Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1889-10-25

3
The autumn breeze lifted the sheets
on the line. giving ELma q glimpse Of
several roughly clad men, halted In
the adjacent grove, evidently at a loss
which way to turn to find the retreat
Of the Yankee officer. They were the
guerrillas. A scornfuI fash lit up the
Wine-dark eyes of the girl as she
turned to the man, who seemed to be
awaiting his doom or his salvation at
her fair hands. Yes; she would save
him. But how?
All! it is surely too late to help him
to escape recapture. See! two Of the
guerrillas have started toward the
house, leaving the others in cOnsuIta-
ton at the border Of the grove. In
another moment they VIII have seen
the hunted man, screened by the
clothes on the line. On they stalk to-
ward the house.
Elma is a girl of ingenuity, one ac-
custOmed to acting in emergencies.
She viii foil those rough outlaws yet.
1t is not too late.
Here" she said, in a very low voice,
and she quickly lifted the clothes which
she had thrown into the capacIous bas-
ket, 'if you viii lie down in my old
ciOthes-basket / think I shall be able
to hide you securely"
Very ObedientIy, very quickly Ar
thur Hartweu coiled himself up in
Elma Starlton's cIOthes-basket, and
very skillfu1ly she covered him com
pletely with the clothes she held.
Then she went on unpinning clothes
from the line, which she threw loosely
upon the basket. No one would have
guessed there was a man beneath that
mass of clean clothes.
Elma was again singing as merrily
as a lark when the guerrillas drew
near. One of them bounded over the
hedge. He approached the girl, who
gave a well-feigned start, greeting him
thus:
"Ike Carter! What do you mean by
startling a body this way ?"
She knew him we'll, as his home was
not far from the StarltOns'
Didn't go ter startle yer, Miss
Elmy; Pm on Their hunt of a blamed
Yankee off Ger what's escaped US.
"Wa1I, Ike, we're not in the habit of
entertaining Yankee officers here IN
less we are obliged to. It is not a good
place to hunt for them on the StarltOn
premises"
"I know hit amt, Elnly," said the
fellow; "but we tracked him this away, ;"
he explained.
"How did he escape you, Ike?" she
asked, trying to show an interest in
the subject, hoping thereby to allay
any suspicion that might have been
formed in the guerrillas' minds.
The guerrilla launched out a full ac-
count of the capture and escape of
Lieutenant HartwelL EIma listened
as attentively as if it were all a new
story to her.
GAS we-uns was cOnsultin' in yOn
grove, Pete Jarvis lowed he done seed
a blue uniform, or sOmethin' thet looked
mighty like one, over hyar by these
clothes. Thet's why 1 come hyar a
botherin' you-uns."
A musical laugh followed this an
nOuncement. Then Elma said:
"An optical illusion. I suppose it
was mothers blue muslin curtains
that Jarvis took for a Yankee uniform. %
And EIma held up to view a pair of
pretty blue curtains.
Ike Carter eyed them closely, then
glanced at the Overladen basket on the
grass, then back at the girl who was
smoothing the azure curtains.
"Hain't Pete Jarvis a good IN ter
sight Yanks? No wonder we-uns done
los his trail with SIGH a leader as Pete.
Pm plumb sorry, Miss E1my, thet he
insulted them curtains tibet away, by
takin' 'em fur a Yank's trousers" And
Ike Carter laughed at what he cOnsid-
cred a clever joke.
Il should think, the girl remarked
dryly. "Ike, tell your party, with my
compliments, that I think their eyes
must be full of cObwebs brushed from
! the canes. Tell them to wash them
| out and make another investigation of
| the thicket, she called to him as he
| strobe away, looking rather crestfallen ;
/ for Ike had seen what Jarvis had, and
| both had decided it must be HartwelPs
uniform. But Jarvis being absent had
| to bear the ridicule. Ike Carter could
/ not stand it to have the bright South
| ern girl laugh at his blunders.
! Dear reader, you and L know that 1t
/ was a glimpse of a blue uniform that
those guerrilIas had caught. But we
can smile over the cleverness Of Elma
StarltOn in turning it off so nicely, and
I heave a deep sigh of full gladness that
her mother had those blue curtains,
and that they happened to be in the
wash that week.
The guerilIas went off, and evidently
felt too sheepish over their mistake to
| venture "4g1-4A Lta4ls55 u G4-OSo 4LIOCA-LS
dancing, wine-dark eyes, for they did
not return.
When the coast was clear, Elma un
covered the queerly hidden Lieutenant
who crawled out, with real thankful
ness to his lovely deliverer, though
his limbs were so stiff that she had tC
assist him to the little closet, where he
remained effectuaIy concealed during
| the rest of the afternoon Here she
brought him every refreshment thai
her home afforded
Under cover of the night, brave FL