Cheraw chronicle. (Cheraw, S.C.) 1896-2005, May 30, 1912, Page PAGE SEVEN, Image 7
"Ten dollars?" the Judge smacked
1x1b lips once. "Ten dollars?" he re- ;
peated, and smacked his lips twice.
The purple flush on the Judge's j
face, where the dignity that belonged
to age had gone down In wreck, deep- ,
ened.
He quitted his chair and, lurching ;
somewhat as he did so, began to pace
the floor.
'Take me for your example, boy! 1
You may be poor, you may possibly
be hungry?you'll otten be thirsty, '
but through it all you will remain
that splendid thing?a gentleman!
Perhaps you'll contend that the old
order Is overthrown, that family has
gone to the devil? You are right, and ;
" *>-- ~F < ! Tha enptn I
uiere & iu? yiijr vi ?,< ...... ,
fabric is tottering?I can see it tot-;
ter?" and he tottered himself as he
Baid this.
"Well, I'm an old man?the spectacle
won't long offend me. I'll die
presently." He was so profoundly
moved by the thought that he could
not go on. His voice broke, and he
buried his face in his arms. A sym- :
pathetic moisture had gathered in the
child's eyes. He slipped *ro? his
chair and stole to the judge's side, i
"I'm mighty sorry you're going to
die."
"Bless you, Hanmoal!" cried the .
judge, looking wonderfully cheerful,
despite his recent bitterness of spirit.
"I'm not experiencing any of the pangs
of mortality now. My dissolution ain't
a matter of tonight or tomorrow?
there's some life in Slocum Price yet,
for all the rough usage, eh? I think
you'd better go to bed."
"I reckon I had," agreed Hannibal,
slipping from his chair.
"Well, take my bed back of the
\quilt You'll find a hoe there. You '
can dig up the dirt under the shuck i
tick with it?which helps astonishingly.
What would the world say if it
could know that Judge Slocum Price
makes his bed with a hoe!"
Hannibal retired behind the quilt.
"Do you find it comfortable?" the
Judge asked, when the rustling of the
nhnrk tick informed him that the
child had lain down.
"Yes, sir," said the boy.
"Have you said your prayers?" inquired
the judge.
"No.. sir. I ain't said 'em yet."
"Well, say them now. Religion is
as becoming in the young as it is respectable
in the aged. I'll not disturb
you tonight, for it is God's will
tJ^a^I^Bhould stay up and get very
CHAPTER VIII.
Boon Companions.
Some time later the Judge was
aware of a step on the path beyond
his door, and glancing up, saw the
tali figure of a man pause on his
threshold. A whispered curse slipped
from between his lips. Aloud he
said:
"Is that you, Mr. Mahaffy?" He
got no reply, but the tall figure, propelled
by very long legs, stalked into |
the 6hanty and a pair of keen, restless
eyes deeply set under a high, bald
head were bent curiously upon him.
"I take it I'm Intruding," the newcomer
said sourly.
"Why should you think that, Solomon
Mahaffy? When has my door
been closed on you?" the judge asked, j
"His Grandson Is Back of That Cur- ;
tain, Now?Asleep In My Bed." |
but there was a guilty deepening or .
the flush on his face. Mr. Mabaffy :
glanced at the jug, at the half-emptied
glass, lastly at the Judge himself.
"You seem to be raising first-rate (
bell all by yourself."
"Oh, be reasonable, Solomon. You'd I
gone down to the steamboat land- j
lng," said the judge plaintively. By .
way of answer, Mahaffy shot him a j
contemptuous glance. "Take a chair
?do, Solomon!" entreated the Judge.
"When did I ever sneak a Jug Into
my shanty?" asked Mahaffy sternly,
evidently conscious of entire recti.tnd*
In tfels matter.
"I deplore your choice of words,
fiolomon." said the Judge. _"You know ,
damn well that If you'd been here 1
couldn't have got past your place
with that jug! But let's deal with
conditions. Here's the Jug, with some
liquor left In it?here's a glass. Now
what more do you want?"
Mr. Mahaffy drew near the table.
"Sit down," urged the Judge.
"I hope you feel mean?" said Mahaffy.
"If it's any satisfaction to you, I
do," admitted the judge.
"You ought to." Mahaffy drew forward
a chair. The Judge tilled his
glass.
"What's the news from the landing?"
Mahaffy brought his list down on
the table.
'T heard the boat churning away
round back of the bend, then I saw
the lights, and she tied up and they
tossed off the freight, luen she
churned away again and her lights
ent hack of the trees on the bank.
There was the lap of waves on the
shore, and I was left with the halfdozen
miserable loafers who'd crawled
out to see the boat come In. That's
the news six days a week!"
