| Show d y b r ua od CHAPTER XIV continued 14 their mission finished that evening J jack ack tint and solomon called nt at general headquarters general doctor franklin told us to turn over the bosses and wagons to you said solomon lie ile toll tell ajr s what to t ri in with bursel ves cause an lie knew it we want to enlist for what term till the british are licked you a aro the kind of mell luen I 1 need wago said bald washington illington 1 I shall put you ou on scout duty sir mr irona will go into n my ay iy regiment of 0 sharpshooters willi the rank of captain you have told mo me of its ills training in philadelphia 1 so the two friends were enlisted and began service in the lie anny of washington A letter from jack to his mother dated july 25 1775 Is lull full of the camp color general charles lee le Is in command of iny regiment lie be writes ile ho Is a rough slovenly old log dog of it man who seems to bark at us on oil tho training ground lie lias hits two or three hunting logs dogs that mat live with etli him in ills tent lout and also a rare gift of profanity which la Is with him everywhere suvo savo nt at headquarters today I 1 saw these notices posted in camp 11 punctual attendance on divine service Is required of all not on actual duty no burning of the popo pope allowed 11 fifteen stripes for or denying den j ing duty ten for getting drunk thirty nine for stealing and desertion ser eert lon tion 1 rogues are put in terror lazy men ere are energized the quarters quarter sare are kept clean the food Is well cooked and in plentiful supply but the british over in town aro are said to begetting hungry early in august a london letter was forwarded to jack from philadelphia ile he was filled with new hope fig all lie read these lines dearest jack I 1 am sailing for boston on one of the next neit troop ships to join my father so when the war ends god grant it may be soon you will not cot have bare far to go to find bud me perhaps by christmas christinas time ke we may be ber let us both pray for that meanwhile I 1 shall be happier for bring nearer you and for doing what I 1 can am to heal beat the wounds wound made by this wretched clied war I 1 am going to be a nurse in a hospital you see the truth I 1 Is is that since I 1 met you I 1 like all me men better and I 1 shall love to be trying to relieve their sufferings it was a long letter but above Is as much of it as can claim admission to these pages ario but she could write such A letter jock jck asked himself and than he be held it to ills his lips a moment it thrilled him to think that even chasn sie she was probably in boston in the tent where lie he and solomon lived when they were both in camp lie found the scout the night before solomon lidd had slept out now he had built a small fire in front of the tent and laan down on a blanket having delivered tits his report at bead headquarters quarters Al margaret argaret la Is in boston said jack as soon as he entered and then standing in the firelight read the letter to Ms lis friend Is bi a real gen generine genew ewine lne likely gal said the scout 1 I wish there were some way of getting to her the young man remarked might oa as well think 0 coln to h 1 nn an back agin 1 said solomon since bunker the british are like a lot 0 6 hornets I 1 run onto one of em cm today lie fired at me an lilt lift a thing I 1 t the air an run like a scared rabbit could in a killed him easy but I 1 kind 0 enjoyed cecin him run lie he were like chain light lightning nin on a greased pole you hear to roe me if the general will let me im going to try spy duty daty and see if I 1 can get into town and out again he proposed you keep out 0 that business said Solo solomon moa theys too many that know ye in town the two cierkes clarkes an their friends tin an colonel rare an his friends nn an cap preston an a hull they know till nil bout ye if you got snapped stan ye ngan a wall nn an put ye out 0 the way quick it would be pie for the he cierkes clarkes CI Cl arkes an the ol 01 man ilare hare spill no tears over it cap preston save ye no sir air I 1 wont low it theys plenty 0 old cusses fer such work for a time jack abandoned the idea but later when solomon failed to return from a scouting tour and a report reached camp that he was captured the young roan man began to think of that rather romantic plan again lie he had grown a fall beard his skin was wai tanned his clothes were worn and torn and failed faded ills fat father faglier lier who had visited tho the camp cerop bringing a supply of clothes for life son had failed at first to recognize him december had arrived the general was having his him first great trial in keeping an army about him terms of enlistment wore expiring cold weather had find foroe come the camp was uncomfortable regiments of tho the homesick lads ads of new england were leaving or preparing to leave jack and a number of bung ministers in the he service organized a campaign of persua ston and many were prevailed upon to re but hundreds ot of boys boy were hurrying homeward hom award on the frozen roads one dayback jay jack was sent for lie ile and by IRVING BACHELLER copyright by irving bayeur bad acm ills his company lidd captured a number of men in a skirmish captain you lave have done well said the general 1 I want to make a scout of you yon in our pre present serit circumstances its about the lie most important dangerous and difficult work there Is to be dune done here especially the work which solomon bankus undertook to do there Is no other in whom I 1 should liao have so much confidence major bartlett knows the part of the line which abich colonel binkus traversed ile he will be going out that way tomorrow I 1 should like you ou sir ejr to go with lit him in after one trip trill I 1 shall be great greatly lyp pleased eased it you ion are e capable of doing t the m work alone orders were delivered and jack reported to bartlett artlett Il an agreeable mid tile dle aged farmer soldier who had been on scout duty duly since july they lett left camp together next nest morning nn an hour houp before reveille they had an uneventful day mostly in wooded flats and ridged and from tho the latter looking with a spyglass spy glass into Brut eland ns they called the country held field by the british and seeing only now and then nn an enemy picket or distant camps about midday they sat down in a thicket together for a bite to eat and a whispered conference bankus as you know rhad had his own way of scouting said eald the major he was an indian fighter ile he liked to get inside the enemy lines and ue he close ant an watch em cm an debbe hear bear what they were talking about now in an then he be would surprise a british sentinel and disarm him tin on bring him into camp jack wondered that his big friend had never spoken of the