Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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ITTTTTTTTTTTTTVTTTTTTTTTTT.TTTT \ | GROW W1 II' f DY means of a mutually pi t and a thorough unde) t needs, coupled with a desire t > on the part of those interest ceriis in this immediate vicini t the extensive service offered 1 ip building for themselves a solid It for the larger business of the f BANK OF WILLI * Kingstree, L' C W SttoLL, President F Rh?, Vice-President C ^ AAAAAAAAJAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAj 8 Our first car of f X this season will be I X Come in and look tl I X get your choice, p x We also have a I v Buggies, Wagons, ] L- 0 dies and Winter Ro jf V YOURS TO PLE. r Y Williamsburg Live SI 1 Y Thoi. McCutchan, Mgr. [THE PEOPLE'S 3 Hides, Furs ar |> | H. A. MILLER, PRC ICORTI ~k s "CORTRIG1 : i*&!k }&$) alk^ accept do t ^'sk - will last u Ion) I fS?|f repair*?never " I 40 occa?onal cc !nooe in your immediate locality. write ut direct CORTRIGHT METAL RC 50 North 23d Street I Lehn & talcum best .^\ \ J TOILtf ^uehn ??' Jinn V We have a good assortment of Tui f THE XINGSTREE DI JMt Us Print You Some WWTYTTTYYYYTWTYYV? 4 _____________________ M ITH US ] ofitable co-orperation * ^standing of business J o "live and let live" 3 ?d, many young con- ^ ty are making use of 3 by this bank and are 3 I financial foundation future. 3 IAMSBURG, 5 s. c. 3 E C Epps, Cashier. ^ W Boswell. Asst. Cashier. ^ A oooooooocooj I Mules] resh stock for 8 in this week, o lem over and ? full stock of X Harness, Sad- x bes. x \se. X tocK Company, a K1NGSTREC, S.C X 1 OOOOOOOOOOOrf ? ??Mi?? ??? MARKET f i I DbALfcK irs ids of Fresh i s and Fish. Cash Price Paid for id Poultry. PRIETOR ] UGHT INGLES NOW THE GENUINE _ ; FOR THE STAMP j HT" Reg. U. S. Pat Off. ubstitute, if you wan! a roof that g as the building, and never need need attention of any land, except tat of paint. Storm-proof? Lightning-proof. representative* a'moat everywhere, but if for sample*, prices and full particulars. K5FING COMPANY Philadelphia, Pa. Pure Drugs 1 ? I are more important ( than pure foods, when it comes to ministering to the sick. We use only the best in compounding prescriptions. Patent Medicines Of All Kinds I Huyler's Candies nip and Rutabaga Seed. tUG COMPANY i Office Stationery | The Po^Tj | of Flame j 1 W 1 i A j\ j J9r ! it LOUIS JOSEPH VAMCE , f IE?faatS? by niaworfh Youag J TT~~ * Cvi^S ri^Ji I*.;, Lit .. *vi. CHAPTER XXXIV. A nlgb^of velvet blackness, softly jpaque, lay upon l&nd and water. The police launch, shuddering with the vibrations of a motor running at high tension, sped down the silent reaches nf Rjinroon River like a hunted ghost. She ran without lights, these having been extinguished by Couch's directions, regardless of harbor regulations or danger. Happily the hour was late eaough to relieve them of much fear of trouble with other craft; the upper reaches of the river were practically deserted. In the bow Couch was handling the wheel with the nonchalance of one I from whom the river had no secrets by night or day. To O'Rourke it seemed no light task to pilot so slight a craft at such high t.peed through that Stygian darkness; yet the sub-chief was accomplishing the feat without-a dlscernable trace of fear or tremor of uncertainty. O'Rourke sat beside him. In the stern a police orderly acted as mechanic, attending to the motor.. These three, no more, made up the rescue party. though devour ed by impatience and anxiety, O'Rourke forbore to question Couch, hesitating to divert his attention from his task and knowing that as soon as he could the young lieutenant would speak. From the time when the coolie had yielded, tnere had been not a ueoond's rest for either; neither had had time to oonfer save on questions of the most Immediate moment; and control o< these Couch had voluntarily and naturally assumed, deciding, acting and directing in the same thought, apparently. "Your wife, a 1th Miss Pynsent," said Couch abruptly, without looking round?"at least I presume it's Mrs. O'Rourke, from what you say?have ; been kidnaped by a gang of highbind- , ers and are now aboard a Jugk in the j lower river, which will sail for God- : knows-where at the