The Gavelyte, October 1914

10 TI IE GAV ·LYTE press d deep moth !'ly sympathy. ii'or a f w minul s th r wa:; silence. Then, Miriam said, g ntly: "I will take the papers to General Sherman. r will save the •battlf', ev n if it is against our own cauEe." "Miriam, dear," ·her grandmother said, "you forg t. Would you be a traitor to the cause for which your 'brother and grandfather have given their lives." "I must!·· cried the girl. "You ld'On't understand. If he was my brother, if I was a Northern girl, would I do it then? Yes; a thousanu times." "It is impossible, Mis!'," cried the soldier, "the camp is 70 miles away, and I have lost an hour. The forces move on at daybreak." "Yes, but my horse is very swift," she answered. "lt is now only 10 o'clock and I can start immediately." "But you are a g·irl," he objeded. "You could not pass the Eenti– nels, and these ondlers are to lbe delivered personally to General Sher– man." ",Vait," sh~ said and was gone from the room. A few minutes later she came back. She wore a dark blue rain– coat, with a military collar, and a blue ca,p, which indeed gave her a boyish effect. '~See! I will ·have no trouble as a soldier," he cried, confidently. "Now, where are the papers?" The papers were ready and the sol dier gave them trustingly into the girl's hands, without any hesitation at all. "I shall succeed," she said, giving her grandmctho· a hasty kiss and offering her band to the soldier. Her fa~e was flushed with excitement, which added to her South-. ern beauty. The soldier's eyes were filled with admiration. "Goodbye, I hope an ends well," she said, picking up her riding whip anld running lightly from the room. Outside, Jake had her horse ready, and, mounting it, she set off down the moonlit driveway, into the oppressive heat of the night. Never, in all her life, did Miriam forget that long, cheerless ride in the night. Pressing her faithful stee,d onward-crouching low in the saddle when she chanced to 'meet a stranger, her hands on the re– volver at her belt in case of danger-she rdde on and on, now and then a trifling breeze fanning her flushed cheeks. No sign of daytbreak shown on the blue sky as the lbreathlesH rider drew near the boundaries of General Sherman's camp. Her foaming horse stepped quietly, •but the cracking of a twig caught the ear of a, conscious sentinel. "Halt!" came the inEtant command. "Who ,goes there?" "A friend,'' came the answer in Miriam's boyish alto voice. "Give the countersign," said the sentinel. "Please," answered ::.\Iiriam. The sentinel advanced, but, as it