Salome had grown to the dignity of 
 long dresses and done up hair, and I to long 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 63 
 
 tailed eoats, the resemblance was not so strik- 
 ing, and I, not liking to look so much like a 
 girl, had done all I could to make it less so. 
 
 Only the Christmas before, however, when 
 
 we had all been together at S , ( I had 
 
 not then joined the Union army), Salome and 
 I had arrayed ourselves as two old ladies, with 
 close-fitting, lace-frilled caps, and it had been a 
 long time before any one could decide w^hich 
 was which, although all the company present 
 had known us both from childhood. 
 
 I had never met Captain DeLacy. He had 
 been a stranger to Salome until they had met 
 three months before at the White Sulphur, 
 where he was staying to recover from a wound. 
 It was a case of genuine love at first sight, and 
 the enc]!;ao;ement had been contracted on the eve 
 of his departure for his regiment. At that 
 time I had just entered the Federal army and 
 Salome was feeling very sore over it, so I was 
 pretty certain she had never confided to him 
 that she had a cousin ficrhtinof aofainst him, 
 or indeed told him anything about me. 
 
64 THE LO^T DTSPATCH. 
 
 I had learned in Washington that Captain 
 DeLacy was with Dare's division, which had 
 crossed the Potomac with Luce. My plan was 
 to make my way across the Potomac, find the 
 whereabouts of Dare's division, make my way 
 beyond it, assume my disguise and turn l)ack 
 toward the river so as to approach the Rebel 
 lines after dark. I knew I would l)e stopped 
 as soon as I encountered the first Confederate 
 soldiers and an exhibition of my pass de- 
 manded. I would account for its absence by 
 saying I had lost it. When * permission to 
 proceed was refused, as I knew it would be, 
 I would insist on going on and finally de- 
 mand an interview with Captain DeLacy to 
 prove my identity. 
 
 Once in his presence, I had little doul)t 
 but that I could pass myself off for Salome. I 
 would tell him I had been called to New York 
 by the illness of my sister and was trying to 
 get back home, which would be a plausible 
 story and not likely to be questioned. 
 
THE LOST BTSPATCII. 65 
 
 I knew I would have to run great risks. 
 There would be first and always a chance of 
 being picked up and summarily finished in an 
 unprepared moment. There would be the 
 possibility that Captain DeLacy had been 
 sent on temporary dut}^ to some other point 
 than that where I expected to find him. And 
 if I found him, there would be a chance of 
 his having received a late letter from Salome, 
 which would prove my story a falsehood. Of 
 the latter, however, I did not think there 
 would be much danger. In our army orders 
 had gone into eftect some days previous that 
 no letters or papers of any kind should be sent 
 or received. It was most likely that mail was 
 equally scarce among the Rebels. 
 
 I thouo'ht it would be strano^e if I did not 
 gleam a few facts, which would be of use to us, 
 during my interview with Captain DeLacy and 
 during the time required to make my way in 
 and out of the Confederate camp, wherever it 
 might prove to be. 
 
66 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 I left my chamber and made my way through 
 the darkened hall to the family rooms at the 
 front of the house, my footsteps sounding loud 
 in the unaccustomed stillness. Determined as 
 I was to do what I had planned, I involunta- 
 rily hesitated a moment before I opened the 
 first closed door, then shakins: off the feelins: of 
 reluctance, I went on with my work. 
 
 A search of Salome's and my aunt's rooms 
 soon secured me an outfit sufficient for. my pur- 
 pose — a dark dress, several white petticoats, a 
 pair of shoes, a long, black cloak and an em- 
 broidered neck scarf, which I had often seen 
 Salome wear, also a heavy black veil and a 
 pair of gloves, odorous with the perfume 
 Salome always had about her. I carried the 
 clothes to my room to try the effect. 
 
 After putting on the other things I muffled 
 my head in the veil. The disguise was perfect. 
 Even I was startled for a moment, so precisely 
 did I look like Salome. I had drawn the veil 
 enough over my face to entirely conceal my 
 
THE LOST DTSPATCiL 67 
 
 short hair and had contrived to fasten the 
 curl of Salome's, which I always carried with 
 me, to an inner fold in such a way that it 
 showed below it at the left side, in exact imita- 
 tion of the way Salome had worn one when I 
 had last seen her. 
 
 My training had left me deeply tinctured 
 wath the idea that an army officer must have 
 no inconvenient emotions, but I then and there, 
 early in my career, proved that they do. It 
 was absurd, but I could have wept. Salome's 
 exact imao;e looked back at me from the 
 mirror, and an intense lono^ino; to take the 
 deceiving reflection \\\io my arms came over 
 me. For a moment I lost all the pride and 
 valor of a son of Mars. I was only a very 
 ordinary mortal, to whom the war was hateful 
 in the extreme. I had no more ambition than 
 an assistant company cook. 
 
 It did not last long. I swallowed away at 
 the wretched lump in my throat and looked at 
 myself, as reflected, with the critical eye of a 
 person trying to penetrate a disguise. 
 
68 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 I could pick no flaw and was soon viewing 
 myself ^vith much complacency, for my exceed- 
 ingly ladylike appearance meant that success 
 was nominally certain. 
 
 During that trip was the only time I ever 
 blessed my then slight form and effeminate 
 voice. Hard service during the war and years 
 of army life on our Western frontier since, have 
 changed all that, and lost me every trace of 
 that hated " prettiness," which at that time had 
 gained me from my associates the sobriquet I 
 so detested, and caused me so much genuine 
 anguish of soul and many downfalls of pride. 
 
