The Ralston Independent (Ralston, Okla.), Vol. 8, No. 31, Ed. 1 Friday, November 22, 1912 Page: 3 of 8
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J/vLADY o/Doubt
hi>Srlt B*/.f
LUR0 &Ca 1911
8YN0PSI8.
Major lawrence, ion of Judjfe I*w-
tK"i^v7^rjyS
S.\W4JVS5hG
i waltz, ana uiwren.e
his partner, Mistress Mortimer (The Lady
of the Blended Rose), to make Ws wcape.
Lawrence Is detected as a spy uy LaJrt Kn
friends and the spy makes a dash tor
liberty. swimming a river following a
ESrfSH#
Captain Grant and rangers search duck
smith shop in vain for the spy. Law
SS2|s
Life^"j&Srs:
adda mystery to the combination of cir
aSiapJ:
him that he Is In her ,hh0"8nP,'?vndt^r cai-
rMJ"hCm The ra°ptlve jFthrortVntS Pa
SSXS
flndV cehi9ese^.
rear^piaV\MSrmS^r^;
Mortimer GranuAn^ke^out^y Uw-
rence. who comes to Miss Mortimers r
lief and then makes his escape.
CHAPTER XXII.
I Uncover Captain Grant.
The thicket was sufficiently dense to
conoeal us from the man, who re-
mained standing at the foot of the
steps. He was but a mere dark shad
ow, and 1 could not even distinguish
that he was a soldier, yet the danger
of his presence was sufficiently great,
for should he advance to the right he
would come upon Grant's unconscious
form, and In that silence the slightest
noise might arouse suspicion. Mistress
Claire still clung to my hand, but only
to whisper a sentence of Instruction.
"Go straight north, major, until you
reach the hedge; follow the shadow
of that beyond the orchard, and then
take the road running westward.
Don't mount until you reach there—
goodby." •
"Goodby, you will not forget me?"
"I—I am afraid not, but—but you
must go!"
I left her standing there, a faint
gleam of white against the dark shrub-
bery, motionless.
There Is no incident of that night's
ride which I recall distinctly. 1 mere-,
ly pushed on steadily through the
darkness, leaving my mount to choose
his own course, confident we were
headed toward the river. I was suf-
ficiently acquainted with the valley of
the Delaware, when daylight came, to
decide upon the nearest ford. As to
Read the Llnee Almost at a Glance
and Suddenly Realized the Base
Villainy Reve led.
the British patrols, I must run the risk
of dodging these, but felt safe from
such an encounter for several hours.
In truth I met no one, having no occa-
sion to even draw rein, although we
passed through two small villages, and
*y a number of farms. I could not
even determine that these houses were
occupied; they were dark and silent,
even the galloping hoofs of my horse
failing to awaken response.
It was already daylight when I drew
up on the bluff summit to gaze down
Into the river valley. In the middle
distance small villages faced cacb
other across the stream, and toward
these most of the roads converged—
proof of the existence of a ford. 1
could not be mistaken as to the town
—Burlington on the Jersey shore, and
opposite Bristol. I should be safe
enough In the latter, even If we had
no outpost stationed there. 1 knew
homes along those ahaded Ftreets,
where food would be forthcoming, and
where I could probably procure a fresh
horse. It was the nearer town, nestled
on the Jersey bank, that I studied
with the greatest care, but, so far as
I could see, the alngle street was de-
serted. To the south, certainly two
miles away, a squadron of horse were
riding slowly, surrounded by a cloud
of dust Without doubt this was the
COPYRIGHT ACI1FCLUB0
British patrol that had left the village
at' daybreak.
It was a hot, close morning, and the
padded Ranger's coat heavy and tight-
fitting. I took It ofT, flinging it across
the saddle pommel. As I did so a
folded paper came into view, and I
drew It forth, curiously. My eye caught
the signature at the bottom of a brief
note, and I stared at It In surprise.
Fagln! How came Fagl to be writing
to Captain Grant? He pretended to
be a Tory to be sure, yet both armies
knew him as a murderous outia#,
plundering loyalists and patriots alike.
There came to me a memory of Far-
rell's chance remark that Grant had
some connection with this fellow's ma-
rauding. I had not seriously consid-
ered it then, but now—why, possibly
it was true. I read the lines almost at
a glance, scarcely comprehending at
first, and then suddenly realized the
base villainy revealed:
"Have the money and papers, but
the girl got away. Will wait for you
at Lone Tree tonight. Don't fail, for
the whole country will be after me
as soon as the news gets out about
Elmhurst. FAG1N "
So that was the reason for this raid
—Grant's personal affair. He had re-
turned to Elmhurst. leaving his men
to trudge on into Philadelphia under
their Hessian officers so that he might
communicat#wlth Fagln. What a pity
It was I had failed to kill the fellow,
Instead of leaving him unconscious
The papers! Perhaps they were In
the coat also. Surely Grant had no
time to change or destroy them, as be
must have ridden directly to Elmhurst.
