Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-05-26
ThePah
Beyond heIevee:
4 REA.CUMMINGSs
.r.xa,..I1 loco ax A cIlndflinoSl
Copyright. 1900. by $. s. Mcclure Coz
Synopsis of Preceding Chapters.
eoNs,er1 800 81 sh.eVns1lnei

Synopsis of Preceding Chapters.
Five wears before the outbreak Of the civil
war love 81 adventure. hatred Of slavery
and the desire help friend. George
W.sncr. led me. Charles Bradley civil
engineer of AttakaJn> country. Louisiana. t"
become al agent Of the underground rail
rnnd Wesncr had been nursed through the
smallpox by IL Young slave Lucy. belonging
4" The C"vrrIy plantation He discovered
facts which proved that Iucy WAS white and
Of good family. 4 love match fol
lowed which progressed well until t"rerly
proposed to sell I.ncy to his son and refused
To- :, II her any else. We>ner became
desperate. I agreed /" help him steal Lucy.
and went Ia New York arrange with the
Anri.>lavery Society for The ear" Of any
slaves We could bring north. We arrange
cur end "f the underground railway with my
wood yard several miles MP the river as the
main station and hiding place. ~ h"ne We
set NJ, Il general merchandise store t" avoid
suspicion Wcsncr makes the rrst venture
and starts n"rth with ten Of t"Neriy
sIav"s. including Lazy. The venture Is sic
cessful. Wesner delivers III" slaves l" inc
agents in New York and places Lucy Ill
school Il And"v-r. I take charge Of ihe
second raid. Disguised as a p"d'il"r see
and arrang. with Of the Raymond
negroes for their escape. Dave. their leader.
gathers seventy three slaves together anu
after great trouble and many narr"" IS
caI~s We ship them north by sen along
with Il cargo IT cotton. cur total lf''h's
gu tin, ,arg,. are S..o""- In the following
spring plan third venture" and the Ian
man plantation is "hr first objective
We kept in the swamp until nGhtla'i
And then leisureIy rode home. About .
nm the next Tuesday an old man. seat
"a In a dugout WAS padding slowly ny
Jaumau-.. place. The old fellows hair was
long the corners Of his mouth had the
characteristic tobacco stain of the poor
whites. Altogether he was a perfect spec
men of the clay eaters. That he was i'sh-
ing u few catfish in his canoe bore witness.
Nearing tn, shore. the old fellow pre-
pared fn paddle his canoe I" the Landing
and haul her up few PAGES. Just then
a white man came IounGing toward the
Shore-ui,. of those long-limhed. lantern
Jawe,l hcrce-looking chaps. VINO hau
sfrtv.d DOWN Ia Louisiana from the upper
Mississippi and picked up the conSenial
.rnu'oyrrI.rt Of driving uiggerS- Attakapas
Wa full IF such cattle one scarcely kne"
from w!ruC" they came 'r Whltner the!
went THIS man had been a long time resi-
dent ~ I.drmtn'S and was well known 10
.ur fishermen. lie was too sharp ana
shr,wd to II" lily dupcd. He was Lam
mans ovrr<cer and answered to the name
If Prentice. II. George We>ner had feared
any man living when he landed al Lam
mans disguised fisherman ne W"uih
have. summed Prentice, hut he did not. re-
pn-td supreme. confidence in his disguise
ana trusted implicitly in its perfect APP
puin;mcnj, mistake that proved fatal 10
ouc man and came very near lnV"lNhs our
liitI" scheme il ruin. ] will let George tell
hi~ .wu story
II did not contemplate landing just then.
Ant ss~ saw Prentice walking on the leNe'
j thought that hesitation on my part might
srolt-,. MS suspicious. | felt confident oil
l,-iu- abe. tu deceive him. but IN my opinion
Al I'rrut:c,. ! Wa mistaken. He had in his
younger days been river pirate, ana Wa
III 4f-ss4H
| had sprung lightly from the cdnoe-a
great mistake and nuj OF keeping with my
makeup. Like flash his cod gray eye
covered me. / knew at the same instant
shat nv cas-" was dies perate and ] was sus-
Irct-d hui lid not think that ne saw
t;rurg. We<ucr in the disguised fisherman
4 .aul.d the canoe. out a bit. To keep her
Prom drifting away. and saunttr"d up l"
him Tx . bayou fisherman. His appear
nnce was far from affahle, and ] glanced
around to sec if any persons We're ohServ-
ing lis I.u.kilV there no one within
Il, 1rius-thc field was clear. Might | sell
you a f"w fish? SAID l.
&c / want NO fish ~ replied with erowl.
What id impudence brings you mere!
I.oIiu. a. uricnuc.rned and ignorant as
possible | replied. T" sell FISH
"Au this time was moving quietly toward
III. quarters which were back OF the ieFee
and a I5ItI, io the rear ana left Of the great
hou~ whrr. I.anman himself resided. Ian
man was al New orleans this knew ana
dccli,d 10 kill Prentice should ne recognize
SUI
should intervene. l knew in event of a trial
uf strength he must go IN the wall dared
rot Turn my back 10 him. for l knew he al
WAYS carried Il shooter.
As entered a thicket of oak near the
Quarters Prentice spoke: Wesner, On you.
/ know YOU. The game is up: the coon Is
tr,at Won " stolen your last Niger,
Il appeared not To hear him but did hear
tn. ornin,us click Of his revolver as he drew
back rh- hammer.
stop" he imperatively ordered: You
AZ. worth more To me alive than dead;
throw mp your hands
i did stop. In instant faced him; 10
g-ther fired; his bullet grazed my Shout
der shot To- Kill. and at the discharge of
my pistol H. lay dead in the road. ! felt no
sting Of conscience. but dragged him into
tin bushes and lef, him until ! had made
my arrange ents with Jims wife.
Il went rstight to the quarters and found
her. In t-l minutes W. had made all the
talk necessary. Tomorrow night there will
he fiy, If them waiting for us al the mouth
of the creek just above Smiths landing
Jim's wife and sister and three other girls
1--WE women.
Brad its the devils own load, but think
W. VIII go through all right, though
not quite ready We must start before
Preniices body is discovered.
"Gieprg"." said |, we are in a tight place.
Tonight We must take Prentice's body and
bury IL sink II in the creek. We must
ais" bring the women To the rendezvous:
If Prentice is found, shot through the heart.
and the girls gone there will be Robbery
year If h. is not found their disappear
ance Will be- associated with his. and the
hunt will be made now. | am sorry you
obliged to shoot him, but he would
have died with his boots on. anyway. Tn,
ouudr. has killed three men TO my knowl-
o3Se-uigeerS. il Is truc-neither you nor |
know how many white men have gone down
by his hand before he came to Attakapas.
Don't shed tears over him l wish there
TWO of him. Wen bury him FIRST then
mnralize afterward"
That night took our canoe. went to
Lluman's found Prcnticc's body and be
fore midnight had him decently buried.
Thence We proceeded To Smiths creek got
III. girls. and at IL o'clock the next day
they were AT the rendezvous, and Bradley
and Wesner were at their usual place of
business.
Sunday. al church the people ter
r.hly excited. Prentice had gone and taken
1--WE women belonging to his employer Ii
must have been he who stole Coverlys
~ op.r and had done all this mischief. Lam
man offered $40 reward for him. dead
alive. other planters added 10 il until when
the bills were put up there Were S1U.VD Of
fercd for the apprehe aston Of James Prem
lice or for the production of him. dead or
alive.
An additional reward for Marie Jane StI-
san. Violet, l.ewiselstte and SIrah-mulatto