By the river had come the judge,
tentatively hopeful, but at heart expecting
nothing, therefore immune to
disappointment and equipped for failure.
By the river had come Mr. Mahaffy,
as unlit as the judge himself,
and for the same reason, but sour and
bitter with the world, believing always
in the possibility of some miracle
of regeneration.
At the judge's elbow Mr. MahafTy
changed his position with nervous
suddenness. Then he folded his long
arms.
"You asked if there was any news,
Price; while we were waiting for the
boat a raft tied up to the bank; the
fellow aboard of it had a man he'd
fished up out of the river, a man
who'd been pretty well cut to pieces."
"Who was he?" asked the judge.
"Nobody knew, and he wasn't conscious.
I shouldn't be surprised if he
never opens his lips' again. When
the doctor had looked to his cuts, the
fellow on the raft cast off and went
on down the Elk."
It occurred to the Judge that he
himself had news to impart. He must
account for the boy's presence.
"While you've been taking your
whiff of tyfe down at the steamboat
landing, Mahaffy, I've bean experiencing
a most extraordinary coincidence.
When I went to the war of
IV ? me. KP. m
?Ilia minilmll lit h'icV nf that
V1UOI1/, AAA O 51 RUUDVM mm v.
curtain now?asleep?In my bed!"
Mahaffy put down his glass.
"You were like this once before,"
he said darkly. But at that instant
the shuck tick rattled noisily at some
movement of the sleeping boy. Mahaffy
quitted his chair, and crossing
the room, drew the quilt aside. A
glance sufficed to assure him that in
part, at least, the judge spoke the
truth.
There was a hoof-beat on the road.
ft came nearer and nearer, and presently
sounded just beyond the door.
Then it ceased, and a voice said:
"Hullo, there!" Th? Judge scrambled
to bis feet, and taking up the
candle, staggered into the yard. Mahaffy
followed him.
"What's wanted?" asked the Judge
holding his candle aloft. The light
showed a tall fellow mounted on a
handsome bay horse. It was Murrell.
"Have either of you gentlemen seen
a boy go through here today?" Murrell
glanced from one to the other.
Mr. Mahaffy's thin lips twisted themselves
into a sarcastic smile. He
turned to the Judge, who spoke up
quickly.
"Did he carry a bundle and rltte?"
he asked. Murrell gave eager assent.
"WelV," said the judge, "he stopped
here along about four o'clock, and
asked his' way to the nearest river
lauuiug.
"Hannibal?" the judge's voice and
manner were rather stern. "Hannibal,
a man rode by here last night on
a big bay horse. He said he was
looking for a bey about ten years old
?a boy with a bundle and rllle."
There was an awful pause. "Who was
that man, Hannibal?"
"It were Captain Murrell." The
judge raised his fist and brought it
down with a great craBh on the table.
"We don't know any boy ten
years old with a rifle and bundle!"
he said.
"Please?you won't let him take me
away, judge?I want to stop with
you!" cried Hannibal. He slipped
from his chair, and passing about the
table, seized the judge by the hand.
The Judge was visibly affected.
"No!" he roared. "He shan't have
you. Is he kin to you?"
"No," said Hannibal. "He tried to
get me away from my Uncle Bob."
"Where is your Uncle Bob?"
"He's dead." And the child began
to weep bitterly. The judge bent
and lifted him into his lap.
'There, my son?" he 6aid soothingly.
"Now you tell me when ho
died, and ali about it."
"He were killed. It were only yesterday,
and I can't forget him. I
don't want to-^but It hurts?It hurts
I I
I terrible!" Hannibal buried his head in ;
i the Judge's shoulder and sobbed
! aloud. Presently his small hands
| stole about the judge's neck, and that
1 gentleman experienced a strange thrill
! of pleasure.
"Tell mo how he died, Hannibal,"
1 he urged gently. In a voice broken
by sobs, the child began the story
of their flight, a contused narrative.
The Judge shuddered. "Can such
things be." he murmured at last. Then
! be remembered what Mahatly had
I told hint of the man on the ratt.
! "Hannibal," lie said, "Solomon Mahaffy,
who was here last night, told
me he saw down at the river lund!
ing, a man who had been fished up
out of the Elk?a man who had been
| roughly handled."
I "Were it my Uncle Bob?" cried
| Hannibal, lifting a swollen face to
his. ?
"Dear lad, I don't know," said the
1 judge sympathetically.
"It were Uncle Bob! I know it
were my Uncle Bob! I must go find
him!" and Hannibal slipped lrom the
Judge's lap and ran for his rifle and
: bundle.
