The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1901-01-31
ESCAPE FROM THE ISLAND.

'What are we waitin' fur" Jack Moore
asked Harry Granger.
I'VE are only waiting to get all the
batteaux together and go down the river
in body" Harry explained.
well, I'm tired O. this" declared Jack,
in a tone which indicated disgust. IF
I'm goin' to be knocked on the head,
want it, over with
Harry Granger had grown weary with
inaetion himself. They had been several
months at Marietta. Burr was at Nash
vile. whence he sent letters frequently to
Harry, whom he affectioDately styled his
slittle lieutenant The youthful conspir-
ator, full of hope, wrote a cheering letter
TO Maude Livingston, in which he limited
at some great event to happen which he
hoped would change her life from gloom to
the brightest sunlight. Jack Moore, IN
desperate mood, was eager to plunge into
some sort of excitement to drown his mis-
ery. and regarding Harry as his superior
officer he often applied TO him for infOrma-
ton.
1t was at the close of q cold day that
Harry Granger, obliyiOus to the lowered
temperature, wandered from the camp
and -duclyard, where the fiotilla was being
constructed. Despite all his efforts to con-
vince himself that he was cheerful, he
felt strange misgivings. Again and again
he threw off the doubt and sought to rea-
son with himself that the great scheme
could not but be successful! But that op-
pressiye feeling again and again asserted
itself, so that as he walked along the road
leading from Marietta, in his aimless ram
BILE, he said:
How / wish / could dip into the future
and read the ultimate outcome of all this.
Heaven knows, l want to be honest; but
amid SO many conflicting opinions how can
one choose the right" He knew that he
had gone beyond the line of retreat. II
~ IaI n,,lT p,fr,-
kept his promise, which he never for a
moment doubted. royal honors wealth and
fame awaited him: while TO return was
only to meet poverty, disgrace and life
of toll and hardship. The two pictures
which he had formed in his mind so
worked upon him that he at last declared
aloud:
81 will run the risk, though l lose my
head
young man, wot be We a-Sayin'. eh?''
asked a harsh. rasping voice, and CHANGING
TO his right he discovered an old, witch
like creature, whom he had met Oh his
way to Marietta, sitting on a log, with
her long staff leaning against her Shout
der. Her small black eyes glared at him,
like the twinkling orbs of a serpent, and,
she repeated: Young man. wot We be
a-sayin'? When people talk with their
selves they tell n truth; when they talk
with others they lie."
Harry stared AZ her for moment, and
then, having recovered from the aston
ishment her interruption Of his meditations
had caused, he answered:
When people talk with themselves
they expect no listeners"
True, young man; but / be no caves
dropper. IL one be resting their bones by
the wayside, and one come along thinking
so loud one cannot but hear yer thoughts,
be one to blame? / know yer thoughts
hotter than va do ypTSplf @ m warn
We to fee from the wrath to come. Have
naught to do with the man Burr
What do you know of Aaron BurfT'
'AIore than ye visit of, youngster. For
years / have been his shadow. He con-
templates treason, and even now plans be
forming for his overthrow"
You are meddlesome creature, and
were you not an old woman you should
be punished for this"
Harry Granger, get We home to your
mother and sisters, and content yourself
with your lot. Burr shows We path all
shinin' with glory to look upon. but dis
grace and death awaits all who try TO fol
low It. His trail will be one Of blood and
failure"
Harry determined to listen no longer to
her, and, turning abruptly about, went
away. The old woman rose, and hObbling
after him for few PAGES shrieked:
YEN repent ye ever saw Aaron Burr,
4 70
ven repent ye ever met him."
Harry made no answer, and she halted
at last striking the earth with her staff,
and mumbling some unintelIigible words,
which seemed surcbarged with hate, and
increased her ugliness tenfold.
Next morning, at early dawn, Blenner-
hassett, who had returned from Ken
lucky, came to the camp, and taking Har-
ry aside said:
81 fear we are going to have troubler'
"WhyT Harry asked, his face sudden
~ growing deathly white.
"Mr. Graham, the confidential agent of
the Government, has been sent from
Washington to warn me TO have nothing
to do with the enterprise, and declares
that Burr's designs are reasonable"
Harry's heart beat violently, his breath
came with difficulty, and he felt that his
long-cherished hope was in danger 1t is
so hard when one has set his heart on an
object and has cherished dream SO long
TO have all ones hopes blighted. He felt
that he could not give up the grand
scheme, and Maude Livingston, for he felt
that be must lose her as we'll as the royal
honors he had hoped to win. He at last
gained his voice, and asked:
How did you represent the affair to
him.
81 told Mr.. Graham that our scheme
was the settlement on the Washita and
assured him that the expedition to Mexico