 Fully satisfied, I divested myself of my bor- 
 rowed apparel and darkening the windows, 
 just as the sun rose over the mountains, I was 
 soon oblivious to everything around me. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 I was conscious of nothing more until Ned's 
 voice sounded in my ears. I had ordered him 
 to waken me at ten o'clock, no matter how 
 soundly I was sleeping or how much I might 
 expostulate with him at the time. I guess the 
 poor fellow did have a rather hard time awak- 
 ening me. Being on a civilized bed seemed 
 to have obliterated the feeling of caution which 
 had kept me on the qui vive since the be- 
 ginning of my trip, and his voice in my ears 
 at first roused me only to a semi -consciousness 
 and faint impression of my surroundings, so 
 accustomed was I to Ned's lingering awaken- 
 ings. Not until his " Mars, you done said I 
 wuz ter get you up, acaus' dis yer wa' " finally 
 penetrated my dull ears did he rouse me effec- 
 tually to present circumstances. 
 
 69 
 
70 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 While thinking over my arrangements as I 
 was dressing, I determined on taking Ned with 
 me. It was the one additional item needed to 
 perfect the plan I had originated, and I won- 
 dered that I had not thought of it before. 
 
 Ned belonged to our family, but during one 
 
 of our long visits at S he had married a 
 
 girl on a neighboring place and on our return 
 home had been left behind. A high price had 
 been offered for the girl, considerable more 
 than she was worth, but her master would 
 not part with her, so Ned had staid on at 
 
 S from year to year. I doubt if he would 
 
 have been willing to remain had we not been 
 there so often, for he was deeply and honestly 
 attached to our family. 
 
 He was a particularly shrewd and intelligent 
 old negro, and I well knew that I could trust 
 him to any extent. He would die rather than 
 betray me or any secret information I might 
 find necessary to entrust to him. His in- 
 telligence, quickness of wit and caution would 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 71 
 
 likely enaV)le him to get out of any ordinary 
 danger or emergency that presented itself. To 
 have him along would somewhat lessen my 
 chances of escaping observation on the way, 
 but he would add much to my disguise when 
 amonsr the Confederates. 
 
 Few, if any, outside the two families knew 
 
 but what he belonged to the S plantation. 
 
 He had made several trips with my aunt and 
 cousin during the past two years and had 
 been with them at the Springs. I knew that 
 Captain DeLacy would recognize him again 
 and that it would seem quite proper to him, or 
 any person whom we should meet, that he had 
 accompanied his young mistress. 
 
 I did justice to the dinner which Ned, with 
 great pride in his exhibition of culinary skill, 
 had ready for me when I went down. I then 
 told him where I was going and for what. He 
 was horror struck at first and went off into 
 lamentations, bemoaning these troublous times 
 and prophesying that I would never get there 
 
72 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 and back alive. But he gradually became 
 used to the idea and was soon Ijegging me to 
 take him along. As I had already decided 
 to do so, I was glad to have him get around 
 to the proposition himself, and readily gave 
 my consent. 
 
 I gave him a minute account of all that had 
 occurred since I left the Capital. I thought 
 wise to do this in order to make him familiar 
 with what he w^ould be likely to meet with 
 after we started, and I explained fully to him 
 what I wanted to do, how I wanted to do it, 
 and how 1 might have to do it, going into full 
 details. I was much pleased at the correct 
 grasp he seemed to get of the matter and felt 
 I could dismiss all apprehension on his score. 
 
 We were to go on horseback. If possible 
 we were to keep together, but if necessary we 
 were to separate at any time ^vithout any delay 
 and neither Avas to pay any attention whatever 
 to the safety of the other. I explained to him 
 that, except when I was personating Salome, 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 73 
 
 any display of concern on his part about me 
 would only increase my danger, and that in 
 case we unexpectedly fell in with any troops 
 on the road, he must act as if I were a total 
 stranger whom he had just met, unless he first 
 heard me make a direct statement to the con- 
 trary. 
 
 Ned knew, as well as I, that he run but slight 
 risks of being interfered with. At that time 
 the Confederates paid but little attention to 
 the coming and going of the negroes. They 
 AV'cre allowed to move from place to place, 
 and run in and out the lines without ques- 
 tion or detention, and their queries made from 
 curiosity excited no distrust. Ned also was 
 aware that he would have no trouble in get- 
 ting a pass on any slight pretext if he should 
 need one. 
 
 I gave him a number of places along the 
 way, where we were to meet after any en- 
 forced separation if Ave could, but if by so 
 doing either of us incurred the slightest risk 
 
74 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 or delay, we were each to make our way 
 separately to a point which I named and 
 which I felt confident was beyond the invad- 
 ing troops. I was to wait there until as late 
 as nine oVdock that night for Ned, but in case 
 he reached there iirst he was to stay until I 
 came, unless I did not get there for three 
 days, thus allowing for my possible capture, 
 detention and escape. I also told him on 
 what points I wanted him to get informa- 
 tion, by observation or in any other way 
 possilde. 
 
 From my entertainer of the night before, I 
 had learned enough about the movements of 
 Luce's army to enable me to block out my 
 plans with a considerable degree of confidence. 
 If I did not know exactly where the particular 
 division I wanted to strike was, I knew where 
 it was not, and that was a good deal. 
 
 Events sometimes follow each other with 
 startling rapidity, but if no unusual hurry 
 had occurred I felt quite sure my destination 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 75 
 
 would be l)etween t^V() points, and not more 
 than twenty miles hack from the river. More 
 explicit information as to their precise loca- 
 tion must be obtained on the way, also exact 
 knowledge as to Captain DeLacy's where- 
 al)outs. 
 