' "Stop a bit!" cried the judge. "Now,
if It was your Uncle Bob, he'll come
back the moment he is able to travel.
Meantime, you must remain under my
protection while we investigate this
| man Slosson."
It was Saturday, and in Pleasantville
a jail-raising was in progress.
During all the years of its corporate
dignity the village had never boasted
' any building where the evil-doer could
be placed under restraint; hence had
arisen its peculiar habit of dealln.;
I with crime; but a leading citizen had
' donated half an acre of ground lying
midway between the town and the
river landing as a site for the pro1
posed structure, and the scattered
population of the region had assem- ,
j bled for the raising.
"We don't want to get there too
early," explained the judge, as they
quitted the cabin. "We want to mis-.
| the work, but be on hand lor the
celebration."
! "I suppose we may confidently look
I to you to favor us with a few eiej
quent words?" said Mr. Mahaffy.
"And why not, Solomon?" asked
the judge.
The opportunity he craved was not
denied him. The crowd was lli.e
most southwestern crowds of the period,
and no sooner did the judge appear
than there were clamorous demands
for a speech. He cast a
glance of triumph at Mahaffy, and
nimbly mounted a convenient stump.
He extolled the climate of middle
Tennessee, the unsurpassed fertility
of the soil; he touched on the future
i that awaited Pleasantville; he apos|
trophized the jail.
i Presently the crowd drifted away
, in the direction of the tavern. Hani
nlbal meantime had gone down to the
river. He haunted its banks as
though he expected to see his Uncle
Dob appear any moment. The Judge
and Mahaffy had mingled with the
| others in the hope of free drinks, but
i in this hope there lurked the germ
of a bitter disappointment. After a
period of mental anguish Mahaffy
parted with his last stray coin, and
while his flask was being filled the
Judge Indulged In certain winsome
gallantries with the fat landlady.
"La, Judge Price, how you do run
on!" she said with a coquettish toss
of her curls,
j "That's the charm of you, ma'am,"
J said the Judge. He leaned across the
| bar and, sinking his voice to a husky
j whisper, asked: "Would it be perfect- !
j ly bonvenlent for you to extend me a
j limited credit?"
"Now, Judge Price, you know a j
i heap better than to ask me that!" i
she answered, shaking her head.
"No offense, ma'am," said the Judge,
hiding his disappointment, and with i
Mahaffy he quitted the bar.
The sudden noisy clamor of many
voices, high-pitched and excited, floated
out to them under the hot sky. "1
wonder?" began the judge, and
paused as he saw the crowd stream
j Into the road before the tavern. Then
a cloud of dust enveloped It, a cloud
of dust that came from the tramping
of many pairs of feet, and that swept
toward them, thick and Impenetrable,
nnd no hieher than a tall man's head
In the lifeless air. "I wonder If we I
missed anything?" continued the
judge, finishing what he had started
to say.
The score or more of men were
quite near, and the Judge and Mahaffy
made out the tall figure of the
sheriff In the lead. And then the
crowd, very excited, very dusty, very
noisy and very hot, flowed Into the
judge's front yard. For a brief moment
that gentleman fancied Pieasantville
had awakened to a fitting
sense of its obligation to blm and
that It was about to make amends
for Its churlish lack of hospitality. He
rose from his chair, and with a splendid
florid gesture, swept ofT his hat.
"It's the pussy fellow!" cried a
voice.
"Oh, shut up?dont you think I
know him?" retorted the sheriff tartly.
_ "Gentlemen?" began the Judge
blandly.
"Get the well-rope!"
The judge was ratfler at loss prop- j
erly to Interpret these varied remarks. I
He was not long left In doubt. The
sheriff steped to his side and drorped
a heavy hand on his shoulder.
"Mr. Slocum Price, o.* whatever j
your name Is, your little game Is up!" j
"Ain't he bold?" it was the worn- '
an's voice this time, and the fat landlady,
her curls awry and her plump 1
breast heaving tumultoously, gained j
! a place In the forefront of the crowd
"Dear madam, this Is an unexpect- i
ed pleasure!" said the judge, with his ,
hand upon his heart.
"I want my money!" shrieked the
i landlady. "Good money?not this
! worthless trash!" she shook a bill under
his nose. The judge recognized
it as the one of which he had despoiled
Hannibal.
"You have been catohed passing
i counterfeit," said the sheriff. A light
J broke on the judge, a light that
stunned aud dazzled.
"I can explain?"
"Speak to them, Solomon?you1
know how I came by the money!"!
cried the judge, clutching his friend
, by the arm. Mahaffy opened his thin i
lips, but the crowd drowned his voice
1 in a roar.
