The Opelousas courier., 1883-10-13

and opened fire.
When all the chambers of their re-
volvers had been discharged, the result
of the action thus far was seen to have
been fatal to Reynolds mule and Garth's
horse, while the two men were slightly
wounded.
clinching and wrestling for the mastery.
Then Garth slipped and fell, MS
antagonist falling upon him.
With q yell Of triumph Reynolds
drew his knife, and prepared to wipe
out all scores with a death stroke.
At that moment Lottie Garth ami
riding up the hill, and with n glance
she tookin the details of the scene, and
realized her father danger.
Without pausing to dismount, she i'm
plored Reynolds to spare the life oil the
PROSTATE man. .
Her fearful eyes, her outstretched
arms, and her agoniSing accents, might
have melted q heart of stone, put tney
could not change Phil Reynolds a
of fire.
He only saw in her appearance another
cause for triumph, a chance TO lnhlct
| another pang upon his hated adversary.
With n sure and powerful stroke ne
| drove his heavy knife to the heart of the
man beneath him, and John Garth's
fighting days were eaded.
Lottie Garth shook and bent in her
saddle like q sapling in a strong wind,
and it seemed as if she would fall from
her horse; but she recovered herself,
and fercely faced the murderer az he
rose from his bloody work.
"Phil Reynolds" she said. and her
voice rang out on the mountain air as
clear as q silver bellB "you have aur
dered my father, though / begged you
to spare hislife. As sure as God lets
me live I will kill you for this deedP'
Reynolds was fairly cowed for o
moment. Perhaps he felt the enormity
OF his crime; perhaps the words and
aone of the orphan girl cut him to the
quick. .n-
He made no reply, but picked up his
| pistol, and hastily began to load it, as II
| he meant to complete the work of exter-
minating the Garths, and at the same
time to get rid of a witness. But Lcttle
turned and galloped away, and was o
out of his reach or sight.
Lottie Garth did not expect that the
slayer of her father would be punished
| by law, and he was not. He vas ar
rested and held to bail, but was never
brought to trial.
The feeling was that such a feud must
have such an ending, and that it was q
matter of little consequence whether
Reynolds killed Garth or Garth killed
Reynolds, though there was more
sympathy with the latter than the
former, on political grounds.
The girl gave her testimony at the
| inquest, saw that her father was properly
buried, and then babe farewell to her
few friends in the neigborhood, after
putting the Garth farm in the hands OF
an agent to be disposed of. 1t was un-
derstood that she had returned to
Indiana.
It was some six months after the death
John Garth that a stfang er mad Q his
appearance in the settlement. He was
a boy, beardless and with curling locks
but active, intelligent, and able bodied
He said that his name was Ben Seliew:
that he was from Barren County, that
his father had been killed in the war
and that the recent death of his mother
had left him an orphan, with his owl
way to make in the world. Just theT
he wanted farm work, and he easily
found it in the settlement, rs he wa
neither afraid no. ashamed to work.
He proved TO be a good harvest hand
and made himself useful thatspecialt.
to several farmers, but finally accepted
the offer OF Phil Reynolds, who proposed
to give him q home for the winter and
small allowance of money, In return TO
his services.
Phil Reynolds was overjoyed at thu
ACQUISITION Of his new farm hand. Tn,
ex-bushwhacker was q lonely man, ant
he lived alone, with the exception o
such chance negro servants as he coult
pick up, and they had peculiar ideas Q
independence since their emancipation
Ben Sellew professed and proved him
self to be capable not only OF doing fell
work, but Of preparing the meals ant
keeping the household in order. As b,
offered to make himself generally usefu
for a small stipend, he was q god-send t
Reynolds.
The stranger from Barren County di'
his work well. He was active and viii
ing. To use q word peculiar to tina
region, it would be hard to find a NOR
& biddable" boy. Phil Reynolds ha
| not been so comfortable and 50 we
cared for in years, and he regarded Be
6eiiew not only ss 9 treasure. hut Q
2bsnlutelv necessary to bis exfsteEcc.
Thus affATFs proeee0eu sm0oIniy 0
the Reynolds farm, until the owner wa
taken sick, about q month after Be
Sellew had accepted his employment
1t vas q strange illness, and the neigl
borhood doctor could make nothing {
it. The sick man complained OF una
countable pains, and became so wea
that he was obliged to take to his bed.
The physician, unable to make a sati
factory diagnosis of the case, dosed b
patient with various drugs, by way
experimenting upon their effect, an
the symptoms became aggravated, unit
Reynolds sank into an apparently hop
less decline.
Ben Sellew attended him with I'll
utmost faithfulness, preparing all h
food and giving him all his medicin'
and he showed the deepest concern Whe
a medical consultation had decided ths
there was no hope for Phil Reynold
Ben was charged with the duty of breal
ing this sad news to the sick man, an
he did it tenderly.
off there is anything on your mind,
said the boy, perhaps you had bett'
CLEAR itoG0
/, az have been q hard case" reptile