 All the preparation Ned made was to 
 hide his few valuables and securely close 
 the house. This done, he was ready to follow 
 me to the ends of the earth if need be. 
 
 It was barely twelve oVlock when we started 
 on our way. Ned rode the horse he had pro- 
 vided in anticipation of coming to me. The 
 clothes had been done up into a compact roll, 
 with the cloak outside, in order to look as 
 much like a rolled -up blanket as possible, and 
 I carried them like a huge rag baby on the 
 saddle in front of me. I did not dare either 
 trust them to Ned or fasten them to my saddle. 
 I might have to part ^vith either, or both negro 
 and horse on any sudden emero-encv, but I was 
 determined to hold onto and make use of my 
 disguise unless death or ca23ture prevented me 
 
76 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 For obvious reasons we avoided all well- 
 traveled roads and made our way through 
 fields, along lanes, and as much as possible in 
 the shelter of the timber. Our route was 
 through a well-settled country until we neared 
 the river. AVe crossed it by a ford that was 
 little known and seldom used, but at that 
 time, I, like the illustrious Susan, did not 
 care for a crowd. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 It was nearly six o'clock when we finally 
 reached the point where I thought I could 
 safely commence my retrograde movement. 
 As soon as I would turn to the right, the 
 division of Luce's army I wanted to reach 
 would lay directly between the place I would 
 be then and the Potomac. During the last of 
 our rid^ I had, by a bold move or two, man- 
 aged to get very definite knowledge of the 
 disposition of the Rebel troops in the vicin- 
 ity, and by a lucky accident, during an en- 
 forced separation, Ned had discovered almost 
 to a certainty that Captain DeLacy was where 
 I had thought him. We had also in the 
 middle of the afternoon each secured a fresh 
 horse, and by far greater good fortune than 
 I had dared hope for, they were fine, un- 
 
 77 
 
78 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 jaded animals. That we took them without 
 leave or license troubled us not a bit. 
 
 Looking back now, it seems strange that we 
 were able to make our way as rapidly as we 
 did through that section, filled as it was with 
 troops, without being taken prisoner, scientifi- 
 cally bushwhacked, or picked off by a sharp- 
 shooter. 
 
 A number of times we did barely escape 
 encounters which would have cost us dear. 
 About the middle of the afternoon we had 
 come near running into a body of the Rebel 
 troops. We were on a hill not far from a road 
 running directly northwest, when through an 
 opening in the trees there l)ecame visible a 
 cloud of dust, which meant either sheep or 
 Rebels. Taking into consideration time, place 
 and circumstances, I knew the chances were 
 that it meant Rebels. Dismounting I ordered 
 Ned to take the horses and himself into con- 
 cealment in an adjacent ravine, and I made 
 my way to a large tree I had noticed for 
 
THE LOST msPATcn. 79 
 
 some time. It bad been used by one side 
 or the other as a signal station, and I thought 
 it possible that it commanded a good view of 
 the road along which the dust was advancing. 
 It did, and I soon felt I was up a tree men- 
 tally, as well as physically. 
 
 The extent of the knowledo;e I o;ained was 
 that a move of some kind was on foot, which 
 I did not understand. I was near enouo-h to 
 have thrown a stone down on the moving 
 column, and I could recognize General Mid- 
 dlesworth riding with his staff. Why he 
 was angling away from the main part of 
 Luce's army and toward the Potomac puz- 
 zled me, and at a time when I did not care to 
 solve any more enigmas than absolutely neces- 
 sary. What General Middlesworth's move 
 meant occupied my thoughts off and on all 
 afternoon, as none of the intelligence I man- 
 aged to gather could be made to explain it, 
 and I determined to find out all about it 
 when in the Eebel camp if possible. 
 
80 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 Before turning back in the direction of the 
 Potomac I gave our horses a short rest. They 
 had made remarkable o^ood time and thouo-h 
 comparatively fresh, they would, after we got 
 beyond the Rebel lines again, have to be 
 pushed to the full extent of their endurance. 
 
 Besides, I did not care to start back too soon, 
 for I wanted it to be dark when we would 
 
 reach the vicinity of T . I knew the 
 
 moon would not rise that night until a little 
 after eight, and between dusk and that time 
 
 I had planned to get beyond T , procure 
 
 a vehicle of some kind and assume my dis- 
 guise. That done, I was ready to encounter 
 the enemy at any time, although I aimed to 
 run against them later and further on. Ned 
 made an excursion into a neio;hl)orino; field 
 and brought back some feed for the horses. 
 As soon as they finished their meal we 
 started. 
 
 Ned soon suggested that we might find a 
 conveyance that would answer our purpose at 
 
THE LOST mSPATCIL 81 
 
 Goodhue's, a place on our left a little ways off. 
 We made our way there, taking a short cut 
 and a rough road through a lane, which ap- 
 proached the place from the rear. The house, 
 which faced a road beyond, looked deserted, 
 but we did not go near enough to be certain. 
 
 The stables stood off by themselves and we 
 were well enough satisfied not to find anyone 
 around them and did not investigate further. 
 The carriage and horses were gone, but we 
 found a good set of harness and an old fash- 
 ioned light buggy, which suited our purpose 
 admirably and were all we needed. We had 
 left our horses in the woods across the lane. 
 I went on ahead to reconnoiter. Ned fol- 
 lowed, pulling the Iniggy. 
 
