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~turn of thescale. I am
THE WAR LIBRARY.
11
“Ob! Walter, do: not use that expression !”’
exclaimed Bar’
“No, wel” added Adam, emphatically.
“T euly. used it to bring you to your senses,
and I’m sorry for it.
-“Ifvoming to my. senses means to flee, I
shall not be sensible,” replied the major. “I
@m au innocent man, and no one loves the
Union better than J,and I put my lifein the
balance to be saved or lost according to the
ou hopeless, for I
shall try to show that there i isa plot against
sme. But I shall stay here and meet my
trial.”
Nothing could turn him from this resolu-
tion. as his would-be rescuers found.
We need not dwell on the interview.
Barbara wept profusely, and her sorrow
. Seemed to give him great pain, but he per-
sisted in his determination.
hey gave up at last, and, aftera memora-
ble farewell, left the jail, and locked the door
behind them, according to his directions.
The drugged guard was just beginning to
stir, and when they had restored the keys to
their former place there was nothing to
show that they bad been there.
went away ion deep gloom, from
which Barbara finally aroused to say:
“ He is brave and noble, Adam.”
To which Adam replied:
“He was eet enough; that’sa fact; but
there’s something about the matter I'don't
understand. The major seems to me to be
# mysterious sort of a critter!”
CHAPTER. IX.
GETTYSBURG.
Among the great battles of the world, the
long and. desperate struggle at Gettysburg
holds a prominent place. It was one where
vast interests were at stake. Resulting as it
did iu the defeat of the rebel forces, it filled
the South with temporary dismay and ne-
cessitated the retreat of Lee back to that
state, which, from the large uumber o1 bat-
tles fought ‘therein during the great civil
war, might also be regarded as one vast bat-
tlefield—Virginia.
On the otber. hand, had the Union army
been defeated, no one can accurately demon-
strate the misfortunes which would have
“ensued. Lee would have turned upon the
large cities within the loyal range, and
either Washington, Baltimore, or Philadel-
phia would doubtless have been smitten,
and probably captured.
What would have followed then is also
unknown, bul the light of many burning
. dwellings might have made red the black
night within aud witho
With Gettysburg in “detail we have noth-
ing to do.
The story has been told and it is well
known even to the younger generation.
To Barbara Deane and ‘the household it
really meant little, for they were beyond
the reach of missiles of war, if not of its
echoes.
We have introduced Meade, who, it will
be remembered, had superseded Hooker and
other soldiers while they were on their way
to the grand arenaof battle, as a photog-
rapher pictures his patrons. at a temporary
sitting.
The army moved on, Gettysburg
reached, and then began the great fight.
Three ‘days it continued, and brave men
fell plentifully on each side; men who were
mere privates, and men renowned as skill-
ful generals.
was a meeting of giants,and as they
wrestled for the master: , strugglin to and
fro, the whole country istened with bated
breath for the sequel.
bogsibly the fate of the nation was at
@.
was
It was the last day of the battle. The red
tide flowed hotly,'and the anxious partici-
pants, somehow, felt that a few hours would
decide the matter, one way or the other.
Which would win
The momentous question was a hard one
to answe
At one ‘point along the line the Southern-
ers had an advantage. A ridge, the
possession of-which was coveted by both
pe rties, had been wrested by them from the
nion men.
ots recovery became a most desirable ob-
oa charge was projected and made. Sev-
eral regiments received their orders, and
then, as one, they rushed forward up the
ote was like going into the jaweo of death.
a encountered a terrib.
,
wee jJeaden hail swept down from the
t, and men fell at every pace.
anStill the gallant fellows pushed o
ut a momeut was at haud w en even
they wavered.
Their leader, who, riding at the front, and
waving his sword above his head, suddenly
reeled in his saddle, dropped the sword, and:
fell to the ground, dead !
Then the line wavered.
The calamity came at a most unfortunate
moment, and, left without a leader, the gal-
lant fellows lost, not courage, but the con-
fidence which good leadership inspires, and
the rebels thrilled‘at the impressiou that they
had dealt a fatal blow.
ut the scene suddenly changed.
Aman whoshas been advancing on foot
with the otbers suddenly spriugs forward,
catches up the fallen sword and leaps into
the vacant saddle.
He turns and waves his sword aloft
“Comeon!” bhecri “T will ead you.
God is with us and ihe ‘Union—charge!?
Aringing cheer goes up from the loyal
-
Troops.
They do not recognize the speaker, but he
wears the uniform of a Union major, and
his words and example inspire a feeling of
resistless ardor,
With that cheer still on their lips, the
Union men surge forw ward.
They go up the ascent likea mighty wave.
Bullets cleave the air like hail-stones;
other men fall, but the survivors are un-
daunted.
At their head rides the unknown major.
Colonels followed him, too excited to feel
the least thrill of jealousy.
he major seems to bear a charmed life.
He is the target of scores of muskets, and he
rides ,with reokless haste, but not a shot
touches him
Up and on ‘they go. The slope is red and
slippery behind them, but their gaze is ever
toward the front.
Their ardor is resistless. So might the Old
Guard have charged had they been at Get-
tysburg that da,
Aurrab! hurrah! They reach the rebel
line; they spring at the enemy like tigers—
the mysterious major cleaves a ‘disloyal
head, beats down an opposing prord, and
runs ‘through astalwart riflem
e shock is Tesistless, the hill, is won, the
rebels retreat in hot e and a wild shout
of victory runs along the vine.