A tall fellow shook a long finger
under Mahaffy's nose.
"You seootl"
Mr. Mahaffy seemed to hesitate, i
Some one gave him a shove and he
staggered forward a step. Before he j
could recover himself the shove was |
repeated.
"Lope on out of here!" yelled the
tall fellow. Mahaffy was hurried to-,
ward the road. Twenty men were In !
chase behind him. Then the woods
HPf
/
I "I Want My Money 1" Shrieked the
Landlady.
closed about him. His long legs,
working tirelessly, carried him over
t fallen logs and through tangled thick1
ets, the voices behind him growing
| more and more distant as he ran.
CHAPTER IX.
The Family on the Raft.
That would unquestionably have
been the end of Bob Yancy when he
was shot out Into the muddy waters i
of the Elk river, had not Mr. Klch- j
ard Keppel Cavendish, variously j
known as Long-Legged Dick, and
Chllls-and-Fever Cavendish, of Lin-j
coin county, In the state of Tennessee,
some months previously and
after unprecedented mental effort on I
his part, decided that Lincoln county j
was no place for him.
Mr. Cavendish's paternal grandpar- j
ent had drifted down the Holston and
Tennessee; and Mr. Cavendish's
father, in his son's youth, had poled |
| up the Elk. Mr. Cavendish now determined
to float down the Elk to its
juncture with the Tennessee, down
the Tennessee to the Ohio, and if
need be, down the Ohio to the Mis- j
slssippi, until he found some spot ex- j
actly suited to his taste.
With this end In view he had tolled
through the late winter and early
spring, building himself a raft on
which to transport'his few belongings
and his numerous family.
Thus it happened that as Murreli
and Slosson were dragging Yancy
down the lane, Cavendish was Just; j
rounding a bend in the Elk, a quar-.
ter of a mile distant. Leaning loose- i
ly against the long handle of his
sweep, he was watching the lane or
btight water that ran between the
black shadows cast by the trees on
either bank.
He heard a dull splash, and caught
sight of some object in the eddy that
swept alongside. Mr. Cavendish
promptly detached himself from the
handle of the sweep and ran to the |
edge of the raft.
It was a face, livid and bloodBtreaked.
Dropping on his knees he j
reached out a pair of long arms and !
made a dexterous grab, and his tingers
closed on the collar of Yancy's
Bhirt. He drew Yancy close alongside,
and pulled him clear of the water.
Mr. Cavendish began a hurried
examination _of _the still, flgure.
Now is the time to have your
clothes made for the hot weather
wear. See my line of Light
# Serges, Crash and Cheviots Suiting.
STEVEN SO> & PRINCE
Attorneys at Law
Merchants & Farmers Fault Building
CIIERAW, - - - - S. 6.
Fresh Beef and Pork
and Pork Sausage
at
H. A. Burch's Market . >
PHONE 80
4.
Covington Hotel Building
Second Street
Cheraw, VS-C.
PEE DEE CAMP 227
w. o. w.
Meets every Fourth Thursday night In
ach month. Visiting brethren are
cordially invited to attend.
Office of Coantj Snperlntendent
of Education
The County Superintendent of Education
gives notice that his office will
be open every Saturday and the first
Monday of each month.
DR. EDWIN H. KERRISON,
Dental Surgeon,
LaCoste Evans Building,
(opposite The Evans Co.)
CHER.4 W, S. C.
Phones?Office 222; Residence 213.
Hours 9 to 2.15 3.30 to 6
DR. J. E. FUKDERBCBK,
Dental Surgeon,
Office over Merchants & Farmers Bank
Phones: Office 138; Residence 174
A D. CHAPMAN
Phone 28. Cheraw, S. C.
ru?a. ^ ?
nrBi ciubo j/ivery. neaoonaDJe
prices. For quick trips I use first
class automobile.
AFTERGRIP
Look Out for Trouble
The after-effects of the Grip are apt
to be serious, but a normal healthy
condition may be restored In a surprisingly
short time by Vlnol.
Watertown, Wis.?"After a severe
attack of the Grip my system was in
a very weakened, nervous and rundown
condition. I began taking Vlnol
with the very best results, and In a #
short time I began to feel like an entirely
different person, and I am better
and stronger than I have been for
years." Adelaide Gamm. (We guarantee
this testimonial to be genuine.)
We have never sold in our store
such a valuable strength creator and
health restorer for the convalescent,
the weak and run-down, as Vinol, and
we ask people In this vicinity to try
a bottle of Vinol, with the under
standing that their money will be returned
if It does not do all we claim
for it.
AS. T. LADD, DItUGGIST, CHEBAW,