The Argosy, Vol. XXIV, No. 1 — page 150: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

150 THE GENERAL’S EMISSARY. I entered and Miss Everard greeted me with a pleasant smile. ‘‘ Iam glad to see that you have returned safely,” she said. ‘“ Yes,’’ I replied, doggedly ; “‘rather too safely for my own satisfaction.’’ ‘‘ You had a letter from General Washington, did you not?’’ she inquired. ‘““Yes,’’ I replied, with surprise, ‘‘ but how did you know about it ?’’ ‘‘ Because I stole it,’’ she replied, laughing. ‘“What! You stole my letter !”’ ‘From Captain Wilson, your friend,’’ she added archly. The whole situation was now as clear as day to me, so I was not over- come with surprise when she went on to tell how while I had my back turned, she had caught sight of Wilson transferring the letter from my pocket to his own ; that while he was at the door bidding me good by, she had managed to make a rent in his coat which she offered to sew up for him. Although he was ina great hurry, he could not resist taking advantage of her kindness, and in the meantime she had secured the letter and had replaced it with a blank letter sheet which she had found among her belongings. When Captain Wilson put on his coat, and was ready to start, he felt in his pocket and was evidently satisfied with the knowledge that he had there a valuable bit of information. After a slight delay Miss Everard explained the situation to Brady and together they started towards the mouth of the Croton after me, but met Major Ellery a short distance out. He received the note, and halted at the tavern for a while to discover my whereabouts, if possible. 5 Miss Everard said that she had her suspicions of Captain Wilson from the first. I began to think how stupid I had been not to make sure of my letter before starting. To think that a hardened soldier like myself should have given more attention to Miss Everard’s brown eyes than the business in hand What a consummate fool she must think me ! This was my reflection as I stood.in embarrassed silence. But to my relief at this moment Major Ellery appeared, and coming up, offered his hand. ‘‘Captain Heywood,’ he said, his face radiant with good humor, ‘‘I must ask your pardon for my recent conduct, but I could not refrain from having a little sport out of your discomfiture. Besides, I knew that it would afford you an agreeable surprise to learn that this brave young lady saved your reputation as a soldier.”’ As soon as I had recovered sufficiently from my surprise, we rode to Sparta to secure Wilson, but he had disappeared, and the man of the house was nowhere to be found. We fired the place on the supposition that the owner was a Tory. I gained Major Ellery’s permission to accompany Mr. Everard and his daughter to Peekskill on the next day. And I might add, by the way, that I had by this time become so infatuated with the brown eyes that I man- aged to have a little private chat with their owner, which resulted in her changing her last name to Heywood, at the end of the war. Parker C. Palmer. \| 0 (eX) 3) =} CS) (Xo)