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| SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF CIVIL WAR MASONS |
| A COMPANY OF THE FIRST IOWA REGIMENT WAS SENT TO GUARD A RAILROAD BRIDGE AT MOZEILLE MILL, MISSOURI, WHICH ACCORDING TO RUMER, WAS SCHEDULED TO BE DESTROYED BY GUERRILLAS. DURING THE RAID THREE WERE CAPTURED AND AMONG THEM WAS A BOY ABOUT SIXTEEN. A DRUM-HEAD COURT-MARTIAL SENTENCED THEM TO BE EXECUTED AS A LESSON TO OTHER GUERRILLAS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. THE BOY PLEADED FOR HIS LIFE, BUT HIS PLEAS WENT UNHEEDED. THEN A GIRL ABOUT EIGHTEEN BURST UPON THE SCENE, CLASPED THE BOY IN HER ARMS, AND EXCLAIMED, "OH SOLDIERS PLEASE HAVE MERCY DO NOT KILL HIM. HE IS INNOCENT, HE IS MY BROTHER!" THE GIRL AT LENGTH WAS REMOVED. WHEN TWO SOLDIERS ADVANCED AND UNLOOSED HER GRASP UPON HER BROTHER, HER SCREAM, HER APPEALS TO ALL FOR MERCY, WERE TERRIBLE. THEY DRAGGED HER BUT A SHORT DISTANCE FROM HIM, LOOKING BACK, AND SEEING A BLACK HANDKERCHIEF ALREADY TIED OVER HIS EYES, WITH ONE WILD FRANTIC SCREAM, SHE FLUNG THE SOLDIER FROM HER, AND BOUNDING BACK TO HER BROTHER, TORE THE BLINDFOLD FROM HIS EYES, AND AGAIN ENFOLDED HIM IN HER ARMS. AS THE SOLDIERS WERE AGAIN REMOVING HER, THE COAT SLEEVE OF ONE OF THEM WAS TORN DURING THE STRUGGLE, AND HER EYES FELL UPON A MASONIC BREAST PIN THAT HE HAD FASTEN UPON HIS SHIRT SLEEVE. IN AN INSTANT ALL THE PHYSICAL POWERS WERE RELAXED, AND IN A CALM, SUBDUED, AND CONFIDENT TONE OF VOICE, SHE OBSERVED AS SHE POINTED TO THE PIN, "SOLDIERS, LET ME MAKE ONE MORE EFFORT FOR MY BROTHER. THE SOLDIERS, STARTLED AT THE STRANGENESS OF HER MANNER, UNLOOSED THEIR GRASP UPON HER, AND IN A MOMENT SHE BOUNDED AWAY TO HER BROTHER, SHIELDING HIS BODY AGAIN WITH HER PERSON AT THE VERY MOMENT THAT THE GUNS WERE DESCENDING TO RECEIVE THE WORD TO FIRE. TURNING HER BACK TO HER BROTHER, AND FACING THE FILE OF SOLDIERS, SHE STOOD FORTH A STATELY WOMAN. THERE WAS NO SCREAM, NO TEAR, NO AGONIZING EXPRESSION, BUT CALM, AND ERECT, SHE SWEPT THE FIELD WITH HER EYES, AND THEN ADVANCING THREE STEPS, SHE GAVE THE GRAND HAILING SIGN OF A MASTER MASON. NONE BUT MASONS AMONG THOSE SOLDIER OBSERVED IT, AND THERE WERE MANY OF THEM IN THAT COMMAND, WHO NOW STOOD MUTE WITH ASTONISHMENT AT THE STRANGE AND MYSTERIOUS SPECTACLE BEFORE THEM. THERE WAS A GROUPING OF THE OFFICERS FOR A FEW MINUTES, WHEN THE CAPTAIN CAME FORWARD, AND IN A LOUD VOICE SAID, THAT OWING TO THE DISTRESS AND INTERFERENCE OF THE YOUNG WOMAN, THE EXECUTION WOULD BE POSTPONED UNTIL NINE O'CLOCK THE NEXT DAY. THE GUARD WAS THEN ORDERED TO BE DOUBLED, AND A STRICT WATCH KEPT OVER THE PRISONER DURING THE NIGHT. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS PRECAUTION, IT WAS DISCOVERED IN THE MORNING THAT BOTH THE BOY AND HIS SISTER HAD MADE THEIR ESCAPE. DURING THE EARLY PART OF THE EVENING, THERE WAS A MEETING OF THE MASONIC MEMBERS OF THE COMPANY AT THE CAPTAIN'S QUARTERS, WHERE THE GIRL WAS EXAMINED, AND FOUND TO BE THE DAUGHTER OF A MASTER MASON. |
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