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Jrdr'l AN INDEPENDENT FAMILY NEWSPAPER. "JJSK"
Vol. "VII. IV ov Bloomfield, IPn,., Tuesday, September SO, 1873. TVo. 39.
IS PUBLISHED EVERT TUE9DAT MORMNO, BJ
FFvANZ MOETIMEE & CO.,
At New Bloomfield, Perry Co., Ta.
BeliiR provided with Rteam Power, and largo
Cylinder and Job-Presses, we are prepared
to do all kinds of Job-Printing In
good style and at Low Prices.
ADVERTISING KATKSt
Traniimt 8 Cents per lino for one Insertion
18 " two Insertions
15 three Insertions
Business Notices In Local Column 10 Cents
per line.
&.For lonper yearly adv'ts terms will be given
upon application.
THE SCOUT'S ADVENTURES.
CONCLUDED.
LOOKING up, I saw an infantry corpo
ral attentively regarding mo. lie was
a small slim man, witU long black liair and
an Indian look, except in stature. I had
closed the door, but tho wind or the soldier
had opened it without my knowledge, I
being at the other end of a large room. I
did not know how long the man had been
watching me, but he retreated as soon as I
looked up.
It waB an awkward affair, to say the
least, and I blamed myself very much for
not having placed a chair against the door,
such a thing as a lock not being visible. I
had no doubt that the man had seen
enough to excite his curiosity, if not to
arouse his suspicions. The fact of my hav
ing a screw heel to the boot, and of my j
hiding a paper, would be matters to make
almost any soldier suspicious of one whom
he had never seen before. Running the
case over as I fastened on the heel, I made
up my mind to leave the hotel and Stevens
burg as soon as possible. I pulled on my
boot, made haste down stairs, and called
for and paid my bill.
"Which way ye going?" inquired the
host, as ho made my change.
" Down the river about live miles," I re
plied. " I have soiuo friends down there
whom I want to see." "
From where I stood, at tho end of the
bar, I could see down toward the ford for
a distance of forty rods, and what Bhould
I see but tho lieutenant-colonel, the small
soldier, and three or four men with mus
kets, coming toward tho hotel ? I knew
in an instant that they were after me. If
I stepped out on the street, they would see
me at once, and I heard men working in
the backyard, thus rendering a run that
way unsafe. At that moment somo one
called out "John !" and the landlord went
into the kitchen.
Now was my chance. There was no one
in the barroom but myself, and as the
colonel and his party were within twenty
rods of the house, I ran into the hall, went
up the stairs two at a time, and pushed in
to the first room. It was a sort of sitting
room, but empty of sitters. In tho far
end was a monstrous big lounge, or half
bed, covered with chintz, and having a
flap in front which swept the floor. I
heard the soldiers enter the barroom, beard
loud talking, and knew that I must secrete
myself on the instant The lounge was the
only place of refuge, and I was under it in
a moment, but not a moment too soon. I
had scarcely straightened out when I heard
a tramping ontheBtalrs, doors opening,
and directly some one came into the
room. , .. ,..." . , '. ' ; i
" Nobody here I" shouted a voice, which
I recognized as that of tho lieutenant
colonel. The door was shut again, and presently
all the searchers went down stairs. I had
no dou bt that the landlord had told them
that I had gone, but not satisfied, they
had made a search of the house. They
might believe that I bad gone down the
river, and send some one in pursuit, and
they might believe that I was concealed in
the bouse or in the town, and consequently
keep a sharp lookout. Manifestly, it was
not prudent for me to leave the room be
fore dark, and I made myself as comfort
able as possible. ' There was plenty of
room under tho lounge, the carpet made
my position easy, and It was not likely that
t would be betrayed unless by some care
less act on my own part.
There was a small rent In the curtain
Just in frout of my face, and through the
orifice I could get a fair view of the door
and pait of the room. Whrle I was look
ing around a little, I saw the latch lift, the
door softly open, and a soldier put his head
into the room und look around. They
were going around on a second search. He
looked linrd at the lounge, advanced into
the room, and would no doubt have dis
covered mo, only a shout from the yard at
tracted his attention at that moment.
