But he had not seen Betty. He tried to go and each effort only led him
to the corner from which he watched her house. He lingered until night
and waited an hour again in the dark. And still she had not come. And
then it slowly dawned on him that she must have realized from the moment
she read his message the peril of his position and the danger of his
betrayal in their meeting.
He turned with quick, firm tread to pass the Federal lines without
delay, and walked into the arms of two secret service men.
Without a word he was manacled and led to prison. The boy he had bribed
had been under suspicion since his first visits to Joe Hall's. Stanton
had discovered that his desk had been rummaged. Five of his nine
Southern comrades had been arrested and he was the sixth. The rage of
the Secretary of War had been boundless. He had thrown out a dragnet of
detectives and every suspicious character in the city was passing
through it or landing in prison.
The men stripped him and searched with the touch of experts every stitch
of his clothing, ripped the lining of his coat, opened the soles of his
shoes, split the heels and found nothing. He had been ordered to dress
and given permission to go, when suddenly the officer conducting the
search said:
"Wait!"
Ned stopped in the doorway. It was useless to protest.
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