The Oregon daily journal., March 15, 1908, Page 34, Image 34

THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL PORTLAND, SUNDAY "MORNING. MARCH 15
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1 IHO WA WOMAN S A VED A NARMYh. A
r. k 1, 1 1 1 ri 1- sw m
T wm In the winter of 1777-78, during the occu
pation of Philadelphia by the Brltisn troops,
that a patriot woniaa inside of the enemy's
line performed an act of great service to her
country. Not far away, at Whltemanh, Qen-
t eraT Washington's army was encamped. It had r-
Cntly suffered defeat In the battle of Brandywlne
; and Germantown. and the outlook was moat discour-
, ' aging- In Philadelphia the British soldiers, command-
ad by tJenerai Howe, were quartered in comfortable
. fcarraoks, while their officers bad selected the most
commodious and elegant bouses In which to enjoy
the winter. In ona of these bouses lived a Quaker
: gentleman hamed Darrah. hia wife Lydla, and their
v younger children: their oldest son waa an officer in
the patriot amy. With them General Howe's adju-
tant-general took Up hia quarters, and secured a back
' room In which private councils could bt held.
J
I
l
"VTE MARCHED BACK LIKE A FARCBL OF
. ADJUTAJT-JENERAL.
" Just before one of these councils, in the early part
Of December, Lydla Darrah waa told to retire early
with her family, as the British offlcera would require
the room at seven o'clock, and would remain late.
The adjutant-general added that the offlcera would
end for her to let them out and to extinguish the
Are and candles. Now, aa the offlcer waa so particu-
HE Grand Duchess walked In the
palace gardens. By her side was
the stately head nurse; for the
. Grand Duchess was young. Be
hind her were two pages, who
heid up her train of cloth of gold.
ThA Or and Duchesa kicked ud
the stouts now and then with the toe of a daintily
(CA-M0U5E-Vim-WINGS
l5 A-FadrTale j
pointed shoe, and present! aha sighed a very big
. "I am bo tired of the same walk very day and
nary day," aha said. "I mean to go thia minute right
cut Into tho fields and pick flowers, dear little com
mon flowers on the hill over the stream."
, "Impossible, your Royal Highneaaf cried the old
nurse, quite shocked.
Uy no means," replied the Duchess, wilfully. "Give
me my train," said she, turning to the boys. "I will
V. carry It You may go."
. ; Then she ran to the great gatea. With some dJLffl
; rulty she pushed one open and passed out The nurse,
panting and groaning, followed her.
The Duchess scampered about Joyfully. She was
, - Ineonvenienced by her train, it waa so heavy; but she
fathered the daisies and put them In her hair, she
v , sang songs and called to the birds, and talked to the
heep cropping the graas.
- The Duchesa erossfd the stream by the plank. The
'A&nger, so-new, delighted-her. She laughed and
' clapped her hands as the board creaked under the -f
, weight of the old nurse. I
"111 rest right here in the shade," said the Grand
1 Duchesa, presently. Going toward a clump of trees,
, aba waa seating herself on a large stone, when some
thing ran from underneath it across' her foot
"Oh, .the sweet brown mouse I" aha erled. She fell
upon bier knees to catch It, but at the aame moment
r rami 'an brown as the mount came from beside a
rarBthe mouMjrna lrQta hand.
lar, Lydla suspected that some expedition against the
patriot army waa to be arranged.
She sent all the family to bed, and. taking off her
shoes, crept softly back and listened at the door. By
this piece of eavesdropping, which the zealous woman
no doubt felt was entirely Justified as a war expedient,
sho learned it was decided to issue an order that all
the British troops should march out, late on the
fourth of December, to surprise General Washington
and his army. .
Having learned this Important decision, Mrs. Dar
rah retired to her room, and, lying down, feigned to
be asleep. When one of the offlcera knocked at the
door, she did not reply until the summons had been
several times repeated.
After the departure of ths offlcera she hardly knew
what to do, In order to get word of the Intended sur
prise to Washington. She knew It lay in her power
FOOL8I" SAID , TTTH
to save the Uvea of thousands of her countrymen.
She dared not consult even her husband.' She decided
to go herself and convey the Information. The Dar
rahs' stock of flour being almost out, and it being
customary in those daya for people to sand or. go to
Uje mills themselves, Lydla told her husband that she
would go for more. He'wanted his wife to send their
The face of a shepherd boy peeped over.
