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fllw ' > m* tw synopsis; CHAPTER I.?The scene at the opening j of the story is laid In the library of an | old worn-out southern plantation, known I as the Barony. The place is to be sold, i and its history and that of the owners, j the Quintards, is the subject of discus- J sion by Jonathan Crenshaw, a business i man, a stranger known as Bladen, and | Bob Yancy, a farmer, when Hannibal j Wayne Hazard, a mysterious child of ; the oJd southern family, makes his ap- j pearance. Yun?y utii* how he adopted ' the t>oy. CHAPTEH rl.?Nathaniel Ferris buys the Barony, but the Quintards deny any i knowledge of the Wy. Yancy to keep I Hannibal. Captain Murrell, a friend of | the Quintards, appears and asks questlons about the Barony. CHAPTER III.?Trouble at Scratch Hill, Taney's home, when Hannibal is kidnaped by Dave Blount, Captain Murrell's agent. Yancy overtakes Blount, gives him a thrashing and secures the boy. CHAPTER IV.?Yancy is served with a warrant for assaulting Blount. Yancy appears before Squire Balaum, and la discharged with costs for the plaintiff./ CHAPTER V.-Betty Malroy, a friend of the Ferrises, has an encounter with Captain Murrell, who forces his attentions on her. and is rescued by Bruce Carrlngton, who threatens to whip the captain. CHAPTER VI.?Betty sets out for her ' Tennessee home. Carrlngton takes the j sense stage. Yancy and Hannibal disappear, with Murrell on their trail. He : overtakes them in the mountains of Tennessee. Murrell gets Yancy drunk and | stabs him in a fight that followed. Han- : nlbal escapes in a canoe. CHAPTER VIL?Hannibal arrives at the home of Judge Slocum Price. CHAPTER VIII.?The Judge recognizes 1 !n the boy. the grandson of an old time friend. Murrell arrives at Judge's home. Hannibal bears of the finding of Yancy's ] body. Price arrested as counterfeiter. CHAPTER IX.?Cavendish family on raft rescue Yancy, who Is apparently i dead hreel/s 4?H wau. A tivy i/t cans j cuii CHAPTER X.?Betty and Carringto* | M Bta> ?Uun. CHAPTER XI.?Hannibal's rifle dls- j closes some startling things to the Judges 1 Hannibal and Betty meet again. CHAPTER XII.?Murrell arrives In Belle Plain. Is playing for big stakes. CHAPTER XIII.?Taney awake3 from long dreamless sleep on board the raft. CHAPTER XIV.?Judge Price makes 1 startling discoveries In looking up land titles. Charley Norton, a young planter, ; who assists the Judge, is mysterlpusly assaulted. CHAPTER XV.-Norton informs Carrlngton that Betty has promised to marry him. Carrlngton bids Betty good-bye. Norton Is mysteriously shot. CHAPTER XVI.?More light on Murrell's plots. He plans uprising of negroes. CHAPTER XVII.?The Judge and Hannibal visit Betty. CHAPTER XVrtT.-Betty Is told wny j Norton was killed and leaves Belle Plain, taking Hannibal with her. The carriage Is held up In the woods. CHAPTER XXV. The Bubble Bursts. At about the same hour that tho Judge was hurling threats and insults at Colonel Fentress, three men were j waiting ten nines away at, me ueuu ui the bayou which served to Isolate Hicks' cabin. Now no one of these j three had ever hc-ard ot' Judge Slocum Price; the breath of hid fame had never blown, however gently, in their direction, yet they were preparing to thrust opportunity upon him. To this end they were lounging about the opening in the wtods where tho horses belonging to Ware and Murrell were tied. j At length the dip of oars became audible in the silence and one of the trio stole down the path, a matter of fifty yards, to a point that overlooked the bayou. He was gone but a moment. "It's Murrell all right!" ho said in, an eager whisper. "Him and another fellow?the liicks girl is rowing them." He danced from one to the other of his companions, who seemed j to taKe nrmer nom 01 uiein*eivfs under his eye. "It'll be all right," lie protested lightly. "He's as good as j ours. Wait till I give you the word." i And he led the way into an adjacent thicket. Meantime Ware and Murrell had i landed and were coming along the j path, the outlaw a step or two in ad- , vance of his friend. They reached the 1 horses and were untying them when the thicket suddenly disgorged the j three men: each held a cocked pistol; I two of these pistols covered Murrell | and the third was leveled at Ware. : "Hues!" cried Murrell in astonishment, for the man confronting him j THE I "ODIGAL JUDGE VAUGHATf KESTER^ fzzi/srj^ATms BY D.Mziviju ?