turn of the tide. J That's the only thing that saves 'em. , We'll be on 'em before they're able to ; force a way down the river." O'Rourke groaned, holding his head with both hands. "My wife . . he said brokenly. "i know." couch Interrupted grim- j [y; "I know how you feei. Miss Pynsent is there, too, you see." "Oh," said O'Rourke, "I didn't un- ! ierstand that. . . . I'm sorry." He I dropped a hand on the younger man's 3houlder and let It rest there briefly, j "Please God,"' he said reverently, j "there'll. be many another polluted yellow soul yammering at the gates hell this night!" "Amen!" said Couch, . . . We I Bha'n't be long now." Silently O'Rourke removed his coat and waist-coat, his collar and lawn j tie. and turned back his cuffs. "Even- | Ing clothes are hardly the thing to ; dght in," he said; "but I'm thinking i twon't make a. deal of difference to | me. Got any cartridges for a Webley ' mark IV?" "Wheeler has. Give Colonel 3'Rourke a few, Wheeler," said Couch, addressing me orueriy. The lattsr rummaged in a locker i and pressed into O'Rourke's hand half I i dozen cartridges, with which the adventurer proceeded to reo'enlsh the ampty chamber in his rev 3 r. "I'd only discharged one." he observed. "but 'tis likely we'll need that, Bven, with only the, three of us against a junk-load.'' "Oh, I telephoned for reinforce- ; ments, of course," returned Couch, j "They ought to be there aiiead of us." "What did the coolie tell ye, if ye've , time to talk?" Couch laughed. "I daresay you're I wondering how I made him speak at all." "That's the true word for ye." "I threatened to cut ofT his silly pig- ; tail and send him naked and dishonor- ' ed to the ghostly halls of his ances- j tors. It's wonderful how much those callous brutes dote on that decoration. I told him further, that if he lied, when I found it out I'd return and shave him bald as an egg, even if j he were dead by that time. So I persuaded the truth from him, the whole story?from his side of it." "I'm listening. . . "He confessed he was in the pay? Hke these chaps we're after now?of a highly respectable Chinese merchant ; and head of one of the tongs?one of hi Hrhe?t mart tn Rnnennn who. It i seems, was also after that ruby. I cant Imagine vhat he wanted of ft, but that'll ooms out, probably; the man's rich enough to buy dosena of stones as fine. However ... 1 gather he'd laid his plan far ahead. The ooolles Intimated you'd been watched all the way from Bombay. At all events, the brutes were reedy when you arrived; Sypher was a doomed man from the moment you Handed over the Pool of Flame. They surrounded his house this night, coming up from the river, Just as soon an it was dark enough to conceal their actions. Then they found a third element Ld the business?your friend Dee Trebes, aLl unsuspicious of them, lurk! Ing on the veranda and watching Sy puer itiruugn tue wiauuw. ,??u cue/ waited to see what he was up to. And pretty soon they found out. Syphef came downstairs, went to the safe an<J opened it; I presume he had the stone in his hand, ready to put away. While he was standing there the Frenchman slipped up behtad and stabbed him, annexing the stone and leaving the way he jot in. The instant he stepped off the veranda the Chinese got him; but he managed to scream before they could silence him and drew the attention of the household, Miss Pynsent, your wife and the servants. So to cover things up they I had to gather them all In. The servants were killed?there were three of them?and the women . . Neither man spoke for a time. Then Couch resumed. "This coolie was an outsider?a servant of the merchant's?not one of the junk gang; so he stayed ashore, and thought It would be a fine young scheme to return ard do a little looting on his own . . . I've telephoned the head office to arrest that cursed merchant and confiscate his house and goods and detain anybody they could oatch connected with him. The net's well enough laid, and 1 think . . The lights of the city became visible. strung along the right bank of the river as the launch rounded a bend. Couch swung the little boat out into midstream. "Half-speed, Wheeler,"#he said, adding to O'Rourke: "I've got to pick out that Junk. I presume the right one will have all sail set and be moving downstream with the tide; It's Just on the turn now and fortunately there's no wind worth mentioning. ... I wish I could , see something of the other launch." He peered anxiously into the obscurity ahead. 