I searched the pockets of the garment
hastily, finding a note or two, his
orders to escort Delavan, and a small
packet tied securely by a cord. 1 felt
no hesitancy in opening this, and as-
certaining its contents. The lines I
read hastily seemed to blur before my
eyes; I could barely comprehend their
purport. Little by little 1 grasped the
meaning of It all, and then my mind
leaped to recognition of Grant's pur-
pose. They were notes of Instruction,
brief orders, suggestions, memoranda,
such as might be Issued to a secret
agent greatly trusted. These were ad-
dressed 6lmply "Mortimer," many un-
signed, others marked by initials, but
I instantly recognized the handwriting
of Washington, Hamilton and Lee.
Without question this packet was the
property of Eric Mortimer, but why
had the boy preserved these private
instructions, covering months of op-
erations, I should Judge, although
scarcely one was dated? And what
caused them to be of value to Cap-
tain Grant?
The answer came In a flash of suspi-
cion—the colonel. He could be threat-
ened with them, blackmailed, dis-
graced before Sir Henry Clinton, driv-
en from his command. They were ad-
dressed merely to "Mortimer," discov-
ered at Elmhurst, and were sufficient
to convict of treason. It was a fiend-
ish plot, well conceived, and Grant
was fully capable of carrying It out
to the end. 1 could realize what the
possession of these papers meant to
him—military advancement, a distri-
bution of the Mortimer estate in which
he would doubtless share, and a fresh
hold on Claire whereby he could ter-
rify the girl Into accepting them.
I stood there In uncertainty, turning
these papers over and over in my
hands, striving to determine my duty
Should I return to Elmhurst? To do
so would only bring me Into renewed
peril, and would apparently benefit no
one. Without this packet Grant was
helpless to Injure Colonel Mortimer.
As to Claire. Seldon would protect her
for the present, and as soon as the
father returned, he would doubtless
compel her to accompany him back to
Philadelphia. The best service I could
render was to destroy these notes, and
then seek out Eric Mortimer, in Lee's
camp, and tell him the whole story
All that anyone could do now was to
warn the Mortimers agalnBt Grant, to
let them know his treachery, and this
could be bfst accomplished through
Eric. Although In different armies,
striving against each other In the
field, there must still exist some means
of communication between father and
son, or, if not, then between brother
and sister.
With flint and steel I built a small
fire of leaves in a cleft beside the
road, and fed to the flames one by one
the papers from the packet, glancing
over each one again to make sure of
Its contents; all were addressed alike,
simply "Mortimer," but upon two I
found the word "Elmhurst.' it was
easy to see how the discovery of such
communications would tempt an un
scrupulous scoundrel like Grant to use
them to injure another, and win his
own end, but why had that young Eric
failed to destroy them aa soon-as re-
ceived?
When the last paper had been re-
duced to sshes, 1 stamped out the em
bers of fire under my boot heel, and.
with lighter heart, rode down the hill
toward the ford.
CHAPTER XXIII,
Between Love and Duty.
It was already growing dusk when I
rode Into our lines at Valley Forge
A brief Interview with Colonel Hamil-
ton revealed his appreciation of my
work, and that my hastily made notes
of the Philadelphia defenses had been
received twenty-four hours earlier
They had been delivered at headquar-
ters by an officer of Lee's staff; no,
not a boyish-looking fellow, but a
black-bearded captain whose name had
been forgotten. All Hamilton could
remember was that the noteB had been
originally brought in by an Indian
scout. Eager to discover Eric Morti-
mer, I asked a week's release from
duty, but there was so much sickness
In the camp, that this request was re-
fused, and I was ordered to my regi-
ment.
