Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1877-02-17
rContinued from first page.l

one of the party.
cause he got mighty rich heap OF
MANOR. smelt him toder day. Golly "
Every body laughed. each negro in par
ticular as il he himself had to laugh Tor
everybody.
When the yah-yahing ceased. questions
poured in from all sides. "How did you
happen to be there = What were you
DOING Pr Didn't you get good Whit Of
yourself, old boy? '
You needn't poke no fun at me-" re-
Piled Nep; "'twas jest as | tell yer. |
was a-tryin' 10 git de skiff up roun' de
pint, and smost glib it up. de current was
wilent. when | fought | d jump asho and
work up stream dat wsv. pulled de skiff
along, tuggin' most like to break my back
and nebber thnkin' nofiiin' oh Miss Demp-
ton till | got sight OBJ de log whar she
tumbled off, 1t kind o. skeared me, and
| stopped and SEE to my self-Nep, you
gwine to put foot right dar on dat welly
spot And Jest den de wind cum ober de
bank, tell yer-thick. Sez |, dis chile
mont stop long h'yar. Git de roomatz in
de nose, or de knock down, or sumin wus,
if does. So jumped into the skill, and
off she went for kill down stream. Didn't
hold on to muffin ,cept my brehl, and when
let dat do de sploshun cum mighty nigh
upsettin' de skiff.'
Nep's energetic description brought the
'heuse down." his sable friends fairly
rolling on the ground in an ecstacy OF fun.
The negro had no more to tell, though
cross-examined till he lost his temper,
and walked off, sayin, "Dey might 90 and
smell for demseves, if dey liked" But
every one felt there was something in his
story more than his own Imagination. Its
truth was not questioned. for Nep's man.
ner carried conviction with it, in spite of
its ludicrous accompaniment. No one
limited at anything suspicious, the most
likely suggestion being the simplest-that
Dempton's old COW had died, and that he
had buried her near the riverbank.
So matters stood, or rather from this
point they started. Nep's adventure was
repeated with variations till the whole
neighborhood heard of it, Who can tell
how the seeds Of suspicion are planted ?
The birds of the air bring them. The
winds gently watt them about Some
slight warmth of excitement is created by
an incident like that narrated above, and
all at once a tinge of doubt spreads itself
over the whole community.
Such a process, however, takes time.
and that was community where every
thing and everybody took plenty of time.
Weeks passed away before people began
TO wonder why Elsey did not return.
Dempton seldom gave any one the oppor-
tunity of speaking TO him. lie was fire.
quenty seen about the house and farm,
and he seemed busy. Yet sharper Curl
osity than usual noted how little, after all,
he did. Was he only trying to seem busy ?
He was regularly at the store once week,
where the group, always larger when the
post bag was opened, were conscious of a
growing desire to have more light thrown
on the point of common interest; but none
OF them cared to question Dempton, for
he was eminently man to be let alone.
There was no want of pluck among those
people. Their slouching lazy ways COW
cred any amount Of that quality. The
very existence of such a spirit, however,
made them feel that whenever things got
TO be serious, words had to be weighed on
both sides or trouble would come of it,
So Dempton came and went, impressing
them more than ever by his never taking
step, nor speaking word, nor spending
q moment more than what he was doing
required.
Still, even under slow fire, steam will
get up, and Dick Pender was the valve
through which it announced its pressure.
lie had more occasion than any one else
to go by Dempton's place. One day his
lanky figure on an equally lanky nag was
seen approaching the store with an evil
dent eagerness to get there, regardless of
risk TO man or beast. The sun was now
powerful enough to make the shady and
breezy side of the house attractive; and
as this happened TO be the front, all the
loungers, black and white, witnessed PEN
der's unusal style of approach. Not a
man of them uttered word which was it,
self significant. Before he opened his lips
there was not one them but thought of
Dempton-so quick is the magnetism of
feeling on subject of engrossng inter-
est.
Whats up Dick P" uttered by one of
the party, was sufficient to unlock his lips.
Not much. after all. Yet in the mood
they were in it seemed everything. PEN
der been slowly jogging by, his eye rang
ing over Dempton's house and fields from
the moment they came in view, as if they
were manuscript in unknown characters
and he were searching for the clue to read
it. Suddenly cloud of smoke rose some
what on one side and toward the rear of
the house-such as might be produced by
quantity o. damp rags thrown on bed
of Goals. Pender's one gift was keen
ness Of vision that had helped to give him
the name of the best hunter in all that
region. A slight rise in the ground and
the bushes by the roadside gave him the
opportunity to study out what Demplon
was about. The result was to satisfy
Fender that he was burning-not rags
simply, but clothing and other articles
among which he was sure were the irag.
ments of a trunk that had been pulled
apart.
There would have been nothing in this
few months ago. The passer-by would
not have stopped TO notice it. Even Pen.
der could not then have seen so much, ior
there would have been no intentness to
feeling to bring vision to its sharpest nor
was it till he had told what he had seen
with unwonted point and promptness OF
expression that he and his hearers were
aware how deep was the source of their
excitement. lie had lifted the stone
from the spring, and its waters flowed
ha.a nd Il. g.. A.