The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1894-04-24

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Uncle Ben crubbed his gun.
and next instant brought the heavy
stock down upon Ike's head and felled
him to the earth. The man sank down
without cry or groan, and after wait
ing half minute the old man gasped
out:
MAY do good Lawd dun furgive me,
hut | had to do it fur Miss Sunshine's
sakel'
He picked up his bundles and has
tened on and 10 minutes later was tell
ing Steve Brayton what had happened.
"Glad of it"' replied the latter.
"Reckon orter go up thar and make
shore he's dead, fur ! sorter think his
name are Ike Baxter. Haint got no
time. though--not jest now. This way,
Uncle Ben.h -
They passed between two great bowl
ders which had fallen from the bank
above, followed ravine into the hills
for about 200 feet, and after climb up
the right hand bsnk found the hiding
place among the rocks. There was
small fire burning against great bowl
der, and on bed of leaves and branch.
es lay Royal Kenton with bullet
wound in the calf of tho right leg. It
was bit of good luck for him in the
midst of adversity that the bullet had
passed clear through without touching
the bone. II was painful and tenn
porarily disabling wound, and he had
lost much of his strength before the
bleeding could be checked, but he was
inclined to make light Of the situation
as Blayton and Uncle Ben appeared.
The old darly knew Kenton only by
sight, but the sight of him lying there
in that helpless condition was a call for
him to throw himself down on his knees
and moan out:
Fo' de Lawd an TO do Lawd. but
what am Miss Sunshine gwine to say an
do when she knows dat ha has bin
shotted wild dozen bombshells2n
Kcnton soon made the situation plain
to him, and then as The two talked about
affairs at the house Steve Brayton
washed and bound up the wound afresh,
made up a comfortable bed, arranged
one of the blankets for shelter and
saw that Kenton ate as well as talked.
the road was felt to be another menace
to be guarded against. After leaving
the house where they had taken break
fast and encountered the Confederate
sergeant, they had haStenGd up the side
of tho mountain and headed direct for
Rest Haven. Within an hour they found
TINT a number Of men were on their
trail, and two or three times during the
day they We're obliged to hide them
selves for an hour or two. No shots
were exchanged until about o'clock in
the evening, and then they were fired
upon by three men In ambush. Kenton
was hit and fell. but he struggled up
and made a run of it, with Steve Bray
ton covering his retreat. Pain and loss
of blood finally brought the wounded
man down again, and he appealed to
Steve to leave him and make his own
escape.
"Conldn't think of 1t, couldn't
possibly play any sich dirt on man
who has fout 'longside o me so often!"
was the hearty reply. THAR was only
three of EN- when they fnst popped at
us, and I'm sartin shore thar hain't but
two now, and mebbe one o them is WEISS
off than 20 arl | hain't been shootin
five or six times Jest fur tho fun of it'll
If yo' cant walk, yo'ye got to be car
riede
Needing none of henton $ protests, the
faithful fellow got him on his back and
picked his route through scrubs and over
rocks until he reached the spot where
Uncle Ben found them. He knew it was
within a mile or two of Rest Haven.
and he was about starting for the house
when the old man came along.
"I'll take a trot up the road and SEQ
how the nigger's dead man is, - said
Steve when he could do no more for
Kenton. Its my eyerlastin opinyun
that the chap will turn out TO be Ike
Baxter, and shan't be overly sorry if
sich ar the case. I'll hey TO git the
body outer the way anyhow, bofo' any.
body stumhles over it. y
In the course of 30 minutes he reached
the spot, but no man, living or dead,
waste be found. He made thorough
hunt, but nothing could be discovered.