The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1900-07-13

who was turning his wagon away from
the gate.
Dave toll me back thar at the grave
Jest now" she faltered, that you said |
you never would give me no trouble
about anything. If / knowed that
you would not bring me to court, an
that you would let us have the insur-
ance money to buy land in Texas, Ron,
I'd not keep back thing"
"Your name shall never be men
toned" he promised, now chilled TO
the center of his heart by what might
b"revealed. "Ihave a right to know It,
If am not your son, and not his. You
know you are welcome TO the insurance
money"
Cant you put It off till after supper,
when all the rest is asleep? / am so
excited"
mo, I'd rather know now" he said.
The " ind blew the fine fakes of snow
under the roof of the porch, and they
fell and melted on her iron-gray locks.
She did not look at him when she be-
gan, nor did she give him her eyes
steadily once through the whole re-
cital.
you've heerd bout yore pas bush
whackin' days up in Tennessee endurin
of the war;" she began. "IIe was a sort
of head man against em ALL They
made good deal by It, fust an last.
lie used to tell me all about il fore we
got married an | was sech foolish
young thing that I thought his conduct
was smart, an that Jade Fanshaw was
about the finest ketch in them noun
tains. They did their biggest business
an made their biggest hauls by captur-
in folks that was travelin' heer an
yam through the mountains to git away
from the war, as most of sech folks had
money about 'em. They didn't kill
often. unless it was through lack of
proper Judgment. like, for instance, in
threatenn' man to give up his treas
ure by drawin' i'm up on a rope an let
tim i'm hang n mite too long. Whar
you come in was this away" Mrs
Fanshnw cautiously closed the door
leading into the hall and then went on:
"a man and his wife an baby abou;
four months old come long in a car
riage driv' by a niger man. an yore
pas crowd was lyin' in wait fur 'em an
belt 'em up in lonely mountain pass.
| The man was young confederate Of
! fcer an the woman was mighty good
| lockn' ar dressed as fine as a fiddle.
| That's one reason the gang thought
| they had money. They ordered all Of
EN- to git out on the ground. an the
officer did so at once. an tuck the baby
from its mother so she could git out.
"Well, they say he had no sooner
! put foot to the ground fore the niger
driver whipped up the bosses like mad
an managed to dodge the shots an git
away The tale Jake always told me
was that the officer started off at full
speed after the carriage an got shot ac-
cidentally. fallin' with you in his arms.
The wust part of IL fur the gang was
that the man had no money about him.
an they had a live squallin' baby or
hands. Then they drawed lots as TO
who was TO put the baby out o pain, an
Il fell to Jade, an he fetched YOU Ia
put the job off on me. I'd been married
two yeer an never had no child, an as
] was by myself in lone cabin from
morning till night an often all night
begged Jade TO let me have You fur com
pany an as he didn't seem to want to
bother more about it, he give in. No
body but the gang ever knowed you
wasn't my child an they scattered to
all parts of the world after the surren.
der. After that Dave an the gals was
born an nobody ever suspicioned that
you wasn't a Fanshaw."
Ronald, pale and excited, leaned
against the watershed.
do you know the name of the Of
fcer?" he asked.
THAR wasn't thing TO show who hC
| was" answered Mrs. Fanshaw. He
didn't have a thing in his pockets eX
cept silver tobacco box. You've seed
ii a hunderd times; all the children Gu,
their teeth on it; it's in the front room
with matches in IT,"
She went into the house and brought
ii back.
"Iye told many a lie about this lit
tie trick" she admitted, with a shrug
and little smile as she gave it to him
He had seen the box often before
and remembered that words were en-
graved on it. He held it to the light
making out the following; From
Elizabeth to"
This does not help me much" he
said, but ! shall not rest till | know
who am. Is any of the old band living
now?"
char must be some of EN-, but the
Lord only knows whar they are; they
seemed ashamed of Their war conduct
an amt anxious to keep up old friend
ships Now, Ron, remember yore prom
ise!"
81 shall do nothing til you are away
from here" he said, "and then you
shall never be blamed. The one TO be
blamed is there" He made gesture
toward the graveyard over the hills.
81 reckon you are right" she sighed
maybe eff I'd a-had other company