The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1893-04-04

! the solidly packed earth underneath one OF
! the walls Showed how he had escaped.
I Not only had he departed, but every nan,
and side of bacon that had hung III the
| snokehouse had gone with him.
When this was reported to Mr.. Ad(llS tnat
! gentleman's chagrin knew no bounds, ana
| he vowed he would not rest until SWalnpy
| was again 4 prisoner. =,
| BY noon messengers sent far and wide
| had summoned to Cypress Knoll half dozen
| neighboring land owners, as many servants
and Il score of dogs. With this assistance
| Mr.. Adds proposed to draw the swamp Gov
ers and hoped to speedily run this human
| fox to earth.
| After lunch as the hunt was about to start
| the shouting men, neighing horses, loud
! tongucd dogs, created a merry confusion on
| the broad lawn that sloped down from the
/ house to the very edge of the great swamp;
"Kemember," called Mr.. Adds, the thief
must surely be taken this time. He is the
curse of this community, and deserves no
| more mercy ut our hands than the beasts
! with which he shares his hiding place
| AYE, aye. Wen have the young cata-
mount before night, never fear! was
| shouted in reply as the noisy cayalcade
dashed away.
Their leader was the last to mount; and
as he did so, little Mildred, joyously ex-
cited by the confusion which had no mean
ing to her beyond that of frollc, darted
from her mothers side and begged her papa
to take her with him.
spite of her mothers protesting exclamation
the indulgent father swung his darling up
on to the saddle in front of him, put spurs
to his horse and was off like a shot.
At the bottom of the lawn he set the
little one gently down and bidding her run
back to her mother plunged into the gloomy
shadows of the swamp, amid which his
companions had already disappeared.
1t was dusk ere the weary hunters. an
gered by failure, began to struggle back
~ To-, x1,,.,,
unsuccessful quest had been made. Men,
horses and dogs were alike covered with
the ooZe and slime of the swamp. All
were scratched and torn by the thorns of
briars and ty-ty bushes, wait-a-bits and
wild rattan.
Mr.. Adds was among the first to
emerge INTO the open, and as he did so he
was met by Il group of frightened women,
one of whom sprang forward crying shril-
ed at one another with blanched faces.
"What do YOU mean:' demanded their
leader, huskily. The child has not been
with us. | sent her back from this very
spot hours ago"
He had hardly spoken. and had no time
to spring to her aid. ere his wife fell sense
less TO the ground.
Quickly and far the dread news spread.
Mildred Adds was lost!
Fearful concerning her fate. dismayed
and helpless as they were. they We're also
prompt TO act. and as quickly as torches
could be brought they plunged again into
the weird darkness of the vast swamp.
Within an hour, and less than Il mile
away they found the child. sitting between
two buttresses of a great, mosshng. cy-
press and sobbinc Il though her little heart
would break. Her dainty dress was torn.
ly: Mildred, my baby! where is she?
Give her to me 1t oncel Oh, it was crucI
cruel. to take her into that awful placer
The hunters reigned sharply up. and gaz-
mudstancd and thicbly spattered with
blood. although she herself was is safe and
unhaIIned as when last held III her mothers
arm.
Directly in front Of her. and barring the
recess formed by the projecting butG'esscs
of the tree lay Il confused mass, which. as
the torches We're held lower for Il closer in
specton, resolved itself into two dead
bodies.
One was that Of a huge panther. bleed
ing from Il dozen wounds and with the knife
that Lad dealt them driven deep into his
heart.
The other &ody, friGhtfullv torn and man
glcd. but with n hand still clutchtg the
death-dcapT knife was that of ii mere lad.
AS one OF the men turned it over and re-
vealed the white set face he started back
with an oath. 'Bv - men. it's Swampy.
and we've hccn ahunting him, while he's
been here fighting to the death to save the
childr'
They laid Swampy away the next day in