"That's
my mouse, be said.
The Grand Duchesa sat up on the ground, and
looked back at him.
"I want it to bv mine," she answered.
"Give it to her Royal Highness immediately," com
manded the -nurse. "You are honored that she should
care to have it."
But the shepherd boy only repeated, "It's my
mouse."
The eyes of the Grand Duchess opened very widely.
They were very bluo eyes, and her parted lips were
as rosy as the wild cherries above her head.
"I like you, you funny shepherd boy," ahe said, after
a long pause. ' But I want that dear brown mouse. I
will give you my white mouse for It Mine has
wings-."
It waa the turn of the shepherd boy to open bis
pyes.
"Go back and look for my mouse," said the Grand
Duchess to the nurse. "I shall stay here and play
with thlB nice boy."
"But, your Royal Highness,' protested the nurse,
"you surely will not give the Winged Mouse to a
countcy lad! Besides, I cannot leave you here."
"I will take care of her," said the shepherd boy,
with a lordly air. He waa about a year older than
the Duchess.
"Go this minute!" said she, getting up to stamp
her foot imperiously.
The nurse turned away grumbling and muttering.
Little did the Duchess think how long it would be
before she saw her nurse again.
She watched her out of Bight She had a naughty
smile in her blue eyes, and the simple shepherd boy
stared as she reached for the embroidered pocket that
hung by her side, and took from it a snow-white
mouse, which she held, out tohim. In the pink palm
of her'hand.
"r- fill
W tiM
THE BRITISH OFFICERS IN COUJCH
servant, or to take a companion, but Lydla insisted
on going alone.
As the mill waa some distance from the city, a pass
through the British lines must be obtained; and
Lydla's first step waa to procure the document 'from
General Howe. Having secured the pass, she made
her way over the snowy roads, and reached the mill.
Leaving her flour-bag to be filled, she hurried on in
the direction of the American camp, and before long
met a party of patriot cavalrymen commanded by an
offlcer whom she knew. He inquired where she waa
going. Mrs. Dacrah said she was going to see her
son, one of his comrades; at the same time she
begged him to dismount and walk with her. Ordering
his troops to remain within sight, he did so. She
then told her Important secret, after his promise not
to betray his source of information, lest her life might
be forfeited thereby. Conducting her to a. house near
at hand, and seeing that she had some refreshment,'
the American offlcer galloped off to headquarters,
where General Washington waa at once Informed of
the Intended attack. The necessary preparations
were of course made for receiving and repelling the
enemy's "surprise."
Returning home with ber flour, Lydla sat up alone,
to watch the Intended movement of the British. The
regular tramp of feet passed the door, then all waa
silence; nor was her anxiety to know the result at an
end untllhe officers' return, a day or two later. Al
though she did not dare to ask a question, imagine
her alarm when the adjutant-general told her that
he wished to ask her some questions; she felt sure
that she either had been betrayed or was suspected.
He inquired very particularly whether her husband
or any of the children were tfp on the night they had
held their last consultation. Lydla replied: 'The
family all retired at seven o'clock, aa you requested."
He then remarked: "I know you were asleep; for I
knocked on your door at least three times before you
answered me. We are entirely at a loss to understand
who could have given Washington Information of our
proposed attack, unless these walls could speak.
When we arrived near their encampment we found all
their cannon In position, and their troops ready for
us; and not being prepared for a regular battle with
the Americans, we marched back like a parcel of
fools!"
I "It will be such fun to have no one to trouble us.
I I had my mouse all the time. Now it la yours, and I
will have the brown one."
The shepherd-buy touched the delicate thing It
was a gift of her fairy godmother to the Grand
Duchess and he thought he had never seen anything
bo beautiful and so much to be desired.
The Duchess showed him its wonderful wings. They
shut neatly down against its sides like closed fans.
When they were spread out the mouse looked aa If
it were a large white-flower.
He took it tenderly, and pressed It lovingly to his
tanned cheek, while he banded her the little field
mouse. As they played, the shepherd boy told her he lived
with his stepmother in a small cottage near the edge
of the town. He kept the sheep of any of the neigh
boring farmers who would hire him.
