Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

THE PRODIGAL , JUDGE ) Kjiy \5\uGHAN Kesten Illl/stqwohs By?MEIVUX This much was clear to the Ken tuck tan food had been taken to some one In the shed?to Betty and the boy??more likely to George. Ho waited now for the night to ootne. and to him the aun seemed tied in the heavens. At Belle Plain Tom Ware was watching It with a ehudderlng sense of the swiftness of its flight. Hut at last the tops of the tall trees obscured It; It sank quickly then and biased a ball of fire beyond the Arkansas coast, while lta dying glory spread aslant the heavens, turn? ing the flanks of the gray clouda to violet and purple and gold. With the first approach of darkness Carrlngton mads his way to the shed. Hidden in the shadow he paused to listen, and fancied he heard difficult breathing from within. The door creaked hideously on lta wooden hinges when he pushed it open, but aa 1 It awung back the last remnant of the day's light showed him some dark object lying prone on the dirt floor. He reached down and his hand rested on a man'i booted foot. "Oeorge?" Carrlngton spoke softly, hot the man on the floor gave no sign that he heard, and Carrington'a ques? tioning touch stealing hlaher he found that George?if it were George?waa lying on his side with his arms and lags securely bound. Thinking he siept. the Kentucklan shook him gent? ly to a roues him. "Oeorge ?" he repeated, still bend tag above him. This time an Inartic? ulate murmur answered him. At tha ?aase lnstaru ho woolly head of tha sasgro cams under his Angers and he aassoovered the reason of hla alienee. He waa aa securely gagged aa he waa nound. "Listen, George-It's Carrlngton?1 am going to take off thla gag, bot j aVsnt apeak above a whisper?they ?nay hear us"* And hs cut the cords that held the gag in place. "How yo' gat hers. Mas'r Ca'lng *e Waa aa Securely Gagged aa Ha Waa Bound. ton?" asked the negro guardedly, aa the gag fell away. "Around the head of tho bayou." "Lnwd!" eiclalmed Goorge, In a tone of worder. "Where's Miss Betty?'' "8hs's in tho cabin yonder?fo' the love of God, cut these here other ropes with yo' knife, Mas'r Calngton ?-I'm perlshln* with 'em!" Carrlng? ton did as he asked, and groaning, George sat erect. "I'm like I waa goos to sleep all over," he said. "You'll feel better in a moment. Tell sue about Miss Malroy?" "They dono fetched us hero last night. I was drlvin' Missy into Kai aigh?her and young Mua'r Hazard? when fo' men stop us in the road." "Who were they, do you know?" asked Carrlngton "Lawd?what's that?" Carrlngton. knife in hand, swung about on his h*?el A lantern's light flashed suddenly In his face and Hess Hicks, with a I a startled cry break? ing from her lips, paused in the door wsy. Springing forward, Carrlngton seised her by the wrist. "Hush'" hi grimly warned. "What are you doln' here'"' demnhd ed the girl, as she endeavored to shako off hla hand, but Carrlngton drew bof Into the shed, and closing tho door, set his back against It. There was a brief silence during which Hess re? garded the Ketitucklnn with a kind Of stolid taawtsssBsesa she wni the ital to apeak "I reckon you-all bavi com?* after Miss Malroy," slo: observed quietly "Then you rock >n right,'' answered Carrlngton. The girl si tidied him from her level brows "And youall think you can take bar away from here." she speculated "I ain't afraid of yo' knife?youall sdght use It fast enough on a man, but not on ms. I'll help you," she added. Carrlngton gave her an In* credulous glance. "You don't believe me? That would fetch our men up from the keel boat No?yo-all's knife wouldn't stop me!" "Don't be too sure of that." said Carrlngton sternly. The girl met the menace of his words with soft, full throated laughter. "Why, yo' hand's shakln' now, Mr. Carrlngton!" "You know me?" "Yes, I seen you once at Boggs'." She made an Impatient movement. "You can't do nothing against them ! fo' men unless I help you. Miss Mai* roy's to go down river tonight; they're only waiting fo' a pilot?you* all's got to act quick!" Carrlngton hesitated. "Why do you want Miss Malroy to | escape?" he aaid. The Klrl'a mood changed abruptly. She scowled at him. "I reckon that'a a private matter. Alnt it enough