Show 6 9 amow cr a CHAPTER IV cont aued an investigation showed them just t how the yankee had made his escape aart and as men admire daring no matter aider what flag it may be found the planter could not help expressing his surprise colonel emmett aca a bold m man n I 1 am bound to but this does not seem to be one of your luck bights nights skaggs blochl thi hole up ake take the knife away bror him and andt then he lie can spend the remainder oe of the night in cursing his misfortune to morrow my dear sir aou shall see the interior of atlanta in advance of Ster laermans plan s hosts with these consoling wolds the planter NIth withdrew drew the door was lock ed and once more silence reigned through the granger house an hour passed colonel john ia was as not 3 et ready to give up he ile examined the wall and found that a heavy plank had been placed across the opening so securely fasten td d at either end that no matter how fae be strained ned and tugged he could not budge the barrier one inch ibis put an end to his calculations in that direction he sat down to evolve some other othell afan and chilel while thus engaged was startled to hear a bey kejr rattle la ill the lock instantly he conceived the idea of leaping upon his visitor and thus making his escape lie ile crouched by the door under which he now saw a ray of light he held his breath and gathered his energies tor for a sudden tiger like leap then the door swung back but john did not move instead of the beriy burly overseer or the confederate officer his eyes fell upon the figure of tae georgia girl and he heard her peculiarly soft voice sai coldly silence on your life barbarian it Is r only I 1 mollie CHAPTER V it was only duty that urged her to save him he ile recovered himself immediately relieved to find there was not causa cause ix foe action on his part her presence suggested the idea that she had come save sate him how could he but feel a certain spasm of emotion she had teen been made his wife by the sacred rites of the church could it be pos pas sible bible she took enough interest in him to assume this risk one glance into her face I 1 cocked the conceit out of him it was as cold as marble he took warning and was vas 4 ou his guard i I 1 am glad to see you miss bliss mollie the darkness is anything but pleas ant may I 1 it if your father has changed his mind and concluded to let me escape escaped she frowned at the sound of his voice you must not speak except in a elsper whisper hl sper my father I 1 as not relented it Is still his intention to hand you over in the morning I 1 have believed it my duty to right the wrong he has done you and you have come to save mea I 1 perhaps there was a trifle too much of eagerness in his voice tor for she seem ed colder than ever john felt as though he had done a mortal wrong in standing there and going through the ceredon ce remon nevertheless to him self he was saying perhaps fortune will give me the opportunity to break down this reserve who knowse it Is not natural caused by this unrighteous war ar which must soon be over I 1 have hopes that this queenly girl whom I 1 knew and loved as a child may et be my mollie it may be set down as positive that he did not utter these thoughts aloud the high spirited southern maid would have scorned him and possibly have left him to his fate I 1 hae haie come to offer you liberty remember sir I 1 do this not because I 1 have the slightest interest in your welfare tor for I 1 hope and expect never to see you again but I 1 believe my lather father deceived you that had you understood what he meant ou might have refused to be sacrificed on the altar of connubial folly john started recognizing his own j V IS par on url i I 1 d noi know sou ou ov over r beard heard my remark there was more in the sentence than ou hive have quoted a sort of homeopathic remedy as it N ere I 1 NN was as a bachelor and never expected to marry that would ac ae count for my words say no more the subject Is dis tasteful to me if you still desire your freedom come and male no noise on 3 sour our life there are those who would only be too glad to cause a vacancy in our regiment she turned and walked away carry irig the lantern at her side john quietly closed the door locked it and cabied can led off the kea be then he follow ed the girl she led him to the open air there vas a satisfaction about breathing the brae brac ng n atmosphere again after spend ing hours in the stuffy attic prison there Is our path yankee I 1 hope sou ou will reach your regiment in safety and remember that promise jou ou hate haie git agnen en in writing she said I 1 shall endean endeavor or not to offend miss mollie the fortunes of war are becu I 1 ar who knows what may occur occurs it I 1 can be of assistance ov need not finish dour our sentence I 1 ha have hae e a father and brother to protect toe me should we ve by chance meet again it will beas be AS strangers still you must confess that it Is rather hard under the circumstances I 1 don t see what should hinder us from being friends ea ees es flashed fire at once and she drew herself up like a young tragedy queen that could never be I 1 am a georgia girl you a yankee soldier you have come down to our country to bring ruin and death all that I 1 inow 1 now and love have suffered through dour our hands rivers of blood have flown fown our wealth has become poverty we have nothing left to fight for but our honor for this then I 1 hate jou ou and end yours ours I 1 can never forgive the wrong done your way ay lies yonder