Produced by Juliet Sutherland and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE LOST DESPATCH BY NATALIE SUMNER LINCOLN AUTHOR OF "THE TREVOR CASE" ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK AND LONDON D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1913 Copyright, 1913, by D. APPLETON AND COMPANY Printed in the United States of America TO A GALLANT SOLDIER OF THE UNION BRIGADIER-GENERAL SUMNER H. LINCOLN U.S. ARMY WHO FOUGHT IN TWO WARS UNDER THE FLAG THIS NOVEL OF 1865 IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED "Love rules the court, the camp, the grove And men below, and saints above." SIR WALTER SCOTT. CONTENTS Chapter Page I. THE PIGEON'S FLIGHT 1 II. BRAINS VS. BRAWN 8 III. A KNOT OF RIBBON BLUE 19 IV. BANQUO'S GHOST 30 V. A SCRAP OF PAPER 46 VI. THE SIGNAL LIGHT 51 VII. THE MISCHANCES OF A NIGHT 57 VIII. A VOICE FROM THE PAST 64 IX. OUTWITTED 75 X. THE FORTUNES OF WAR 87 XI. WHO LAUGHS LAST 95 XII. THE FIGHT AT THE FORD 112 XIII. FOR THE CAUSE 120 XIV. WHEN TRAGEDY GRINS 134 XV. NEMESIS 144 XVI. A TANGLED SKEIN 161 XVII. IN CLOSE CONFINEMENT 168 XVIII. WHEN DOCTORS DISAGREE 176 XIX. GROPING IN THE DARK 186 XX. THE TURNING POINT 197 XXI. THE TRIAL 210 XXII. WEAVING THE WEB 229 XXIII. SENSATIONAL EVIDENCE 245 XXIV. A STARTLING DISCOVERY 257 XXV. A THUNDERBOLT 268 XXVI. BY A HAIR'S BREADTH 282 XXVII. WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE 300 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Facing Page "As Lloyd bent forward ... he received a crashing blow on the temple" _Frontispiece_ "'You? Nancy!' The doctor gazed incredulously" 68 "'I--I--am afraid he is dead'" 116