to' you-all to know that I tto? I'm showing how It can be done Them four men on the keol boat are strangers In these parts, they're waiting fo' a pilot, but they don't know wh ? he'll be. I've heard you-all was a rlver-rnan; what'a to hinder yo' taking the pilot's place? | Looks like yo' was willing to risk yo' life fo' Miss Malroy or you wouldn't bo here" | "I'm ready," said Carrlngton. his hand on the door. | "No, you ain't?Jost yet," interposed the girl hastllr. "Listen to me first, j They's a dugout tied up 'bout a nun? dred yards above the keel boat; you must get that to cross In to the other aide of the bayou, then when yo're ready to come back yo're to whistle three times?It's the signal we're e* pectlng?and I'll row across fo' you In one of the skiffs." "Can you aeo Mlaa Malroy In the meantime?" "If I want to, they'a nothln' to hin? der me," responded Bess sullenly. "Tell her then?" began Carrlng? ton, but Bess Interrupted him. "I know what yo' want She ain't to cry out or nothln' when she sees I you-all. I got sense enough fo' that." Carrlngton looked at her curiously. "This may bo a serious business for your people," ho said significantly, and watched her narrowly. "And you-all may get killed. I reck In if yo' want to do anything had enough you don't mind much what comes after," aha answered with a hard little laugh, as she went from the shed. "Come!" said Carrlngton to the ne? gro, when he had seen the cabin door close on Bess and her lantern; and they stole across the clearing. Reach? ing the bayou side they began a noise lese search for the dugout, which they quickly found, and Carrlngton turned to George. "Can you swim?" he asked. "Yes, Mas'r." 'Then go down into the water and drag the canoe farther along the shore ?and for God's sake, no sound!" he cautioned. They placed a second hundred yards botwen themselves and the keel boat in this manner, then he had George bring the dug-out to the bank, and they embarked. Keeping within the shadow of the trees that fringed the shore, Carrlngton puddled silent? ly about the head of the bayou. "George," ho at length said, bend? ing toward the negro; "my horse Is tied in the woods on the right-hand side of the road just where you were taken from the carriage last night? you can be at Belle Plain Inside of an hour." "I^ook here, Mas'r Ca ington, those folks yonder is kin to Boss lilcks. If he gets his hand on me first don't you reckon ho'U stop my mouth? i been hero heaps of times fotchln' let? ters fo' Mas'r Torn," added George. "Who wore the letters for?" asked tho Kentuckian, greatly surprised. "They was fo' that Captain Murroll; seems like him und Mas'r Tom was mixed up in a sight of business." "When was this? recently ?" in quired Cnrrlnston, Ho was turning over this Baton tab tng itatamont of tho slave over In hin mind. "Well, no, Mas'r; geoms llko they uln't so thick here recently." "I reckon you'd hotter keep away from the big house yet a While," laid Carrlngton. "Inatoad of going there, atop at Um hello Plain landing, You'll find a raft tied up to tho shorn; it b< longg to ? man named Cgvendlah, Toll him what yog know?that 1'vo found mish Malroy and the boy; toll bin to cast off and drift down ln-r?<. I'll run tho kcci boat aground tne Drat ohanco 1 f*et, ho tell him to keep a sharp lookout." CHAPTER XXVIII. The Keel Boat. A few minutes later lhey had sepa? rated, QoorgS to hurry away In searc h of tho horso, and Carrlngton to pass bock along the shore until be galneo 8. point Opposite the clearing. He whistled shrilly three times, and alter r.n interval of waiting beard tlie splash of oars and presently saw a ikiff steal out of the gloom. "Who's there?" It was Hess who i.sked the question. I "Carrlngton," he answered. "Lucky you ain't met the other man!" she said as she swept her skia" 1 alongside the hank. "Lucky for him, you mean. I'll take tho oars," added Carrlngton, as he entered the skiff. ?lowly the clearing lifted out ol tho darkness, then the keel boat became I distinguishable; and Carrington I checked the skiff by a backward ?troki of the oars. "Hello!" he called. There was no immediate answer to his hall, and he called again as he sent the skiff forward. He felt that he was risking all now. "What do