The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-09-21
CThAPTFR VII.


"Dry bayou, Dry bayou! Dry bayou"
The words set thSnsclves 10 the some
wl.ct uneven tisk-t-tock IF the wheezy
old clock on her mantel-shelf She alb
sently looked the ciock In the face, and
IL made a wild suggestion to her. One
Of it's long black rusty hands was point
ing ~ the figure nine: the other was
creeping steadily onward in the diree-
ton Of the figure five Fifteen minutes
20 Eve o'clock.
WHY might not she explore Dry Bayou
before dark? True, she was profoundly
ignorant as 70 It's whereabouts, and 70
inquire her way would not be practca-
BILE under the circumstances; but there
could not possibly be any danger OF
really getting lost on the place.
There was no one 10 object nor to
onestion her as she walked boldly down
the long spiral stairway and out at the
side-entrance, with nothing about her
head and shoulders but light wooden
shawl, selected because of rs subdued
brown color, which would ''Iningle cas-
ily with the reddish brown of the tall
sedge-Rrass."
She had calculated all the chances;
Mrs. Lorimer was unfailtngly due in
the dairy at that time Of day, Lorimer
as uniailingiy at tbe co~n-crib, super
vising tho mules evening meal; Dick
and Rafe, her most devoted squires,
were fortunately out at the landing,
keeping watch and ward over big
shipment of cotton
She drew her shawl closer about her
shoulders az she passed from under the
shelter Of the portico. 1t was cooler
than she had expected to find 1t, and
there was a suggestion of rain In the
raw autumn air. At less excited mo
Inent, she would probably have turned
back and given up her rash expedition,
or else prepared herself for Disagree
able possibilities with waterproof and
umbrella.
She did neither. She pushed on as
rapidly as possible; past the struggling
negro cabins, whence the odor of frying
bacon and weak coffee fiOated sicken-
inely to her Disguised nostrils; beyond
the large wooden bonndary-gat which
sagged 30 badly on its hinges that it re-
quired both her hands and all her
strength to open 1t; out into the UNI
cultivated parts of the place, where
the dry rafting corn and cotton-stalks
give way to broad expenses Of tall red
dish sedge-grass which lined the clayey
slopes, and made acceptable BITS OF
color, In bright contrast with she vivid
evergreen of the dwarf pines that soon
closed her In from possible detection
from the house.
She moved forward without any def
mite plan of action, or any defined
course. Wherever she detected the
slightest Indication of a trodden path
among the slippery pine needles, she
followed it 20 It's termination; perhaps
It would end suddenly where a stmg-
CLING growth of cane had tempted tho
hungry cattle into pleasant by-ways-
She could hear the soft tinikle Of cow
bells amidst the dense greenery of the
cane that waved far above their horned
heads and closed them in from sight.
Perhapsit would end, in the most incon-
sequential fashion, in the midst OF
clump Of pines, over whose dwarfed
heads she could see chill paHid pink
glow feebiy painting the western sky.
With abrupt suddenness one of
these blind leads began to descend. At
her'feet lay ravins. Deep, deep down.
wards 1t extended, It's ragged sides
clothed with woodland growths of man
fold sorts Tall trees there were, vine
clad with ruddy-leaved .creepers to
their very apex. standing SO far
down in the ravine that their leafy
crowns were on a level with her
own unsheltered head. A tangled will
derness Of shrubs and trees spread at