Ho had not been gone five minutes when
a girl came into tho room with a broom and
dustpan, and commenced a vigorous clean
ing up. The dust was soon flying in every
direction, and pretty soon I began to feel a
tingling in the nose. I felt that a sneeee
was coming 1 If I sneezed, she would dis
cover mo, and if discovered, I would be
turned over to the soldiers and hung. If I
ever abused anything willfully and mali
ciously, it was my nose. I twisted it, struck
it, pulled it, and at last started a stream of
blood. This saved me. Tho organ aban
doned tho idea of sneezing, and the girl
dashed her broom about without the least
idea that any one was listening to her
song.
In a few minutes she had the room ar
ranged to suit her, and picked up the broom
and pan, and went off. I hoped to bo loft
to my meditations the balance of the day
but in a few minutes two women, one of
whom was the landlord's wifo, and the
other an acquaintance from the country,
came in, and the wifo dumped herself down
on tho lounge.
" Isn't it dreadful," she asked, scorning
excited, " to think that a Yankee spy has
been right in the house' for a whole day,
aDd none of us suspected any such thing ?"
" It is, indeed," responded the other,
" and I am not yet over my fright. I won
der tli at he did not murder every one of
youugh !"
Having got a subjeot, the two females
let their tongues loose, and for an hour
they did not change it. I was berated, '
abused, maligned, shot and hung in imag
ination, and was glad when they found
something else to talk about. That some
thing else was a dog, which pushed open
tho door and came trotting in. After a
turn around tho room, ho laid down, and I
should not have had any trouble if the
women had let him alone ; but the land
lord's wifo snapped her fingers at him, and
insisted that ho jump up beside her. Just
as I expected, the cur had no sooner reached
tho lounge than he began snuffing and
barking, and directly crawled under to get
at me with his teeth. I dared not speak to
pacify him, and remained quiet in hopes
that he would go away,
j " The cat must be under the lounge," re
marked the wife. And she got off the bed
and was about to draw it out, when the
other one called her attention to something
on the street, and they both ran to the
window. Now was my chance at the dog,
and, as ho came for mo again, I struck out
and gave him such a rap on the nose that
bo ran howling from the room. The ladies
were busy, and gave tho circumstance no
heed, and in a few minutes left the room.
During the rest of the afternoon I had
no visitors; but just at dark, two or three
soldiers brought a drunken officer up stairs,
took him into the next room to mine, and
put him to bed, going away with many
jokes at his exponse. As soon as it was
fairly dark I crawled out, brushed the dust
off, and stepped into the room occupied by
the sleeper. He wag snoring "like a
trooper," and would have made no objec
tion had I pulled him out of bed. Finding
the water pitcher, I washed tho blood from
my face, combed my hair, and made ready
to go down. I at first thought to change
uniforms with the drunken officer, but re
membering that my pass read for a lieuten
ant, I only took tho sleeper's fine gray
cloak. I had a cigar, and this I lit, and,
wrapped up in the cloak, I boldly de
scended tho stairs. The barroom was'full
of men, but I passed by the door to the one
leading into the street without detection,
Reaching the street, I turned up the road
leading south, aud rnado my start for Old
Tavern. Soldiers wero passing either way,
teams were driving about, and I hud . no
fear except being run over, as tho night
was as dark as I should have wished to
have made it myself. I did not expect to
be ablo to pick up any information that
night, but my solo object was to get out of
Bteveusburg. After a walk of a mile or so,
I found myself entirely clear of the town,
and out of the territory of the troops de
fending it, ' I came at length to an earth
work stretching across the road. A sentinel
pried " Halt I" as I came up, aud calling to
the corporal, that officer came forward with
a lantern.
"Ah, excuse me, lieutenant I'! he ex
claimed, as he caught sight of my uniform.,
"The man did not know that he was de
taining an ofllcer." . :i
Passing through, it suddenly occurred to
me that I ought t have daylight to exam
ine the defences and the oharacter of the
country along the road, and so I remarked
to the corporal :
" I did intend to go up the road a few
miles, but it is so dark and the mud is so
bad, that I would stop here if I could got
quarters."