you want?" asked a surly voice. "You want Slosson!" quickly prompted the girl in a whisper. "I want to see Slosson!" said Car? rlngton glibly and with confidence, and once more he checked the skiff. "Who be you?" "Murrell sent you," prompted tho girl again, in a hurried whisper. "Murrell?" And in his astonish? ment Carrlngton spoke aloud. "Murrell?" cried the voice sharply. "Who's Therer It Was Base Who Asked tha Question. **?Bent me!" said Carrington quick? ly, as though completing an unfin? ished sentence. The girl laughed nerv? ously under her breath. "Row closter!" came the sullen command, and the Kentucklan did as he was bidden. Four men stood in the bow of the keel boat, a lantern was raised aloft and by its light they looked him over. There was a mo? ment's silence broken by Carrington, who asked: "Which one of you is Slosson?" And he sprang lightly aboard the keel boat "I'm Slosson," answered the man with the lantern. The previous night Mr. Slosson had been somewhat un? der the enlivening and elevating in? fluence of corn whisky, but now he was his own cheerless self, and rath? er jaded by the passing of the hours which he had sacrificed to an irk? some responsibility. "What word do you fetch from the captain, brother?" he demanded. "Miss Malroy is to be taken down river," responded Carrlngton. Slosson sworo with surpassing flu? ency. "Say, we're five able-bodied men risking our necks to oblige him! You can get married a damn sight easier than this If you go about it right?1 ve done it lots ol times.'' Not under? standing tho significance oi Siosson's allusion to his own matrimonial ca? reer, CarrlngtOO hold his peace. The j tavern-keeper swore again with un? impaired Vigor, "You'll lind mighty few men with more experience than me," he asserted, shaking his head. "But if you say the word?" "I'm all for getting shut of this!" answered Carrington promptly, with a sweep of bis arm. "I call these pretty close quarters!" Still shaking his head and mutter? ing, the tavern-keeper sprang ashore and mounted the bank, where his slouching figure quickly lost itself in iho night. Carrington took up his tation on the flat roof ot the cabin which filled tha stern ot the boat. 11 was remem? bering that day In the sandy Barony i road?and during all the weeks and months that had intervened, Murrell, working in secret, had moved stead? ily toward the fulllluient of his de tlrest Unquestionably he had been back of the attack on Norton, had in? spired his subsequent murder, and the man's sinister and mysterious power had never been ?uapectod. Carrlng? ton knew that the horse-thieves and ?lava ?tealen were supposed to main? tain a loosely knit association; ho Wondered it Murrell were not tho moving spirit in some stich organisa? tion. "If 1 d only pushed my quarrel with Mm!" he thought bitterly. Ho heard Siosson's shuttling step tu tho distance, a word or two when ho ipoka gruffly to some one. and a mo? ment later be saw Hetty and the boy, their forms darkly silhouetted against tho lighter sky as they moved Jibing tho top of tho bank. Slosson, with i Ut any superfluous gallantry, helped Iis captives down tho slope and nhoarr the keel boat, where he locked them in the cabin, tho door of which fattened with a hasp and wooden peg 'You're boss now, pardner!" ho t-ald, joining Carrlngton nt the steer? ing oar. "We'll cast off then," answered Carrington. Thus far nothing had occurred to mar his plans. If they could but quit, the bayou before the arrival o': the man whose place he had taken the rest would be, if not easy of accom? plishment, at least within the realm of the possible. "I reckon you're a river-man?"' ob? served Slosson. "All my life.' Tho lino had been cast off, ani the crew with their setting poles were forcing the boat away from the Dank. All wan quietly done; except for an occasional order from Carrington no word was spoken, and soon the un? wieldy craft glided into the sluggish current and gathered way. Mr. Slos? son, who clearly regarded his relation to the adventure as being of an offi? cial character, continued to stand at Carrirgton's elbow. "What have we between here and the river?" inquired the latter. It was best, he felt, not to give Slosson an opportunity to ask