Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-10-24


Come, it's time for US to go"
Shouts of mol" "a dancer, "a song"
greeted the proposition, and the guer-
rlllas began to form in groups to resist
an exit. Helen, selecting the noisiest
knot Of men, drew q revolver from her
pocket and, cooking it, moved toward
them with her eyes fixed upon them.
calm and steady. Whether it was that
they were cowed by the weapon or adj
mired this evidence Of womans pluck,
they opened a way. The captain. seiz-
ing the opportunity, quickly took Jack
by the hand and led her after her
cousin. Once beyond the ring. he as
sisted the girls to mount then. mount
ing himself, the three rode away, fol-
lowed by a cheer. AS for me, / breath
ed one long sigh of relief.
"Well. Ginger" said Buck. reckon
eff we uns air goin to git to Sparty to-
morrer We'll have to travel all night"
"Is the niger takin yo' to Sparty or
air yo' takin the nigger?" asked one
of the men.
Dat amt gwine to max no differ"
said Ginger. Mars Buck an l don
never had no trouble. Mars Buck, he's
my mars till gifts to de new one"
! Buck led his horse to the log and
mounted, giving me significant look,
as much as to say, 81 won't desert
you," then rode away, followed by Gin
ger, with the remark:
"Goodby, yo' fellers. Much 'bliged
fo' the good time"
The restraint Of the girls presence
being no longer felt. the mems behavior
changed in q twinkling. The captains
absence left Pete. Halliday, the worst
man in the gang, free to foment trou-
Bile, and he began to do SO by sneering
at his chief for being brought, as he
expressed it, under petticoat govern
ment. There appeared to be two fac
tons in the band-the one headed by
Halliday or Jaycox and the other by
Captain Ringold. Halliday set about
instigating the guerrlllas, or. rather.
his adherents, to 80 after Helen and
dance. To make matters worse, one
Of the men found some apple5ack. and
1t was not long before the gang were
half drunk. Meanwhile the captain
returned and received a hearty cursing
from Halliday and his adhersnts. Sew
ersl Of them started to bring back the
girls, but Ringofd drew upon them and
threatened to shoot them unless they
returned. They staggered back, grum-
bling. and the captain adroitly pro;
posed another pull at the appiejack.
This diverted them, and after finishing
the liquor one after another sank into
a drunken siumber.
1t was midnight. Every member OF
the band was asleep save the man who
was deputed to guard me. He was sit.
ting on piece of, drewood, so placed
that he could watch me across the
flame. Hay on my back looking up at
the stars and featherlike clouds that
now ard again hoated across the great
blue dome. the only motion apparent
save the tree tops bending under an oc-
casional breeze. The fire hickered. the
guard nodded, and an owl in the dis
lance gave an occasional boot.
heard something stir in the under
brush. CHANGING aside, saw small
light disk over BUSH, 1t was the face
Of little Buck.
Now, in the name of all the gods, will
those devoted friends never give over
risking their lives in these useless at
tempts? What is to happen now? I
scowled an order to the boy to go
away, but he paid no attention to it.
Something came sliding along the
ground and lodged against me. The
guard heard it, started, cast quick
glance at me, then about him, but,
seeing nothing, relapsed into his for
mer quletude. I felt for what had
struck me and clasped q jackknife.
Meanwhile Buck disappeared. but,
soon appearing again in his place. held
up carbine. He had doubtless stolen
it from one Of the men who slept on
the edge of the circle about the fire.
Again he disappeared, and ! watched
eagerly for his return. The guard was
still awake, though nodding, but had
he been more watchful he would not
likely have discovered Buck, for the
underbrush, both where the boy ap-
peared to me and where it skirted tho
sleeping guerrillas, was SO thick that
in passing around the camp he was
comparatively safe from observation.
Besides for most of the distance Buck
traversed in his gun foray the guards
back was toward him. ~
/ watch the point where Bucks head
appeared. expecting to see it again.
but in its stead presently see two white
points. strainlng my eyes, discern
the whites Of two eyes. then black
face.
1t is Ginger. A white line appears
directly below the eyes, and he is show
ing his teeth in smile. He raises his
arm, and, behold, another gun! Again
q white line Of teeth, and he puts the
weapon down. Five, 10, Is minutes
elapse. Ginger holds his ground. Has
he gone to sleep? No. Another five
minutes and he holds up another gun.
All, 1 see. Little Buck, with catlike
tread, is gathering in the arms. That's
well. He is far better fitted for such
delicate work than stiff old negro.