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Show ALICE of OLD I VINCENNES I By MAURICE THOMPSON Copyridht. 1300. by the BOWEN.NERRIU COMPANr 'f iWMi"KH-H.H-M"l"l 1 H iM-M-CIIAI'l i:it VIII. Tltn 11II.I MMA OP CAlTAlJf HILJf. CvNCLU JAZON. fooling like n R INh returned to die water aft-7 aft-7 cr a lonj; mid torturing enptlv-lt.v enptlv-lt.v in tlio open air, plunged Into In-to the forest with anticipations of lively ndventure mid made his way toward the Wen plains. It wns Ills purpixo to get u boat at the village of Oulateiion and pull thence up the Wabash' until lie could find out what the Kngllsli were doing. lie i'Iioso for Ids (.oiupnulons on this duiiKei'oin expedition two expert ex-pert courcurs do lints, Initiotiible ni'i1 Jacques Ilalloup. l'lrty miles up the river tliey fell In with some friendly Indians, well known to tlipiif nil, who wen returning from the portage. The savages Informed them that there were no signs of nil English advance ad-vance In that quarter. Some of them, had been iih far as the St. Joseph river' mid to within a short distance of Detroit De-troit without seeing a while man or hearing of any suspicious movements on tho part of Hamilton. So hack came Oncle .Tnzou with his pleasing report, re-port, niiK'Ii disappointed that he had not been able to stir up some sort of trouble. It was Helm's turn to laugh "What did I tell jou?" he cried, In a jolly mood, slapping Heverley on tho shoulder. "I knew mighty well that it was all a big Rtory with nothing In It. What on earth would the English ho thinking nbotit to march an army away on down here only to capture a rotten stockade nnd a lot of gabbling parly-voosV" parly-voosV" Heverley, while he did not feel quite as confident us his i hlef, was not sorry that things looked a little brighter than he had feared they would turn out to be. Secretly and without acknowledging acknowledg-ing It to himself he was delighted with the life lie was living. Ho began to like walking about aimlessly aim-lessly in the town's narrow streets, with the mud daubed cabins on cither hand This simple life under low, thatehc-l roofs had a charm. Everybody Every-body cried cheerll), "Hon Jour, monsieur, mon-sieur, comment allez-vousV" as he went by, alvvajs accompanying the verbil salute with a graceful wave of the hand. Hut It was nlways a glimpse of Alice that must count for everything In 15ev-erley's 15ev-erley's reckonings, albeit he would have strenuously denied It. True hu went to Itoussillon place almost overy day, It being a Hxed part of ills well ordered habit, and had a talk with her. Sometimes, when Dame Itoussillon was very busy and so quite olt her guard, they road together In a novel or in certain cer-tain parts of the odd vohimo of Mon talgne. This was done more for the sweetness of disobedience than to en-Joy en-Joy the already familiar pages. Now and again they repeated their fencing bout, but never with tho result which followed the llrst. Heverley von mastered Alice's tricks and showed her that, after ail, uiabcullne muscle Is lint to be discounted nt Its own game by oven the most wonderful womanly strength nnd suppleness. She struggled bravely to hold her vantage ground once gained so easily, but tho inevitable inevita-ble was not to be avoided. At lust one howling winter day he dh.irmcd her by the very trick that she had shown him. That ended the play, and they ran, shivering. Into tho house. "All," she cried, "It Isn't fair You are so much bigger than I. You have mi much longer arms, so much more weight and power. It all counts against me! You ought to lie ashamed of jour-self!" jour-self!" She was losy with the exhilarating exhilarat-ing exercise and the biting of the frosty fros-ty hieee Her beauty gave forth a new ray. Deep In her heart she was pleased to have him master her so snpcrblj ; but ns tho days passed she never s.ild so, never gave over trying to make hint feel the touch of her foil. She did not know that her eyes were getting through his guard, that her dimples were stabbing his heart to Its middle. "You