questions. "It narrows considerably, pardner, but it's a straight course," said Slos? son. "Black in yonder, ain't it?" he added, nodding ahead. The shores drew rapidly together; They were leaving the lake-like ex? panse behind. In the silence, above the rustling of the trees, Carrington heard the lirst fret of the river against its bank. Slosson yawned prodigious? ly. "I reckon you ain't needing me?" he said. "Better go up in the bow and get some sleep," advised Carrington, and Slosson, nothing loath, clambered down from the roof of the cabin and stumbled forward. The ceaseless murmur of the rush? ing waters grew in the stillness as the keel boat drew nearer the hurry- | ing yellow flood, and the beat of the Kentucklan's pulse quickened. Would he find the raft there? He glanced back over the way they had come. The dark ranks of the forest walled off the clearing, but across the water a dim point of light was visible. He fixed its position as somewhere near the head of the bayou. Apparently it was a lantern, but as he looked a ruddy glow crept up against the sky? line. Fro? the how Bunker had been ob servi. t . .s singular phenomenon. Suddenly he bent and roused Slos? son, who had fallen asleep. The tav? ern-keeper sprang to his feet and Bunker pointed without speaking. "Mebby you can tell me what that light back yonder means?" cried Slos? son, addressing himself to Carrlng? ton; as he spoke he snatched up his rifle. "That's what I'm trying to make out," answered Carrlngton. "Hell!" cried Slosson, and tossed his gun to his shoulder. What seemed to be a breath of wind lifted a stray lock of Carrlng ton's hair, but his pistol answered Slosson in the same second. He fired at the huddle of men in the bow of the boat and one of them pitched for? ward with his arms outspread. "Keep back, you!" he said, and dropped off the cabin roof. His promptness had bred a momen? tary panic, then Slosson's bull-like voice began to roar commands; but in that brief instant of surprise and shock Carrington had found and with? drawn the wooden peg that fastened the cabin door. He had scarcely done ihia when Slosson came tramping aft supported by the three men. Calling to Betty and Hannibal to es? cape in the skiff which was towing astern the Kentuckian rushed toward the bow. At his back he heard the door creak on its hinges as it was pushed open by Betty and the boy, and again he called to them to escape by the skiff. The fret of the current had grown steadily and from beneath He Launched Himself Nimbly and With Enthusiasm Into the Fight. tho Wide-flung branches of the trees which here met above his head, Car? rington caught sight ol the Mar specked arch of the heavens beyond. They were Issuing from the bayou. He felt the river snatch at the keel boat, the buffeting Oi some swltt eddy, and saw I he blunt DOW swing off to the south as they were plunged into the black shore shadows. Hut what he did not see was a big muscular hand Which had thrust itself out ot the Impenetrable gloom and clutched the sidi Of the keel '> at. Co? incident wtth this thero arose per? fect babel Ol voices, high pitched and shrill "Sho'?I bet it's blml Sho'?it's I'n. cle hob's newy! Sho", you can hear 'em! Sho', they're sbootln1 guns! Sho'!" Carrington cast a hurried glance In the direction ol these sounds. There between the boat and the shore the dim outline of a rait was taking shape. It was now canopied by a wealth of pale gray smoke that faded irom be? fore his eyes as the darkness lilted. Turning, he saw Slosson and his men clearly. Surprise and consternation was depicted on each face. The light increased. From the flat stone hearth of the raft ascended a tall column of flame which rendered visible six pigmy figures, tow-headed and wonderfully vocal, who were toll? ing like mad at the huge sweeps. The light showed more than this. It showed a lady of plump and pleasing presence smoking a cob-pipe while she fed the fire from a tick stuffed with straw. It showed two bark shanties, a line between them decorated with the never-ending Cavendish wash. It showed a rooster perched on the ridge-pole of one of these shanties in the very act of crowing lustily. Hannibal, who had climbed to the roof of the cabin, shrieked lor