The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1901-11-20

10y RuCGIIlIuS. lnCy IL De Ill TIC tOWh
i'm a few minutes. Can't you give me
your clothes and let me take your place
at the forge?"
He stood with his hand on the han
die Of the bellows looking at me while
what / said was slowly making Its way
through his skull. ,
"Weel, moo" he said at last.
"Scotch-I knew 1t. I'll be taken be-
fore / can make him understand" Then
to him, "Do you want to save me from
death by guerrillasT"
Certain, mon."
"Then take off that apron and give 1t
to me at once. Not n moment to lose"
At this juncture the desperate posi-
tion 1 was in entered his brain, and he
worked quickly enough nee he real
lied what was w" ed. l saw a wool
en- shirt. well be-, med, hanging OH n
nail and, Selling it, put 1t on. Then l
took the smith's apron. rolled up my
sleeves, smeared my arms with cinders
and looked into n bit of broken mirror
resting against the wooden wall to OBJ
serve the effect. 1 was disappointed to
see that my face belied my calling.
"Your razorP 1 exclaimed to the
blacksmith.
He went through a door leading from
the shop to his dwelling and returned
with a razor, soap and hot water. In
five minutes l had shorn my beard,
leaving n dark stubble; then, selling a
handful of coke, rubbed out every re-
fined llneament. Taking another look
at myself, l 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
smith, I'VE max a better lo'kin smith
than g~eentlemon."
"Play your wv part WELL" 1 replied,
"and / have something nice for you at
the end Of the performance"
1t was fully Is 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
us2 Which way had we gone? and 9th
err questions, which the few people they
met responded to with a grunt or a
shake of the head. I put my head out
to see and, recognizing one of them,
drew back and began to blow my bel
lows as If my life depended on 1t. And
1t did. Presently one of the outlaws
rode up to the shop.
"Hello, thar!" he shouted.
"Waal," ! replied, still blowing and
keeping my face turned from him.
"Seen a man, two women, a boy an
a niger go through the town."
"Hain't seen no one."
"Sho'T
"Sho' nuff."
He rode off, but / knew the storm
had not yet blown over. 1 went on
working the bellows, and 1t was well
I did so, for presently more of the band
rode into town, and one Of the horses
having lost a shoe, its rider dismounted
In front Of the shop and told me to put
1t on.
ed on. / knew no more about horse
shoeing than about knitting, but I put
a bold face on the matter and went to
work.
what the - yo' doinY' yelled the
"Air yo' goin ter put hat shoe
on with nary trimminT"
Don't yo' s'pose 1 know my busi-
nessp' I cried, bristling. II was only
filth It."
With that I seized a knife and began
to cut. But 1 was too excited to pare
the hoof ven bf l had been an expert,
and in another moment the man yelled
again, EFF yo' cut that critters hoof
OF, I'll brain yo'p
"Here, Sandy" I cried to the black
smith within, 'come shoe this mans
critter. He thinks he knows more'n l
do about shoein."
The blacksmith finished the job,
while 1, pretending to be greatly irri-
tated, was glad to escape into his
dwelling house. Going to a froat win
dow and dropping n curtain 50 ahat 1
could look into the road withouS being
seen, took a view Of the sitGation.
The guerri!las We're scattered ab0ut the
town, come riding around tho eouses
hunting for us, others sitting O. their
horses, questioning the inhabitakats as
to our whereabouts. Captain H&ngold
was Ia command. A negro boz was
playing "hopscotch" on the st4bwalk.
The captain called to him:
"Yo' boy thar, didn't yo' see auBbody
go this way awhile agof"
1.-TWO women an a boy bots Big q
meY'
Eyes"
IAN a white man an a colorea saan?"
Eyes. Which way did they gOY'
"Dey's gwine right long daR.s And
he pointed to a path leading across the
road westward.
Here. you," cried the captain % two
men who were watering their Aorses
at a wooden trough in front Of the
shop, "strike out on that PATH
The men darted away, having the
captain aloro In the road. A little old
wop,an came out Of a house opposite
and oegnn to guy him In q cracked
voice, poking fun as him for not being
able to catch a party Of women. She
talked so Familiarity with him that I
began to suspect she knew him.
trembled for fear she would betray us,
you ons amt wo'th a persimmon,''
h saic. with them critters legs un.
DER yey, yer orter ketch wimmen folks
easy"
Wen catch 'em easy enough. They've
gone along thar" pointing to the path
his men were Just dashing into.
9TH didn't 60 that away"
"raey didn't? Which way did they
goT
~ yer s'pose 1 give fac's TO- moth.
imp
~ A cold chill ron Down =, hoot, cha