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CA L y AFTER STORM,
Life is the long and difficult campaign,
The gladiator's struggle on the sand,
The ship’s contention with the furious main;
While ceaselessly the silver trumpets strain
. Is calling us in confidence to stand
With palm and incense 'mid the peaceful
band.
Blow, trumpets, blow, and bring again the
dream
That thrilled the ecstatic outcast on his isle;
T hough we may never loose our grasp the
while
On blades still bared, and long the waiting
seem,
Till gates of pearl turn on their hinge
amain,
And storm and battle vanish in the gleam
Shat forth from streets untrod by guilt or
pain,
Where heaven’s own hosts their wished-for
welcome smsle!
—The Churchman.
A SPY’S EXPEEIENCE.
by ewing orison. i '
.
I was at a small town in the West on
V business some time ago, and, missing my
tram, was detained several hours with
nothing to do. While idling mound the
little hotel my eye was caught by the
striking appearance bench outside. of an old man sit
ting on a He was tall
and powerfully built, but h:s long gray
hair proved him to be no longer young.
I asked the clerk of the hotel who he
was. This individual was busy, but
ari&rar fawtoa. ,r„* s x“ s»s
Jack lie was abravesoldier iu
the last war and played l,ta the tell* spy two or
«, you some
of his those experiences. who 1 hey are right good,
and know say they are true.”
I escaped He and made smoking my way to the old
veteran was a short clay
pipe and refused my offer of a cigar in
its place. After a lew well-directed ques
tions I got him talking and I asked him
to give me an account of what he consid
ered the toughest scrape he was ever in.
The old fellow looked at me calmly as he
refilled and lit his pipe, while I made my
self comfortable and waited for him to
begin. He had a short, strong way of
talking, and I will try to tell his story in
as nearly his own words as possible,
Picture to yourself a strong old man of
sixty or thereabouts, with a rough face
full of have character fair idea and determination, and
you a of him.
“Well, stranger, about the worst fix I
was ever in, and I’ve been in a good
many, was somewhat in this way: inV 1 was
withmy company in Kentuck and
the enemy were not far off getting ready,
we knew,to make an attack onus at any
time. We were encamped in a small
town and the time passed slowly with
nothing to do but u>be on the lookout
for a surprise. But tbe enemy seemed
to be in no hurry and I got tired of wait
ing. I had been thinking over a scheme
forsometime, and at iast I suggested to
my Captain that I should go as a spy into
mea ana j proceeaea to get ready, mere
were several prisoners m camp and I
took my choice of their uniforms. In
the town there lived an old chap who
kept fancy pigeons, and among them he
had some trained carriers. The Captain
suggested that I should carry a couple of
these with me and hide them in the
woods near the enemy’s line. Then if I
found diate action out anything should that send needed imme
I a message by
one of these birds, which would carry it
far quicker than I could. L didn’t take
much to the idea of the pigeons, but the
Captain in was basket. set on it The and got two forme
a small next morning I
had hid my birds and boldly walked into
the enemy’s line. I was carried to head
quarters at once. suspicion My story was a straight
one and no was aroused. We
had taken a prisoner not long before
who had and belonged passed to a regiment in Mis
souri, I myself off for him,
giving his name and company and a few
other points I had taken caie to obtain,
As soon as I could I went around picking
up information. It would not do for me
to seem too inquisitive, and I was in
doubt what to do next when I noticed
an old building with the door partly
open. I looked in. The place seemed
empty at first sight. Looking nearer,
however, I saw the figure of a man lying
on some straw in a comer. I thought he