help, and Betty added her voice to his. "All right, Nevvy!" came the cheer? ful reply, as Yancy threw himself over the side of the boat and grap? pled with Slosson. "Uncle Bob! Uncle Bob!" cried Hannibal. Slosson uttered a cry of terror. He had a simple but sincere faith in the supernatural, and even with the Scratch Hiller's big hands gripping his throat, he could not rid himself of the belief that this was the ghost of a murdered man. "You'll take a dog's licking from me, neighbor," said Yancy grimly. "1 been saving it fo' you!" Meanwhile Mr. Cavendish, whose proud spirit never greatly inclined him to the practice of peace, had pre? pared 'or battle. Springing aloft he knocked his heels together. "Whoop! I'm a man as can slide down a thorny locust and never get scratched!" he shouted. This was equivalent to setting his triggers; then he launched himself nimbly and with enthusiasm into the thick of the fight. It was Mr. Bunker's unfortu? nate privilege to sustain the onslaught of the Earl of Lambeth. The light from the Cavendish hearth continued to brighten the scene, for Polly was recklessly sac? rificing her best straw tick. Indeed her behavior was in every way worthy of the noble alliance she had formed. Her cob-pipe was not suffered to go out and with Connie's help she kept the six small Cavendishes from risk? ing life and limb in the keel boat, to? ward which they were powerfully drawn. Despite these activities she found time to call to Betty and Han? nibal on the cabin roof. "Jump down here; that ain't no tit tin' place for you-all to stop in with them gentlemen fighting" An instant later Betty and Hanni? bal stood on the raft with the little Cavendishes flocking about them. Mr. Yancy's quest of his nevvy had taken an enduring hold on their Imagina? tion. For weeks it had constituted their one vital topic, and the fight be? came merely a satisfying background for this interesting restoration. "Sho', they'd got him! Sho'?he wa'n't no bigger than Richard! Sho'!" "Oh!" cried Betsy, with a fearful glance toward the keel boat. "Can't you stop them?" "What fo*?" asked Polly, opening her black eyes very wide. "Bless yo' tender heart!?you don't need to wor? ry none, we got them strange gentle? men licked like they was a passel of children! Connie, youall mind that fire!" She accurately judged the outcome of the fight. The boat was little bet? ter than a shambles with the havoc that had been wrought there when Yancy and Carrington dropped over its side to the raft. Cavendi6h fol? lowed them, whooping his triumph as he came. CHAPT1R XXIX. The Raft Again. Yancy and Cavendish threw them? selves on the sweeps and worked the raft clear of the keel boat, then the turbulent current seized the smaller craft and whirled it away into the night; as its black bulk receded from before his eyes the Earl of Lambeth spoke with the voice of authority and experience. "It was a good fight and them fel? lows done well, but not near well enough." A conclusion that could not be gainsaid. He added, "So one ain't hurt but them that had ought to have got hurt Mr. Yancy's all right, and so's Mr. Carrlngton?who's mighty welcome here." The earl's shock of red hair was bristling like the mane of some angry animal and his eyes still flashed with the light ot battle, but he managed to summon up an expression of winning friendliness. "Mr. Carrlngton'i kin to me, Pol? ly/' explained Yancy to Mrs. Caven dish. His voice was far from Steady, for Hannibal had been gathered into his arms and had all but wrecked the stoic calm With which the Scratch Hiller was seeking to guard his emo? tions. Polly s ailed and dimpled at the Kentucklan. Trained to a romantic point of view she had a frank liking for handsome, stalwart men. Caven? dish was neither, but none knew bet? ter than Polly that wh<re lie was most lacking in appearance bo was richest in substance. He carried scars hon? orably earned In those differences ho had been prone to cultivate vlth leta generous natures; tor his scheme of lit did not embrace the millennium. "Thank God, you uot here when you did!" said Carrington. j "We was some pushed fo time, but we done It." responded the earl mod astly. He added, "What r.ov.WO make a tar ding;?" "No?unleaa it interfere? with y if plans net to. I want to .