" You can stay just as well as not," he
replied. " Our captain went off to-day to
bo gone all night, and you can take his
quarters and welcome."
I had got well out of the town, aud would
probably hoar no more of pursuit, so I de
cided to accept the kind offor. I was led
back some twenty rods from the road to
where an infautry brigade was stationed,
and directed to a shanty as the one I was
to occupy. There was nobody "at home"
except the captain's negro servant, and he
soemed glad of my company. The corporal
remarked that he would Bend the lieuten
ants in to soe mo, but I told him that I was
very tired, and preferrod to turn right in
especially as I had to bo on the road early
in the morning. He told the negro to fix
up the bed, to preparo me a good breakfast,
and then bade mo good-night.
I did not much fear being disturbed, as
it was too nasty a night for officers to care
about making calls, and so I sat awhile
before tho fireplace conversing with the
negro. I noticed from tho first that his
face wore a joyful grin, and that he kept
chuckling to himself, as if having some
nows. Just as I had left ordinary topics of
conversation and commenced to ask him
something about the troops, his grin in
creased until his mouth seemed a foot long,
his eyes rolled this way and that, and
directly he uttered a long but not boister
ous laugh.
" You seem very much pleased, Joe," I
remarked, amazed at his singular con
duct. " Pleased !" he ejaculated ; " dat word
don't begin tor 'spress my feelin's !" Get
ting up he came close over to me, lowered
his voice to a whisper, and continued,
" How iz you, Captin Jack ? haw I haw I
haw !" ' .
If an earthquake bad tossed me up, I
could not have been more astonished. I
suppose he saw blank amazement in my
face, for he laid his hand on my shoulder
and went on :
' " I knew ye jess as soon as I seed yer
face in tho door ; but don't ye fear ; old
Joe won't tell no stories on ye. Don't ye
'member ob see In' mo the time ye catched
thaf feller at MartinBburg ? Warn't I the
niggor wot found ye iu a barn, and brought
ye hoe cake aud bacon ?"
I remembered him before he had ceased
speaking, and I never folt so much like
shaking hands with a man . all night long
as I did then. Ho bad at one time ren
dered me most valuable service, aud was
just the man . I wanted to render me
another. It took him some . time to get
over his excitement, but when that bad
subsided we blew out the light, partially
covered tho fire, and had a " talk" which
lasted until near midnight. He had been
with the captain for nearly a year, was keen
and intelligent, and ho was able to tell me
many things which I was desirous of ascer
taining. He bad not beon up as far as Old
Tavern for several months, but he knew
the name of every regiment within five
miles of its, could closely estlmato the
artillery, knew all about tho defences, and
I could rely on him as truly as if he had
beon a Union officer.
Ho had heard something that day about
a . Union spy being seen in Stevensburg,
and warned me that I had better be moving
early, as some of the officers in the camp
might ask me troublesome questions. He
thought the report had reached no further
than this camp, and that I would not be
suspected after getting beyond It. He
Btatcd that now troops had lately camped
above, and that he had heard some of the
oflloers say that the Union forces would try
to advanoe by this road. In fact, when I
turned in, I was almost as well posted as if
I had been over the road. I fell asleep
without a thought that he might betray
me. I hod given him a trial once upon a
time, a ' severer one than this, and found
him true -as steel. ,
It was raining when I fell asleep, and It
was still raining when Joe woke me up,
just as daylight was breaking. Ho bad
breakfast all prepared, my clothing cleared
of mud, and was anxious as to my route.
While I was eating, be gave me the name
of a Union man living about six miles up
the road, and advised me to call there, be
being sure that no camps bad been estab
lished nearer than a mile from the house.
