"Is n't it wonderful!" breathed Doris. "And they were loyal and devoted to the Union all the time. How happy you must be, Miss Camilla."
"I am happy, - beyond words!" she replied. "But that is not quite all of it. So far, it was evidently written at one sitting, calmly and coherently. There is a little more, but it is hasty and confused, and somewhat puzzling. It must have been added at another time, and I suspect now, probably just at the time of my return. There is a blank half-page, and then it goes on:
"'In a great hurry. Most vital and urgent business has brought me
back to see Father. Just learned you were here. There is grave, terrible
danger. The rebels are invading. I am with them, of course. Not far away.
Must return tonight, at once, to lines, if I ever get there alive. Have
a task before me that will undoubtedly see the end of me. In this rig and
in this place am open to danger from friend and foe alike. But there is
no time to change. Hope for best. Forgive haste but there is not a moment
to lose. Father seems ill and unlike himself. He saw two or three Confederate
spies at the house today. Always suspect something is wrong after such
a meeting. Don't be surprised at state of the house. Unavoidable but all
right. Father will explain where I have hidden this cipher code. Always
your loving brother,
"'Roland.'
"And there is one more strange line," ended Miss Camilla. "It is this:
"'In case you should forget, or Father does n't tell you, right hand side from house, behind 27.'"
"That is all!" She folded up the paper and sat looking away over the meadow, as did the others, in the awed silence that followed naturally the receipt of this message of one whose fate could be only too well guessed.
"And he never came back?" half-whispered Doris, at last.
"No, he never came back." answered Miss Camilla softly. "I have n't a doubt but that he met the fate he so surely predicted. I have been thinking back and reading back over the events of that period, and I can pretty well reconstruct what must have happened. It was in the month of June of 1863, when Lee suddenly invaded Pennsylvania. From that time until his defeat at Gettysburg, there was the greatest panic all through this region, and every one was certain that it spelt ruin for the entire North, especially Pennsylvania and New Jersey. I suppose my brother was with his army and had made his way over home here to get or communicate news. How he came or went, I cannot imagine, and never shall know. But I can easily see how his fate would be certain were he seen by any of the Federal authorities in a Confederate uniform. Probably no explanation would save him, with many of them. For that was the risk run by every scout, to be the prey of friend and foe alike, unless he could get hold of the highest authority in time. He doubtless lies in an unknown grave, either in this state or in Pennsylvania."
"But - your father?" hesitated Sally. "Do you - do you think anything queer - happened to him?"
"That I shall never know either," answered Miss Camilla. "His symptoms looked to me like apoplexy, at the time. Now that I think it over, they might possibly have been caused by some slow and subtle poison having a gradually paralyzing effect. You see, my brother says he had seen some of the Confederate spies that day. Perhaps they had begun to suspect him, and had taken this means to get him out of the way. I cannot tell. As I could not get a doctor at the time, the village doctor, who had known us all our lives, took my word for it next day that it was apoplexy. But, whatever it may have been, I know that they both died in the service of the country they loved, and that is enough for me. It has removed the burden of many years of grief and shame from my shoulders. I can once more lift up my head among my fellow-countrymen!"
And Miss Camilla did actually radiate happiness with her whole attractive personality.
"But I cannot make any meaning out of that queer last line," mused Sally after a time. "Will you read it to us again, Miss Camilla, please?"
And Miss Camilla repeated the odd message, - "'In case you should forget, or Father does not tell you, right hand side from house, behind twenty-seven.'"
"Now what in the world can that all mean?" she demanded. "At first I thought perhaps it might mean where they had hidden the code, but that could n't be because we found that under the old mattress in the cave. Your brother probably went out that way that night and left it there on the way."
"Wait a minute," suddenly interrupted Doris. "Do you remember just before the end he says, 'do not be surprised at the state of the house. Unavoidable but all right.' Now what could he mean by that? Do you know what I think? I believe he was apologizing because things seemed so upset and - and many of the valuable things were missing, as Miss Camilla said. If there was such excitement about, and fear of Lee's invasion, why is n't it possible that they hid those valuable things somewhere, so they would be safe, whatever happened, and this was to tell her, without speaking too plainly, that it was all right? The brother thought his father would explain, but in case he did n't, or it was forgotten, he gave the clue where to find them."
Miss Camilla sat forward in renewed excitement, her eye-glasses brushed awry. "Why, of course! Of course! I 've never thought of it. Not once since I read this letter. The other was so much more important. But naturally that is what they must have done, - hidden them to keep them safe. They never, never would have disposed of them in any other way or for any other reason. But where in the world can that place be? 'Right hand side from the house behind 27' means nothing at all - to me!"
"Well, it does to me!" suddenly exclaimed Sally, the natural-born treasure-hunter of them all. "Where else could they hide anything so safely as in that cave or tunnel? Nobody would ever suspect in the world. And I somehow don't think it meant the cave. I believe it means somewhere in the tunnel, on the right hand side as you enter from the cellar."
"But what about 27?" demanded Miss Camilla. "That does n't seem to mean anything, does it?"
"No, of course it does n't mean anything to you, because you have n't been through the tunnel, and would n't know. But every once in a while, along the sides, are planks from that old vessel, put there to keep the sides more firm, I guess. There must be seventy-five or a hundred on each side. Now I believe it means that if we look behind the twenty-seventh one from the cellar entrance, on the right hand side, we 'll find the - the things hidden there."
Then Miss Camilla rose, the light of younger days shining adventurously in her eyes.
"If that 's the case, we 'll go and dig them out tomorrow! she announced gaily.
|