was sleeping, but he seemed strangely
quiet. I went in and looked closer
and I saw that he was dead. A
glance around showed me a coffin with
the lid resting on it in another corner of
the room. I did not much like to have
a dead body for a companion, but I
rC St a ” d 'J nd ? r tb ® c!r '
cumstanee T I thought a dead soldier
^;:E:hh¥nTJr-i : od^Tiu
o L r‘ '7*
soon
££!&£
fleers could^t given in mean?’ loud hastv tones What
all I was not long in
doubt. I soon heard nassmri steps and a
voice asking what colon!] was the matter ‘Mat
ter enough ’ was the renlv
‘then was a fellow come oTr here to-dav ore
tending to be one of men from Mis
souri He had hardlv disappeared and^Their be
fore the real man turns up
voices faded away as they walked oast
but 1 had heard enough in? to convince me
of the scrape I was What hard luck
that the prisoner I was representing
should have escaped on this dav of ail
others I had b!the“oise no time for idle regrets
however for outside I knew
an active search was being made for me
I heard a voice shout- ‘look inside the
dead house 1’ „„'i Quick ? as as thought tnougnt I i ran ran
t "f K ot \ aslde - As well as
m a secona me aoor was pulled open and
^ bal * d< tillthefr Stomed
eyes y got g accustomed to to
„ t, ** • Swea^oflook , 5
but seemed
me coma never never seemed.to to occur occm
* b1:b ?“’ ^® ar d ° ne say : ,® e isn * 10
^ ’ ^“ d J he ^ H? , f 3 qu J- . ckl J ,f 3 they
had entered. I tell you a (lead house u
ba« aomesupersiitioc abDatthepreseQCe
ot -fjj*-; f ! e deaci aad Tke to get away as quick
anc i oia not Know wflat to do. Any at
tempt at escape m fhe present excited
'^ ® tate °f " d d tho Ce ^"' camp would y °Z mean ^"*1 death
“ to “r Vit and tr Lht
p y n the “ fte n "“ ',,'1“ When
was that y, dead soldier to . be buried, , That
tba t P as ® ed through my
™ d -everal times as I lay contmed in
^ °n that rough cofhn. I hoped Everything for the best depended and lay
A uiet - I ^ a ” badly cramped in my
^angereriing s P lte of all place I was but aroused I fell asleep by hear- in
’“8 S0 ™ e one enter and close the door
after him. I _ opened my eyes. Who
e 'er it was had brought a-lantern. As
dmetlv as I could I slipped my hand to
“ y back and unloosened my pistol If
J b g bt bad l °r t< L it. die 0 Scarcely * determined daring to to make breathe a
L wa,ted ' kbe - ste ps approached closer.
mmg on tne Ud and it was lifted up. At
tJie sa mcmstan11 sprang up and leveled
“y ”‘ d pistol^ sray-headed at the mtruder. darkey. In This:was lifting the an
H h | keld f beiween himself and me
leanea n
. lst tb ^ aad ^ burned
^ b , ® sdld so b ® a §ht / to ^l 1 come “ P ® e
. ® p hid f n 1
rol!e d n^tawoKlbutoointed wil d in hfa m he stared I
said hear seeded ?tr?ck thenistol P !i£
at his He
, • His Ws ..hnnir
£ nd at “ kst HisXndlwen? gave way and he fell on hk
k 9 ; a 7 II? a snnnli If
} *= map “““ e ap 1 d lins moved J as
d ”” e ntlv ‘ y he tmok mJ fo, * 9 Tlhoft a gbost. As A L 1 f
-
«I could hrin it* 1 T said • ‘Old 0 d ’ vnn you
en‘ S nn i„
». JJel , w ,, ,* T J!ver? ", ' !t ii t
. ’ i,u
A, *o,! ff an mike„L~ ri n
g * y U lf von you make a noiae above « a
h - ,
t
This was a practical sort of „ talk that
he understood and convinced him that
1 ^ a3 re al fl ® sb a “ d bl ,°° d -.
T _ fo , , God, Boss! I ain’t , gwine . to
e
breathe hard 1
As he spoke I noticed a spade and
0 ,® r b0 ?, he ha.d brought with him. A
sudden idea, flashed through my brain,
desperate was a desperate one, but I was in a
fix and could not pick and
choose. I took out of my pooketbook a
ten-dollar bill. I held this in my left
hand and my pistol in my right.
1 l ‘°’ 1 see these? I asked, as I held
them before the terrified negro.
' A, 63 ' boss.
T you do just as I tell you the
pc ne y ia yoursif you don t, the pistol _
is, and I put it an inch nearer his head
as 3 spoke.
“He cocked his head quickly to one
side _ and swore he would obey me. j
told him to get up and answer my ques
tions.