Just as it was fairly duy, feeling equal to
any tramp or any danger, I shook hands
with the man and passed out. It was min
ing quite heavily, and I found my cloak a
handy thing. Arranging it over my head
until nearly all my face was concealed, I
was soon plodding along in the mud. There
was a soldier ahead of me, but I gave him
no notice until he stopped another soldier
and made some inquiries. I passed them
while they were talking, and hearing the
words, "I've got a pass for four days," I
looked sharply at the speaker. It was the
samo soldier who bad caught me at my
work in Stevensburg I There was the long
face, the black hair, black eyes, and I could
not be mistaken. ,
Fearing that he might be going through
to Old Tavern, and not wanting his com
pany, I pushed on at a rapid gait, and was
glad to find that he did not increase his
pace. He was my evil genius, and I was
sorry afterwards that some bullet bad not
reached him as he stood there talking. I
was thoroughly tired out when I came to
the house described by Joe, and I made up
my mind to go in. There were no camps
in sight in any direction, and as for the
soldier, I had lost sight of him half an hour
before. Turning in at the gate I knocked,
and the door was opened by a very pleasant
faced woman, who asked me in and set out
a chair. Hor husband immediately came
in from another room, and after ascertain
ing that no one else was in the house, I
gave him my secret. Neither of them
would credit the assertion, believing, as
they afterwards told me, that I was a gen
uine Confederate officer, testing their sen
timents. ; I mentioned old Joe's name, and
then they were inclined to believe my story
but were yet quite cautious about accept
ing it.
"I think this will bring you," I remark
ed, removing my boots.
I bad taken them off to unscrew the heels
and show tbem my notes, but just at that
moment there came a knock at the door.
; "It's a soldier I Here jump inhere!"
exclaimed the woman, holding the bedroom
door open.
I followed her advice, but being a little
frightened by the sudden news, forgot my
boots. A moment after, my evil genius en
tered the house and ordered the woman to
get him something to eat.
" Whose boots are these?1" he exclaimed,
catching sight of them after a moment. -
" My own," replied the farmer, telling a
broad lie to shield me. ;
Then there was a moment in ' which I
knew the soldier had the boots in his hands
to examine thorn. They were good boots,
perhaps so good that bis suspicions were
excited in this way. At any rate, he doubt
ed the assertions, exclaiming : -
" You are a liar I There is some one
in the house, and ' you are secreting him.
By the old Harry, but I believe you are
concealing some Unionist I"
I saw that it was a matter which he and
I must scttlo, and I prepared for what I
knew was coming. I hoard him get up,
and drew my revolver to be ready. He
opened a door, saw no one, and then came
to mine, jerked It open with great force,
and I no sooner'caught sight of him than I
gave a long jump and struck him in the
face with the butt of my heavy " Oolt."
He went down like a log, I on top, and in
a moment I had my knees on his arms, and
the farmor was Bitting on bis legs. He had
received a heavy blow, and was fully a
minute in coming to. Boforo he could
realize what bad occurred, we had him tied
tip like a fish in a net, the cool-mindod and
courageous wife bringing the ropes.
" You are that cussed Yankee spy 1" he
hissed, as soon as he had a fair view of my
face.. i'
"Correct as a dot," I replied. "But
suppose I am ?"
He tried to get up, fell back, rolled over
and over, and finally ceased to struggle,
and looked at me with the most devilish
eye I had ever seen in my life.
" Never mind, you scamp I" he hissed, at
last ; " I've got a dead thing on you, and
I'll make a soup dish of your skull in less
than a week ! I'll have yon hung before
the sun goes down I" ' ''
I had conquered my enemy, but I had
got into a muss. It needed only a look at
the farmer couple to show me that they
were much more concerned than myself,
as they must now leave their place, or stay
and be arrested for aiding me. The farmer
beckoned me to the other end of the room,
expressed his feelings, arid then wanted to
know what I was going to do. ' " What I
was going to do" was a question which
puzzled me greatly. ' There seemed no
other way except to murder 'the soldier,
and I told the farmer so. ' If we let him go
bo would have the two arrested and me
hunted down iu an hour. I nover did shed
a drop of blood when there was any possi
ble way to avoid it, and I shuddered as I
thought of murdering the man in cold
blood. But three lives were more valuable
than one, and we picked up the captive and
carried him down the cellar, the woman
watching the road to warn us if any one
was likely to call.
