The Irish standard., 1893-01-28

ality Of his experience and its probable
extent has Cato escaped?'
IF 20 mean dat sassy, bnll-nigger
oberseer oh yo'se, connie, he's safe, 70
bet!" returned Sophy, sharply. Safe
in his own quo tahs night afo' las, after
braggin' about de bloodhaowns he
killed; and safe ober de county line
yes'day moanin', after kickin' up all dis
rumpus. If dar is sassy, hig falutin
niger jiss 'spises it's dat black mig
ger Cato O yo'se! Now" relenting,
'syo' jiss wink yo' eye, honey, and don't
excite yo'self about sech black trash;
drap off to sleep comfor'ble. Fo' 20
doan' get annuder word out o Sophy,
shuah.
AS if in obedience, CORTLAND closed
his eyes. But even in his weak state he
was conscious of the blood coming into
his cheek at Sophys relentless criticism
of the man for whom he had just per-
lied his life and position. Much of
it he felt was true-but how far had he
been dupe in his Quixotic defense of a
quarrelsome blusterer and cowardly
bully! Yet there was the unrnistakable
shot and cold FLOODED attempt at Cato's
assassination! And there were the
bloodhounds sent to track the unfortu-
nate man! That was no dream-but a
brutal, inexcusable fact!
The medical practitioner of Redlands,
he remembered, was conservative, old
fashioned and diplomatic. But his SYM
pathies had been broadened by some
army experiences, and Courtland trusted
to some soldierly and frank exposition
of the matter from him. Nevertheless,
DR.. Maynard was first a healer, and,
like Sophy, professionally cautious.
The colonel had better not talk about
it now 1t was already two days old;
the colonel had been nearly forty eight
hours in bed. 1t was a regrettable af-
fair, but the natural climax of long
continued political and racial irritation
and not without great provocation!
Assassination was strong word; could
Col. CORTLAND swear that Cato was ac-
tually aimed at, or was it not merely a
demonstration to brighten a bullying
negro? 1t might have been necessary
to teach him lesson-which the colonel
by this time ought to know could only
be taught to those inferior races by fear.
The blood hounds! All, yes-well, the
bloodhounds We're, in fact, only part
of that wholesome discipline. Surely
Col CORTLAND was not so foolish as to
believe that, even in the old slavehold-
ing days, planters sent dogs after run
Always to mangle and destroy their oao7'
proper'y9 They might as well at once
let them escape! No, sir! They were
used only to brighten and drive the
niggers out of swamps, brakes and hiding
places, as no niger had ever dared to
face 'em. Cato might lie as much as he
liked, but everybody knew who it was
that killed Maj Reeds hounds. No.
body blamed the colonel for it-not
even Maj. Reed-but if the colonel had
lived little longer in the south he'd
have known it.wasn't necessary to do
that in selt-preservation as the hounds
would never have gone for white man.
But that was not a matter for the
colonel to bother about now. He was
doing well; he had slept nearly thirty
hours: there was no fever, he must con-
.tinue to doze off the exhaustion Of his
powerful sti1nulant. and he, the doctor,
would return later in the afternoon.
Perhaps it was his very inability to
grasp, in that exhausted state, the full
comprehension of the doctors meaning,
perhaps because the physical benunb-
ing of brain was stronger than any
mental excitement, but he dozed again
until the doctor reappeared. you're
doing we'll enough, now, colonel" said
the physician, after brief examina'
ton of his patient, land think we car
afford to wake you up a bit; and even
let you move your arm. You're luckie1
than poor 10 Higbee, who won't be able
to set his leg to the floor for three
weeks to come. I haven't got all the
buckshot out of it yet that Jack
Dumont put there the other night,
CORTLAND started slightly. Jack
Dumont! That was the name of Sally
Dows' cousin of whom Champney had
spoken! He had resolutely put aside
from his returning memory the hazy
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