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Show y IRVING JSSl J BAG HELLER CHAPTER XVI Continue.). 10 - TV.o nam ' s-i : t heart In Mm. Ii ory groat can luu-t," ho wrote : . to li:s father. "1 sun be:;.p.nln .; t,i loo Mill. 1 call see t!i:ll these Iho'.'.-alLN In the array are u; . 1 1 ' lo In- hound in Mm by an nsTivtt.'n Iti.o t'.i.it f a sun for a fattier. Willi nun lil.o W:c!i-' W:c!i-' Inutoll nnd I'ranUill U load 11-;, how r" can wo fail?" The not nubt Sir Henry Clinton pot around tlio Americans ami mined tlalr loft flank. Small w ood's com- j . mar..! and liiat of I'olotiol .lack Iron wore almost c!o-tro o,l. twoiitv two I ' ltttiiirod liavir; 1'oon hilled or takon. I . Jack had Ms loft r.rm shot throiu'h nnd escaped only ly tlio swift anil effective ef-fective t:so of his pistols ami hanger, r.nd by good luck, his hot-so h:iin.t Nvn "only slightly out in ll.o withers." Tho American lino gae way. Us unseasoned un-seasoned troops fled Into I'.rookhn. There was the om! of tho Island. They couhl po no farther without swimming. Witi. a Itrilish fleet In tlio harhor mi drr Admiral Lord Uowo. tlio situation was desperate. Sir Henry hail only to follow and pon them In and un'. imhcr his guns. Tho surrender of nioro than half of Washington's army wouhl have J to follow. At headquarters, the most ' disoornin; minds saw that only a mir-ac'.e mir-ac'.e could prevent It. Tl.o miraolo arrived. Noxt day a jl fog thicker than tho darkness of a .-v denied night enveloped the Island an I LJ lay upon the faoe of the waters. I'ahn- ly. quioklr Washington pot roaily to raove his trcn-ps. That night, under the friendly cover of the fog. they were - quietly taken across the Fast river. I A with a rvgttnent of Marhlohcnd sea 1 J dogs, under Colonel Glover, manning the boats. Fortunately, the l'.ritish army had halted, wait in; for clear wvather. For nearly two wevks Jack was nars ir.g his wound In Washington's army ' hospital, which insisted of a cabin, n i tent, a nuiaUr of cow staldos and an i old shed on the heights of Harlem. Jack had lain in a stable. Toward the :r. end of his conriner.ient. John Ada:. is came to see 1dm. "Were you badly hurt:" the great : man asked. :- . -Seratche-J a little, lint I'll he ba. k : in tht service tomorrow," Jack replied. "To'i d.i D 't look like yourself quite. - : I think that I wiil csk the commander in chief to let you wi'h r.ie to l'Liia-j l'Liia-j delphia. I i ;ive some business there r.nl later Fr.mklin and I are puir. ti S;.a:en Island to confer with Ada.iral Lonj Hone. We are a pair of snappish snap-pish o! J do? and reed a younj man like you to lix! after us. You would only have to keep out of our quarrels, attend to our luai;e and make some notes in the conference." So it happened that Jak went to I'hiiadeli l.La with Mr. Adams and. , after two days at the house of Doctor - Franklin, set out with the two great ( , n.en fur the conference on Staten Is L.nj. lie went in high hope that he was to witness the last scene of the war. .' In Amboy he s-nt a letter to his father, w huh said : -" "Mr. Ad.ii.is is a blujt. outspoken : . . man. If thai pi do nut go to his liking, lik-ing, he Ls quick to tell you. Doctor ---' Franklin is humorous and polite, but firm as a G"d-plaeed mountain. Yoj ' ''.' may put vnur sh:i!ir ugainst the i j . j mountain and push and think it is moving, but it h-n't. He is established. He has found his proper hearings and is done with moving. These two great s-v men differ in little matters. They had ; f ' a curious quarrel the other evening. , I We had reached New Brunswick on our way north. The taverns were crowded. I ran from one to another ,y trying to find entertainment for my ' ; distinguished friends. At last I found a small chamber with one bed in ll and a single window. The bed nearly ' filled the room. No better accommo .; datlon was to be had. I bad left them I PIL-- sitting on a bench In a little grove near ) toi the large hotel, with the luggage near .-.C' them. When I returned they were hav-lng hav-lng a hot argument over the origin of 't00S northeast storms, the doctor asserting -' 'hat he had learned by experiment that , they began in the southwest and pro-needed pro-needed in a northeasterly direction. I . hud to wait ten minutes for a chance '' to speak to them. Mr. Adams was hot J faced, the doctor calm and smiling. I J Jj ln,f'-rted the news. 4 V i 'God of Israel I' Mr. Adams ei-vi ei-vi t claimed. "Is it not enough thnt I have to agree with you? Must I also sleep ,AlV "'Sir, ' liope that you must not, but c., lf .vou t-tist, I beg thnt you will sleep fcrfjr. more gently than you talk,' said Frank-lin. Frank-lin. 1 lvent wltn them to their quarters -J' carr-vlnK the luggage. On the way Mr. 