have other advantages," hu replied, re-plied, "which far overbalance my greater stature mid stronger muscles." Then after a pauso ho added. "After all a girl must be a girl." Something in his face, something In hor heart, startled her so that she made a quick little movo like that of n iest-less iest-less blid. "You arc beautiful, and that makes my eyes and my hand uncertain," he went on. "Woro I fencing with a Din n there would he no glamour." Ho spoke In English, which hu did not often do hi conversation with uer. It was a ulgu that ho was somewhat wrought upon. She followed his rapid words with (lilllculty, but she caught from thorn a now note of feeling. He saw a little pale Hare dIui hcioss hei face and thought slio was augiy. "You should not use your dimples to distract my vision," lie quickly added, with a light laugh. "It would bo nc worse for mo to throw in) hat In yoyr face." Ills attempt at levity wns obviously weak. She looked straight Into his eyes with the steady gazo of a simple, earnest naturo shocked by a current quite strnugo to It. She did not understand un-derstand him, and she did. Her line Intuition gathered swiftly together a hundred shreds of Impression received from him Outing their rccent'growinB fiitTinacy. He was"n paTrTeT.m as slii vaguely made him out. a man of wealth, whose family was great. Ho belonged among people of gentle birth and high attainments. She magnified htm so that he was diffused In her Imagination, Im-agination, as dlllicult to comprehend as a mist In the morning air and as beautiful "You make fun of me," she said veiy deliberately, letting her eyes droop. Then she looked up iignln suddenly mid coutiuiud, with a certain naive ox-piesslou ox-piesslou of disappointment gathering hi her face: "I have been too five with you. rather Heret told me not to forget for-get my dignity when In your company. Ho told me you might misunderstand mo. I don't care. I shall not feue." with you again " She laughed, but tliero was no Joyous frpulom In the Bound. "Why, Alice my dear Miss Koussll-ion. Koussll-ion. jou do mo a wrong. I beg a thousand thou-sand pardons If I've hurt jou." he cried, stepping nearer to her. "and 1 can never forgive uij-self. You have somehow misunderstood me, 1 know j'ou have!" On his part It was exaggerating n mere contact of mutual feelings into a dangeious collision. He was as much pelf deceived as was she, ami lie made more uoKe about It. "It Is jou who havo misunderstood me," she replied, smiling brightly now. but with just a faint, pitiful touch of regret or self blame lingering In her voice. "Father Heret said you would. I did not believe him, but" "And you shall not believe him," said Heverley. "I havo not misunderstood you. Theie has been nothing. Yon havo tieated me kindly and with beautiful beau-tiful friendliness. You have not done or said a thing that Father Heret or anybody else could erltice, and If I havo said or done the least tiling to trouble you I repudiate It I did not mean it. Now j'ou believe me. don't jou, Miss Itoussillon?" He seemed to bo falling Into the habit hab-it of speaking to her In English. She understood it somewhat Imperfectly, es peclally when In an earnest moment he rushed his words together as If they had been soldiers he was leading at tho charge step against an enemy. Ills manner (onviuccd her even though his; diction fell .short. "Then we'll talk about something else," sho said, laughing naturally now and retreating to a chair by the hearth-side. hearth-side. "I want j'ou to tell mo all about yourself and jour family, your home and everything." Sho seated herself with an nlr of ton-scions ton-scions aplomb and motioned him to take a distant stool. There wns a great heap of dry logs In the fireplace, with pointed llames shooting shoot-ing out of its crevices and leaping Into tho gloomy, cnvellko throat of tho Hue. Outsldo a wind passed heavily across tho roof nnd bellowed in the chimney top. Heverley drew tho btool near Alice, who with a chancd stick used ns a poker was thrusting nt tho glowing