The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1901-10-16
oTben take of that apron and give II


to me at once. Not moment to lose"
! At this juncture the desperate posi-
tion ! was In entered his brain, and he
worked quickly enough once he real
lied what was wanted. I saw wool
/ en- shirt. well begrimed, hanging on n
nail and, SELLING 1t, put II on. Then
took the smiths apron rolled up my
sleeves, smenred my arms with cnders
and looked into bit of broken mirror
resting against the wooden wall to OBJ
serve the effect. | was disappointed to
see that my face belied my calling.
Your rasorv exclaimed to the
blacksmith.
He went through door leading from
the shop TO his dwelling and returned
with razor, soap and hot water In
five minutes ! had shorn my beard,
leaving dark stubble; then, selling a
handful of coke, rubbed out every re-
fined llncamcnt. Taking another look
Mt myself, | was pleased to see that my
own mother would not know me- SeiZ.
ing the handle of the bellows. | began
TO blow vigorously.
"Weel, weel" laughed the black
|
than gcentlcmon.'
"Plny your own pnrt WELL" | replied,
'and | have something nice for you at
the end Of the performance"
1t was fully 10 minutes after we
reached the hamlet before there were
any signs OF the guerrillas. and then
three or four rode into the town and
asked for our party. Had they seen
us? Which way had we gone? and 9TH
er questions. which the few people they
met responded to with a grunt or Il
shake of the head. | put my head out
TO see and. recognizing one OF them,
drew back and began to blow my bel
lows as II my life depended ON it. And
1t did. Presently one of the outlaws
rode up to the shop.
Hello. tharr' lie shouted.
"Wnnl." replied. still blowing and
keeping my face turned from him.
"Seen man. two women. a boy an
a Niger 20 through the townT
"Hain't seen no one"
"Sho'?"
"Sho' nun"
He rode Off, but knew the storm
| iuu nOt wv DlONn oNfi. Ntht oh
working the bellows and It was well
did so. for presently more of the band
rode into town. and one of the horses
having lost n shoe. its rider dlsmounted
in front of the shop and told me to put
II on.
This was something had not count
ed on. knew no more about horse
shoeing than about knitting. but put
n bold face on the matter and went to
work.
"What the - yo' doinT yelled the
man. Air yo' goin ter put that shoe
on with nary trimminT'
Don't 20" spose | know my busi-
ness?" cried. bristling. II was only
flttin It."
With that ] seized knife and began
to cut But ! was too excited to pare
the hoof even II ! had been an expert,
and in another moment the man yelled
again, "Ef yo' cut that critters hoof
of. I'll brain yo'r'
Here. Sandy" | cried to the black
smith within. 'come shoe this mans
critter, He thinks he knows more'n
do about shoein.'
The blacksmith finished the Job,
while |. pretending to be greatly irrl-
tated. was glad to escape into his
dwelling house. Going to front win
dow and dropping curtain so that
could look into the road without being
seen. | took view of the situation.
The guerrilas were scattered about the
town, some riding around the houses
hunting for us. others sitting ON their
horses. questioning the inha bitants as
to our whereabouts. Captain Ringold
was In command A negro boy was
playing "hopscotch" on the. sidewalk.
The captain called to him:
'Yo' boy thar. didn't yo' see anybody
go this way awhile ago?"
1.-TWO women an a boy bout big g
meT
"Yes."
AN white man an colored manT
"Yes. Which way did they go?"
"Dey's gwine right long dar." And
he pointed to n path leading across the
road westward.
Here. you" cried the captain to two
men who were watering their horses
at a wooden trough In front of the
shop. strike ont on that path"
The men dnrted away. leaving the
captain alone In the road. A little old
woman came out of house opposite
and began to guy him In cracked
voice. poking fun at him for not being
able to catch party of women. She
talked SO Familiarity with him that
began to suspect she knew him.
trembled for fear she would betray us.
"iou uns amt wo'th n persimmon,'
she said with them critters legs un-
der yer, yer orter ketch wimmen folks
easy"
We'll catch 'em easy enough. They've
gone along thar" pointing to the path
his men were just dashing into.
eth didn't 60 that away"
Wrhav didn,t2 Which wov did thay