The soldier must have realized our inten
sions, but he never spoke a word while we
were taking him down and stretching hhn
out on the ground. I knew by this that he
would hunt us to the death if he should,
once more regain his liberty.
"The axe that is the beBt thing I" whis
pered the farmer, his face as pale as a
sheet, no went up stairs, procured It,
handed it to me, and then walked off to
the dark corner bo that ho might not see
the murder. - '.;
I was in a tremble as I took the axe amf
walked up to the man. His eyes looked to
me in the semi-darkness like the eyes of a
mad dog, and the blood trickling down his--face
gave him a horrible aspect. He knew
that I was going to sink the axe in his
head, but he would not plead. He was one
of a million. Calling all my nerve I raised
the axe, drew a long breath, and in an in
stant more would have struck him, had not
the farmer come running up and shouted
for me to hold on. He had an idea. I had
told him that tho Union forces would ad
vance within a week at the furthest, and
he called me to one side, and stated his be
lief that he could keep the soldier a prison
er that longth of time, and then tu rn him
over. The more we talked of it tho moio
foasiblo tho plan appeared, especially as we
desired to wash our hands of murder. ..
The woman was consulted, and as shoi
agreed with us, we at once commenced
preparations for detaining the captive.
The farmer brought down more ropes and
sevoral chains, and we worked for a full
hour in tying and manacling the soldier so
that he could not get away. He made no
resistance, refused to speak a work, and
allowed us to bandlo him as we chose.
Finally our task was. ended. We had
chained, lashed and strapped him until we
would have defied the Davenports to get
him loose without knives. We had emptied
his pockets, taken away his revolver, and
ho was to be kept as he was until the Fed
erals came, the farmor proposing to feed
him regularly. .
It was past noon when we went up stairs,
and, after a cold lunch, I made prepara
tions to leave. , I arranged with the farmer
that . in case he had to leave, he should
make bis way across the river at Stevens
burg, or below, and go to the house of a
man whoso name I gave him. Ho believed
he would have to go sooner or later, and
was careful to heed my directions. ... . ,
With a handshake we parted company,
and I went tramping tip the road. It was
still raining, and I was glad of the fact, as
it offered me an excuse for muflling my
head and face with the capo. I presently
began to meet teams, troops aud artillory,
aud saw that orders had been given to mass
troops at Btevensburg, ' to be prepared for
the threatened crossing. ' No one gave me
particular attention, except to send me a
friendly nod or a salute now and then. I
passed several winter camps, and although
it was a bad day, I could not help seeing
such signs of activity at each place as con
vinced me that the men were getting ready
for the coming campaign. By counting one
row of tents, I could set the wholo number
quite correctly, and by my knowledge of
how many soldiers -generally occupied a
tent, I could give a Yankee guess at the
total number in the camp. In this way
during my afternoon tramp, I secured in
formation correct enough to answer every
purpose. The defences at the erossrooda
and on commanding eminences were duly
noted, and I also looked particularly after
the artillery. Not a thing had occurred to
alarm me during the afternoon, and when
it began to grow dark, I oast about for
quarters. I did not believe that I should
find another respectful and accommodating
corporal of the guard, or another loyal old
Joe, and so I made up my mind to secure
quarters in a farmhouse.. t
I had some gold with 'me, and had no
doubt that my request for lodgings would
be readily granted when it was known that
I desired to make recompense. It was not
likely that I should meet with any officers
or' soldiers, as the ' road was lined with
oamps, and the ' weather was such as ' to
keep them in their quarters.'; I had hardly
mode up my mind to the arrangement, when
I turned aside to reach a farmhouse which
stood on the left hand side of the road and
back about twenty Tods. When the door
was opened In answer to my knook, I found
the whole family sitting down to supper.
I made my request, tossed the man a gold
CONTINUED ON SECOND r AO E.