Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1888-06-01
80 she believed it,"
kGnrel0

~ Sis bclc vel
surely"
well, we are going there tomorrow"
so, bAas! / knew that before you told
| me-"
ave are going there, and we are going to
take the place; and we ere going 20 try Uncle
Slas by court marital for flying al English
, flag. and if be ia found guilty we are going to
shoot him, Hendrix
80. baas," said the kn1llr. rubbing his
hands in glee; "but will lie be found guilty y
4 don't know" murmured the white man
stroking his golden beard; that will depend
! upon what missile has to say: and upon thu
verdict Of the coart,7 he added, by way of al
! afterthought
"On the verdict Of the court, ha. ha =
chuckled his wicked satellite. "On tho YER
dict Of the court, yes. yes! and the baa.
will be president, hn ha. One needs nc
witchcraft to guess the verdict. And if The
court finds Uncle Silas guilty who will dc
the shooting, baasf'
Il have not thought Of that: the time ha.
not come to think Of it. 1t does not matter
anybody can carry out the sentence of the
law"
"Baas," said the Kaf1lr, Il have done much
for you and had little pay. l have done ugly
things. Ihave read omens and made medi
| cines, and 'Rnelt out your enemies Viii
you grant me favor! Will you let me shoot
ON Croft if tho court finds him guiltya 1t i:
not much to ask, baas / am . clever wiz
gard. and deserve my pay"
why do you want to shoot himf
"Becauss he logged me once. years ago
for being . witch doctor, and tho other day
he hunted me of the place. Besides, it is %
Vulr 70, CHI
better" he went on, with o smack Of the lips
III 1t we're missile, who set the dog OH me.
would
In moment Frank Muller had the aston.
ished ruffian by the throat and was kicking
and shaking him as though he were a toy.
His brutal talk Of Bessie had appealed to such
manliness as he had in him, end, whatever his
own wickedness may have been, he was toe
madiy In love with the woman to let her name
be taken in vain by man whom, though be
held his magic" in superstitious reverence,
be yet ranked lower than dog. With his
nerves strung to tho highest possible state Of
tension. and half drunk a. he was, Frank
Muller was no moro a person 10 be played
with or irritated than mad bull
"You black beast!" he yelled, "if you ever
dare to mention her name again like that l
will kill you, for all your wltchcraft," and he
hurled him with such force up against the
wall Of the hut that the whole place shook
The man fell, lay for . moment grooming and
then crept from the hut on his hands and
knees.
Muller sat scOwling from under his bent
brows and watched him CO. When he was
gone he rose and fastened the door behind
him, and then suddenly burst into tears; tho
pt~A 49, h.,
drink, mental and physical exhaustion and
the never resting passion lone can scarcely
call it love- that ate away at his heart like the
worm that dieth not
ooh, Bessie, Bessie!" he groaned, Il have
done 1t all for you. Surely you cannot he
angry when I have killed them all for youl
Oh, my darling, my darling. II you only
knew how love you! Oh, my darling! my
darlAg!' and in an agony Of passion be flung
himself down on the rough pallet in the
corner Of the hpt.epd sobled h;'nssn to sleep
somehow FRANK MuTlivTS evil dong Ola NOT
make him any the hnlper, the fact Of tho
matter being that to enjoy wickedness man
must be not only without conscience, but also
without passion. Now Frank Muller was
tormented with very effective substitute for
the first. superstition, and his life was liter
ally overshadowed by the last, for the beauty
OF girl possessed the power to dominate his
widest moods and inf1ict upon him tcrments
that she herself was incapable of even imagin.
ing.
At the first light of dawn Hendrix crept
humbly into the hut and woke his master.
and within half IN hour they were across the
Veal and on the road to Wakkerstroom
As the light increased so did Muller's spirits
rise, till at last, when the red sun came up in
glory and swept away the shadows, be felt
as though all the load OF guilt and fear that
lay at his heart had departed with them. He
could see now that the two Beers being killed
by fash Of lightning WAS mere accident
happy accident, indeed; for had it not been
for that he himself would have had to kill
them, If he could not by any other means
have got the warrant from them. As it was
he had forgotten the warrant; but it did not
matter much, he reflected. Nobody would
be likely to find the bodies Of the two men
and horses under the lonely bank there Ger
tainly they would not be found until the
aasvogels had picked them clean. They
would be at work upon them by now. And
II they were found it was probable that the
paper would have rotted or blown away, or,
at the worst, be SO discolored q to be unread
able. For the rest, there was nothing to con-
meet him with the murder, now that the two
accessories were dead. Hendrix would prove
an alibi for him. He was a useful man.
Hendrix. Besides, who would believe that it
was murderf Two men were escOrtin1 an
Englishman to the river; somehow they be-
came involved in q quarrel; the Englishmar
shot them, and they sLo: the Englisl,man and
his companion. Then the horses plunged
Into the Wal and upset the cart, and there
was an end of it. He could see now how well
things had gone for him Tie was practically
/ placed beyond suspicion
Anu thenhe feli to thinking OF The fruits O.
bis honest labors, and his cheek grew warm
with the mounting blood, and bis eyes flashed
with the fire Of youth In two days-forty-
eight hours-at the outside, Bessie would be
In his arms He could not miscarry now; he
| was TN absolute command there. Besides,
| Hendrix had read it in his olnens long ago.
MooifOntein should DO stormed on the NOR
row il that were necessary, and ON Silas
Croft and Bessie should he taken prisoners;
and then he knew how to put ON the screw.
That talk about shooting on the previous
night had been no idle threat. She should
yield herself to him or the old man should die,
and then be would take her. There could be
| no legal consequences from that now that the
BRUSH government was surrendering. It
would be neritOrious act to shoot O rebel
| Englishman.
Yes, it was all plain sailing now. How
long had it taken him to win her-thres
years! He had loved her for three years.
Well, he would have his reward; and then,
his mind at rest about his passion. he would
turn it. to those far reaching, ambitious
schemes OF which the end was something like
Q throne.
CHAPTER XVII.
sIIAs Is CONVINCED.
At 0rst Bessie was utterly prostrated BY
the blow that had fallen on her, but as time
went on she revived little, for hers was q
sanguine nature with a greet deal Of elias
ITCHY about it. Troubles sink into the souls
Of some like water into q sponge, and weigh
them down almost to thegrave From others
they run of as the water would if poured