The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-03-25

AAlAou
cain sartin, but heerd IT was 'leben
hundred million"
II am afraid. Rastus, that your in
formant has slightly exaggerated mat
tiers; but will you tell me what ladies
are at the housef"
''No, ssh," responded the boy, with
admirable pluck.
"Why not r.
"'Cause yo' wants to cut dere heads
off,"
The earnestness Of the urchin made
the officer smile in turn.
"You are mistaken, my boy.
wouldn't harm one Of them for the
world"
Am dat sol Will 20 take yo'
oathr'
eyes. will take my oath that
will not injure hair Of their heads.
''Cross 20 heart
The officer gravely drew his gauntlet
ed hand down and across his breast.
That removed all difficulty and won the
confidence Of Rastus.
DE wimmin folks am Miss Adele
an Mrs. Eldridee"
miss Adele, ! suppose, is the daugh-
ter Of Mrs. Eldridgef'
CANT sartin bout dat, but I know
de missis am de meder oh Miss Adele. !"
Admitting your premises, the con-
clusion / adduced is inevitable"
Erastus opened his mouth and stared.
Not the faintest slimmering Of the
meaning Of these words penetrated his
brain, but he nodded his head.
"You are sure that only the mother
and daughter are living in the house 2"
The question struck the lad as I'M
called for, but he inclined his head sew
eral times with much yigor. Like most
youngsters. he was gifted with a well
developed bump of curiosity.
whats yo'r manner"
Lieutenant Oakman Of the --th
Massachusetts cavalry. Are you &C.
quainted with any Of our men or off
cers3"
"Guess not. Hab yo' eber been hyah
afore?"
"Never until today. am stranger
in this part of Georgia.
"Den what yo' tryinto firt wild Miss |
Adele fur3 Yo' oughter be 'shamed OBJ
yo'self."
"How could flirt with her when I |
never set eyes on the young lady2"
"Den it war de missis herself. Yah,
yah, yaA"
Lieutenant Oakman did not know
whether to laugh Or DO angry over the
bright stupidity of the young African
"Rastus." he said, with all the
severity he could assume II tell you
again that never before have l been in
this part Of the world, nor have 1 ever
spoken to your missis or her daughters,
10 let's hear no more of that"
He was anxious to ask the lad several
questions, but hesitated The fellow
was too observant and suspicious. Lieu
tenant Oakman had others to think of
besides himself, and valuable as would
have been certain information he was
sure this youngster could give there
was peril in the inquiries necessary to
extract such knowledge.
Rastus had seen the signaling of the
officer, and perhaps it was better the
lad should rest under the belief that he
was seeking to attract the attention of
the daughter Of General Eldridge.
While Lieutenant Oakman was ponder
ing over the best method of solving
problem whose greatest difficulty lay in
Its simplicity the lad infused star
thing diversion into the situation by re-
in a lower tone than he had
been using:
"Luftent Oakum, yo'd better git out
ob dis kentry."
"Whyf"
"Dere's some folks dat am lookin fur
yo'." /,
"Thank you, Rastus, but have no !
'ear."
"Yo' oughter hab, cause dey hab
'ound yo'.' ,
"What do You mean?" asked the I'm {
on officer, with sudden, vague fear. {
Another individual answered the {
question with the sharp command:
Surrender, Yank, and be mighty
luick about itr' {
"Not muchl" was the reply Of Lieu /
enant Oakman, who had deserted his
LANCER at the same instant he heard the q
risp summons.