The Courier of the OzarksDunn, Byron A. (Byron Archibald)
History
The Courier of the Ozarks
Dunn, Byron A. (Byron Archibald)
Missouri -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Juvenile fiction
Lawrence mingled with the crowd, and as he read he felt a bulky envelope
thrust in his hand and caught a glimpse of a dusky arm. He glanced at
the address and then turned to see who had given it to him, but could
not. He glanced at the envelope again. Yes, it was for him. In bold
letters was written, "For Captain Lawrence Middleton. Important."
The writing was strange to Lawrence, and making his way through the
crowd he sought a private place where he could see what had so
mysteriously come into his possession. As he read, a look of surprise
came over his face, and then his countenance grew stern and grim.
Carefully he read the document through from beginning to end. It was
signed "By One Who Knows." There was not a mark to tell who was the
writer. The writing was strong and bold, and possessed an originality of
its own, as if the writer had put much of his own character in it.
Lawrence sat and pondered long. He looked the manuscript over and over
again to see if he could not discover some private mark, something that
would identify the writer, but he found nothing.
"Strange," he muttered, "but if Guilford Craig was alive I would swear
he was the writer of this. Who else would write me, and me alone, and
give such important information? Who else could obtain the information
contained in this letter? Yet Guilford is dead. Benton Shelly was seen
to shoot him. There were those who saw him lying on the ground, still in
death, his bosom drenched in blood. But his body was not found.
Guilford, Guilford, are you still alive? But why do I indulge in such
vain hope that he is alive? The proof of his death is too plain. This
letter must have been written by another, but who? Who? And why send it
to me?"
The letter was, in fact, a full and complete _exposé_ of the plans of
the Confederates. It told of the conception of the plot; who was
carrying it out; of the hundreds who had taken the oath of allegiance in
order that they might work more securely, and that many had even
enlisted in the State militia, so that when the supreme time came they
could desert: the time set for the uprising was the last of July or else
the first of August, by which time they hoped to have at least forty
thousand men enrolled.
"Blair and Schofield must see this, and no time lost," said Lawrence to
himself as he placed the communication carefully in his pocket.
Blair was soon found. After carefully reading the letter he said, "I am
not surprised. I warned the Government of the folly of removing so many
troops from the State. But who could have written this?"
"If Guilford Craig was alive there would be but one answer," replied
Lawrence. "As it is, it is a mystery."
"Let us see Schofield at once," said Blair. "There should be no time
lost."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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