'If there were only starlight?!" he complained bitterly. "Stand by, Wheeler, to stop the motor. We'll drop alongside with the current, as quietly as we can. Colonel O'Rourke, will you get forward and take the boathook and headwarp, please; I'm needed ai; the wheel and Wheeler at the engine until we make fart." Cautiously the Irishman rose, took , the boathook Couch offered him, and crept out upon the narrow triangle of ( deck at the bows. Crouching there. , he found the headwarp and waited, tense with anxloun expectancy, star- ^ ing ahead In futile effort to penetrate the wlc^e, shadowy reaches of the rlv- j er. Rut the mystical distances con- | fused and eluded him. The launch | seemed to move, panting, In an abyss ( of night. 8he made little noise: a ( hl9s of water beneath her stem; the j steady humming of the motor, throt- , tied down to half speed; the muffled , gasping of the exhaust. And present- ( ly even these ceased at a word from ? Couch, and the launch moved only , with the tide. I Abruptly a towering wall of opaque , black rose out of th? darkness to j starboard. O'Rourke braced himself , ^ for the Imminent instant of action, j ( poised so lightly upon his toes and i t fingertips that a swell from a moving ^ vessel would have thrown him off g his balance, perhaps overboard. The launch closed swiftly and silently in j upon the black wall; it towered over him like a cliff; far above h\ could ^ see dim divisions between black and ^ black that must be the rail. And he j shook his head, dismayed; he could ^ never scale that, he thought; not even the O'Rourke could accomplish a miracle. Put in a breath it had faded back, and he realized that the tower- ^ ing poop of the junk had misled him. j. They were now alongside at the waist t He stood up and saw a low railing . U. 1. * 1. A .4.. Af b moving ana caugui it uvei mo ?u?a w * the rail, dr?w the launch In, lot go the boathook and, with the headwwrp \ wrapped about bis hand, jumped "i blindly. a Something dealt him a vicious, all a but paralysing, blow in the pit of the L 6tomach; he doubled up, for a mo- \ ment helpless, across the junk's rail, 'J but retained sufficient presence of mind to hold on to the headwarp. a Then, recovering a trifle, he squirmed S over and fell sprawling upon the deck, 1 his heels drumming an abrupt and ? violent alarm. From somewhere he * heard a shrill jabbering arise, with an * ensuing patter of bare feet Swiftly ' he got upon his knees and drew in the ' headwarp, with his free hand search- E lng along.the rail for a cleat. 8ome- T thing thumped heavily on the deck be- c side blm, and grunted; and something 1 else followed with a second bump; and the launch swung outward and. r caught by the current, jerked the | ? headwarp from his grasp. "May ?e I ' luck of the O'Rourke still hold!" he J 1 prayed fervently, getting upon his feet j to realize that, with Couch and the | man Wheeler, he was Imprisoned 1 aboard the junk, doomed there ,to remain whatever might befall, until ( the coming of the second launch . . ' . or perhaps for a longer time As he rose some indistinct body ran into him and cannoned off with aa un- i couth yelp; w.th no time to drat? hie revolvers, the adventurer 6truck ut ; with a bore hand and had the .a.tie 1 faction of finding a goal for hie blow C ?of landing heavily on bare fleah and t of hearing the dull sound of a fall t upon the deck. e Synchronously lights wore Cashing f out for and aft. A. revolver spat ven* 9 omously beside him. v Somewhere a ( man- screamed and fell, whimpering horribly. The revolver ezpoded a seo- , ond time. There were confused noises, as of a furious struggle. rough \ and tumble, and he suspected that op or another of bis companions ha been tackled bodily by one of th Junk's crew. On his own part b caught a glimpse of a shadow movin ghostlike against one of the lighti and promptly exorcised it with a shol By this time the Teasel seemed t be caught in the grip of pandemoi ium; shouts and