Busy days and nights of fatigue fol-
lowed. Washington, watching like a
hawk every movement of Sir Henry
Clinton in Philadelphia, convinced by
every report received that he was
about to evacuate the city, bent all
his energies toward placing his little
army In fit condition for battle. Some
recruits were received, the neighbor-
ing militia were drawn upon, and men
were taken from the hospitals, and
put back Into the ranks as soon as
strong enough to bear arms. Inspired
by the Indomitable spirit of our com-
mander, the line officers worked inces-
santly in the welding together of their
commands. I scarcely knew what
sleep was, yet the importance of the
coming movement of troops beld me
steadfast to duty. Word came to us
early In June that Count d'Estalng,
with a powerful French fleet, was ap-
proaching the coast. This surely
meant that Clinton would be cora
pelled to retreat across the Jerseys,
and a portion of our troops were ad-
vanced so aa to be within easy strik-
ing distance of the city the moment
the evacuation took place. The re-
maining commands pressed farther
north, near convenient crossings of
the Delaware, prepared for a foroed
march across the British line of re-
treat. Maxwell's brigade, with which
I was connected, even crossed the
river In advance, co-operating with
General Dickinson and his New Jersey
militia. All was excitement, commo-
tion, apparently disorder, yet even
amid that turmoil of approaching bat-
tle, Hamilton recalled my request, and
granted me two days' leave. His brief
note reached me at Coryell's Ferry,
and, an hour later, I was riding swiftly
across the country to where Lee had
headquarters.
Not once during all those days and
nights had the memory of Claire left
me. Over and over In my mind I had
reviewed all that had ever occurred
between us, striving In vain to guess
the riddle. Now I would see and tulk
with her brother, and perhapB obtain
the explanation needed. Yet I have
gone into battle with less trepidation
than when I rode into Lee's headquar-
ters, and asked his chief-of-staff for
Eric Mortimer. He looked at me
strangely, as I put the question.
"I should be very glad to oblige you,
Major Lawrence," he replied gravely,
"but unfortunately I have no present
knowledge of the young man."
But he was attached to General
Lee's staff?"
"Only In a way—he was useful to
us as a scout because of his intimate
knowledge of the Jersey* His home.
I understand, was near Mount Holly."
"What has become of him?"
"All I know Is. he was sent out on
_ special mission, by Washington's
own orders, nearly a month ago. We
have not directly heard from him
since. An Indian brought a partial re-
port of his operations up to that time;
since then wo have r o*ived nothing."
"An Indian" I exclaimed. "The same
who brought In my notei?"
"I believe so; yes, now that I recall
the matter. I had no opportunity to
question the fellow; he simply left the
papers with the orderly, and disap-
peared."
"And you have heard nothing from
young Mortimer since?"
"Not a word."
"He must be dead, or a prisoner."
The chief smiled rather grimly.
"Or deserted," he added sharply. "I
am more Inclined toward that theory
He was a reckless young devil, attract-
ed to our service more, It seemed to
me, by a spirit of daredeviliry than
patriotism. Lee thought well of him.
but I was always suspicious. He be-
longed to a family of loyalists, hla fa-
ther a colonel of Queen's Rangers.
Did you know him, Lawrence?"
"The father, not the son. But I am
not willing to believe evil of the boy.
1 cannot conceive that treachery Is In
the Mortimer blood, sir. and shall have
to be convinced before I condemn the
lad. When dlu he leave here laatT"
"About the middle of May."
"Would you mind telling me hla mis-
sion? Where he was Bent?"
The officer glanced keenly Into ray
face; then ran hastily over a package
of pape« taken from an open trunk.
"I can see no harm In doing bo now,
major. He was sent to communicate
with a British officer—* prominent
Tory_who has associations with 'Red'
Fagln. and others In Monmouth coun-
ty. This officer has In the past, for a
consideration, furnished ve with valu-
able Information, generally through
young Mortimer, who knew him. Ha
had written us that he had more to
aell."
"Where were they to meet?"
"At a rendezvous known as the Lone
Tree, not far from Medford."
"Was the Tory officer named
Grant?"
He stared at me In surprise.
"I am not at liberty to answer."
"Oh^ very well; however, 1 under
stand the situation even better than
you do probably. Only I advise you
one thing—don't condemn that boy un-
til you learn the truth. Grant is an
unmitigated, cold-blooded scoundrel,
and the treachery 1b his. You'll learn
that, If you wait long enough. Morti-
mer is either dead, or In Fagln's hands
Good night."
I passed out, and was beyond the
guard, before he could call me, even
had he desired to do so. 1 had no
wish to talk with him longer. I felt
disappointed, sick at heart, and real
Ized this staff officer was strongly
prejudiced against young Mortimer. It
seemed to me 1 saw a little light, al-
though not much. Eric had been at
Elmhurst, and Claire was not Innocent
of his presence In that neighborhood.
She was shielding him, and It was
through her help that his first report
to Iiee had been sent back by the In-
dian. Then Eric muBt have been in
the house while I was there. Indeed
It must have been Eric who made me
prisoner. And to protect bim she
had told me a deliberate falsehood.
As I rode back through the night,
finding a path almost by Instinct
through the maze of military encamp-
ments, I thought of all these things,
exonerating her from wrong, and yet
wondering more and more at, her real
connection with the various events.