crevices and sending showers of sparks aloft. "Why, there wouldn't ho uiueli to tell," he said, glad to feel secure again. "Our home Is a big old mansion named Heverley Hall, on a hill among trees and half sin rounded with slavo cabins. It overlooks tho plantation hi the vnl- ffW V36W1J ff rr 'I'm Utun, TarUUm," hi rcjicuttil. ley whore ailttlo river goes wandering en Its way." Ho was speaking French, and she followed him easily now, her eyes beginning to itlng out again their natural sunny beams of Interest. "I was born tliero twonty-slx years ago and haven't done much of anything since. You seo before j-ou, mademoiselle, mademoi-selle, a very undistinguished j-oung limn, who has signally failed to accomplish accom-plish the dream of his buyhood, which was f 'jo a great artist itko Kaphaol or Angola Instead of being famous I am hut n poor lieutenant hi the forces of Virginia" - "You havo a mother, father, brothers and sisters?" sho interrogated. Sho did not understand his nlluslon to tho great artists of whom sho knew nothing. noth-ing. She had never heforo heard of them She leaned the poker against the chlmnev Jamb and turned her face toward to-ward him "Mother father and one sister," ho said 'no lirotheis. We were a happy little giinip Hut my sister married and llws In Itnltlniniv. I am here Fatl'er and mother are alone In the old house. Sometimes I ntu terribly ho'iiesick." He w.is silent a moment, tltoB added: "Hut j mi are schlsti. You mnke me do nil the telling. Now 1 want yon to give me a little of your storj-f mndc-niolsellK, mndc-niolsellK, beginning, ns I did, at tho til St." "Hut 1 can't," she replied, with child like fiaiikup&s. "for 1 don't know where 1 was burn nor mj parents' names .ta,. who I am You see how different It Is with iih I am called Alice ltnussll-Ion. ltnussll-Ion. Inn 1 suppose that my name is Alloc Tiirlelon. It Is not certain, however how-ever There In very little to help out the theory Here l nil the proof tliero Is. I don't know that It is worth" anything any-thing " She tool: off her lotltpt nnd banded It to him. He handled It rather Indifferently, for ho was Just then studying the Cae lines of her face Hut hi a moment he was Interested. "Tarleion. Tnrleton," ho repented. Then he turned the little disk or gold over nnd saw thp onninelod draw I tig on tho buck, u crest clearly outlined. He started. Tho crest wus quite fn-lullinr. fn-lullinr. "Where did J'ou get this?" ho demanded de-manded In Ihiglhth and with such blunt BUddeniicss that sho wob Btartied. "Whore did It come from?" "I have always had It." "Always'' It's the Tarleton crest. Do ,vou belong to that family?" "Indeed I do not know. I'npa Itoussillon Itous-sillon sa.vs he thinks 1 do." ' Well, this Is strange nnd Interesting" Interest-ing" said Heverley, rather to himself than addressing her. He looked from the miniature to the crest and back to the miniature again, then nt Alice. "I tell jou this Is strange," he reie.it-ed, reie.it-ed, witli omphnsls. "It Is ONcocdlngly strange." Her cheeks flushed quickly under their soft blown, and her oj'os Hashed with eMitemcnt. "Yes, I know." Her voice fluttered : her hands were clasped In her lap. She loaned toward hhn eagerly. "It Is strnnge l'o thought about It a groat deal." "Alice Tarleton; that Is light Alice Is a mime of the family. Lady Alice Tarleton was flip mother of the first Sir Cnrnett Tarleion who came over In the time of Yard ley It's a great family, fam-ily, one of the oldest and best In Virginia Vir-ginia " lie looked at her now with a gaze of concentrated Interest, under wiihli her eyes fell. "Why, this Is romantic," ro-mantic," lie exclaimed, 'absolutely lo-lnautle! lo-lnautle! And jou don't know how you came by this locket? You don't know who was j'our father, your mother?" "I do not know anything." ' "And'what does M. liousslllou know?" "Just as little." "Hut how came he to ho taking you and caring for you? lie must know-how know-how bo got yon, whole ho got j'ou, of whom he got jou. Surely ho knows" "Oil, 1 know nil that. I was twelve .years