""Here, what is the matter? What"s all this fuss in camp?" he said.
""We"ve ketched one of them Dutch Jews from St. Louis spying our camp, Major," said Bob Smiles, letting loose of my collar to salute the Major"s silver stars. "And we are going to hang him."{30}
""A spy? How do you know he"s a spy?"" asked Jim Jones.
""Well, he"s Dutch; he"s a Jew, unt he"s from St. Louis. What more do you want?"" asked Bob Smiles.
[Ill.u.s.tration: TRYING TO SAVE HIS NECK. 30]
The crowd yelled, unt de man with the rope went to the tree unt flung one end over a limb.
""His being a St. Louis Dutchman is against him,"{31} said Jim Jones, "but his being a Jew is in his favor. A Jew don"t care a blame for politics. He hain"t got no principles. He"d rather make a picayune off you in a trade than have a wagon-load of principles. But you fellers have got nothing to do with spies, anyway. That"s headquarters" bizniss.
I"m an officer at General Price"s headquarters. I"ll take him up there unt examine him. Bring him along."
""Go along, Jew," said two of three of them, giving me kicks, as Bob Smiles started with me. The man with the rope stood by the tree looking very disappointed.
"When we got near General Price"s tent, Jim Jones says to the rest:
""You stop there. Come along with me, Jew."
"He took me by the collar, unt we walked toward General Price"s tent. He whispered to me as we went along: "You"re all right, Rosenbaum. I know you, unt I know what you"re here for. Just keep a stiff upper lip, tell your story straight, unt I"ll see you through."
[Ill.u.s.tration: "I KNOW YOU, UNT WHAT YOU"RE HERE FOR." 32]
"That scared me worse than ever, but all that I could do was to keep up my nerve, unt play my cards coolly. We went into the General"s tent, but he was busy, unt motioned us with his hand to the Adjutant-General.
""What"s the matter?" asked the Adjutant-General, motioning me to sit down, while he went on making tally marks on a sheet of paper, as a man called off the regiments that had reported. Then he footed them all up, unt, turning to another officer, read from it so many Arkansaw regiments, so many{32} Louisianny, so many Mizzouri, so many Texas, so many batteries of artillery, unt he said to another officer as he laid the paper face down among the other papers on his table: "Just as I told you, Colonel. We have fully 22,000 men ready for battle." Then to us: "Well, what can I do for you?"
""The boys had picked up this Jew for a spy, Colonel," said Jim Jones, pointing to me, "unt they{33} were about to hang him, just to pa.s.s away the afternoon more than for anything else. I took him away from them, telling them that it was your privilege to hang spies, unt you could do it according to the science of war. I brung him up here to get him away from them. After they"re gone away or got interested in something else I"ll take him unt put him outside of camp."
""All right," said de Adjutant-General, without taking much interest in the matter. "Do with him as you please. A Jew more or less isn"t of any consequence. Probably he deserves hanging, though, but it isn"t well to encourage the boys to hang men on sight. They"re quite too ready to do that, anyway."
"He talked to the other man a little, unt then when he went away he turned to me, unt said, sort of lazy like, as if he didn"t care anything about it:
""Where are you from?"
""From Memphis," said I.
""Great place, Memphis," said he; "one of the thriving suburbs of Satan"s Kingdom. Had lots of fun there. I know every faro bank in it, which speaks well for my memory, if not for my morals. What bizniss was you in?"
""Clothing," said I.
""What a fool question to ask a Jew," said he, yawning. "Of course, you was in the clothing trade. You was born in it. All Jews have been since they gambled for the Savior"s garments."
""They wasn"t Jews what gambled for Christ"s clothes," said I, picking up a little courage. "They va.s.s Romans--Italians--Dagoes."{34}
""Was they?" said he. "Well, mebbe they was. I haven"t read my Bible for so long that I"ve clean forgot. Say, what are you doing with all them pins?"
"The question come so unexpected that it come nearly knocking me off my base. I had calculated on almost every other possible thing, unt was ready for it, except that fool question. I thought for a minit that disappointed man by the tree with the rope was going to get his job, after all. But I gathered myself together with a jerk, unt calmly said with a smile:
""O, that"s some of my foolishness. I can"t get over being a tailor, and sticking all the pins what I find in my lapel. I must pick up every one I see."