The chief had not stated what infor-
mation of value Grant had promised
to reveal; nor what Eric'b first report
had contained. In my sudden disap-
pointment 1 had forgotten to Inquire.
And where could the boy be? What
could have happened to him? Some-
thing serious surely to keep him thus
hidden for nearly a month. Claire
would know, but Bhe was probably
long ago back In Philadelphia In the
heart of the British garrison. And I?
timer's column of Queen's Rangers
had passed hla place on their returt
to Philadelphia two days after my e
cape. Grant was not with them, but
Claire was, while Peter had been left
behind at Elmhurst Fagln had not
been overtaken, although the Rangers
hBd engaged In a skirmish with some
of his followers, losing two men.
Colonel Mortimer had been wounded
slightly. As to Eric he knew nothing
—no one had even mentioned the lad'B
name.
It was thus clearly evident I could
do nothing, although I now possessed
a well defined theory of Just what had
occurred. To my mind Eric was In
the hands of Fagln, either hidden se-
curely away among the sand eaves for
some purpose connected with Grant's
treachery, or else with the Intention
of claiming the reward for his capture
offered by Howe. The former prob-
ably seemed most likely In view of
Grant's failure to return to Philadel-
phia with Colonel Mortimer, yet there
was no reason why the conspirators
should not wreak vengeance, and win
the reward also. But did Claire
know, or suspect the predicament of
her brother? If she did, then shi
was seeking to conceal the truth from
her father, but would never remain
long Inactive In the city. I knew the
girl's real spirit too well to believe
she would fall for long In learning
the boy's fate.
BACKACHE"GETS
ON THE NERVES"
Many who suffer from backache
and weak kidneys are unnaturally
Irritable, fretful and nervous. Not
only doeB constant backache "get
on the nerves", but had kidneys fall
to eliminate all the uric acid from
the system, and uric acid Irritates
the nerves, keeping you "on edge"
and causing rheumatic, neuralgic
pains. 1 loan's Kidney Pills cure
these Ills by curing the kidneys.
Here's proof : r"
A California
Case:
Mr. H. Walsh. 1M#
Ti-nth Avonua, Sun
Krum'in-o.l'al.nayi:
"1 bad Mu-b Kharp
ah noting unlit*
through inr klrtn*y«
It fcreumd that a
knife er« biting
thrust Into me. Mr
bark was o lane I
ri.iilil Imnlly t«<x>p.
Is.uii's Kulnsy Hill
cured dik after duo-
tura failed. Ilimo
had no trouble W
•mce." "ium r.tfi
Cot Doaa'i at Anr Dn«« Store, 50« a Bos
DOAN'S
FOSTER-MILB'JRN CO.. Buffalo. N«w York
CHAPTER XXIV.
Forcing Clinton to Battle.
I was left behind at Coryell's Ferry,
for the purpose of hastening forward
any supplementary orders from Wash-
ington, when Maxwell, and the Jersey I
militiamen, pressed forward In an ef-
fort to retard the march of the enemy.
Froi.i the reports of scouts we began
to understand what was occurring.
Befose dawn on the eighteenth of June
the British army began leaving the
city, crossing the Delaware at Glouces-
ter point, and by evening the motley
host, comprising Regulars, Hessians,
Loyalists, and a swarm of camp fol-
lowers, were halted near Haddenfleld,
five rsileB southeast of Camden.
Here's Your Chance
To Own a Cattle
Ranch or Stock Farm
It is the basis (or the most independent
existence of the times. Cattle are high,
grass is s< arce and cannot be leased for
any length of time. The Spur Ranch
(Texas) is a famous old time ranch now
being cut up, and from it you can get one
section or fifty, with any desired combina-
tion of splendid farming land for raising
winter feed. Prices low — terms easy.
Secure your ranch tract befota it is
too late. Many selections in many sizes.
We alsoofferstiaightfarming lands. Writs
Chas. A. Jones, Manager for
S. M. Swenson & Sons, Spur, Tex.
MI5.BINDER
SlNAMI^ClliAR ALWAYS rllubul_
IN THESE DAYS OF DIVORCES
Really Nothing Remarkable In ths
Simple and Frank Explanation
of the Small Boy.
m
We were walking down the street
Sunday and we saw the most beauti-
ful child Bitting on the front steps
of a pretty house, says Ted Robinson.*
111b eyes were bo big and blue, his
curly head so golden, his Innocent
smile bo frank and Inviting that ws
could not resist the temptation to en-
ter into conversation with bim.