“ ‘When is this man to be buried?’ I
asked. -------
“ * Dis ebenia ’> boss I’se made his
-
grave and was gwine to put him in his
i
‘
tbllt r- fast n*. acd, s
corner as as you can.’
“ The ne S ro seized his spade and
worked like , lightning. In a few minutes
be bacl hollowed out a hole large enough
for tbc ^TPnrpou. dead soldier in Then his shallow together we laid
grave, the
ne ^amazement. » ro doing all I had told him in terri
After he had thrown
back the earth and flattened it I scat
tered straw arouud the spot, so that no
s ’ s ’ ns of tbe digging would be observa
ble ’ Tbe flrst P art of my task was done.
The last and worst was yet to come. I
took the lid and put it on the coffin. It
btted flush, with no overlapping gimlet edge.
This) is what 1 "“ted. 1 took a
from among the tools, and m the head
of tbe Td as nearly as I could judge
above where a man’s mouth would be, A I
bored half a do7ea ,, , , x
dark pine box they were not noticeable
Them I took some nails and broke them
i n half—all except two Those two T
mailed in the lid about one-third the
j th from tho t i worked fast for
every moment wasof value The negro
watched me meanwhile with open
and 1 am gu) , e
me a lunatic. My '-I next remark
convinced ^“T^aid him of it am o-oino-to
in that < a „ t u want you
“* rw , ?
“ ThiAas°a 1 U
p rst way ®
id f which y . y „ Wv a „ p d P
r , aper to my Captain, tellni f him of the
fi x i wa s in. 1 added that I had im
portant news to tell him I put this in
because I knew it would make him take
more trouble to save me. I made a copy
of this and took out some silk thread
goth of these things I had brought ° to
use w jth the carrier pigeons. 1 crave
tbe \ t ° t y c0 l ?en 0 red man and described to
hitp 0 w to fa the paper Fet arouud each
bir ,j> s le „ an d then to them hiose T
ba q to teH him *gu three rf"unSStanding times before me? be
and eren / hen S it was doubtfuJ a bu H
co ,q d j ose u0 more t j me j drew' my
pj sto i once morCl an d pointing it at his
beftd J, told him tnat if he failed to obev
Tl ; d killed?’ d about me adde7 j wou i d Kill
am 1 This’threat T will
baun fceliev/had t T0U till you die.’ I
as much terror in it as mv
- t j nffild!^ q-hen I o-ot in the coffin t£ and told
the lid halfnaUs
j had broken he had used all around the
bd f They were too short to catch anv
bo d and merely made a show. s'i®iit The
fo.V^d two real nails Ld^holes caught but a the!°to hold fitT^
for
^ w Hh a * gimlet taSe’ Mv lid? idea anl was if not res
the in P-e terror
which would accompany my sudden res
urrection to escape. I was never a nerv
ous man, but I tell you when I heard that
jiff? heart almost railed me. But it was this
or death in some other form. In a few
moments he had gone and I was alone.
The holes I had made in the lid enabled
rae to breatb witb comparative ease. As
I they thought over slim> my chances of life I felt
were in( j e ed. Granted the
negro might proved the faithful to me, he
not find pigeons, If he did
find them he might not fasten the paper
properly,or the birds there” might not return in
time, or-in fact, were so many
chances against me that I knew my life
hung on a very slender thread. A nerv
ous fear seized me that the negro
hq^ have used the half nails I had pro
vided, but had substituted others.
certainly had hammered in a way that
se emed harder than was necessary to
drive in half nails. If that was the case
J might be buried alive! This thought
s0 fj j led me with horror that it was with
difliculty that I could refrain from
the lid. Only the knowledge that
would mean discovery if the lid yielded
restrained me. It was a hot day, and
the beat was intense in my narrow prison,
I was fearfully cramped from my strained
position, and this and the heat added to
my misery. After waiting what seemed
an age I heard at last the sound of steps,
^ party of men had entered and came
up tome. The next moment the coffin
was lifted. A sudden giddiness and a
rus h of blood to the head followed, and
I knew they must have held the head
lower than the foot. I felt the bottom
grating into something Then hard. I I was moving, being
put could a wagon. hear distinctly, was but
I not very I
could make out the regular tramp of
soldiers following. The road was rough
and I was fearfully jolted My one
a?