""Queer where you found them all," said he. "Must"ve brung them from Memphis with you. I can"t find one in the whole camp. Our men use nails unt thorns instead of pins. I"ve been wanting a lot of pins for my papers. Let me have all you got. I wish you had a paper of them."
"I did have two or three papers in my pockets, unt first had a fool idea of offering them to him. Then I remembered that disappointed man with the rope by the tree, unt pulled the pins out of my lapels one by one unt give them to him, trying to keep count in my head as I did so.
""What are you doing here, anyway?" he asked as he gathered up the pins unt put them in a pasteboard box.
""I come here at General Pillow"s orders, to pick up some Mexican silfer dollars, to buy ammunition in Mexico.
""Another of old blowhard Pillow"s fool schemes,"{35} said he. "I know old Pillow. I served with him in Mexico, when he dug his ditch on the wrong side of his fortification. He"s probably going to do some-thing else with the dollars than buy ammunition. Old Gid Pillow"s a mighty slick one, I tell you, when it comes to filling his own pockets. He"s no fool there, whatever he may be in other ways. He"s working some scheme to skin our men, unt making you his partner, then he"ll turn around unt skin you. I"ll stop it going any further by turning you out of camp, unt I ought to take away from you all the money you"ve gathered up, but I won"t do it on one condition."
""What is your condition?" said I, trying not to speak too quick.
""You say you are in the clothing pizniss. I want awfully a nice uniform, just like the Major"s there. What"s such a uniform worth?"
""About $75," said I.
""I paid $65 for this in St. Louis," said Jim Jones.
""Well, $10 is not much of a skin for a Memphis Jew," laughed the Adjutant-General. "I tell you what I"ll do, if you"ll swear by the book of Deuteronomy, unt Moses, Abraham unt Isaac, to have me inside of two weeks just such a uniform as the Major"s there, I"ll let you off with all the money you have made already, unt when you come back with it I"ll give you written permission to trade for every silver dollar in camp."
""It is a bargain," said I.
""Unt it"ll be a perfect fit," said he.
""Just like the paper on the wall," said I. "Let me{36} take your measure."
"I had my eye all the time on the paper he had laid carelessly down unt forgotten. I pulled my tapemeasure out. The old idee of the tailor come up. I forgot about the disappointed man with the rope by the tree, unt was my old self taking the measure of a customer. I put all the figures down on his piece of paper, without his noticing what I was using. I asked him about the lining, the tr.i.m.m.i.n.g, unt the pockets, unt wrote them down. Then I folded up the paper unt stuck it in my breast pocket, unt my heart gave a big thump, though I kept my face straight, unt went on talking about b.u.t.tons unt silk braid unt gold lace for the sleeves. I promised him he should have the uniform in the army in two weeks" time.
Just then some officers come in, unt Jim Jones hurried me out. I could not understand Jim Jones. He hurried me across to a place behind the woods, where we found some horses.
""Untie that one unt get on quick," he said. "My G.o.d, you"ve got the thing dead to rights; you"ve got everything on that piece of paper.
My G.o.d, what luck! Smartest thing I ever saw done. Get that paper in General Lyon"s hands before midnight if you kill yourself unt horse in doing it. I"ll take you out past part of the guards, unt show you how to avoid the rest. Then ride as if the devil was after you, until you reach General Lyon"s tent."
"I was dumfounded. I looked at Jim Jones. His eyes was like fire. Then it suddenly occurred to me that Jim Jones was a spy, too.
"As I mounted I looked back across the camp. I saw the rope still hanging from a limb of the tree,{37} and the disappointed man sitting down beside it patiently waiting.
"That night the paper was in General Lyon"s hands, unt the next night the army moved out to fight the battle of Wilson"s Creek.
"The Adjutant-General is still waiting for that uniform."
"Halt, who comes there?" called out Shorty, whose quick ears caught the sound of approaching footsteps.
"The Officer of the Guard," responded from the bank of darkness in the rear.
"Advance, Officer of the Guard, and give the countersign," commanded Shorty, lowering his musket to a charge bayonets.
The officer advanced, leaned over the bayonet"s point, and whispered the countersign.