*? ffitt, fat loeB3 feo0rtk CO*ra*rrY was the Clan's messenger who should have been speeding across the state. "Toss up your hands, Murrell," said Hues quietly. One of the other men spoke. "You are under arrest!" "Arrest!" "YOU are warned lur mgger-Bieaiing," said the man. Still Murrell did not seem to comprehend. He looked at Hues In dull wonder. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "Waiting to arrest you?ain't that plain?" said Hues, with a grim smile. The outlaw's hands dropped at his side, limp and helpless. With some idea that he might attempt to draw a weapon one of the men took hold of him,, but Murrell was nerveless to his touch; his face had gone a ghastly white and was streaked with the markings of terror. "Well, by thunder!" cried the man In utter amazement. Murrell looked into Hues' face. "You?you?" and the words thickened on his tongue, becoming an inarticulate murmur. "It's all up, John," said Hues. "No!" said Murrell, recovering himself. "You may as we'i turn me loose ?you can't arrest m?!" "I've done it," answered Hues. "I've been on your track for six months." "How about this fellow?" asked the man whose pistol still covered Ware. Hues glanced toward the planter and shook his head. "Where are you going to take me?" aBked Murrell quickly. Again Hues laughed. "You'Jl find that out in plenty of time, .and then your friends can pass if- Lbey ]lke;~Ho\v W^^^BTther moved nor spoKe as bis prisoner passed back alon^Pff path. Hues with bis hand on Murrell's shouler, and one of bis companions close at his heels, while the third man led off the outlaw's horse. Presently the distant clatter ol hoofs was borne to Ware's ears?only that; the miracle or courage and daring he had half expected had not happened. Murrell, for all his wild boasting, was like other men, like himself. His bloodshot eyes slid around in their sockets. There across the sunlit stretch of water was Hetty?the thought of her brought him to quick ! choking terrors. The whole fabric ot j crime by which he had been benetited I in the past or had expected to profit | in the future seemed toppling In upon him, but his mind clutched one important fact. Hues, if he knew ot Hetty's disappearance, did not conMnrroll with it. Warp snrkeri in ! comfort between his twitching lips. I Stealing niggers! No one would be-! lieve that he, a planter, had a hand in that, and for a brief instant he considered signaling Bess to return. Slos-1 sou must be told of Murrell's arrest; I but he was sick with apprehension,! some trap might have been prepared ! for him, he could not know; and the i impulse to act forsook him. He smote his hands together in a hopeless, beaten gesture. And Mur-1 roll had gone weak?with his own eyes he had seen it?Murrell?whom , lie believed without fear! He 1 elt that . he had been grievously betrayed in ! his trust and a hot rage poured I through him. At last he climbed into the saddle, and, swaying like a drunken man, galloped off. When he reached the river road ' he paused and scanned its dusty surface. Hues and his party had turned south when they issued from the wood i path. No doubt Murrell was being ] taken to Memphis. Ware laughed I harshly. The outlaw would be Iree j before another dawn broke. He had halted near where Jim had turned his team the previous night after Hetty and Hannibal had left the oarrlnee- the marks of the wheels were as plainly distinguishable as the i more recent trail left by the four men. j and as he grasped the signilicance or that wide half circle his sense of injury overwhelmed him again. He hoped to live to see Murrell hanged! He was so completely lost in his bitter reflections that he had been unaware of a mounted man who was coming toward him at a swift gallop, 1 but now he heard the steady pounding I of hoofB and. startled by the sound, looked up. A moment later the hor?e> man drew rein at bis aide. "WareI" he cried. "How are you, Carrlngton?" said tbe planter. "You are wanted at Belle Plain," began Carrlngton, and seemed to hesitate. J "Yes?yes, I am going there at once j ?now?" stammered Ware, and gathered up his reins with a shaking hand. "You've heard, I take it?" said Carrlngton slowly. "Yes," answered Ware, in a hoarse whisper. "My God, Carrlngton, I'm heart sick; she has been like a daughter to me?I?" he fell silent, mopping hfc face. "I think I understand your feeling," said Carrlngton, giving him a level glance. , "Then you'll excuse me," and the planted clapped spurs to his horse. Once