1
quiet. Ifo lowed the movements m my
H?' nd and I knew now I was in my grave,
hcre was a pulling at my feet one of
the p ro P es must bave '’-aught, and the
" ext n i? ment * hea 'T body sprang on
he coffin Then a voice, hoarse and
husk /’ but * hl cb I knew well, wlds
I? ered through the , gimlet holes: ‘I let
den ? birds loose jest;as you told me. For
( -’ 0( \ 3 sake, don t haunt me, boss!’ The
f. tlme ext foment f or m y bc he lP was to “ out. m e lf > ow 11 was was oom the
, *
mg a * all, „ but I resolved , to wait to the
las ^ ™ lnut ®\ A. dead silence iollowed,
? nd then I dimly heard a voice. Bead
“£ the funeral service, thought. How
I kept myselt calm at that turn: is more
J ban 1 can say, but the knowledge that
m a moment I could break out and be in
the fresh air must have had much to do
wif h it. The voice stopped, and a dull
tbud flowed tbat made my' heart beat
- llke aled hammer. They
a S e were
Rowing bein S Tilled in up. the dirt, I had and no my time grave to spare, was
With head and brain reeling I doubled
myself up to force open the lid. Oh,
horror! I could not move it. I made
one last desperate effort, but in vaio; r
could not lift it an inch. I had never in
my life before fainted, but this was too
,or ~ **’ r wi b “ i! ° * *•*
Wken I recovered I found mv.cff on
horseback in front of acomrade wiio was
»« ™ Hd-
3 “g at a furious rate, and the fresh air
Thickly revived me. My friend handed
m e a flask. I took a good pull and
looked a round ; 1 was surrounded by
my friends. - We soon reached our camp
and I got an explanation of what had
happened. ^ It was my Captain who gave
to me. He shook my hand warmly,
T f- ot your message by those pigeons,’ he
said - ‘ a nd I got up We this had party"for your
r cscue at once. very little
trouble with the half dozen soldiers who
wereat your f " nerai ‘ but tbo « ld negro’
-bere he burst out laughing-'bad
jumped in your grave at the first sight of
ns, and we had a hard time to make him
c °me out. We got you out of your hole
as fast as we could, and the 'rest you
This explained all, and it Was
tbe negro’s weight that prevented me
Tom getting out. I was a hero for some
time > aad Tie information I had n'ot picked
«P ^ of great value but it did pay
me f °r the agony I suffered in that
S rave - Ton see this hair,” he added,
running loc his fingers through his silvery
ks. “It was as black as yours when
I entered that coffin. When they took
me out it was as you see it now.”
Hills of the Engraving Bureau,
The girls in the Government Engrav
ing Bureau are from every part of the
countrybut surrounding chieriyfrom the district
Washington, says the < ln
cago Herald. Most of them are poor,
Some of them have had the advantages
of wealth and social position, but have
been overtaken bv misfortune and corn
yelled them to earn their own and living. Many
of are studious work hard to
educate themselves. Iamtoldthatsev
eral of them are excellent musicians,
while others are proficient in elocution.
There are also several artists, and one
who is a fine botanist.
“But are they never tempted to take
some of tbe millions of money (bat they
handle?” I hear some one ask.
“We look upon it only as so much
paper,” said one of the girls to whom I
had put the same question in a different
form. “It becomes of value to us only
when we receive it in payment for our
work. We never think of it here as
money. ”
Even if they did look upon it as
money, and were tempted to till their
pockets with it, they could not get out
of the building with it. So perfect is
the system of checks and balances in the
bureau of engraving and printing that a
piece of blank paper, such as is used to
print securities on. could not be taken
without being missed inside of ten min¬
utes, and if it were not found no one
in the division where it was lost would
be allowed to pass out of the building
until it was discovered and made safe
again. Of course, where such vigilance
is exercised there is no temptation to
steal.
Appearances will go a good ways bufc
reality will keep going right along.