The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1893-04-12

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ly as the dripping fangs and snaky boa
like neck of q wierd gray shadow passed
him. With an awful supernaturalness
of instinct it kept on in an unerrlng line
to the fatcful tree! But that dread
directness of scent was Courtland's OPP
portunity. His revolver flashed out in
an naim as unerring. The brute, pierced
through neck and brain, dashed on
against the tree in his impetus, and
then rolled over against it in culver
ing bulk. Again another bay came
from the same direction. CORTLAND
knew that his pursuers had outaanked
him and the bloodhounds were crossing
the swamp. But he was prepared;
again the same weird shadow, as spec
tral and monstrous as dream, dashed
out into the brief light of the open, but
this time it was stopped and rolled over
convulsively before it had crossed.
Flushed with the fire of fight in his
veins, Courtland turned furiously from
the fallen brutes to meet the onset of
the more cowardly hunters whom he
knew were at his heels. At that mo-
ment it would have Jared Ill with the
foremost No longer the calculating
steward and diplomatic manager, no
longer the. cool-headed arbiter of con-
ficting interests, he was ready to meet
them not only with the intrepid in
stincts Of a soldier but with an aroused
partisan fury equal to their own. To
his surprise no one followed; the baying
of third hound seemed to be
silenced and checked; the silence was
broken only by the sound of distant
disputing voices and the uneasy tramp
ling Of hoofs. This was followed by
two or three rifle shots, but not either
in the direction Of the quarters nor
the Dows' dwelling house. There evi-
dently was some interruption in the
pursuit-a diversion of some kind had
taken place-but chat he knew not.
He could think of no one who might
have interfered on his behalf, and the
shouting and wrangling seemed to be
carried on in the accents Of the one
sectional party. He called cautiously
to Cato. The negro did not reply. HC
crossed to the tree and shook 1t impa
tiently. Its boughs were empty; Cate
was gonel The miserable negro mus
have taken advantage Of the first di
version in his favor to escape. Bu
where and how there was nothing lef
TO indicate.
AS Courtland had taken little note o
the trail, he had no idea of his owl
whereabouts. He knew he must re
turn to the fringe of cypress to be abl
| to cross the open field and gain tn
negro quarters, where it was still pos
sible that Cato had fed. Taking gen
eral direction from the few stars Wis
ible above the opening he began to re
trace his steps. But he had no longe
the negro's woodcraft to guide him. A
times his feet were caught in trailin
vines which seemed TO coil around hi
ankles with ominous suggestiveness, a
times the yielding soil beneath hi
tread showed his perilous proximit
10 the swamp, as well as tn
fact that he were beginning to II
cline towards that dread circle
which is the hopeless instinct of a
lost and staying humanity. Lucl
lily the edge of the swamp was MOI
open, and he would be enabled TO Co
rect his changed course again by tn
position of the stars But he was b.
coming chilled and exhausted by thes
fruitless efforts, and at length, after
more devious and prolonged detoui
which brought him back to the SWAN
again, he resolved TO skirt its edge
search of some other mode Of issuanc,
Beyond him, the light seemed strongC
as of q more extended opening or clea
ing, and there was even superficii
CLEAN from the end of the swamp itse
as II from some ignis fatuus, or th
glancing of pool of unGrolen waite
A few yards farther brought him TO
and full view OF the unencumbere
expanse. Beyond him far across tf
swamp rose hillside bathed in ii
moonlight, with symmetrical lines {
small white squares dotting its slopt
and stretching down into valley {
cleaning shafts, pyramids, and tomb
II was the cemetery; the white square
on the hillside were the soldiers grave
And among them, even at that distanc
uplifting solemnly like reproachf'
phantom, was the broken shaft aboy
the dust of Chester Brooks.
With the view Of that fateful spC
which he had not seen since his la
meeting there with Sally Dows, foe
of recollection rushed Upon him. |
the white mist that hung low along II
further edge of the swamp he fancie