“That charge has saved the day,” says a
staff officer, who is watching through a
glass, addressing General Meade. “ All
honor to General ———’
But the general he named lies dead near
the foot of theslope, and the man who has
led the way to victory is unknown to the
troops he bas led.
out the same time there is- another
eventful charge.
The battle had reached a crisis.
The rebels hurl a strong force upon the
loyal line.
It is repulsed, thrown back in confusion
and demoraliz
is practically the last effort of the
Southerners, and the netting of wires that
cover the gountry may well carry the mes-
sage:
“Gett sburg is won!’’
Grateful for, that charge which we have
described at length, General Meade takes
measures to congratulate the general he
thinks has won the hill.
Then by he learns for the first time that offi-
cer's
“ Who, then, led the charge?’"he asked.
young man isa major’s uniform, which
isoovered with blood not drawn from his
own veins, rides forward and tenders his |
sword to the commander-in- chief.
“General Meade,” he says, the fight is
won and Iam again your prisoner.”
The men he led do not understand the act
and they cheer wildly, but Meade looks in
blank surprise.
“Major Spencer!” he says, wonderingly.
“Yes, general,’’ the major replies, “you
wonder to see me out of jail. Well, the
guards were careless and left the door open,
and I mounted a horse and rode here, hop-
ing to die on the field. My wish has not
been gratified, but I have, at least, had one
more chance to fight for, the cause we both
love—the perpetuity. of the Union. Gen-
eral, the fight is.over and I.am again your
prisoner. ifere is my sword.”
But a messenger comes to the leader and
he goes away, leaving Spencer unanswered
and unarres
The major Jooks toward the rear where,
miles away, he knows the jail remains in-
tact.
“thought it incumbent on me
“T will return alone,” he says, and then
rides away
vt, is the most mysterious case I ever
ne
The words were spoken the day after the
battle of Gettsyburg by General Meade to
several of his most celebrated officers.
oone answered him, and all looked as
blank us they were mute.
** Here is an officer under arrest for trea-
son, charged with being aspy, and with the
charges so well substantiated that even he
must know the proofs are fataily conclu-
sive in seeming, and he walks deliberately
out of jail when bis guards neglect.their
duty, aud, instead of fieeing to Canada, as
it seems aby guilty man would, be seeks the
field of battle, fights like a @emon for the
cause to which we charge him with being a
traitor, leads a heroic charge which does
much to eave the battle for the Union, aud
then, when other duties prevent me from
considering his surprising offer to surrender
his sword and himeelf, rides deliberately -
back to pal and orders the guard to lock
him it. have seen some strange things
during my military career, but nothing
equal to this.”
‘You are right,” said another general,
“for, with this charge hovering over him,
he knew it assure death when he returned
to the jail.”
““And why did he,a convicted traitor,
fight so like a hero for the Union?” asked a
third officer, ‘‘We owe more to him to-
ward saving Gettsy burg than to any other
subordinate o A
**Confound int” cried General Warfield,
“the explanation is simply enoush—the
manisinnoceut. He is as Foy yalas Tum.”
“How about the letters in his own hand
writing—those fatally disloyal letters?”
asked Meade, gravely,
** Forgeries!’’ crie Warfield. .
‘Again, why is he with us under a false
na
T declare that his name. begging your
ardon, general, is Walter Spencer,” said
Varfield, very red in the face.
“We have proved by unimpeachable wit-
nesses that he is not Walter Spencer,” re-
plied General Meade, ** ana almost as good
testimony shows him to he Robert Bride-
well, an original secessionist, and, subse-
quently, a rebel officer. Besides, were not
his letters to Lee signed Robert Bridewell oi
“Confound it! I'm all at sea! acknowl-
edged Warfield.
“Isn't he mentally deranged ?” suggested
a pra y-bearded general, thougbtfu ully.
onsense!” cried Warfield. “I've known
him for two years, and a clearer head I
never knew; no,nor a more loyal one,
either. ov tell you, it is a plot against the
poor
Then be must be in the plot against
himeelf,” said Meade, dryly. ‘“‘There is no
room to doubt that he wrote those letters.
His writing is peculiar and not to be mis-
taken, and i
forge it. Besides, letter ‘B’ was secured
froma man who had just left Spencer's
tent. But we will have him before us, gens
tlemen.”’
The order was given and obeyed, and ina
short time the major appeared. He was
neatly dressed, handsome, clear-eyed, calm
and at his ease, and as he saluted the illus-
trious officers before him, he looked them
in the face frankly and fearlessly, though-
not defiantly or staringly.
“He looks to be as brave,manly and
clear-headed_ a fellow as there is in the
army,” said Slocum, to Howard.
“You are right. ‘There's nothing wrong
in his upper story, and I.never saw a finer
looking fellow.’
“‘Major Spencer,”’ said General Meade,
with a touch of facetiousness which even
old soldiers sometimes indulge in, *‘ we see
in you a somewhat notable curiosity—a
man who arrested himself, and requested,
possibly compelled, a jailer’ to lock him up
for trial.”
Spencer smiled gravely>-~>-—~~—-
‘Having issued. my own furlongh, I
to arrest my-~
self when I found the furlough was illegal, \,
general.”
“Didn't you think of that when you left
the jail?
** Joking aside,I did, of coursé, general.”
*“*Then why did you leave?”
**The guards carelessly left™ the door un-
locked and wandered away to a hill trom
which, perhaps, they were able to see
partof the battle. I discovered the fact,
and, withthe guns of Gettysburg sending
their thunder to my ears, was seized wi 3