He dared not let his stepmother see his new treas
ure, for she was a cruel witch woman. So they ar-
ranged to make a little nest for It. warm and coy
with mosses, among the tree roots, where a stone was
to fit in the opening and keep it safely. They were so
busy they did not notice the sound of footsteps ap
proaching; but they looked up when a shadow fell
across them, expecting to see the nurse.
The shepberd boy turned pale. Fingers like claws
pressed his j shoulder, and he exclaimed, " Step
mother 1"
She snatched the white mouse from him, thrust It
inside the bosom of her dress, seized a wrist of the
Grand Duchess and of the boy, and, dragged them
away through the wood.
Then the Grand Duchess screamed and bitterly re
pented of her deceit, but It waa too late.
On and on they went. TLj Puchess cried until she
had no more tears left, and by night-time the party
reached a curious hut deep in the forest
The hut was round like a beehive. It had one room
on the ground and two above. The stepmother drove
the boy and the Grand Duchess up the ladder, and
locked each into a tiny loft
Down below, after lighting a small lamp, the
woman took out the Mouse with Wings. The llttla
black eyes looked up at her. She chuckled to it and
stroked it with a hooray finger. Then she fetched
some seed, which she scattered around the mouse.
It was hungry and took up the grain in wee whits
paws. The woman watched it greedily.
She knew what the Grand Duchesa had not thought
of mentioning. This fairy mouse ate only golden
grain, and every seed it touched turned Into purest
gold.
She let it eat as long as it would, then she spread
grain before it while it ran about the table. She had
tied a string round its body so that it could not open
its wings.
Until the mouse grew sleepy she strewed the seed;
when it would run no longer she put it into a strong
box, which had a secret fastening, and she placed
the box upon a high shelf.
Next she picked over every grain upon the wooden
table, sorting out the. ones the mouse's little feet had
pressed. These she dropped Into a bag, and the bag
she covered up In a hollow place she had scraped by .
the hearth.
Not 'until then1 did she cook her suppefl.
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The smell of it went up through the raftera Into
the rooms above, and the Grand Duchess began to
cry afresh, from hunger. The shepherd boy did not
cry he was accustomed to being hungry.
When the morning came, the Grand Duchess found
that her troubles .were only beginning.
The shepherd boy was used to work as well as to
hunger, but the Grand Duchess wept again and again
ovar all the hard tasks set for her by the cruel step
mother. She dared not disobey. In thin way weeks
passed by. The Grand Duchess Btrubbed the stone
floor and did nearly all the work of the house. The
shepherd boy was sent out to gather sticks for the
fire and berries for cooking. The Duchess learned to
make these into pies, while all the time the Witch
Woman sat by the fire with the train she had cut
from the Duchess's frock over her shoulders for a
shawl. She did nothing but feed the white mouse
every day, and collect the golden grain.
Since she was always there, the Grand Duchess
and the shepherd boy rarely met alone. But now
and then, when the Duchess went to the pond to fill
her pall with water, she would meet him with his
bundles of sticks. Then her chin would go up, and
she never failed to say contemptuously;
"You who promised to take care of me!"
And the shepherd boy would creep to his own heap
of hay at night, and think and think until morning
dawned.
He dared not leave her alone In the clutches of his
stepmother while he ran away to tell what bad be
come of her, for his absence would so soon be dis
covered. Before he or her friends could return, she
and the Witch Woman would have disappeared. He
must not risk losing sight of her, for then the harm
would be worse than ever.
All this time no rumor came to them of the com
motion caused by the loss of the Grand Duchess.
The stepmother was aware of It, and of the great
reward offered to any one who should bring back the
missing child.
But she cared nothing for that. Had she not the
fairy mouse, and many a bag of golden treasure hid
den by the hearth? Plainly It was not to her inter
est, for many reasons, to let any one know what had
happened.
One afternoon, when the summer was nearly over.
she ordered them into their lofts. The shepherd boy.
in the front loft, watched eagerly from the small win-
dow when he heard the door below shut and that
also locked. He saw his stepmother, muffled In her
cloak, with a bag in her hand, starting off in the di
rection of the distant town, and he guessed she was
going to enjoy herself and to buy provisions of which
they were in need.
"Thia is tho chance I have waited for," whispered
he.