"Well, Bon," we said in the Idlotlo.
ally genial way with which an adult
usually addreBBes a child, "how old
are you?"
"Four," lisped the Infant. (He didn't
really lisp It, because you can't lisp
when you say four; but that's the way
children are supposed to do.)
"Isn't that fine!" (It would havs
been Just as fine If he'd been three,
though, or five. More Idiocy.) "And
whose little boy are you?'*
"Mamma's Hi boy."
"Aren't you papa's little boy, too?"
-Nope.",
"Why aren't you papa's little boyH
"The decree gimme to mamma."
Then we went on our pleasant way.
—Savannah Morning News.
Old Foes.
"How was the labor strike defeatr
"It was done by
ment."
capital manage
Farrell Came at the
Head of Fifty Men, Well
Word With Him.
Well, I waB tied hand and foot by, dis-
cipline; helpless to turn aside from
duty now In the face of this new cam-
paign. Every man was needed, and
"Sio personal consideration would ex-
cuse my leaving the ranks even for a
day. It was with heavy heart I rode
into the camp of my regiment, and lay
down on the bare ground, with head
pillowed upon the saddle, knowing the
drums would Bound In a few short
4iours.
It waB hard to work through the
routine of the next few days, although
some excitement waB given us of
Maxwell's brigade by scouting details
sent serosa the valley to observe the
movements of the British patrols. On
Buch duty I passed the grenter portion
of two dayB In the Baddle. and, by
chance, met both Farrell and Duval,
who were with the Jersey militiamen,
now rapidly coming In to aid us, as
the rumorB of an Impending battle
spread across country. Farrell came
at the head of fifty men, rough look-
ing, raggedly dressed fellows, but well
armed, and I had a word with him
while pointing out where Dickinson's
troopa were camped. Unfortunately
he knew little of value to me. Mor-
Listeners teldom hear any good of
themselves—or of anybody else.
"PROUD AND GLAD"
Because Mother Looked So Well
After Quitting Coffee.
An Ohio woman was almost dis-
tracted with coffee dyspepsia and
heart trouble.
Like thousands of others, the drug
—caffeine—In coffee waB slowly but
steadily undermining her nervous
system and Interfering with natural
digestion of food. (Tea Is Just as In-
jurious as coffee because It contains
caffeine, the poisonous drug found In
coffee.)
"For 30 years," she writes, "1 have
used coffee. Have always been sick-
ly—had heart trouble and dyspepsia
with ulcers In stomach and mouth so
bad, sometimes, I was almost dis-
tracted and could hardly eat a thing
for a week.
"I could not sleep for nervousness,
and when 1 would He down at night
I'd belch up coffee and my heart
would trouble me. It was like poison
to me. I was thin—only weighed 125
lbs., when I quit coffee and began to
use Postum.
"From the firet day that belching
and burning In my stomach stopped.
I could sleep as soundly as anyone
The moment this knowledge reached
Washington, he acte*. In eplte of op-
position from some of his leading offi-
cers, his own purpose remained stead-
fact, and every preparation had al-
ready been carefully made for ener-
getlc pursuit. Our troops fit for serv-
ice numbered less than five thousand
men, many of these hastily gathered
militia, some of whom bad never been - --- "V' fl. :h wh„npT«-
r wjmim 'rr;
with the good news from France, had wha was making me so fleshy and
"""""J S? .".Un > could
the men In the rank. I*lng eager for mr hunbanii «" ««• Wbr'
battle, even though the odds were
strong uR|lnst us. There was no de-
lay. no hitch In the promptness of ad
vance. The department of the Quar-
termaster-General had every i\|an
worked out In detail, and, within two
days, the entire army had crossed the
river, and pushed forward to within s
few miles of Trenton. Morgan, with
six hundred men, was hurried forward
to the reinforcement of Maxwell, and,
relieved from my duties at the ferry,
1 w*a permitted to Join his column.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
what Postum Is doing for her'—they
were all so proud and glad.
"When I recommend It to anyone
I always tell them to follow dlreo-
tlons In making Postum, as It Is not
good to taBte If weak, but fine when
it has tho flavor and rich brown
color ' Nam,> given by Postum Co,
Battle Creek, Mich.
Read the little book, "The Road to
Wellvllle," In pkgs. "There's a i
Son."
Rver read the abo*e letter! A ew
•nr niipeara from time to «!■*.
are cranio*, (rati fall *t kw
Interest. A4r.
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Bryant, T. E. The Ralston Independent (Ralston, Okla.), Vol. 8, No. 31, Ed. 1 Friday, November 22, 1912, newspaper, November 22, 1912; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc162894/m1/3/?q=Americans+all: accessed June 2, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.