The Story of a Boy-“Spy” by Mark Twain

4.9

Part I

(This was the time of the war between the North and the South in the United States of America (1861—1865). The commander of one of the Northern forts tells the story.)

It was the winter of 1862—1863. At that time men from many different places wanted to join the army of the North, but we did not take all of them; we were afraid of spies from the South.

One day, when I was in my office, a boy of fourteen or fifteen came in and asked:

“Do you take men for soldiers here?”

“Yes.”

“Will you please take me, sir?”

“Oh no, you are too young, my boy, and too small.”

He turned to go, then said: “I have no home and not a friend in the world. If you could only take me...”

I told him to sit down, then I said: “You will have dinner with me and you will tell me your story.”

At dinner he told me his name was Robert Wicklow. He came of a poor family in Louisiana. His father helped the North and for this he was arrested. Robert’s mother was very ill at the time and she soon died. The boy decided to be a soldier in the army of the North. Again, he asked me to take him as a soldier.

I thought for some time and then I said yes. So, Robert began to live in the fort with some young soldiers. I often met him during the day.

One morning Captain Rayburn came in and said:

“I don’t understand what that new boy is doing here. He writes all the time. When he is free, he walks round the fort and from time to time he takes out a pencil and some paper and writes something.”

I did not like that. The boy was from the South. Was he a spy? I told the Captain to get me some of the boy’s writings and to watch him day and night.

The next day Captain Rayburn brought me some pieces of paper.

“Where did you get them?” I asked.

“They were on the table in his room,” he said.

I took the papers and read:

Dear Friend,

I made a mistake about the number of soldiers last time. There are more. Some soldiers will...

Here the writing stopped. I looked at Captain Rayburn. He looked at me. Then I told him to put the letter back where he got it, to watch Robert and get more of his writings. We knew that the boy never went to the post-office. He could not leave the fort. Then how did he send his writings to the ‘Dear Friend’?

Next day Captain Rayburn brought me the end of the first letter.

. . . stay here and help. The four men think so. They are new here and they are afraid. I have some information and I shall send it to you soon.

I gave orders to put the letter back where it lay and to watch Robert. We wanted to know who were the other four men.

Part II

Three days passed without any news. Then Captain Rayburn told me that Robert wanted to go to the railway station. I said he could go, but two of our good men must go to the station after the boy.

“And you must be there too,” I said.

Robert went to the platform. When the train from New York came, he stood looking at the faces of the people as they got off the train. Soon an old man came out of the train onto the platform. Robert ran up to him, gave him a letter and ran back.

Then the boy left the platform and began to walk back to the fort. Captain Rayburn ran up to the old man and took the letter out of his hand. Then the captain told one of the soldiers to go after the old man and see where he lived.

When the Captain came back to the fort, he found a third letter in Robert’s room. We read it.

Found last night in the same place orders from the Teacher. Have left new information there.

We could not understand how Robert left his information, when our men watched him all the time. I decided that some of the soldiers helped him.

Then I opened the letter that Captain Rayburn took from the old man on the platform. In it I found two clean pieces of paper. I held the paper near the fire. But I did not see any words on the paper.

I gave orders to put under arrest every soldier who was on duty that day and the old man to whom Robert gave the letter on the platform. After that I decided to speak to the boy.

I called Robert into my office. When he came, I asked him:

“My boy, why do you write so much?”

He did not answer for some time, then he said:

“Oh, sir, that’s only a game.”

“What do you do with your writing?”

“Nothing, sir.”

“You never send it to anybody?”

“No, sir.”

I put before him the two letters to the ‘Dear Friend’ and the letter to the ‘Teacher'. He looked at the letters and I saw that he was afraid to speak.

“Who is this ‘Dear Friend’ and who is the ‘Teacher’?”

“I don’t know, sir. It was a game.”

“A game! You give information about the fort and about the number of soldiers here to the enemy, and you call that a game!” I was very angry with Robert.

“And what is this?” I asked the boy, and put before him on the table the two clean pieces of paper from the letter that he put into the hand of the old man on the platform. Robert began to cry, I told the Captain to put him under arrest.

Next morning I again spoke to the boy.

“Now tell me everything, and don’t cry,” I said.

He did not speak for some time, then he told me this story.

He said that he liked to read and he often read spy stories. He lived with his parents on a poor farm not far from the fort. One day he decided to leave his home and join the army of the North. “I wanted to be a soldier,” he said. “That is why I came to the fort to ask you to let me be a soldier. I know a lot of the men here.”

Life in the fort was not very interesting and Robert began to play a spy game. He wrote letters to people in his spy books. There was no ‘Dear Friend’ and no ‘Teacher’. No one helped him in the fort. Many of the soldiers knew the boy, so he could walk about everywhere.

He went to the railway station to play a game too. He wanted to see if he could give somebody a letter. He did not know the old man, but he went up to him and gave him the letter with clean pieces of paper in it.

I was very angry with Robert and I sent him home to his parents. I gave orders to free all the soldiers under arrest and I explained my mistake to the old man.