 By the time I was arrayed in my disguise 
 Ned had the horses harnessed to the buggy 
 and my clothes and the saddles and bridles 
 stowed compactly away under the buggy seat. 
 It was an extra piece of luck finding a vehicle 
 so near, for I could not assume my disguise 
 
82 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 until one had been procured, but now, instead 
 
 of going around T , I could pass directly 
 
 tbrougli tlie village, which saved considerable 
 time. 
 
 I had on starting from S forbade Ned 
 
 to address me except as Miss Salome, for I 
 was afraid if he did not have some practice 
 he would in any sudden fright forget and let 
 slip the " Mars," which would be sure to 
 rouse suspicion. I impressed on him that he 
 must, until we were through with the rather 
 unpleasant affair before us, act as if I were 
 in reality his young mistress, whom he was 
 trying to get safely to her home, and protect 
 to the best of his ability in a dangerous and 
 unsettled country. 
 
 It was a decided chancre in our mode of 
 progression for us to be speeding along over 
 good roads in a comfortable buggy and not 
 actually shunning observation, as I had been 
 obliged to do until then. But while it was a 
 rest, it was the kind of a rest one experiences 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 83 
 
 when awaiting a surgical operation, wliicli is 
 to commence as soon as the surgeon comes, 
 the exact moment of his arrival having been 
 left mercilessly indefinite. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 " Hi, Miss Salome, look dar," whispered Ned 
 suddenly. 
 
 We had been drivino^ for some time at full 
 speed when Ned's low tones roused me from 
 an imaginary conversation with the Caj)tain. 
 
 " Where ? " I asked. 
 
 " Over dar,'' he returned, pointing toward 
 his left, around the curve we were just 
 making. 
 
 A short distance ahead, in an open space 
 between the road and the heavy timber be- 
 yond, I saw the light of camp fires and a few 
 moving figures showing dark against the glow, 
 while a dark mass at one side looked like 
 horses and wagons. 
 
 Telling Ned to drive over toward them and 
 ask the way to General Dare's headquarters, 
 
 84 
 
THE LOST DISPATCn. 85 
 
 as soon as we came abreast of the nearest 
 groups, I scanned the surroundings, anxiously 
 trying to determine what we had run into. I 
 had not expected to meet any Confederates for 
 two or three miles yet. But I knew it could 
 not be any of our own troops, for we were too 
 near the Rebels for that. As we approached 
 closer I saw several officers in gray grouped 
 around a fire and about a dozen men cook- 
 ing supper at other fires a little apart and 
 nearer us. It looked like a topographical 
 camp or something of that sort. 
 
 One of the men, who seemed to be doing a 
 sort of picket duty, and broiling a bit of bacon 
 on the end of his ramrod at the same time, 
 started up as soon as he saw us driving up and 
 demanded what we wanted. 
 
 Ned told him we were trying to get to Gen- 
 eral Dare's headquarters and asked where they 
 were, ):)ut before he had time to reply one of 
 the officers advanced toward us, and Ned re- 
 peated his question to him. Before answer- 
 
86 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 ing the officer asked us a number of questions 
 as to where we were going and where we were 
 from, eyeing us keenly all the time, then drew 
 off a little ways to confer with one of the other 
 officers. They were near enough for me to 
 catch most of their conversation. 
 
 " It's all right, I believe," said the one who 
 had been talking to us, '' or they would want 
 to go the other way.*" 
 
 **Only a feint most probably,^' replied the 
 last comer and older of the two. "They may 
 be spies and, as soon as they are out of sight, 
 whirl off in another direction. There really 
 does not seem to be anything very suspicious 
 about them I must say,'' he added ; "still it 
 might be wise to detain them here until morn- 
 ing." 
 
 "I think they are just what they say they 
 are," returned the first officer. 
 
 Just as I was wondering if it would not be 
 best to make a run and leave them to decide 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 87 
 
 at their leisure whether or not we were spies, 
 one of the men passing, called out : 
 
 ''Hello, Ned," and stopped. 
 
 Ned gave something between a grin and a 
 gasj) in return. Then, stooping over as if to 
 untangle the reins, he whispered barely loud 
 enough for me to hear : •' It's Mars Furbish. 
 
 He lived ober dar at E , and knowed Miss 
 
 Salome.'' 
 
 I caught the clue the quick-witted old negro 
 had given me, and leaning forward, addressed 
 a polite " Good evening, Mr. Furbish," to the 
 man I had never seen before. He jjuUed off 
 his cap in return. 
 
 ''I am very anxious to get on without de- 
 lay," I added. "Will you kindly tell those 
 gentlemen who I am I I think you can assure 
 them I am not a spy." 
 
 His action had been noticed by the officers, 
 and as I spoke, they called him over to them. 
 
 " Do you know that lady ! " I heard them 
 ask. 
 
88 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 " Yes, and the nigger too. It^s Miss Salome 
 
 Poillon, and she lives at 8 plantation, 
 
 across the riyer," was the answer. 
 
 " Then she is a resident here, and there is 
 no danger of their being spies ? " put in the 
 cautious one. 
 
 '^ Lord, no ! Why, she's the biggest Rebel 
 'round. So's all the family, an' she's got a 
 Rebel lover," replied my champion emphati- 
 cally, adding the last fact as if it were a 
 clincher. 
 
 That settled it, and the two officers then 
 came over to the carriage and told me I was 
 at liberty to go on, and regretted that they had 
 been obliged to stop me at all. I thanked 
 them, and asked if I would have much diffi- 
 culty in getting through. 
 