'cv Adams complained thst he had picked np a flea somewhere. - ,, "The flea, sir, Is a smnll nn'mal. '. but a big inct,' said Franklin. 'You - -p alarm me. rwo large men ana a flea De BOt to crowd our quarters.' "Ill the loom they nr-ued w llh a I depth of feeling whl.h asionl-.hi-d me. j ns to whether the one window should' be op, n or closed. Mr. Adams had I Closed It. " 'I'b'ase do not elos. tho will-low,' said Franklin. 'Wo shall suffocate.' " "Sir. 1 :im an ln alld and ai rai-l of 'he malt air,' said Adams rather lesti'y. " -1 l.e air of this room w ill bo much woiso for ou than that owl of. do, irs,1 Franklin retorted. lie was then he-two, he-two, II the covers. '1 beg of ,01 to open the window and get Into hod and If 1 do not prove my ease to your satisfaction, sat-isfaction, 1 will consent to Its boh'.:; closed.' "1 lay down on a straw-filled mattress mat-tress outside their door. I heard Mr. Adams open the window and tot Into bod. Then Doctor Franklin be.tan to expound his theory of colds, lie declared de-clared that cold air never gave any one a cold; that respiration destroyed a gallon of air n minute and thai all the air Iti the room would bo consumed con-sumed In an hour. He went on and on and long before he had finished his argument. Mr. Adams was snoring, convinced rather by the length than the cogency of the reasoning. Soon the two great men, whose fame may be said to till the earth, were asleep In the same bed in that little box of a room and snoring in a way that suggested sug-gested loud contention. I had to laugh as I listened. Mr. Adams would s n to have be, n defeated for lie ,m,l )..- I heard Mm muttering as he walked the floor. Howe's barge met the party nt Amboy Am-boy and convoyed them to the landing near his headquarter. It was, however, how-ever, a fruitless Journey. Howe wished to negotiate on the old ground now abandoned forever. The people of America had s,ken for Independence a new, Irrevocable fact not to be put aside by ambassadors. Tlio colonies I were lost. The concessions which the wise Franklin had so urgently recommended recom-mended to the government of FnL'land. Howe seemed row Inclined to offer, tout they ootid not be entertained. "Then my government can only maintain Its dignity by lighting." said Howe. "That is a mistaken notion." Franklin Frank-lin ar.s-.vcre 1. "It will be much more dignified for your government to ac-knowledgs ac-knowledgs its error than to persist in It. "We shall fight," Howe declared. "And you will have more r'ghling to do than you anticipate." said Franklin. "Nature is our friend and ally. The Lord has prepared our defenses. They are the sea, the mountains, tho forest and the character of our people. Consider Con-sider what yn-.i have accomplished. At an expense of eight million pounds yon have killed about eight hundred Yankees. Yan-kees. They have cost you ten thousand thou-sand pounds a head. Meanwihle. at least a hundred thousand children have b.-en born In America. There are the factors In your problem. How much time and money will be required for the job of killing nil of us?" The British admiral Ignored the query. "My powers are limited." said he. "but I am air.horif.ed to grant pardons and In every way to exercise the king's paternal solicituoe. "Such an offer shows that your proud nation has no Mattering opinion of us." Franklin answered. "We. who are the injured parlies, have not the baseness to entertain It. You will forgive for-give me for reminding you that the kinn's paternal solicitude has been rather trying. It litis burned our do fenseless towns in midwinter; It litis incited the savages to massacre our farmers in the back country; it has driven us to a declaration of Inde-ndence. Inde-ndence. r.ritain and America are now distinct stales. Peace can be considered only on that basis. You wish to prevent our trade from passing pass-ing Into foreign channels. I.et me remind re-mind you, also, that the profit of no trade can ever be equal to the expense ex-pense of holding It with fleets and armies." "On such a basis I am not empowered empow-ered to trout with you," Howe answered. an-swered. "We shall Immediately move against your army." The conference ended. The ambassadors ambas-sadors and their secretary shook hands with the r.rltish admiral. "Mr. Irons, I have heard much of you," said the latter as he held Jack's hand. "Y'ou are deeply attached to a young lady whom I admire nnd whose father Is my friend. I offer you a chance to leave this troubled land and go to London and many and lead a peaceable. Christian life. You may