The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1876-02-05


We'll might the lone girl tremble when
she found herself so near the dreaded
scourges Of the country. and she did
not move until she heard the front door
opened by q kick, and heavily booted
feet In the room below.
Then a calm thought of her situation
drove fear from her heart, and Alice
Beauchampe prepared to perform one
of the most daring deeds Of the Revolu.
tlonary War.
The noise in the house increased, and
oaths and rude jests preceded and ioi-
lowed the lighting of q fire on the
hearth.
Alice, who had longed for sight of
the dreaded six, crept to a spot near the
bureau, where there was crack In the
floor. Then applying her. eye to the
peek-hole, she saw six wild looking
men directly beneath her.
They we're, beyond doubt, the Aven-
gers of Ferguson's death, fer several
masks lay on the table, along with
three or four bottles of wine which they
had taken from some patriots cellar.
Tall, rough, devil-may-carelooking fel>
lows they were, armed with pistols,
carbines, and sabres, the kind Of men
who never court the smiles Of mercy or
listen to the pleading of Innocence.
just such fellows as they were, Alice
had supposed them to be, for she had
seen many of the prisoners taken at
Kings Mountain, and she longed for
the presence of band Of patriots.
There v ere true men in Sonth Carolina
at that time who would have given their
right arms for chance to exterminate
the Avengers, and Alice knew where
little party of patriots lay, but alas
they were not very near.
" Wen rest here and finish that
wine - said one of the leaders of the
band, whose face told that already he
had imbibed freely. " Bring in the
poultry, and on old Beauchampe's
hearth We'll prepare feast"
At his command, one of the men left
the house, but soon returned, bearing
with him a duck and several chickens,
from whose freshly wrung necks the
blood was dripping.
/" How's the horses" asked one OF
the Avengers, as the man flung the
poultry on the table.
Standing like rocks" was the re-
ply. "Such horses as they are don't
need watching, and, beside there isn't
a rebel within ten miles of this accursed
place."
"Why, there's the Widow Hartzell,"
81 didn't think of her." was the re-
ply. "How bitterly old HartzelI hated
us, but we caught him at last,"
"And presented him with a breast
pin ! Ha Ha -
And the laugh went round the room.
Alice Beauchampe did not wait until
the laugh was ended; while vet 1t filed
the house with Its devilish echoes, she
glided across the room to a window
that looked out upon the dark palmetto
grove, behind the building.
There was no sash In the window, and
the cool winds of the night kissed the
paid cheek uf the partisan's daughter.
For moment she tried to pierce the
darkness beneath the window E; but
failing in her endeavors, she crept over
the sill, resolved to trust to fortune for
| success.
The distance to the ground was not
great, and the darling girl alighted
without injury.
Now she was free to make her escape
to the friends she had lately left but
immediate fight in that direction was
not her intention.
" Heaven aid me I" she murmured,
as sho glided around the old house and
approached the horses which the tories
had left tethered to the small trees few
yards from the door.
A glance into the room revealed the
forms of the Avengers discussing the
wine with oath and jest, or watching
| the roasting of the fowls. They did
not fear danger, for their horrible deeds
had completely terrorized the country,
and under the sway of their lawlessness
1t was fast becoming desert.
Alice counted them before she
touched single rein /; and then In a
| brief period of time she loosened the
horses aud quietly led them into a
small copse not far away. The steeds
did not refuse to obey her guldanceship,
and when she had reached the copse,
she struck them with whip which she
had found beneath q saddle. 1t was q
SIDhEJ D1OW blub ouO hutuluiSbSIOuB ohu
the horses started forward and dlsap-
peared in an instant.
Thus iu few moments Ferguson's 8
Avengers had been deprived of their
horses.
Flushed with triumph, Alice Beau
champe returned to the house, and
again looked in upon its hilarious ten.
ants.
ste now held a pistol in her hand
a weapon which holster hail granted
her, and she crept to the end OF the
porch before she halted. There was
the flash of vengeance in the dark eyes
of the partisan girl while she gazed up
on the party beyond the threshold
Once or twice she raised the weapon,
but lowered 1t again, as II playing with
the life of the leader of the six, whose
burly form was revealed by the light
of the fire.
She saw the fowls, smoking and wei
burned, placed on the table, and watch
cd the greedy men crowd around fol
their shares. Their tongues and move
ments told her that stolen liquor wa'
doing its accustomed work ON all save
the giant, who had superlntepded thu
cooking of the late repast. This mar
appeared perfectly sober, and the an