old when l'apa Itoussillon look me, eight years ago. I had been having hav-ing a haid life, and but for him 1 must havo died. I was a captive among the Indians. He took me ami has cared for me and taught me. lie lias been vcrj', very good to me. I love hhn dually." "And don't you remember anything at all about when, where, how, the Indians In-dians got J'OU?" "No." She shook her head and seemed seem-ed to ho trying to recollect something. "No, 1 Just can't remember And yet Jheio has always been something llko a dream In my mind which I could not quite got hold of. 1 know that I am not a Catholic I vaguely icmeiuher a swoot woman who taught me to pray like this; 'Our Father who art In heaven, heav-en, hallowed be thy name.' " And Alice went on through the beautiful beau-tiful nnd' perfect prayer, which she repeated re-peated In Hngllsh with Infinite sweetness sweet-ness nnd solemnity, her eyes uplifted, her hands clasped befote her. Heverley Hever-ley could have sworn that sho was a shining saint nnd 'that ho saw an aureole. au-reole. ' I know," sho continued, "that soino time, somewhere, to a very dear person, per-son, I promised that I never. never, never would pray any praj-or but that, and I remember almost nothing eluo nbout that other lire, which is far olf back yonder In the past, I don't know where - sweet, peaceful, shndowy, a dream th it I have all but lost from my mind." Heveiiey's sj mpathy was deeply iiinw'd. He sat for some minutes looking look-ing at hor without speaking. She, too, was pensive and silent, whllo tho lire sputtered and sang, the great logs slowly melting, the flames tossing wlps of sinoko Into tho chimney still booming to tho wind "l know, too, that I am not French," she piesontly icsumed, "but I don't know Just how I know It. My llrst words must have been Hngl'fl'i, for I havo always dieamed of talking In that languago, and my dimmest half recoiled recoi-led ions of the old days aro of a largo, white house and a soft voiced black woman, who sang to mo In that language lan-guage tho very sweotcst songs in tho world." Heverley listened ns ono vvho hears a M'lever lender Intoning a strango and captivating poem. To his mind it wns dear that sho belonged to tho Tarleton Tarle-ton family of Virginia. Youth always (oucludcs u matter at once. Ho know homo of tho Tarletons. Hut It wns a Tvidely scattered family. Its members living In almost overy colony In Amu--lea Tho crest ho recognized nt a glance by tho dragon on tho helmet with three stars. It was not for a woman wo-man to hear. Hut doubtless It had been enameled on the locket moroly ns a family mark, as was nftou done In America. ( "Tho black woman was your nurse, Continued on (lth page your mnmniy " lie Raid. "I know by that nnd by your prnjer In HriKllHli as wol! i bj oiir locket Mint j oil are "f n piod old fiiinil. l.lki- iiiiA; willtlieriicis. In' had stroiiK fnllli In Bouealouy. nnd lie held at his tolijjue's tip the inline of nil the old fnmllles. The Carter, the Minim, the Wtzliiighn. the HiiiiMoiiK. the Itiin-dnlphH, Itiin-dnlphH, the Lens, the l.mlweJK the Jolieson, the HeverleyN. the Tiirlelous a Whole eiitnloatle of lliein Htretehed back In hl memory. He knew the coat of iirtim dlsjilnyisl hy each houe. He could repent I heir lecends. "I wish yo'i could tell nie nioro." ho went on. "Can't you reeollett nay-thliiR nay-thliiR further nhotit your early childhood, child-hood, your fimt Impn-whimt -the house, the wonmii who tuiiuht you tu pray, the old bluett nutinmyV Any little thin,? lnlRot he of prlis'lesK vnluu uk evidence." evi-dence." "There Is nlmoliitely nothlim more to toll," she said. "All my life I have tried to remember more, hut It's Impossible; Im-possible; 1 can't uet any further Imel; or call lip another thilitr. There's no tine trying. It's nil like u tlreuui: pnili nitty It Is one. I do have such dreaiin In my sleep I can lift myself .nio Hi-nlr Hi-nlr Just ns easy nnd ll.v Imik to th same bis while house that I sec m tu remember. When you told me nlo,.t your home it was like Hotiicthliij; Unit