capture of prison erg era he was a modest hafl mw said eald the young scout ile he want the british to know where solomon was antwork at work and I 1 guess he was wise said raid the major 1 I advise against taking the chances that he be took it alet aint nece necessary ry you would be caught much sooner fooner than he be was that day bartlett took jack borei over solomons trail and gave him the lay of the land and much good advice A young man of jacks spirit however Is apt to have a degree of enterprise and self confidence riot not easily controlled by advice he had bad been traveling caute 1 10 vy 5 I 1 4 alone for three days when he felt the need of more exciting action that night me he crossed the charles river on the ice in a snowstorm and captured a sentinel and brought him back to camp spon after that the daring spirit of the youth led him into a great grea adden adventure it was on the night of january fifth that jack penetrated the british lines in a snowstorm and got close to an outpost in a strip of forest there a camp tire ire was burning ile he come came close ills his garments had bad been whitened by the storm the air was thick with snow his feet were muffled in a foot of it ile he sat by a stump scarcely twenty feet from the are seeing those hose in its light but quite invisible there he could distinctly hear the talk of th the Britis hers it related to a proposed evacuation of the city by howe im weary of starving starring to dent death in this godforsaken god cod forsaken place said one of them you cant keep an army without meat or vegetables ive eaten fish till im getting scales on me colonel says that thai the army amy will leave here within a fortnight another observed it was important information which had come to the ear of 0 the young scout the talk was that of well bred englishmen who were probably officers we ought not to speak of those hose matters aloud one of them remarked some d d yankee may be listening like the one we captured ile he was old scout said another ile he swore a blue streak when we shoved him into jail they dont like to be treated like rebels they want to be prisoners of wr A young man came along with his ririe rifle on his shoulder I 1 hello said one of the men going out on post 1 I am god help me the youth rin answered its what id call it a h I 1 of a night the sentina passed close by jack on OH his way wa to his pott post the latter crept away and followed gradually closing in upon his bla quarry when they were well away from the fire jack cams caine close and called IW bill I 1 the sentinel stopped and face faced 1 11 about aboul youre forgotten something said jack in a genial tone what Is it your tour caution lon jack nn answered with his fits pistol ri against the breast of his enemy 1 I 1 have to kill you it you call or fall to obey me clive me the tha rifle and so go on ahead when I 1 say gee 9 go ato to the right haw to the left so the capture won was made and on the way out jack picked up the sentinel who stood waiting to be relieved and took both men into camp from documents on the person of one of these young Britis hers it appeared that general clarke was lit la command of a brigade behind the lines which jack had been watching and robbing when jack delivered his report the chief called him abrade lad and sau it Is valuable information you have brought to me ine donot do not speak of it IL let me warn you captain that from boffl now on they will try to trap you perhaps even you ou may look for daring enterprises on that part of their line line the general was right the young scout ran into a most daring and successful c british enterprise on the twentieth of january the snow had bad been swept swep I 1 away in a warm ruin rain and the ground bad frozen bare or it would not have been possible jack had ba got to a strip of woods in a lonely bit of country near the british lines and was climbing a tall fail we tree to take observations when he be saw a movement on the ground beneath him lie he stopped and quickly discovered that th the tree was fc by british soldiers on one of them who stood with a raised rifle called to him irona I 1 will trouble you to drop your pistols and come down at once jack saw raw that he had bad run into an am ambush bash lie he dropped his pistols and came down ile he had bad disregarded the warning of the general ne he should have been looking out tor for an ambush A squad of five men stood about lim him with rifles la in hand among them was waa lionel clarke his bis right sleeve empty weve got you at last you d d rebell rebel 1 raid laid clarke 1 I suppose you need some one to swear ear at jack answered and to shoot at clarke suggested 1 I thought that you would not core cam for another match with me the young scout remarked as they began to move mote awny away hereafter you yon will be treated like a rebel and not like ilke a gentleman clarke answered what do you yon mean 7 1 I mean that you win will be standing blindfolded against a walls wall that kind of a threat scare scam me jack answered we have too many of your men in our hands bands CHAPTER XV I 1 in n boston jail jack was marched under guard into the streets of boston church bells were ringing it was sunday morning young clarke came watt the guard beyond the city limits they had fiad seemed to be very careless in the control of their prisoner they gave him every chance to make a break for liberty jack was not fooled 1 1 I see sec that you want to get rid of roe me said jack to the me young of officer fleer like illie to have me run a race with your bullets that Is base ingratitude I 1 was careful of you when we met and you jou do not seem to know it 1 I know how well you can cam shoot clarke answered but you do not know how well I 1 can shoot and when I 1 learn I 1 want to hare bare a fair fa r ebitt chance ice for my life beyond the city limits young clarke who was then a captain left them and jack proceeded with the others the streets were quiet indeed almost deserted there wre were no children playing on the common A crowd was wai coining out of one of the churches in the midst of it the prisoner pr idoner saw preston and lady here hare they were so near that he be could have touched touche them with his dmd arnd ns as he parsed they did not see him lie ile noted the name of bf the church and its ila minister in a few minutes he was delivered at the tha jall jail a noisome III smelling badly ventilated place the yard tard was an opening walled la in by the afie main structure and its two wings and a wooden fence some fifteen feet high there was a rox ragged ged dirty rabble of rebel prIs prisoners among whom was solomon binkus all ali out for tin an hiring airing the old scout had lost flesh and color lie ile held jacks hand and stood for a moment without speaking TO HE BE CONTINUED |