he looked Dack over ms saoui- i der; he saw that Carrlngton had not moved from the spot where they had met. At Belle Plain, Ware found hia neighbors In possession of the place. They greeted him quietly and spoke In subdued tones of their sympathy. The planter listened with an air of such abject misery that those who had neither liked nor respected him, were roused to a sudden generous feeling where he was concerned; they could not question but that he was deeply affected. After all the man might have a side to his nature with which they had never come in contact. When he could he shut himself in his room. He had experienced a day of maddening anxiety; he had not slept at all the previous night; in mind and body he was worn out; and now he was plunged into J?e thick of this sensation. He must keep control of himself, for every word he said would be remembered. In the present there was sympathy for him, but sooner or later people would return to their sordid unemotional judg- j ments. He sought to forecast the happenings of the next few hours. Murrell's friends would break jail for him, that was a foregone conclusion; but the Insurrection he bad planned was at an end. Hues bad dealt its aeatn blow. Moreover, though the law might be impotent to deal with Murrell, he could not hope to escape the vengeance of the powerful class he had plotted to destroy; he would have to quit the country. Ware gloated in this Idea of craven flight. Thank God, he laat of blra! But, as always, his thoughts came back to Betty. Slosson would wait at Hicks' place for the man Murrell had promised him, and, falling the messenger, for the signal Are, but there would be neither; and Slosson would be left to determine his own course of action. Ware felt certain that he would wait through the night, but as sure as the morning broke, if no word had reached him, he would send one of his men across the bayou, who must learn of Murrell's arrest, escape, flight ?for in Ware's mind these three events were indissolubly associated. The planter's teeth knocked together. He was having a terrible acquaintance with fear, its very depths had swallowed him up; it was a black pit in which he sank from horror to horror. He had lost all faith In the Clan which had terrorized half a dozen states, which had robbed and murdered with apparent impunity, which hari marUotpH its hundreds of stolen slaves. He had utterly collapsed at the first blow dealt the organization, but he was still seeing Murrell, pallid and shaken. A step sounded in the hall and an fnstant later Hicks entered the room i without the formality of knocking. Ware recognized his presence with a glance of indifference, but did not , speak. Hicks slouched to his employ- j er's side and handed him a note which j : I ^ ^i I T the Planter'# Knees Knocked Together. T\rniraA trs Ha t'rnm KV?ntrofiC| .YVam i read and tossed it aside. "If he wcnts to see me why don't he come here?" he growled. "I reckon that old l'ellow they__call CORD METAL SH fc-.'l' ,. iv.|i>HWTOI 3Sl LOO] "CORTRK ; and accept nc will last as lo ' repairs?nev< j 1 an occasional < *"', i 3. Fire-proof Sold' by Cheraw Hardwai Judge' Price has sprung something sudden on the colonel," said Hicks "He was out here the tlrst thing this morning; you'd have thought he owned Belle Plain. There was a coupie or strangers wun mm, ouu u? bad me in and fired questions at me for half an hour; then he hiked oU up to The Oaks." "Murrell's been arrested," said Ware in a dull level voice. Hicks gave him a glance of unmixed astonishment. "No!" "Yes. by God!" "Who'd risk it?" "Risk it? Man, he almost fainted dead away?a damned coward. Hell!" "How do you know this?" asked Hicks, appalled. "I was with him when he was tak? en?it was Hues?the man he trusted more than any other!" Ware gave the overseer a ghastly grin and was silent, but in that silence ne neara the drumming of his own heart. He went on. "I tell you, to save himself, John Murrell will implicate the rest of us; we've got to get him free, and then, by hell?we ought to knock him in the head; he isn't lit to live!" "The Jail ain't built that'll hold him!" muttered Hicks. "Of course, he can't be held,' agreed Ware. "And 6e'll never be brought to trial; no lawyer will dare appear against him, no jury will dare to find him guilty; but there's Hues, what about him?" He paused. The two men looked at each other for a long moment. carry the cap "It looks like the Clan was in s hell-flred