I had often seen before. I mIiiiII lie drenmlne about It next." I5eerley cross questioned her from every possible point of view. He was fnselnated with the mystery, but she jtnve him mithltix out of which the least further llsht could be drawn. A half breed woman, It seemed, had been her Indian foster mother, a silent, grave, watchful ftunrdlan from whom not a hint of disclosure ever fell. Sin-was Sin-was moreover n Christian woman who had received her cumerslnn from an Hirgllsh speakini; I'rotpstnnt missionary. mission-ary. She prayed with Alice, thus keep-lux keep-lux In the child's mind n perfect memory mem-ory of the Lord's prayer. "Well," said Iteverley nt last, "you nre more of a mystery to nie the Ion-,'cr Ion-,'cr I know you." "Then I m.ist grow every day more dlitaslefnl to you." "No: I love mystery." He went away feeling a new web of Interest binding him tn this Inscrutable ; maiden whose life seemed to him at ' once so full of Idyllic happiness and so enshrouded in tnntnll7.Ing doubt. At the llrst opportunity he frankly questioned ques-tioned M. Itnusslllou, with no helpful 1 result. The big l'renchinan told the same meager story. The woman was I dying In the time of a great epidemic which killed most of her tribe. Shu , gave Alice to M. Uousslllou, but told I him not a word about her ancestry or previous life. That was all. ; -A wise old man when he lltids himself him-self lu a blind alley no sooner touches the terminal wall than he faces about and goes back the way he came. Un- dor like circumstances a young man must needs try to batter the wall down with his head. In lteverley's case the ' clash was profoundly disturbing. And i now he clutched the thought that Alice ' was not a mere, child of lhe woods, but a daughter of an old family of cavaliers! With coat buttoned elosu against the driving wind he strode toward the fort In ono of those melodramatic moods to which youth In all climes and times Is subject. It was like n slap In the face when Captain Helm met him nt the stockade gato and said: "Well, sir, you are good at hiding." "Hiding! What do you mean, Cap- i tain Helm?" ho demanded, not In the mildest tone. "I mean. sir. that I've been hunting for you for an hour and more over the whole of this town. The Kugllsli and Indians aro upon us, 'and there's no time for fooling. Where are all the men?" Iteverley comprehended tho situation in a second. Helm's face was congested congest-ed with excitement. Some scouts had come In with the iiowb that (Jovcrnnr Unmlltou, at tho head of flOu or tiOO soldiers and Indians, was only three or four miles up the river. "Where nre nil tho men?" Helm repeated. re-peated. "Iluffalo hunting, most of them," said iteverley. "What In thunder are they olT hunting hunt-ing buffaloes for?" raged the excited cuptnin. "You might go to thunder and see," Iteverley said, and they both laughed In shi-er masculine contempt of a predicament pre-dicament too grave for anything but grim mirth. What could they do? Uveu Ouclo Jason Ja-son ami Ueiie tie ltonvllle were oft with the hunters. Helm sent for M. ltous-slllim ltous-slllim lu the desperate hope that he could suggest something, but hu lost his head and hustled off to hldo his money and valuables. Indeed the French people till folt Unit, so far as they were concerned, the chief thing was to save what they had They well know that It mattered little which or the two masters held owt them they must shift for themselves. In their hearts thoy wore true to Franco and America; but Franco and America could not now protect them against Hamilton, therefore it would be like suicide to magnify patriotism or any other sentiment objectionable to tho Kngllsh. So they acted upon M. ltous-Billon's ltous-Billon's ndvlco aud offered no resistance when the new army approached. "My iioor people are not disloyal to your ling and your cause," said good I Father Heret next morning to Captain i Helm, "but they are powerless. Winter Win-ter Is upon us. What would you hnvo us do? This rickety fort Is not available availa-ble for