shots vied witi screams, groans, confused paddia footsteps, to make the moment one c a nightmare. The boarding party stoo at bay, not daring to venture from th' 6pot on which they had landed, firln; steadily but with discretion. Huddled together like children L fear of the powers of darkness, th three held their fire against the lnet itable assault In rorce, handicapped fearfully by their absolute lgnorano of the lay of the deck, of the numbe of their opponents, and of from whici quarter they had to expect the attaci And the silence and the suspens wore upon their nerves until the fins struggle caine in the shape of a boor to save them from madness. And 1 came with a rush and a will, cyclonic tremendous, overpowering. By shee weight of human flesh the European were pinned against the rail, flghtlni at handgrips with a cruel and cunnlm foe far better prepared for such bus! ness than they. For at such clos* quarters pistols were practical! worthless save as clubs, while knive could slip to slay through almost an; interstice, however straitened O'Rourke had no time to think of hi companions. Stung to desperation b; the silent, unrelenting fury of his as sallants?twice he was conscious o the white-hot agony of a knlfe-thrusl one nanAtrattnv the nf hln nidi and scraping bis ribs, the other bltlnj deep Into his thigh?he fired until h< had but one cartridge left In his re volver, and expended that blowing ou the brains of an extraordinarily pei slstent coolie, then dropped the use less weapon and trusted to his nake< strength. It served him well for a little. Cftx man, precipitated by the weight o those behind him Into the adventur er's arm8, he seized by the throat an( throttled In a twinkling; then lifting him from the deck, he exerted hli power to the utmost, and cast th< body like a log Into the midst of th< melee. Thus clearing a little space, h< found himself able to step aside anc let another run past him Into the bui wark; and seeing the sheen of i swordblade In the fellow's hand, be fore he could recove* seized his wrist twisted It savagely, and wrenched th< weapon away. rne nnaie came a moment later, sig oallred by a blinding flash of Ugh' more bright than that of day, whicl fell athwart the deck and illumlnatec Instantaneously every inch of th? fighting ground. Fervently be blessec the near-by vessel that had turned its searchlight on the junk. The scene t revealed beggared the experience ol i man w^oee trade was fighting; II 'ell upon decks slippery with blood md littered with the bodies of dead md wounded: it silenced a confusion ndescribable. Upon that insane turmoil be light ien witn uie euect ot a tnunlerbolt from a clear sky. Screaming shrilly in their panic, the Chinese scattered and fell away, leavng OT?ourke beside Couch. Wheeler >eing down and buried beneath three Chinese corpses. And instantaneously iomething grated harshly against the tarboard side of the junk, and a man. lis figure stark black against the cold yhite glare, leaped upon the rail and umbled Inboard. Others to the num>er of a dozen followed him. swarmng over the decks. Couch reeled tocards them, babbling orders and intnictlons. The second launch bad arrived. Sick and faint, OHourke slouched tack against the rail, watching with ack-luster eyes the end of the chapar. It was simple to the point of earning farcical In comparison with bat which preceded It The dazed and ow outnumbered Chinese offered no jrther resistance. Disarmed and put nder guard, they disappeared from is consciousness, while he watched be men from* the seoond launch, purred by Couch, scatter in search of be abducted women. Loss of blood was beginning to tell pon him: his strength seemed altogether gone; his wits buzzed in bis lead like a swarm of gnats. He rrasnad his suDDort convulsively, be rinning to appreciate how seriously le was hurt. He heard as from a great llstance thin, faint cries of men shoutng in triumph; saw Couch, a pygmy ibape, holding In his arms a doll who fore the faoe of Miss Pynsent. Then >f a sudden he was conscious of a voman hastening toward him. a fan astJc and incongruous figure in a dinler-gown, her skirts trailing in the ilime of the shambles, her arms out leld to him; and knew her for his wife. He essayed to speak, but could not. fie felt her arms close about him. In he face of the searchlight's penetrat ng and uudevdatlng glare, night :losed down upon him. (Continued on Papre Eipht) Notice to Cotton Raisers. Cotton will be received by the (ingstree Warehouse Co for storage n the old cotton warehouse at the lepot at the rate of 25 cents pet mle per month. The banks of Kingsree will loan money on cotton storid here at the rate of 6 per cent rom October 1 to May 1. Any deiiring to hold their cotton may take idvantage of the proposition. W D McDaniel, f P Frierson, Pres WFU Sec. 10-17-2t. ???????????????