 " I am afraid so," replied the one who had 
 first met me. 
 
 " This is your most direct route, is it not ? " 
 asked the older officer, on whom the rest of 
 the conversation devolved. 
 
 " It is much the nearest way," I replied. 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 89 
 
 "It leads directly on, near where a consider- 
 able body of our troops are, yet I think it will 
 be safer for you to keep it than to try side 
 roads, where you would be constantly stopped. 
 I will give you a note to the general in com- 
 mand, and a pass, which will aid you until you 
 reach him. He will likely give you an escort 
 for some distance," he added, writing as he 
 spoke. 
 
 When he handed me the papers, I asked him 
 about the positions of the Yankees, and in an- 
 swering he told me also something new about 
 how Luce's army was located, which was one 
 of the clues that I wanted to learn. 
 
 I had no idea of using the papers unless I 
 should fail in all efforts to find Captain De- 
 Lacy. I told Ned not to refer to them in 
 any way or to our encounter, while he should 
 be separated from me, and impressed on him 
 that he was not to get out of the buggy if 
 he could help it, or leave the horses one 
 moment unless dragged away by force. I re- 
 
90 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 gretted that we had run into the camp, fur it 
 took valuable time, and it did not make me 
 feel any better about it to know that it had 
 happened through my own carelessness. If I 
 had been watching out, as I ought to have 
 1)een, I would have noticed the fires in time to 
 have avoided them l)y making a detour, and I 
 believed that I could have gotten later the 
 valuable bit of information the talkative officer 
 had given me. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The encounter had one good result, however. 
 It got us over our stage fright, as it were, and 
 rather raised us up to the grand climax. 
 
 We had driven nearly three miles fai'ther 
 before we ran into the Rebel camp again. 
 When we finally found ourselves making our 
 way under guard to General Dare^s head- 
 quarters, we were far more composed than 
 we could possiVdy have been had we not al- 
 ready had some experience. 
 
 When stop]3ed, I had insisted on being 
 allowed to proceed, but as I expected and 
 desired, the simple privilege of following my 
 own way was denied me. My statements re- 
 garding my identity were received with in- 
 credulity. I insisted on the truth of my story, 
 and I demanded that I be taken to headquar- 
 
 91 
 
92 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 ters at once. After some parley, my request 
 was acceded to and a couple of soldiers took 
 their places at the horses' heads and slowly 
 led them forward, while a guard walked at 
 the side of the buggy until Ave reached a 
 cluster of tents pitched somewhat apart, in 
 front of which stood four or five officers con- 
 versinii;. 
 
 The officer who had brought us in advanced 
 to the group, and I could hear him reporting 
 the circumstances of our arrest. A handsome 
 subaltern came forward to assist me from the 
 buggy, and I was soon answering the curtly- 
 put inquiries of the middle aged officer to 
 whom I had l)een conducted. I re^^eated my 
 story. He questioned and cross-questioned me 
 severely, but I was too entirely familiar with 
 my ground to be caught tripping. I felt a 
 good deal as if I were an actor in a play, 
 and while I must say that I did not particu- 
 larly admire the setting, I began to have an 
 intense interest in rendering my part well and 
 having all go oif smoothly. 
 
THE LOST BISPATCn. 93 
 
 Ned was seated in the buggy witliiu hearino- 
 distance and I saw he had assumed, or was 
 really feeling, about the right amount of anxi- 
 ety, and that no one seemed to be paying any 
 attention whatever to him. 
 
 I did not recognize the officer interrogating 
 me, but I heard him addressed by one of tlie 
 other officers as Colonel Soil eld. AVhen after 
 telling him my story, he utterly refused to 
 credit it. I asked to see the General in com- 
 mand. Col. Sofield replied that General Sen- 
 house had gone over to confer with General 
 Leonard and miglit not be back until morn- 
 ing, not for several hours certainly, and fol- 
 lowed the explanation with an intimation that 
 both myself and my servant would be well off 
 under guard until his return. 
 
 I was somewhat nonplussed when the officer 
 said General Senhouse. I had looked on Gen- 
 eral Dare only as a guide to Captain DeLacy, 
 and had no interest whatever beyond that in 
 him. At the same time I was a trifle sur- 
 
94 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 j)rised that I had not been taken before him, 
 and that reference had not been made to him 
 instead of to General Senhouse. I began to 
 wonder if it were possible that I had not 
 reached Dare's headquarters, but I did not 
 dare ask directly or betray more knowledge 
 of army details than a girl would be likely 
 to know. After pondering a moment, I said : 
 
 " I ought perhaps to have stopped at A , 
 
 as I was advised to do, but I was so very 
 anxious to get on, that I could not make up 
 my mind to delay there. Will you tell me 
 what regiment this is ? I have friends and 
 relatives with General Luce and there may 
 be some one here who can identify me." 
 
 An orderly was presenting a paper to Col. 
 Sofield as I finished speaking, and another 
 officer, who had come up but a short time 
 previous and was standing near, in com23any 
 with the others, answered : 
 
 "This is General Dare's division, but Gen- 
 eral Senhouse is in command at present. Over 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 95 
 
 on the left there is the Reo-iment, 
 
 Brigade ; others are further on. If you will 
 give the names of your friends, and they are 
 here, they can be sent for." 
 
 " Captain DeLacy is with General Dare. If 
 I could see him, he would assure you that I am 
 just who I represent myself. He is a very inti- 
 mate friend of the family," I said, turning 
 again to my first interlocuter. 
 
