Cheraw chronicle. (Cheraw, S.C.) 1896-2005, August 22, 1912, Page PAGE SIX, Image 6
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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.
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