defense. Tho men are nearly all fur away on the plains. Isn't It the part of prudence and common sense to make tho best of a desperate situation? Should we redst, tho llrltlsh nnd their savage allies would destroy the town and commit outrages too horrible to think about. In this cose diplomacy promises much moro than a hopeless fiVht against nn overwhelming force." "I'll fight 'em," Helm ground out between be-tween his teeth, "if 1 hnvo to do It single sin-gle handed nnd nlonel I'll light 'cm'" Father lteret smiled grimly, ns if he, loo, would enjoy a lively skirmish, siud said: "I ndiulre your courage, my son. Fighting Is perfectly pioper upon fair occasion. Hut think of the poor women and children. These old eyes ,ir mine hnve seen some terrible things o"oiu by enraged savages. .Men can die lighting, but their poor whes and daughter ah, I have "cn, 1 hate seen!" lleverleyw$elt a pang of (error -linot through his heart ns Father I h rets Mmplc words made him think of Alice In connection with the Indian iiuihsici". "Of course, of course It's horrible io think of," said Helm, "bpt mydttt.i Is clear, nnd Hint ling" he poled li whore l.i hauutere d'Allce KoussiHnn kJ VI Hi Will it k t 1 1 1 f M 1 kk$W "Tlial flag skull tiof roinr ilov n wn't in full honor.'' wns almost blowing nway In the cold wind "that Hag shall not come down save In full honor." Ills speech sounded preposterously boastful and hollow, but he was manfully man-fully In earnest. Uvery .word came from his bravo heart. Father Iteret's grim smile returned, lighting up his strongly marked face with the strangest expression Imaginable. Imagina-ble. "We will get all the women Inside the fort," Helm began to say. "Where the Indians will Ilnd them ready penned up nnd at their mercy." ipilckly Interpolated the priest. "That will not do." "Well, then, what can be done?" Iteverley Itev-erley demanded, turning with a tierce stare upon Father Heret. "Don't stand there objecting to everything, with not a suggestion of your own tn offer." "I know what is best for my people," the old man replied softly, still smiling. smil-ing. "I have advised them to stay inside in-side their houses aud take no part In the military event, it Is the only hope of averting an Indiscriminate massacre and things worse." The curt phrase, "things wor.se," went like a bullet stroke tluougli llev-erley's llev-erley's heart. It Hushed an awful picture pic-ture upon his vision. Father Iterot saw his face whiten and Ids lips sot themselves them-selves to resist a great emotion. "Do nut be angry with mo, my son," ho said, laying a hand on tho young man's arm. "I mny bo wrong, but I net upon long and convincing experience." experi-ence." "Kxperieiico or no experience," Helm exclaimed, with un oath, "this fort must be manned and defended. I am commanding here!" "Yes, 1 recognize your authority," responded re-sponded tho priest In a Hrm yet deferential defer-ential tone, "and l heartily wish you . had n garrison, lttit where Is your command, com-mand, Captain Helm?" "Where is my garrison, jou ask! Y'es, and I can tell you. It's where you might epc t a gang of dad blasted Jabbering French good for nothings to bo, oil' high gannleklng around shooting buffaloes instead of staying here mil defending their wives, children, chil-dren, homes and country! Tho few I hnvo lu the fort will sneak mT, I suppose." sup-pose." "The Flench gave you this post on easy terms, captain." blandly rotorted Father lteret. "Y'es, and they'll bund it over to Hamilton, you think, on tho samo basis," crltsl Helm, "but I'll show you! I'll show you. Mr. I'rlest!" "Pardon me, captain. The French aro loyal to you and to tho (Jag yonder. They haio sworn It. Tlmo will prove It. ltut In the present desperate dilemma dilem-ma we must choose tho safer horn." Saying tills Father Heret turned about and went his wuy. He was chuckling heartily as he passed out of the gate. "He Is right," said iteverley after a few moments of retlectlon, during which bo was wholly occupied with Alice, whose torrllied face in bis anticipation