 " Impossible," he replied, " Captain DeLacy 
 has just started to inspect a position several 
 miles from here. There is no telling when 
 he will be back." 
 
 '' Beg pardon. Colonel, but Captain DeLacy 
 has not got off yet. lie passed us on the way 
 over here, and I saw him go in Colonel Louns- 
 bery's tent a few minutes ago," spoke up an- 
 other officer. ^' There he comes now," he 
 added, as a tall figure came out of a tent 
 near by. 
 
 Affairs progressed rapidly in the next few 
 minutes. In less time than I could write it, 
 
96 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 Captain DeLacy had been called over to iden- 
 tify me ; had done it, even to the satisfaction 
 of the obdurate Colonel, and heard the story 
 of my detention, and my anxious request that 
 I might go on at once. 
 
 Captain DeLacy asked and received per- 
 mission to take me into a neighboring tent, 
 where I could wait, freed from the gaze of 
 those who had slathered around to see what 
 was going on, until he could procure the passes 
 necessary to insure my safe conduct through 
 their lines. Colonel Sofield, whose good man- 
 ners had increased in proportion to the streng- 
 thening of his convictions that I was not a spy, 
 told him to take me into General Dare's tent, 
 as it was the nearest one unoccupied, then to 
 return to him for passes. 
 
 A moment later I was alone with the only 
 man of them all who could penetrate my dis- 
 guise. His first words assured me that he had 
 not heard from Salome lately enough to im- 
 peril my statements. And his hurried whispers 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 97 
 
 of love and devotion, together with his grave 
 concern at my having undertaken a journey 
 through that section at so dangerous a time, 
 proved that he accepted me in perfect good 
 faith. 
 
 Even at that desperate moment, at the touch 
 of the Captain's lips I was filled with an un- 
 holy glee. 
 
 Fortunately, he had little time to play the 
 lover. Love and war are an ill -matched 
 couple, and except that both set at naught 
 all interfering laws, they have nothing in com- 
 mon. The latter never relaxes the grasp of a 
 master and exacts that all who serve him shall 
 fulfill their duty to the utmost, without delay 
 or flinching, although by so doing all pleas- 
 ures, affections, ties of kindred and life itself 
 are yielded up. 
 
 My expressed anxiety for his safety, and pre- 
 tended impression that he was on some danger- 
 ous raid, led Captain DeLacy to assure me that 
 he was with Luce, and to tell me what forces 
 
98 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 Luce had with him, but no more about his 
 future movements than I had ah*eady gath- 
 ered, which amounted to but little beyond a 
 clue to the meaning of General Middleworth's 
 movement, which I had witnessed that after- 
 noon. I questioned as closely as I dared, but 
 elicited nothing further. My shrewdest eifoits 
 were a failure. I saw that he either had not 
 been informed of the object of the campaign, 
 or felt bound not to reveal it even to one whom 
 he held as dear as he did Salome. 
 
CHAPTER XII, 
 
 While conversing with Captain DeLacy, I 
 had become as familiar with the interior of 
 the tent as I could by the light of one in- 
 ferior candle and the use of my eyes. There 
 seemed nothino^ there to invite in vesti oration. 
 
 Even after Captain DeLacy had reluctantly 
 left me, a closer inspection revealed nothing 
 more promising. I sat on a camp stool, in a 
 corner ; near was a pile of blankets ; a rough 
 camp chair stood between me and the bed ; 
 a bayonet stuck in the ground did duty for 
 a candlestick, and on an empty wooden box 
 near me lay a paper-covered book. 
 
 I had just had time to run a hasty glance 
 through the book, when the fly was raised and 
 an officer entered. As was only natural, he 
 started when he saw me, then lifted his hat 
 
100 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 with a half- spoken apology, tossed a news- 
 paj^er carelessly on the bed, threw his over- 
 coat over the chair and went out asfain. 
 
 I recognized him instantly as General Dare. 
 His actions and looks struck me as those of a 
 man ^vho felt at odds with the world and who 
 was nursing a grievance, but I was too deeply 
 concerned about my own affairs to be more 
 than casually impressed with what I learned 
 afterwards was the case. 
 
 It is a strange fact that in times of most 
 intense suffering, deadly peril and deepest 
 thought, the eye will be attracted by the 
 most trivial objects. While I anxiously pon- 
 dered my next move, my eye mechanically fol- 
 lowed in and out the fantastically curved line 
 made by the shadows cast by the pile of blank- 
 ets, then by the edge of the coat cape as it 
 trailed along the floor. I had followed it 
 almost to the end when my gaze ^vas arrested 
 by a spot of color differing from the rest. 
 With a start, I realized that I was looking at 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 101 
 
 a flat, long book. 1 could not tell then and 
 I cannot tell now whether it fell from the over- 
 coat or was lying there when I entered, but I 
 do not see how it could have been there at first 
 and escaped my observation. 
 
 I determined at once to see the contents of 
 that book. There was not one instant to be 
 lost. I well knew that even then some one 
 might be standing at the entrance and that 
 the Captain would return at any moment. 
 But examine that book I must, even at the 
 risk of surprise, detection and death. It was 
 the most critical moment I had yet encoun- 
 tered. I had to think and act together. 
 
 Throwing myself at full length on the grassy 
 floor, with my head screened from the first 
 glance of any one entering, intending to feign 
 a swoon if any one did come, I extended my 
 arm above my head, in the shelter of the chair, 
 and had the book in my impatient fingers. 
 
