The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-27

~ W Da~Sdkts
The next morning was bright, the rising
sun sho9e on ne wet bushes. and the rain drops
Ihe women were making coffee. Hark,l
Dorne on me morning air came the dread sound
that sends terror TO the heart Of the fugitive Of
the swamp the bayin3 Of hounds!
t,od have mercy" said Violet: "the dogs"
All the fugitives were on their feet. The
baying continued, but came no nearer.
obanhIe iriThiened negroes huddled together;
frs,, en- n lsm falIox were cool obed spoke
YES cried EN- and must fight;
would save his party from capture and his neck
from the moose.
One moments reflection convinced him
that II they were indeed pursued, II must be
by people in boats, who had dogs with them,
and were %encanlped beside the creek getting
their breakfast. The dogs were probably
persons? Where from lie did not care.
Can ] make these people save themselves"
was his anxious thought. .
II he sent part of them Of in the canoes and
kept some OF them to beat of their pursuers and
failed. all was lost. Neither Obed nor Iemucl
could pilot the boats TO Bradley's yard, and
on them he must rely for his support in the
coming contest The rest were good workers,
hut a generation Of abiect slavery had ey-
tlnguished every, particle of manly courage in
their breasts, They would obey him because
for the same reason.
Wesner decided quickly. Boys" said he.
turning TO the flgitives, we must fight. Obed.
you and lemuel know how: | want. two more
and ! Will take YOU. Jake. and you. Bill. Now
do AZ tell you or ! will shoot you dead / in your
tracks Take your rifles and come here;
They brought their rifles to him: he loaded
both and capped the nipples.
o boys, said he, you can both shoot.
for have seen YOU, but this time you must
shoot a white man. Can your"
az, massa.
y as, massa. repeated Wesner, sternly.
That's encouraging. Obed we'll take them
alons, but there are only three of us-they
Jtm's wife spoke up; Il can shoot a white
man or a black coward either; try me and
see. and She picked up a rife and loaded II.
showing "A practised hand. Il used to clean
old Ma>sa lanman's guns, when he went hunt
ing. and have fired them many a time"
Good for You. Vic; Won shall be- captain
Of fba the ran Tsserye s. Now; Now the rest m of yoG q, load ,sd
bayou and remain in them until We return"
Wesn-r saw that places In the canoe for
himself and his men were left vacant and
the paddles ready 10 grasp in an instant. TAX
INK Violet aside he explained TO her what 10
do in case he was killed, for I shall not be
captured, " he said Violet, II YOU could read.
| would let YOU have my plan"
But | can read, she replied.
Mesner looked astonlshed and thrust his
plans INTO her hands.
Come hoy>. SAID he to the negroes. and
closely followed by the four proceeded ny
the creek. The water was ankle deep most
of the way In Wesner'S estimation II must
be about TWO mules 10 where VnelE DlrSlerN
were encaluped After travelling nearly that
distance he halted his men and went forward
alone He could smell smoke and the odor
III broll,ng meat i must be- very near the
enCampmrnt." he reasoned and crept stealth
ily forward There they were. eight OF them,
and a pack ~ at least twenty dogs. The Een
had finished their breakfast. except one, who
was giving the last turn 10 a bit Of venlson.
Come. Jake, sad the leader Of the crowd,
"ain't YOU mos, filed up | should think
YOU had time enough 10 crawl outside a whole
deer carcass. hide and all, We must be OF
in a moment. If We want 10 catch them mig
gers. II can't be more than three hundred
miles to the end Of this damned bayou, and
they are not a great way ahead Come on.
an leave the hounds To foller.
20, don't be III a hurry cried Jake: cant
you let a Teller eat his breakfast
Wesner did not stop Ia hear more, In ten
minutes he had iOined his companions,
Now boys. " said he. in hi, usual tone Of voice,
there j. 10 be trouble, and some of NJ perhaps
will get hurt cannot shoot them down IN
cold blood, although They're eight 10 five.
Lay behind ms log. and he pointed TO "A cot
toriwood that had fallen beside the bayou.
They dropped quickly and listened 10 the
sound of the voices Of the party as II slowly
approached, pushing along the surface or
""Now, ho,s. level your rifles and cover your
men. let me do the talking don't fir" until
| give the order. unless they do Then don't
wait. but pour II into them. This tight must
be to the death l. my face all right"
Yes, said Obed, you are Niger enough
They could now hear the conversation u
their pursuers as they drew near Mesner,
cooking his rife stepped quietly behind a ire"
out of range q hi, own men and a trifie nearer
In. water The first canoe, containing five
men. was in sight, ten rods from him the other
was about three rods astern, and held
but one man armed ~ the leading canoe He
sat in the stern padding, his rife al his feet,
Good thought Wesner and then halt, IN a
voice that made the woods ring With a force
that nearly ur,spt her, the oar.lnpn brought the
canoe to the bank
Who are YOU" cried the leader.
By this time the other canoe had drawn nearly
M 10 the landing one, 50 that tho occupants
could 50" Nesner. A. he stood partially con
cealed
into view. "A runaway Niger, one Of The twenty
you are chasing. am not 10 be- taken alive,
neither are my companions, you had better re-
turn now, in five minutes II will be- too late for
some of you.
See here. my boy, " cried the leader. don't
move your hand toward that rife, II YOU do you
are a dead man,
Wesner replied I'm none Of your boys;
your whole party ara covered by my men in N.
woods, yon cannot move one yard forward nm
less say so
jus, then there came the distant baying Of
the dogs. They had finished their breakfast
and were Of for Their masters, One of the men
in the canoe raised a Tin horn 10 his lips and
blew a shrill blast
Bow, WOW, WOW, came from the dogs.
The Arkansas Pixies in N" ciio"s smiled
significantly. \ Niger breads n dog Away.
Say YOU, voull max" good dog meat, yelled
the JaundlC,d-lookln g man in the near canoe.
As he said this he drew n sillDle-barrelled rlf'e
pistol from his belt and fired at Wesner.
The aim was hHsty and III" shot wild, never
theless the bullet ,ang too near his ear. for the
distance was less than ten rods.
Wesner'S rife. cracked, and with a Shrek
the poor devil fell dead in the canoe This was
a signal, and the simultaneous reports of the
negroes rifles mingled with that of Wesner-
two more Of the pnrsuers fell five left, yes,
and twenty dogs
for their loud hovls were demoraliZing 10 the
negroes. The pursuing party now pulled their
canoes over 10 the opposite side Of the creek
A. they struck the shore, Wesnnr fired and
again Sprang behind the log He had the salts
faction of seeing but four men spring from the
canoes and TAX. to the bushes.
Now Obed, said he, take Jake and go meet
those dogs, leave Lem with mo Get out OF the
way OF those devils guns, Lem and will
watch them XII the dogs. remember that
kill the dogs .
He shouted this in a voice plainly TO be heard
on the other side Of the stream
In a few minutes he could hear the guns Of
the men, followed by yalls Of the dogs, and
knew that there was a sharp battle going on.
In a moment or two came the report OF an
other gun.
Yes, sir" said that individual, "Obed will
take care Of them dogs and we must take care
OBJ them ones ohar there,
"Iemuel, yol arf about right" replied Wes-
the canoes, Yes, that's their only hold. don't
show Yourself a. Lem raised his head and a
bullet whizzad close 70 his ear They mean
mischief they are four TO our three now, for
! do not count on the new men they may shoot
a few dogs