The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-10-13
Copyright by Robert Bonner's Sons.
CHAPTER X.
CONTINUED.

s'Broke out of the pasture and run
away, I suppose" said Dick.
"Wall, we amt so sure whether
they broke out or was took out" an
swered the man. "They mought a
got out 'thout any help, an then ag'in
they moughtn't."
''You don't mean to say that you
think they were stolen?" cried Dick.
"Wall, it kind O. looks as ef some
body had suthin' tu du with their git
tim away" answered the other.
"Whose horses were they?" asked
Dick, beginning to feel some of the
excitement which horse-thieves and
their depredations always aroused on
the frontier.
"Averill's, down by Deer Greek, !"
answered the man on horseback.
What? Who?" cried Dick, with
a great start. "Did you say the
horses belonged to man named
Averill?"
eyes, that's the name" was the re-
ply "Heerd anything about it afore?"
"No, I haven't" answered Dick,
hardly knowing what he was saying,
because his brain was in a whirl. of
excitement.
"Averill's, near Deer Creek" kept
beating back and forth like a refrain.
He seemed to see before him the old
cottonwood tree with the mysterious
words.
"When were the horses taken?" he
asked, presently.
"Last night" was the reply.
"And yesterday was Wednesday,"
eyes, yesterday was Wednesday," )"
responded the man.
"Averill's-near Deer Creek-Wed-
nesday."
Dick repeated the words aloud, un-
conscious of the presence of the man
on horseback, who was watching him
and wondering what made him look
and act so strangely. Tangled threads
were trying to straighten themselves
out in his brain.
"Dick Brayton, when you fouid
that writing on the old tree, you
found something that referred, in
some way, to what was done last
night" he told himself. "I'm sure
of it," he added aloud.
"Did you speak to me?" asked the
man.
"No," answered Dick, rousing him
self from the abstraction into which
his train of thought had thrown him.
"About what time do you think the
horcoc MORO ctolon9D
"Wall, we don't say right out that
we think they was STOLE" answered
the man. "But I allow it kin O. looks
that way. Whether they was stole
or got out O. their own accord, it must
ha' happened summers 'twixt ten an
daylight. They was there, all right,
when OIL man Averill went to bed, an
they was missin' when he got up this
mornin'. That's bout all I can tell
ye, 'cept the fence that they must "a
got out through, or ben helped
through, was good one, an the hosses
never was knowed to be onruly, an
we don't see how they come to take it
intu their heads to git breachy all at
onct. The fact is, we don't b'leeve
they ever got out O. the field 'thout
help; but b'leevin' amt KNOWN, you
know"
"Have you found any track of them
yet?" asked Dick.
''Nothin', 'cept as fur as the road"
was the reply. "It rained about day
light-a regular, right-smart leetle
pour-down while it lasted-an' you
can't track nothin' this mornin', on
that account, only here an there,
where the grounds so hard it don't
wash easy"
"Have you any suspicious of who
could have taken them?"
''No more n the man in the moon,"
was the reply. They're gone, an
that's all I can tell ye. I've met nigh
to dozen men this mornin', an none
of 'em has seen hide or hair O. the crit
ters. It's mighty queer. Seems jest
as ef the airth had opened an swallered
'em."
''It is queer" said Dick. "Do you
want help in looking for them?"
eyes, all we can git," was the an
swer. 'Averill, he's poor man, an
can't afford to lose his team. Mebbe
we're worryin' 'thout any reason, an
they'll turn up summers round the
kentry; but I allow it looks s eff they
was took. Anyhow, faint no more'n
fair an neighborly fer us to turn out
an help him hunt fer 'em."
"Of course, we'll all help" said
Dick. "Is there to be an organized
search, or is every one to work indie
pendently?"
"Wall, you see, we hain't got so fur
as that yit," was the reply. eve
hain't knowed what to do, cause We
hain't knowed what to think. They're
to meet at Averill's at noon or there
abouts and fix up some plan, eff the
hosses don't turn up afore that time. y
Fifteen minutes later, Dick, Mr..
Boone and the messenger from Aver
ills rode away together.
As they came opposite Mr.. Porter's
they saw Wayne sitting in the door
way, with singing-book in his hand,
humming over the times to be sung at
the next session of the singing school.
"Hellor' called out Dick to Saman-
thy, who was standing at the kitchen
window, evidently wondering about
the cavalcade she beheld. "Did you
know there were horse-thieves about
this morning?"
He watched Wayne as he asked the
question to see what effect the words