mine is here go then and cease to remember that mollie granger ex its john was a man who never knew what despair meant even these bit ter words were preferable to bontemp silence N 0 1 0 f aa 27 you will at least allow me to thank you tor for your kindness he said hum bly there Is no necessity I 1 am doing this from a sense of duty not because I 1 have the least interest in your wel fare will you shake hands with me mea since I 1 am never to see you again I 1 should like to know that at I 1 least east your feeling against me Is not deeper than what you naturally entertain toward all federal officers I 1 have vowed never to accept the hand of a northern man she said stoutly but I 1 am southern born so much the more shame to you then I 1 may yet be sorry for having a assisted aisted at your escape I 1 believe there are extenuating cir cum stances at any rate I 1 have gone ug to my convictions men blen in the north who sympathize with the south are not socially ostracized since you will not shake hands I 1 shall relieve you of my presence boudo rot suspect that we have met before impossible it was many years ago you were a small girl in distress having fallen into the brool where the old foot bridge crosses it A youth passing by fished iou ou out and helped iou home do 3 ou remember the occasion 7 what he said so aroused her inter est that she forgot her recent avowal of antipathy an ant 1 even placed a hand upon uron his arm while looking earnestly into his face I 1 can hardly believe that you are flat tl at same john ay iy and yet several times I 1 have had a on oil bat that our face reminded me of some one in the long ago still it mal es no difference drawing way from him for I 1 cannot honor a man who dons the blue when he should be wearing the gray and yet it seems that I 1 have been the means of saving lyndhurst I 1 understand how you feel and believe me I 1 shall never attempt to overstep the line of agreement laid down in that paper I 1 signed all ali the same erra me we to cay ay i i strange drama Is bound to occur in and arc ind atlanta atlant when sherman takes tales the ity and J ah AIL 4 ros possibly sibly john ridgeway Ridge wa colonel m 7 again be of service to the ml e ari whom the fortune of war has duade his lits wife nife how dare oua ou she cried fei ie ie e had suddenly taken her hand and pressed it e will meet again slid john a gallantly removing hs his cap and bow ng as he med off not with my consent sir she fla flashed hed back but he smiled and walk ed away anay under the shadows or of the tries nor did mollie retreat within the house until john ridgeway had cute ou te vanished from view CHAPTER VI the F nd ng of the drum head court As he walked with a springy step down under the arching linden trees colone john looked back once more oer hij his shoulder it gave him the most peculiar sen sell bation of his life to see that white robed figure standing in the small side door n way ay a charm was ads upon him and no longer could this man of iron nerves I 1 now the peace that had been his of bore ore he had not forgotten the lay of the land and was able to reach the out skirts of the old plantation render ed doubly cautious by his experience earlier in the night john advanced in the d of the house to his surprise he saw a campfire campf lre glowing among the trees that grew so riotously along the edge of the ted drive this had not been there earlier in the night and naturally it aroused h s curiosity moving figures came between the light and his eyes evidently ahe men were mere on oil the alert perhaps their pres ence here had something to do with the great war game of chess where regiments and army corps re presen ted knights rooks and pawns no guard challenged bis his advance and he was enabled to flit from tree to tree until close enough to note the landed uniform of the confederates grouped about the fire they were a score in number and appeared to be simply waiting for some superior officer As the night was chilly they had started this fire in order to keep nv warm arm certain words reached johns ears cars that caused him to turn tum and look in the direction of the house to his surprise a light shone from several of the windows nor was it stationary but appeared to move from room to room this aroused his won der and even a suspicion flashed his mind which was mas allowed to take shape for there came a clattering of hoofs upon the driveway and several mounted men rode up to the fire As the bright flames cast a ruddy glow upon their faces john saw that one of them was a very dashing look ing officer who impressed him as an autocrat of the first order this party wore the uniform of a major a new uniform too which was a rarity at this date among the distressed followers of the star and bars john could not advance upon the house while parties were exploring the interior and might as well remain there watching the enemy se ile speculated as to the reason of this invasion but could arrive at no conclusion beyond the thought that the men were searching tor for valuables in the deserted mansion it if ohp yankees were soon to come into possession there was little need of leaving any thing for their plundering hands even while john watched he saw a man hasten up to the fire and in this worthy recognized the overseer of squire granger the man showed evidence of excite mont he ile at once engaged the major in conversation and the latter s loud wice attested to the fact that the measure of intense interest had been communicated to him to be continued |