Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1889-09-19

8uerrlIias. "A scOrnful nash lit up tn
wine dark eyes of the girl as sh
turned to the man, who seemed to b,
awaiting his doom or his salvation a
her fair hands. Yes; she would saw,
him. But how?
Ahl it is surely too late to help him
to escape recapture. See two of tn,
guerrillas have started toward tn,
house, leaving the others in consulta
tion at the border of the grove. III
another moment they will have seer
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 will foil those rough outlaws yet
1t is not too late.
Here" she said, in very low voice,
and she quickly lifted the clothes which
| she had thrown into the capaclous bas-
ket, "if you will lie down in nv old
! clothes basket l think l shall be able
to hide you securely"
Very obediently, very quickly Ar
thur Hartwell coiled himself up in
Elma Starlton's clothes basket. and
very skillfully 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 lark when the guerrillas drew
near One of them bounded over the
hedge. He approached the girl, who
gave well-feigned start, greeting him
thus:
ike Carter! What do you mean by
startling a body this way?"
She knew him well, as his home was
Didn't go ter startle yer, Miss
Elmy; I'm on ther hunt of a blamed
Yankee officer what's escaped us"
wall, Ike. we're not in the habit of
entertaining Yankee officers here un-
less we are obliged to- 1t is not good
place to hunt for them on the Starlton
premises.
81 know hit amt, Elmy," 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 full &C
count of the capture and escape of
Lieutenant Hartwell. Elma listened
as attentively as if it were all new
story to her.
"As 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 come hyar
botheiin' you-uns."
A musical laugh followed this an
nouncement. Then Elma said:
"An optical illusion. suppose it
was mothers blue muslin curtains
that Jarvis took for Yankee uniform"
And Elma held up to view 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 good un ter
sight Yanks? No wonder we-uns done
los his trail with sich leader as Pete.
I'm plumb sorry, Miss Elmy, thet he
insulted them curtains thet away, by
takin 'em fur Yank's trousers" And
Ike Carter laughed at what he consid-
cred clever joke.
Il should think" the girl remarked
dryly. IKE, tell your party, with my
compliment that I tbinl 4le;. syos
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 know that it
was a glimpse of blue uniform that
those guerrillas had caught. But we
can smile over the cleverness of Elma
Starlton in turning il off so nicely, and
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 guerillas went off, and evidently
venture within range of those mocking,
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 10 his lovely deliverer, though
his limbs were so stiff that she had to
assist him to the little closet, where he
remained effectually concealed during
the rest of the afternoon. Here she
brought him every refreshment that
her home afforded.
Under cover of the night, brave FL
ma Starlton escorted Lieutenant Hart
well safe within the Union lines. Ere
he parted from her, he pressed her soft
hand, saying "If 1 survive the war,
j shall return to thank you, as am
unable to do now"
Arthur Hartwell did not forget his
promise. When peace reigned glori-
ously over grief-bowed nation, he oc-
cupied lucrative position in public
life; but somehow pair of wine-dark
eyes ever haunted him. He took trip
to the balmy South He found Elma
lovely as OF yore, but living sad and
alone in her fower-decked Southern
home. Her father and brothers slept
Under the sod aud the dew,
Waiting the judgment day.
Elma did not refuse to become the
loved wife of the man whom she once
hid in her old clothes-basket.
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