The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1901-11-06


Each pian A.. - ..dvantageS. III we
followed the cavalry, we might succeed
In coming up with them, In which |!
event we should be safe, but as they
were mounted and we were not there
was little hope of our overtaking them.
Besides, the guerrilla as would expect us
to follow that course. If we pushed
south, we must abandon all hope of
falling IL %!th the troopers, but would
doubtless mislead the guerrillas and
gain considerable time. We would also
be moving toward the homes of the 9th
ers of the party. 1 struck out south
ward.
what are yo' going that way fo'?"
cried Jack.
TITS the way to 60"
swell, go ahead; Pm going after the
soldiers"
She turned and started northward.
1 seized her and, taking her In my
arms, carried her along with the rest,
she raining n shower of blows from
her little fist upon my head. We
pressed on without a word, till Jack,
either tired of the situation or becom-
Ing sensible of the a~bsurdity of her
action. promised that If 1 would put
her down she would go with us peace
ably. l set her IN the ground in a
very d~isgruntled condition.
81 wish Captain Ringold were here"
she muttered angrily. "Hed make you
pay TO that"
The roaG was so winding that I did
not fear any one behind could see us
from q distance, while, should we leave
IL, cur progress would DO very slow.
I chose to tai the risk Of being seen
and put as great q distance as possible
between us n the outlaws while
they supposed they were ON our track
in the direction of the cavalry, for /
felt sure they would expect us to take
that course. We la not gone far be-
fore we met n lean c%ountryman on
horseback. In a few words / told him
OF our situation N begged him If he
met the guerrillas to mislead them.
When he learned of our starving con-
dition, he pulled n small black bottle
containing whisky out of his saddle
bag. | forced every member Of the
party to drink and. tossing the empty
bottle to the countryman, hurried N.
] knew that the stimulant would avail
us but a little while, then would only
make matters worse. Helen walked
on, showing no effect whatever from
the potation. Jack danced along as If
h were at a picnic party, while Buck
suddenly became brave as n lion.
"Don't yo' think, Mr.. ~Brandystone,"
he said, with difficulty getting breath
enough to a%rticulate while walking so
fast, "we'd better stop an fight emp
81 think you'd better stop talking
and save your breath for walking"
Reckon we better STOP" said Gin
ger, "an thank de Lawd TO lettin us
out O. dat trap an pray TO dem g'rillas
T. git los In de Wilderness"
1--WE can do that while we're walk
Ing" said Helen, land not lose any
8 time"
"Spec' de pra'rs on de knees Is mo-
l eflcacerous," replied Ginger, "but meb.
, be we don't need 'em like we did a spell
ago."
{ Still there was no sound in our rear.
Helen asked If l did not think that
( keeping the road was pretty risky. 1
told her that 1 would soon give the
word to take to the woods. Coming to
@ point where there was q turn, leav
Ing n straight piece Of road back of us.
1 told the rest to so on while i waited
and watched. / stood casting chances
back till my army reached another
turn in advance, then, pressing for
ward, caught up with them. In this
way I kept them In the Dad and main
tained n rear watch at the same time
for nearly half an hour. Then the
strength Of the party, which had thus
far been supplied by excitement, sud
denly began to drOop, n l, feeling
that l had used all the energy there
! was In them, led the way off the road
into the heart of the forest. We had
scarcely got into the woods when we
heard a Gathering of hoofs on the road.
: Whether they were made by the guer-
rillas' horses or not 1 did not know, but
l felt sure they were. We waited till
they were out of hearing, then every
one sank down ON the ground.
"Now, Ginger" 1 said, ut is n good
time to give thanks"
Getting on his knees, Ginger poured
out the thanks of the party in words
that came as smoothly Inc plentlfully
as the waters of a running stream. l.,
being Of that persuasion which has for
Its motto, Trust In God. but keep
your powder dry" and. seeing that Gin
ger was disposed to prolong his thanks
giving indefinitely, got up and started
to find n convenient place to hide. l
, soon struck n little pocket formed by
the coming together OF several declivi-
ties and surrounded by thickets. A lit
tie runnel passed through 1t, and,
STOPPING down, i quenched n thirst that
was burning me. Returning to the
party, 1 led them to the retreat l had
found for them, then left them to 60 In
search of provisions.
II WIS how quite dark. 1 walked
half n mile, when 1 saw the lights of
Tracy City. Going to the town and
selecting n house standing apart from
the rest, 1 marched boldly up to 1t and
knocked at the door. 1t was opened
by a girl, the only occupant of the
place, a wild eyed creature in dingy
calico. unshod, her square cut locks
tucked behind her ears. She appeared
to be In a chronic state of fright and
evidently thought me one Of those men
who were going about taking advan.
ta3e of the absence of restraint induced
by war to help themselves to whatever
they wanted. I asked her for some