keep your principles, if you wish, ns I have no use for them. You will find sympathizers In Knglnnd." "Lord Howe, your kindness touches me." the young man answered. "What you propo.'e is a great temptation It Is like Calypso's offer of Immortal happiness to Flysses. I love Kngh nd T lave neueo. nnd more than either. I love the joung ladj, bill I couldn't go and keep my pi III, dpi, "W by not, all V" "lleciiiise we are nil of a mind with our Mr. I'lilrhK Henry. W'e pill liberty lib-erty above happiness and even above life. So 1 must May and help light her baltles, and when I miy It 1 am grinding my own heart under my heel. Don't ihlnk harshly of mo. 1 cniinot help It. The feeling Is bred 111 my bones." Ills lord.-hip smiled politely and bowed ns the three men withdrew. Franklin look I he hand of the y oung mull and pressed It silently iih liny were leaving the smnll house In which Howe had established himself. .lack, who had been Inking notes of (he fruitless talk of these great men, was sorely disappointed. lie could see no pl'ospecl now of peace. "My hopes are burned to ilie ground," he said lo Doctor Fra Ilk Mil. ' "it Is a time of sacrifice," the good ' man answered. "You have Ilie In-v In-v ineible spirit that looks Into tho future fu-ture and gives all It has. You are A iiM'i'ica." "I have been thinking too much of lev sell," .lack answered. "Now 1 am ready lo lay down my life In this great cause of ours." "I'.ov, I like you." said Mr. Adams. "I have arranged lo have you safely coiiveved to New ork. There an orderly or-derly will meet and conduct you lo our headquarters." "Thank you, sir," .luck replied. Turning to Doctor Franklin, be added: ! "One remark of yours to Lord Howe Impressed me. You said that nature was our friend and ally. It put nie In mind of the fog thai helped ns out of Itrool.lv u ami of u little adventure of i mine." Then lie told the story uf the spider' web. "I repeat that all nature ls with us," said Franklin. "Lt was a sense of Injustice In-justice 111 human nature that sent us I across the great barrier of the sea Into conditions where only the strong could survive. Here we have raised up a sturdy people with H,(tM.I miles of water between them and tyranny. Armies cannot cross lt and succeed long In a hostile land. They are too far from home. The expense of transporting trans-porting and malntaliiliig them will bleed our enemies until they are spent. The Uritlsh king Is powerful, but now be has picked a quarrel with Almighty liod, and lt will go hard with him." CHAPTER XVII How Solomon Shifted the Skeer. In the spring news came of a great force of l'.ritish which was being or-gani7.ed or-gani7.ed in Canada for a descent upon New York through Lake Chaniplaln. Frontier settlers In Tryon county were being massacred by Indians. Generals Herkimer and Schuyler had written to Washington, asking for the services of the famous scout, Solomon Solo-mon l'.inkus. In that region. "He knows the Indian as no other man knows him and can speak his language lan-guage and be also knows the bush," ! Schuyler had written. "If there la I any place on earth where bis help Is needed Just now, It Is here." "Got to leave ye, my son." Solomon said lo Jack one evening soon after ' that. ; "How so?" the young man asked. j "Goin' hum to light Injuns. The 1 Great Father has ordered It. I'll like ' It latter. Glttin' lary here. Summer's comin' an' I'm a born bush man. I'm kind o' uneasy like a deer In a door-yard. door-yard. I ain't bad to run fer my life since we got here. My hoofs are com- I plaiidii'. 1 ain't shot a gun in a month." A look of sorrow spread over the face of Solomon. "I'm tired of this place." said Jack. "The l'.ritish are scared of us and we're scared of the l'.ritish. There's nothing going on. I'd love to go buck to the big bush with you." "I'll tell tht Great Father that you're a born bush man. Mebbe he'll let ye go. They'll need us both. Rum, Injuns an' the devil have J'ined hands. The Long house will be the center o' hell an' its line fences'll take In the hull big bush. That day Jack's name was included in the order. "I'm sorry that it is not yet possible to pay you or any cf the men w ho have served me so faithfully." said Wash- j ington. "If you need money I shall he glad to lend you t sum to help you through this Journey." ' j "I ain't fightin' fer pay," Solomon i answered. "I'll hoe an' dig, an' cook, an' guide for money. I'.ut I won't fight no more for money partly 'cause I don't need it partly 'cause I'm fight-In' fight-In' fer myself. I gut a Utile left In my britches pocket, hut If I hadn't, my ol' Marler wouldn't let me go hungry." hun-gry." (TO BE CONTINUED.) |