In a moment, he had lifted the trap-door, for the
screws had heen already loosened. He called softly
Vo the Grand Duchess, and, with a broken knife which
he succeeded In pushiug through to her, under his
directions she finished getting out the screws of ber
door, which were also loose. Then he forced it open
and helped her down the ladder.
"I cannot leave my mouse," said he.
But to get the mouse proved a much more difficult
matter than eecapg from the loft.
For greater safety, and so that it might not be idle
while she was away, the stepmother had shut the
Winged Mouse Into the cupboard, with plenty of seed
about it. The lock was strong, she had taken the
key with her, and there were no screws visible.
Then the Grand Dutchesa thought of a plan. They
still had the field-mouse. About that the Witch
Woman had never troubled herself.
The brown mouse should gnaw a hole!
PAPER-DOLLS.
By Ruth Ingraham.
Here we come, little folks, spandy and new.
Ready to give you ail something to do.
We're quite at your service to froMc and caper,
Whenever you get out the scissors and paper.
tmn iiu rap.
and hit kucadsjttih-
They put It to the corner of the cupboard, where
it could hear the white mouse running about inside.
It listened, then called in little squeaks.
The fairy mouse 'answered, and each began to nlbj
ble, one Inside and one outside.
Their tiny teeth made terribly alow progress. Thi
shepherd boy helped with his broken knife, but thi
darkness was coming on by the time a small whit
nose appeared. The brown mouse squeaked mor
loudly and worked harder. But alas; they had waited
too long.
The cottage door behind them opened suddenly!
I he witch Woman had returned sooner than thej
had expected. She sprang forward with a cry of rag
when she saw them.
The Grand Duchesa screamed and slipped by hei
out through the doorway, the shepherd boy following!
He caught her hand, and they ran like hares not be I
fore they had seen, though, that the Winged Mousl
had flown out in front of them. The string round it:j
body had been scraped off as it pressed through th
hole, and, frightened by the confusion, it bad sprea
its wings to escape.
The Witch Voman saw it, too saw It go througlf
the open door.' Wildly she strained her eyes seeking
it And in the Uarkness near the hut something
white glimmered.? So It came about In this wa:
that the Witch Woman met her end; for right lntii
the pond she fe4f, and there was drowned, with
white water-lily clutched In her hand. She had mis I
taken it for the mouse.
me luguives pressed on, not Knowing, wnat nad
happened. .
Then, in the faint light of the sunrise, like a greal
white flower on a tree, the Winged Mouse sat beforl
them.
The shepherd boy whistled, and the Grand Duchesl
called coaxingly to It; but it kept out of their reach!
every time they came near flying always a littl'l
larther.
And so they followed, trying to catch It all thai
day and part of th; next. And then the shepherd bo;
looked round about, and turning suddenly to thi
urana jjucness.
She was looking, too.
There, across the fields, rose the towers of he I
paiace.
The Winged Mouse had brought them strajghl
home. And the brown mouse had followed, for lil
front of them It sat on a stone the very atone un
.....
uer wmcu u uau oeen on me a ay wnen tne urami
Duchess first met the shepherd boy. There, too, wa
the stream, with the plank across It, and the dais
speckled the grass Just as they had done so man:
months ago.
The Grand Duchess and the shepherd boy rail
again, as rast as when tne witch Woman was behlnt
them. At the gates stood the old head nurse, qultJ
iuiu nuu vaio uuw, lucuiug uer eyea who ner nan
while she gazed over the fields towards the hills wheri
the wild flowers grew. i
The Grand Duchess forgot all her dignity. Sh!
rushed into her nurse's arms.
In ten minutes all the bells In the city rang out. '
that no one could hear himself speak for the noise
and in ten minutes more every house had a flag wavn
ing rrom us roor and bright draperies flung out" c
tne wtnaows.
The Grand Duchess and the shepherd boy wen
never urea or talking over their adventures. The
often met by the golden cage where the two miq
uvea, we was made Keeper of the Royal FlockS
Not that there was any need for blm to work hardej
than he wished, for ha was well known to be a spa
ciai lavorue ana piayreuow or the Grand Duchesi
and, besides that, to hlra belonged that pet of tail
paiace, tae mouse WHU Wings.
" . r. -'