hole?but shucks! Whal will be easier than to fix Hues??and while they're fixing folks they'd bet ter not overlook that old fellow Price He's got some notion about Fentress and the boy." Mr. Hicks did not con sider it necessary to explain that he was himself largely responsible foi this. "How do you know that?" demand ed Ware. "He as good as said so." Hicks looked uneasily at the planter. He knew himself to be compromised. The stranger named Cavendisn naa rorceu an admission from him that Murrell would not condone if it came to his knowledge. lie had also acquired a very proper and wholesome fear ol Judge Slocum Price. He stepped close to Ware's skle. "What'Il come of the girl, Tom? Can ycu figure that out?" he questioned, sinking his voice al most to a whisper. But Ware was incapable of speech, again his terrors completely overwhelmed him. "1 reckon you'll have to find another overseer. I'm going to strike out for Texas," said Hicks. Ware's eyes met his for an instant, He had thought of flight, too; was still thinking of it, but greed was as much a part of his nature as fear; Belle Plain was a prize not to be lightly cast aside, and it was almost his, Ho lurched across the room to the window. If he were going to act, the pooner he did so the better, and gain a respite from his fears. Tho road down the coast slid away before his heavy eyes; he marked each turn, then a palsy of fear shook him, his Knnt o?rntn?t his ribs, and he lit* Cl I L ucut ? , \ t FOR S TWO 5 ROOM H I THY LOCALH J H. L. RIGHT INGLES KNGWTHEGENUIN1^_ K FOR THE STAMP 1HT" Reg. U. S. Pat Off. i substitute, if you want a roof that ng as the building, and never need :r need attention of any kind, except :oat of paint. ? Storm-proof? Lightning-proof e & Supply Co. Cheraw,S.C I stood gnawing" bis lips wblle be gazed ' I up at the sun. | "Do you get what I say, Tom? I 1 am going to quic these parts," said 1 Hicks. Ware turned slowly -from the ' ] window. ! "All right, Hicks. You mean you want me to settle with you, is that It?" he asked. . ' "Yes, I'm going to leave while 1 1 : can; maybe I can't later on," said Hicks stolidly. He added: "I am go, ing to start down the coast as soon i as it turns dark, and before it's daf again I'll have put the good miles be* , , tween me and these parts." "You're going down the coast?" and Ware was again conscious of the quickened beating of his heart. Hicks nodded. "See you don't meet up wltli , I John Murrell," said Ware, j "I'll take that chance. It seems & heap better to me than staying here." I Ware looked from the window. The ' shadows were lengthening across the lawn. 1 "Better start now, Hicks," he ad-1/ ' vised. "I'll wait until it turns dark." "You'll need a horse." t j1 "I was going to help myself to one. S , This ain't no time to stand on cere* mony," said Hicks shortly. 1 "Slosson shouldn't be left In the ' lurch like this?or your brother's 1 folks?" i "They'll have to figure It out for ' themselves, same as me," rejoined ' Hicks. j "You can stop there as you go by" 4 "No," said Hicks. "I never did be- J Jieve in thla damn tjgollBhnasg about ? . M the girl, ana l won't go"nedKTJdflfc^^r*'^H L "I don't ask you to go there; you I can give them the signal from the ] head of the bayou. All I want is for you to stop and light a fire on the ' shore. They'll know what that means. I'll give you a horse and fifty dol| lars for the job." Hicks' eyes sparkled, but he only 3aid: "Make it twice that and maybe we can deal." Racked and tortured, Ware hesi' ( tated; but the sun was slipping into^ ' the west; his windows Diazea win the hot light. | "You swear you'll do your part?"/ he said thickly. He took his pursel 1 i from his pocket and counted out the/ j amount due Hicks. He named the ' ! total, and paused irresolutely. [ j "Don't you want the Are lighted?" j asked Hicks. He was familiar wltlx i his employer's vacillating moods. I "Yes," answered Ware, his lips I I quivering; and slowly, with shaking ; 1 fingers, he added to the pile of bills In Hicks' hand. Continued on page 3 The Trials Of A Traveler. t "I am a traveling salesman," writes E E. Youngs, E. Berkshire, Vt., "and j was often ttroubled with constipation II and indigestion till I began to use Dr. King's Xew life Pills, which I have / found an excellent remedy." For all stomach, liver or kidney troubles i there is nothing better. Only 25 cents i at E. E. Wannamaker & Sons. I RENT % [OUSES?HEAL- | ?Y?IN TOWN. | d n w p. a 1 W VV M ? _