 Opening it hastily, I scanned it in the dim 
 light which came over my shoulder from the 
 
102 • THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 flickering candle. I was confronted by a series 
 of blank pages. General Dare^s name was on 
 the fly leaf. Only the first three pages were 
 written on, and they contained nothing except 
 detached items of interest to him only. Evi- 
 dently, the book had been newly purchased, 
 for the dates ran but a few days back. 
 
 Bitterly disappointed, I ran over the pages 
 again, and a folded ]3aper slipped into view. 
 Even to this day I can distinctly feel the wild 
 bound of exultation my heart gave when I 
 knew that I held in my hands a copy of 
 Special Order No. 000, issued by the Kebel 
 Commander in Chief only four days before, 
 and regulating the movements of all the di- 
 visions of his army for several days to come. 
 
 At the sight of that paper every drop of 
 blood in my body seemed to rush to my heart, 
 only to leave it again with a wild speed that 
 turned me faint and dizzy. The letters danced 
 before my eyes, but even in that one hasty 
 glance I took in enough to know that I need 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 108 
 
 seek no further information. I had succeeded 
 even beyond my hopes and expectations. If I 
 could get safely back with that paper, and 
 whatever else I had learned, I felt check to 
 the Rebels must be insured. 
 
 Hastily concealing the paper, I pushed the 
 book under the bed, and had barely regained 
 my place when Captain DeLacy re-entered 
 with the passes. There was no time for fur- 
 ther private conversation between us, which I 
 regarded as a piece of good luck. 
 
 Captain DeLacy told me, while he hastily 
 assorted the papers in his hand, that he was 
 obliged to proceed without delay on the impor- 
 tant duty for which he was preparing when 
 Colonel So field had called him to me ; that as 
 the first 2^art of our way lay the same as his, he 
 could act as my escort until his road turned 
 off from the one I was to follow. From where 
 
 he had to leave me, to H was only ten 
 
 miles, and he exacted a promise that I would 
 remain there with friends until morninof. 
 
104 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 I could not but be touched at his anxiety 
 about me, impatient as I was at the delay 
 which it caused. 
 
 We started almost immediately. Captain 
 DeLacy rode at the side of the buggy and 
 the squad of men with him a short distance in 
 advance. The road was clear, and we made 
 excellent time. 
 
 At last the moment of separation came. His 
 real farewell had already been said, so before 
 following his men down the dark path, into 
 which they had turned, the Captain paused 
 only for some cautions to Ned and a quickly 
 spoken " good bye " to me, which held as much 
 as was ever put in that simple word. 
 
 I realized fully what the parting was to him. 
 He had accepted me as Salome, without doubt 
 or question, and to leave me with no other pro- 
 tector than Ned tried liim sorely. 
 
 I leaned out of the buggy and looked back 
 after him, with a feeling of pain that surprised 
 me. As he disappeared, a presentment that I 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 105 
 
 should never see him again crept over me, fol- 
 lowed by an idle speculation whether it was he 
 or I who was first to meet our fate, a feeling 
 which I rembered well a few months later, 
 when I received the news that Captain DeLacy 
 had been shot in battle. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Shaking off the dim sense of foreboding, I 
 gave my thoughts entirely to the task before 
 me. I had decided to make my way doAvn 
 the side of the river I was then on. From 
 what I had learned of the position of the 
 enemy, I knew the risk would l)e no greater 
 than if I crossed to the opposite shore, and I 
 hoped to save many weary miles of travel. 
 Being well aware of the extreme caution 
 shown on our side, I thought the chances 
 were that our army would be yet in the 
 neighborhood of the place where I left them, 
 and I aimed for that point. 
 
 I told Ned that I had secured a paper of the 
 utmost importance, and that if I were shot and 
 he escaped, he was to take the paper from its 
 place of concealment and carry it on. 
 
 106 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 107 
 
 We turned to the left, down the first road 
 we came to, after parting with Captain DeLacy 
 and his men. Just before we reached it, we 
 were stopped l)y a small party of Confederates 
 on horseback. I offered my passes. Striking 
 a match, an officer read them, and after a few 
 questions, allowed us to go on. That was the 
 only time the j^asses were of use to us, for as 
 soon as I parted with my disguise they w^ere, 
 of course, worthless. 
 
 In order to make the best time possible, 
 and avail ourselves of short cuts and bridle 
 paths, it was necessary to leave the buggy 
 and return to horseback. That we did at the 
 earliest practical moment. As soon as we 
 came to a rough bit of road, after our first 
 turn, Ned drove the buggy to one side, and, 
 knocking off a wheel, left it to its fate. When 
 I was again in my own clothes, we made the 
 harness and my disguise into several bundles, 
 which Ned weighted and dropped into the first 
 creek we came to. 
 
108 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 That done, we hurried on. The night had 
 turned cloudy and dark while we had been in 
 the Confederate camp. It did not rain, but be- 
 fore long we struck a place where it had very 
 recently, and our horses for a short distance 
 were obliged to plough through slippery clay. 
 Frequently we would see the fires of some out- 
 post, and often a picket shot, sometimes start- 
 lingly near, would ring out on the murky 
 night. 
 
 Well as I knew the country, I finally made a 
 false turn in the confusing darkness, and ap- 
 proached the river when I thought Ave were 
 still several miles away from it and follow- 
 ing its course. 
 
