The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1897-10-15
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COPYRIGHT sY AMERICAN PRESS Assc

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COPYRIGHT sY AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION 1894
He picked up his bundles and has.
tened on and 10 minutes later was tell.
ing Steve Brayton what had happened.
"Glad of itl' replied the latter.
Reckon orter go up thar and make
shore he's dead, fur I sorter think his
name are Ike Baxter. Hain't got nc
time, though-not jest now. This way,
Uncle Ben"
They passed between two great bowl.
ders which had fallen from the bank
above, followed a ravine into the hills
for about 200 feet, and after climb up
the right hand bank found the hiding
place among the rocks. There was a
small fire burning against great bowl
der, and on a bed of leaves and branch
es lay Royal Kenton with a~bullet
wound in the calf of the right leg. 1t
was bit of good luck for him in the
midst of adversely that the bullet had
passed clear through without touching
the bone. 1t was a 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 Brayton and Uncle Ben appeared
The old darky knew Kenton only by
sight, but the sight of him lying there
in>that helpless condition was call for
him to throw himself down on his knees
and moan out:
"Fo' de Lawd an fo' de Lawd, but
what am Miss Sunshine gwine to say an
do when she knows dat he has bin
shotted wild dozen bombshells?''
Kenton 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 comfortable bed, arranged
one of the blankets for shelter and
saw that Kenton ate as well as talked.
The adventure which Uncle Ben had on
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 hastened up the side
of the mountain and headed direct for
Rest Haven. Within an hour they found
that number of men were on their
trail, and two or three times during the
day they were 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 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.
"Couldn t think of it, Yank-couldn'
possibly play any sich dirt on a man
who has fout 'longside o. me SO oftenl"
was the hearty reply. "Thar was only
three of 'em when they fust popped at
us, and I'm sartin shore thar hain't but
two now, and mebbe one O. them is wuss
off than yo' ar! hain't been shootin
five or six times jest fur the.fun of it.
If yo' can't walk, yo've got to be car
riedl''
Heeding none of Kenton s 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 see
how the nigger's dead man is, said
Steve when he could do no more for
Kenton. "It's 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 hev to git the
body outer the way anyhow, befo' any
body stumbles over it.
In the course of 30 minutes he reached
the spot, but no man, living or dead,
was to be found. He made thorough I
hunt, but nothing could be discovered.
CHAPTER XIV.
Uncle Ben returned to the house at
midnight and found Marian anxiously
waiting for news. Royal Kenton had
.old him what to tell her, and while she
was comforted in one direction she was /
frightened in another. If Kenton and |
Brayton had been followed over the
mountains and blood had been shed,
would the pursuit cease until they had
been hunted down? If the man whom
Uncle Ben had struck down in the dark
ness was Ike Baxter, wouldn't his in
formation bring Captain Wyle and his
company into the neighborhood at once?
Provided it was not Ike Baxter at all, it
was an enemy of some sort,
who would demand revenge. The out
ook was indeed an anxious one, but
hey could only wait and hope.
It was well for the mother that abe
vas too Ill to realize that anything un-
Usual was happening. The doctor had
his skill to no benefit, and
hough permitting Marian to hope that
! favorable change might occur he re-
llized that the chances of recovery were
'ery remote. All that long night she
ay as one sleeping heavily, and but for
he many distractions the daughter
would have noticed that the change was
or the worse.
Neither Marian nor Uncle Ben had
eason to suspect that Mrs. Baxter had
cen or heard anything that night, but
he must soon know all. The girl had
that Kenton should be
,rought to the house and cared for. The
hought of his rude shelter, wounded
md suffering as he was on that cold
winter night, almost drove her wild.
t was hardly o'clock in the morning,
nd she had simply tasted breakfast,
vhen she went out to Uncle Ben and
aid:
81 am ready to go and can It wait an
ther minute. We will take some more
rovisions, but shall have Mr.. Kenton
rought to the house,
"What about dat woman?" he asked.
II don't care for her. If she doesn't
Ike his being here, she can CO." r
Jest look into her room, Miss Sun
hipet't