The Plymouth Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1878-1901, 1901-06-20
CHAPTER i.
THE SCOTCH KIDNAPERS.

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eight years old he was as Draw
and bonny and blithe a lad as
ever wore sandy hair in all Scot
land. His fond and happy par
ents thought so and there were
many others in the little village
not far from Aberdeen to think
the same, barring of course their
own angelic BARNS; and further
more, there may at this day be
seen in prosperous Indiana
factory town an ivory miniature
of Angus painted at the very
time we are speaking of by a
celebrated London artist who,
travelling in those parts, was at
tracted by the boy and made a
portrait from pure love of his
bright and sonsie face. and this
little picture, cherished by his
descendants of the fifth genera
ton, iustifes the admiration be-
slowed upon the young Angus
by all who knew him. He was
large and strong for his age,
shrewd ard quick witted. with
an honest blue eye that saw much,
forward and diligent in his stud
les and an accepted leader in all
the youthful sports of the neigh
borhood.
Such a boy always deserves a
good home and Angus had one,
on a cosy little farm running in
to the village, where he cheer
fully performed as much work as
his tender years allowed and as
would not interfere with his
studies, for be was an only child
and his doting parents dreamed
of him as leader at the Aber-
deem bar in due season. 1t can
not be said that Angus was a
faultless lad and that impression
must not get abroad; he was a
healthy, full-blooded boy. and If
he was high-spirited and self
willed, stubborn if you like, he
was yet submissive to the guild
ance of that tender, patient,
pious mother whose dear face
was ever IN his memory through
all the trials and sufferings this
tale is to describe, and he yield
| ed to the firm discipline of that
conscientious Scotch father fo1
whom his love and respect was
never diminished.
When Angus Corbly was
eight years old he was sudden
ly torn from his loving parents
and his comfortable home, CARR
ed away beyond seas by strange
and cruel men and thrust relent-
lessly into an apprenticeship
only less miserable than the
years of slavery he was destined
to endure as a captive among the
Indian savages in the forests OF
America. He never saw his
home again and he could only
imagine the yearning grief OF
his father and mother, to whom
his miserable fate was never
known.
In the evening of that doleful
day when for the first time the
lad knew serious trouble, he was
sturdily and cheerily making his
way along a winding lane, close
to his fathers farm, when he
was set upon by two rough fell
lows CARRIED as sailors and drag
ged struggling into a thick
copse, his attempted outcries
strangled IN his throat by the
dirty hand of one of the illfavor-
ed villains as they hurried him
to a secluded spot in the dark
and silent wood. Then a pause
was made, long enough to stuff
greasy handkerchief into the
captive's mouth and bid him end
his useless resistance, then the
march was resumed as rapidly
as the darkness and the broken
J surface of the country would per-
NIT. Sobbing silently and his
young heart torn with anguish
and apprehension, the brave boy
still was watchful and turned
oyer many plans of escape,
which meditation, however, was
much interfered with by the
hoarse curses of his companions
as he stumbled and sometimes
fell over the jagged rocks and
, fallen branches that lay in the
path. Soon reaching the River
Dee they embarked in a rude
boat that seemed to have been
prepared for their coming and
for half an hour they drifted rap
idly with the current in the deep
shadows of lofty hills, landing
at last on the opposite bank and
proceeding more deliberately into
the gloomy recesses of the east