an-ticipation appealed to him from tho midst of howling savages, smoking cabins and mangled victims of lust and massacre. His Imagination painted tho scene with a merciless realism that chilled his blood. All tho sweot romance ro-mance foil nway from Ylueeuues. "Well, sir, right or wrong, your duty-Is duty-Is to obey orders," said Helm with bru. tal severity. "We had lotter not quarrel, captain," cap-tain," Iteverley replied. "I have not signified any unwillingness to obey your commands. Give them, nnd you will hnvo no cuuso to grumble." "Forgive mo, old fellow!" cried tho luipulshe commander. "I Unow you are truo as steel. I s'pose I'm wound up too tight to bo polite. Hut tho thuo is coming to do something. Hero wo aro with but llvo or six men" Ho was Interrupted by the arrival of two moro half breed scout . Only threo mllos nway was n largo tlotllla of boats and enuoes with cannon, can-non, n forco of Indians on land and the Itrltlsh flag flylng-thnt was the report. "They aro moving rapidly," said tho spokesman, "and will be hero very soon. They are nt least 000 strong, all well tinned." "l'tish that gun to the gate and load It to the muzzle, Lieutenant Itcfcarlcy " Helm ordered with ntlmlrub llrm-itSos, llrm-itSos, the purple Hush In bis face giving way to a grayish pallor. "We ore going go-ing to die right here or have the honors hon-ors of war." Iteverley obeyed without a word. Ho even loaded two guns Instead of one, charging each so heavily that the Inst wad looked as ir ready to leap from the grimy mouth. Helm had already begun, on receiving receiv-ing the first report, a hasty letter to Colonel'Claik at Kaskaskla. lie now added a few words and nt the last moment mo-ment sent It out by n trusted man. who was promptly captured by Hamilton's advance guard. The missive, evidently evident-ly written III Installments during the slow approach of the llrltlsh, Is sthi In the Canadian archives, nnd runs thus: Diar Sir At this time there Is an army within thrrc miles of tills place; I heard ot their coming several Jus beforehand. I hi nt nph s to Ilnd tho certainty the spies beliiK tiiken prisoner I never got Intelligent Intelli-gent till they pot within threo miles of town As I had cnllcd tho mllltlo. and had all ns.surniiccs of their Integrity I ordered nt tin- nrlng nt a cannon every man to nppen. but I saw but few. Captain Iiuscion behaved much to his honor and credit, but I doubt the conduct of n certain cer-tain Kent Uxcuso hnste, ns tho nrmy Is In slifht My determination Is to defend the iinrrlson. (sic) though I have but twenty-one men but what has left me. I refer 5 cm to Mr. Wmes (sic) for tho rest The nrmy Is within three hundred' yards of tho lllage. You must think how I feel: not four men that I re.illy depend upon; but nm determined to net brave-think, brave-think, of my condition. I know It Is out of my power to defend tho town, as not ono of the mllltla will take arms, though before be-fore slRht of the nrmy no braver men. There Ib a Hag at a small distance, I must conclude Y'our humble servant, i-r:o-D IIKI.M. Must stop To Colonel Clark. nnvlng completed this task, tho letter let-ter shows under what n nervous strain, Helm turned to his lieutenant and said: "Fire a swivel with a blank charge. We'll give these weak kneed parlyvoos ono more call to duty. Of course not a frog eater of them nil will come. Hut I said that a gun should be the signal. Possibly they didn't hear the tlrst one, the deaf, cowardly hounds!" Beverley wheeled forth the swivel and ram mod a charge of powder home. Hut when he Bred It the effect was far from what It should have been. Instead In-stead of calling In a fresh body of militia mili-tia It actually drove out Hie few who up to that moment had remnlnrd as a garrison, so that Captain Helm and his lieutenant found themselves quite alone lu the fort, while out before the gate, deploycsl In tine open order, a strong Hue of British soldiers np-proached np-proached with sturdy steps, led by a tall, erect, ruddy faced young officer. Continued Kext Issue. |