Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1898-03-24
l1blttered the boy?
Know? Do you know.

brown hand and stared intently across
the broad, fiat fields which spread for
more than mile in unbroken cotton
culture Oh either side the narrow wagon
road.
LOOK a yonderl Good Lawd! A
runaway, or I'm Dutchman. Kin You
hol' these reins, sissy? The mules Is
steady as milk COWS"
He flung the heavy reins into her lap,
and, springing from the wagon, ran
with the fleetness Of an Indian straight
toward thick rolling cloud Of dust
that was approaching with the impetu-
osity Of whirlwind.
Liza, following his flying motions
with wide eyes, saw him plant himself
squarely in the road directly in the
pathway Of the advancing danger, saw
him clutch wildly with futile courage
at the foam tlecked head stall of mad
dened brute, saw him dashed aside like
a storm tossed autumn leaf and knew
that but few rods Of the wagon road
now interviewed between herself and
that flying terror.
With swift decision she twisted the
heavy leathen reins about her slim
wrists and turned the clumsy cotton
vain broadsidc to the runaway. He was
already close enough for her to see the
swaying trace and the loosened single
tree that had caused all the trouble.
Seth was limping helplessly toward
her, far in the rear. He was shouting
something at her, with both hands held
to his mouth His words were lost on
the air, swallowed up in the gathering
Of Infatuated hoofs and the terrified
snorting of the brute so near at hand.
With an instinct Of self preservation
she stopped and possessed herself of the
heavy whip Seth had flung from him.
Its thong was of plated rawhide. Its
handle clumsy combination Of wood
and lead There was no time to plan
her mode Of attack. 1t was reduced to
a matter of seconds, to a question of
dealing or receiving humiliation. Ris-
ing, the better to deal her blow, she
grasped the driving whip by its plated
thong, swung it tentatively in both en-
circling hands and aimed it with tell
ing force at the broad, shining shoulder
Of the beautiful brute, who, swerving
and snorting as he reached the barricad-
ing team, received the full force Of the
loaded handle between his luminous
eyes
A shiver convulsed his noble frame,
a moan almost human in its expression
Of pain, and he sunk between the shafts
powerless evermore for evil or for good.
Liza, having performed her act of
heroism without the tremor Of n nerve,
sat down abruptly when there was
nothing more to do and fell to crying
in the most womanly fashion imagi-
nable. 1t really seemed the most COM
Portable thing life could offer just then
She was having good cry"
She was vaguely conscious that Seth
had come up, linping and painting, in
time to help an old gentleman out OF
the vehicle.
She was wildly conscious of the ter
rified white face and the flowing white
hair and beard that had helped to nerve
her arm for that death dealing blow.
Its owner had been the sole occupant
Of the buggy, and forlornly helpless
one he had been while death seemed
staring him in the face. From behind
her wet pocket handkerchief Liza could
hear him now, his quavering voice pass
ing rapidly through every graduation OF
agitation and relief into wordy anger
He must be addressing Seth But what
did she care?
ut was we'll done, sir; well done.
The act Of heroine! My life was not
worth a pound of cotton ten minutes
ago No. sir; be hanged if it was. But
Randall, what i'll the devil did you
mean by putting that brute into the
shafts when you asked me to ride with
you? And why in the devil did you
jump out and leave me to my fate? You
knew he never could see basket of
cotton Oh the roadside without going
into commissions. Did you want to muir
der me, sir?'
A rich, sonorous, lazy voice here IN
terposed, making a somewhat inconse-
quent reply to this excited monologue.
1.-THE blow of blacksmith delivered
by a sylphl By Jove, the most aston
fishing outcome. l am lost in Won
der"
Liza emerged just then from behind
her wet handkerchief with crimson
cheeks and sparkling eyes. She had the
rare gilt of crying without making her
self personally obnoxious or temporarily
hideoua
Quito group of men had by this
time gathered around the fallen brute.
Most Of them were field hands. Seth
and the men to whom the runaway had
belonged were the only white ones
among them.
Seth was on his knees examining the
horse. The man who had just spoken
Of her in connection with q blacksmith
was standing with his back to her.
In his left hand he held his broad
brimmed, wideawake hat, while with
his right he mopped his damp forehead
delioately with a handkerchief Of ex-
quisite fineness which exhaled the
merest suggestion Of good cologne.
He was explaining the beginning of
the accident to Seth in that peculiarly
rich, lazy drawl that had brought Liza
from behind her damp handkerchief
some seconds before the tear storm had
quite subsidized. There was something
eminently soothing in his composure in
the midst Of the prevailing excitement
and confusion.
ut Is largely due to my venerable
fathers youthful impetuosity. heard
an internal rafting somewhere under
the trap and got out to investigate,
when father indiscreetly shook the reins
about the brutes ears to brighten Off
bottlefy, imagine. had noticed one
lowering near. The motion always