___ I ? FLEET WEEK NOVEMBER 18-23. ? - e e Charleston Never Does Things by g Halves and Good Time Assured. '? Charleston never does things by L halves, as is shown by the way it j. has taken hold of its county fair to h be held during the week of Noveme ber 18 to 23. Reports coming from d the city show that not only will e Charleston have one of the greatest ? county fairs ever held in the State, but that in addition will have the U a e S fleet of warships?thirteen battler ships of the first class, and about 11 twenty-five or more cruisers, torpedo r boats and other auxiliary vessels, b The programme now mapped out ^ by the city for the entertainment of j the officers and men of the fleet is q of a most elaborate order. The com* mittee in charge of the programme r represents all classes of the commun s ity, each man being a hustler, liens erally speaking the entertainment j. will consist of field sports, aquatic b sports, joint army and navy parades, barbecue, oyster roasts, smokers, balls, and fair ground entertain. fnents. There is no city on the South Atlantic coast capable of entertaining such a large fleet in its harbor as the one that will visit Charleston during its fair week. It will be an occasion of such magnitude that every South Carolinian should be proud that its metropolis is capable of getting away with such an event which probably not more than half dozen citiesin the United States could carry off?none of the harbors being deep enough or large enough to contain such a collection of men of : war. * 5' 3 One of the most important events ' * of the week will be the army and ? navy parade. It is expected that . there will be about ten thousand i men in line of march, including * thousands of blue-jackets from the I visiting ships, U S Marine corps, IJ > S artillery, Naval Reserves, the en' tire militia of the State of South * j Carolina, the Citadel cadets, the PorI ter military academy cadets. There ? will be more men in the several uni| forms of the different branches of > the service of the State and nation in that parade than ever have gath[ ered together in any community in [ time of peace, with the single ex1 ception of the Hudson-Fulton cele! bration some years ago. Bethel Breezes. 1 Bethel, October 21: ? Farmers ' around here are sorrv to see the . rain,on account of having much cotton in the field. Bethel Sawmill and Ginning Co is doing a good business. We hope our community will patronize it and be greatly benefited by it. Messrs N I Epps and R S Burgess went, to Lake City Saturday on business. Mrs G W Burgess is visiting her daughter, Mrs Charles Carraway of Eutawville. Messrs Forest Coker and BarU, Burgess were in Kingstree Saturday. Mr Bishop Burgess visited Kings tree Monday. Mr W A Cooper went to Olanta , Monday on business. Mrs J M Rodgers and children of ' Nesmith are visiting Mrs Rodgers* parents, Mr and Mrs T B Cooper, here. 1 it Quite a delightful little quilting party" was given at the home of Mr and Mrs C L Burgess last Wedi nesday. A "sociable" was also given there that night in honor of the six ' girls who were the "quilters". It was a most delightful occasion and 1 all present seemed to enjoy it very ? 9 We are sorry to state that little Walter, son of Mr and Mrs J V Burgess, is very ill. We hope that he will soon be better. Mrs R E Burgess is visiting her I sister,Mrs John Askins, at Timmons ville. Miss Flora Kennedy, of the He' bron section, is visiting at the home " of her cousin, Miss Pattye Burgess. ( Messrs Moode and John Wheeler, of the New Zion section, were visitors in our community Sunday. Rosebud. " r