-< t ironm* ?he next bend before we tie Up. Later we'll all go back. Can I count on you?" "You shorely can. I consider this here as sociable a neighborhood as 1 ever struck. It pleases :ne well. Folks are tip and doing hereabout." Carrlngton looked eagerly around in search of Hetty. She was sitting on an upturned tub, a pathetic enough figure as she drooped against the wall of one of the shanties with all her courage quite gone from her. lie made his way quickly to her side. "La!" whispered Polly in Chills and Fever's ear. "If that pore young thing yonder keeps a widow it won't be be? cause of any encouragement she gets from Mr. Carrington. If I ever seen marriage in a man's eye I ;seen it in his this minute!" "Bruce!" cried Betty, starling up as Carrington approached. '"Oh, Brucer I am so glad you have come?you are not hurt?" She accepted his presence without question. She had needed him and he had not failed ber. "We are none of us hurt, Betty," he said gently, as he took her hand. He saw that tbe suffering she had undergone during the preceding twenty-four hours tad left Its record on her tired face and in her heavy eyes. She retained a shuddering con Ml Waa Quite Peevish After Ho Throw Me in the River. iclousncss of tbe unchecked savagery of those last moments on the keel boat; she was still hearing the oaths of the men as they struggled together, the sound of blows, and the dreadful silences that bad followed them. She turned from him, and there came the relief of tears. "There, Betty, the danger Is over now and you were so bravo while it lasted. I can't bear to have you cry!" "I was wild with fear?all that time on the boat, Bruce?" she faltered be? tween her sobs. "I didn't know but they would find you out. I could only wait and hope?and pray!" "I was in no danger, dear. Didn't the girl tell you I was to take the place of a man Slosson was expect? ing? He never doubted that I was that man until a light?a signal it must have been?on the shore at the head of the bayou betrayed me." "Where are we going now, Bruce? Not the way they went?" and Betty glanced out into the black void where the keel boat had merged into the gloom. "No, no?but we can't get the raft back up-stream against the current, so the best thing is to land at the Bates' plantation below here; then as soon as you are able we can return to Belle Plain," said Carrington. There was an interval broken only by the occasional sweep of the great steering oar as Cavendish coaxed the raft out toward the channel. The thought of Charley Norton's murder rested on Carrington like a pall. Scarcely a week had elapsed since he quitted Thicket Point, and in that week the hand of death had dealt with them impartially, and to what end? Then the mile6 he had traversed in his hopeless journey up-river trans? lated themselves Into a division of I time as well as space. They were I Just as much further removed from the past with Its blight of tragic ter? ror. He turned and glanced at Betty. S He saw that her eyes held their steady look of wistful pity that was for the dead man; yet in spite of this, and in srg\e of tho bounds beyond which ho would not let his imagination carry him, the future, enriched w.th sudden promise, unfolded itself. The deep sense of recovered hope stirred with? in him. He knew there must come a day when he would dare to speak of his love, and she would listen. I "It's best we should land at Bates' place?we can g<t teams Ihere." ho went on to explain. "And. Betty, wherever we go we'll go together, dear. Carendlsh doesn't look as if he had any very urgent business of his j own, and I reckon the same is true of Yancy. so I am going to keep them With us. There are BOOM points to he cleared UP When WO reach Belle Plain ?some folks who'll have a lot to ex plain or else quit this part of the state' And I intend to see that you are not lefl alone until?until 1 have the right to take care of you for good an! all?that's What you want me to do ono of these days. Isn't it, dar? ling?" and ail eyes, glowing and in? finitely tender, dwelt on her upturned face. But Petty shrank from him in in? voluntary agitation oh, not now. Bruce?not now?we musvu t sneak of that?it's wrong ?