 Leaving Ned in safe hiding, I crept forward 
 to reconnoiter. I made for a rock overhanerins: 
 the water, at the head of a bend in the river, 
 from the edge of which I hoped to be able 
 to tell if the fires opposite were repeated down 
 the side I was on. 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 109 
 
 As I gained a sheltered place near the top 
 and in the rear of the rock, I heard a boat 
 grate on the pebbles beneath, and two men 
 ascended to the very spot I had started for. 
 I lay low behind the scanty bushes, while 
 they sat down near me. From what they 
 said, I gathered that they had crossed from 
 the Rebel camp over the river to investigate 
 the bank up stream for some purpose, but 
 not liking the looks of something that had 
 attracted their notice, they had stopped there 
 to decide what they should do. 
 
 I was too near to move away without them 
 hearing me. I was caught in a trap. Chaffing 
 at a delay, when every moment was precious, 
 and fearing that Ned, alarmed at my pro- 
 tracted absence, might come to look for me, 
 I was obliged to crouch, motionless in my 
 hiding place, while the two men so near me 
 idly discussed topics re-lating to everything but 
 the duty they were on. While I waited, the 
 
110 THE LOST DISPATCH. 
 
 clouds began to break away, and once or twice 
 the moonlight shone out full and strong, 
 leaving me with little to shield me, had they 
 chanced to turn ai'ound. 
 
 Finally, after what seemed hours to me, one 
 decided to go over for re -enforcements and de- 
 scended to the boat. Cautiously rising, as the 
 other advanced to the extreme edo-e of the 
 rock, I saw that his back was toward me 
 and that he was intently watching the pro- 
 gress of the boat, then in mid -stream. 
 
 It was possible then for me to have slipped 
 away unnoticed, but I was exasperated beyond 
 endurance. An uncontrolable impulse seized 
 me. Even if I had been sure that the whole 
 Confederate army would have started to his 
 rescue, I could not have helped pushing that 
 man into the water. Moving noiselessly be- 
 hind him, with the end of my revolver I gave 
 him a sharp punch in th^ middle of the back. 
 Taken completely off his guard, without a 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. Ill 
 
 word, but with a wild whirl of arms and 
 legs, he went straight down into the deep 
 water beneath. I have wondered hundreds 
 of times since, what that man thought was 
 the matter with him. If he has lived to read 
 this, he knows now. 
 
CHAPTER XTV. 
 
 I returned to where Ned was, and we began 
 retracing our steps. 
 
 Although we made frequent attempts to get 
 news, it was not until nearly morning that I 
 learned that our troops had advanced to a 
 point, nearer the place where I had made my 
 way into the enemy's camp, and, consequently, 
 nearer where I was then, but to my left. We 
 immediately changed our route. 
 
 From the moment the order had fallen into 
 my hands, my one desire and aim was to get it 
 where the information it contained, together 
 with what other I had gathered, could be put 
 to instant use. Every nerve throbbed with 
 impatience. Every delay was intolerable. Yet 
 that entire ride back was a series of vexatious 
 and dangerous delays. I was beset on every 
 
 112 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 113 
 
 side by dangers, which closed in on me at 
 every point where I tried to evade them. 
 Every mile counted for four in my eagerness 
 to get on. I was obliged, time after time, to 
 retrace my steps and make long detours to 
 avoid running into bodies of skirmishers, to 
 escape the vigilance of pickets, and to baffle 
 the pursuers on our tracks. 
 
 Twice that night we stood with our coats 
 drawn tightly over our horses' heads to keep 
 them from making a sound to betray our pres- 
 ence to the enemy, passing so closely below 
 that by stooping, we could have lifted the hats 
 off of their heads with a ramrod. 
 
 Shortly after daybreak, as the first rays of 
 of the sun showed over a neighborino- hill, I 
 lay in a hollow log, while a man from the 
 column of passing soldiers sat on it to beat 
 the dirt and stones from his remnants of shoes. 
 The dust from the inside of the log, loosened 
 by his pounding, choked me, until in my 
 efforts to keep from coughing, I bit through 
 
114 THE LOST DTSPArcn. 
 
 the sleeve of my coat, and left the print of 
 my teeth on my arm. About six hundred 
 soldiers marched past me, as I watched them 
 from a crevice in the log. 
 
 Across the road and half way up the hill be- 
 yond I could see where Ned crouched, keep- 
 ing the horses back in the shelter of a low 
 thicket. Knowing exactly where to look for 
 him, he stood out with terrible distinctness to 
 my abnormally keen sight, and I trembled 
 whenever I saw a soldier turn his head in that 
 direction. 
 
 Even now, as I think it over, with all my 
 increased experience and knowledge of hair- 
 breadth escapes, it seems simply incredible 
 that we ever got through. But get through 
 we did. 
 
 By eight o'clock, exhausted to faintness from 
 hard riding, lack of food and loss of sleep, 
 and with horses reeling from fatigue, we 
 turned out onto a road which in a few min- 
 utes took us beyond danger. Loyal hands 
 
THE LOST DISPATCH. 115 
 
 placed fresh horses at our disposal, and with 
 little loss of time, we were covering the last 
 ten miles of our ride. 
 
 Soon the bit of paper, that " Lost Dispatch," 
 which through all that long Ind fearful night 
 had been the elixir that nerved me to my 
 work, was in the hands of the proper ojSicer, 
 and I had communicated to him the addi- 
 tional information I had gathered. Both in- 
 formation and dispatch, without delay, were 
 carried to the Commander in Chief. 
 
 I only did my duty. My responsibility ended 
 there. But looking back now, it seems, as it 
 did then, that better results should have been 
 obtained through a quick action on the intelli- 
 gence gathered. 
 
 THE END. 
 
RARE BOOK 
 COLLECTION 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 AT 
 
 CHAPEL HILL 
 
 Wilmer 
 729