The National tribune., 1901-10-31
A MISSOURI PIONEER.
Continued from first page.)

l;lnu pirate, ana 1Of II moment Sldred III
him SO tiercely that the old scOundrel re
coiled Instinctively George felt that he
was i'll some way to blame for the mur
der. There was no proof, but we have
intuitiOns often more reliable than proof
Though George understood but small
part of the quarrel at that time, he sus
pected that La Boone had famed the
flame of hate in Benton's breast which
induced him to kill young Lucas.
For a moment La Boone was silent
and then in his wheezy voice managed to
| articulate,
What ye glarin' at me for, like a wild
panther, a-starin' me out o countenance?'
You spoke first"
"You talked o. murderw hissed La
| Boone.
There goes evidence of it." and he
pointed to the men carrying the body on
the stretcher.
Wasn't it fairY'
mo"
Why"
He was hunted down like wolf.
He was goaded to madness, and made to
| fight when he was so weak he was not
! the equal of Benton. 1t was murder, and
every man who aided and abetted in it is
| a murderer"
well, my dear boy, L warn't over
| there at ALL" wheezed La Boone. Il
didn't have anything to do with it." Then
the wheezy, pudgy old man turned slowly
| around, and with lowering brow waddled
off up the hill toward his tavern.
George, seemingly impelled by some I'M
controllable power, followed slowly after
| the long procession, which increased in
| size as it advanced. The smith, ON hear
! ing the sob of grief, dropped his hammer,
the merchant left his yard-stick, the
butcher, in neat white apron and cap,
came to inquire what was wrong, and Ieil
in with the procession.
oh, what is It!' George heard a white
faced woman ask of man as the pro-
cession wended its way past her house.
That old devil killed Charley Lucas
''Oh, no, he didn'tY groaned the wom-
an, wringing her hands.
Yes, he did. They are carrying him
home. l said he would kill him yet, and
he has done it. He ought to be hung!-
cusS him, he ought to be killed"
"Oh, his poor mother. My God, it will
kill her. When did he do itF
This morning, on Bloody Island"
Then the gUssiping neighbors hurried
on, and the woman, throwing her apron
over her head, followed after the others.
1t was not wholly morbid curiosity that
prompted her to follow, for her heart was
wrung with anguish.
1t was a moufnfuf procession. There
were curses low and deep, and it would
have Jared hard with Benton had ne been
in the city thattmoTiiDg. Col. Lawless
was good judge Of human nature, so he
kept Benton out of f2the way, and set his
friends to apologizing1 for the act.
The press published long apologies and
gave interviews with Benton, in which he
was represented as penitent, heart
broken, spending his days in seclusion,
amid tears and prayers.
1t was a willy political scheme calcu-
lated to restore Benton to his place III the
hearts of the people. Benton and Law
less saw III the future grand Sta.e,
with Congressional, Senatorial or Guberna
torial honors. Benton lOnged to wear the
tOga of a Senator in Washington. He
lOnged to have his name written in pages
of history, to be hOnOred and respected.
He lOnged for bust or statue to immor
taiize himself in the future.
All these he saw in his minds eye for
the great future, but there had stood one
in his path. Deep in his heart he felt
that Charles Lucas would be more popu-
lar than himself. There would be no op-
pOrtunity for him TO reach the high sta
tiOn to which he aspired until this one
obstruction had been removed. He had
brooded on the subject days and nights
until he had grown morbid, and seized
the proyocation to challenge him.
Better fight him and be killed than
leave him in my path"
Benton that he had murder in his heart
from the very first; any one can see from
the subsequent events that Charley Lucas
was an innocent sacrifice to the ambition
of man of power.
1t takes much to turn popular favor
sometimes. Get great current running
in one direction, and you can hardly
change it. Benton knew this, and so I'D
his friends Under the direction of the
dead mans opponent all the newspapers
i'll the city We're, to a certain measure,
subsidized so that the story was softened
with fictitious accounts of penitence.
The mother and father bent low over
the coffin in which their loved one lay.
"Good-by, child of our hearts. You
are happy and we miserable. Good-By
forever"
1t was the gloomest day of George Nc
Nairs life. He wandered about the town.
taking no interest in the many curious and
novel objects which met his view on every
side.
A party of Indians came down the river
in their canoes, and went to the stores
to exchange their peltries for blankets
beads and trinkets. He watched those
tawny sons of the forest for some time,
but without any particular interest. Then
he went TO the tavern to see his father
but he was not in. He went to the stable
to look after the horses, and found them
wen utu ne went 10 the
waterfront or leyee and watched the flat
boats taking on their eargOes ready to de-
part for the lower Mississippi trade.
The Gen. Pike" was getting up steam
He watched the iiremen poking the cord
wood into the glowing furnace, and saw
the black smoke issiiing in immense vol
umes from the tall chimney stacks
Negroes were rolling bales of goods on
board, an dothers carrying articles. The
Mate was shouting orders, people WERE,
talking loudly, and then the great bell
began changing the warning to push off
All was hustle and confusion, which at
times tended to weant him from the hor-
ror of the early morning and scenes of
grief he had witnessed;- yet in Il general
way he seemed to still feel it on his heart,
and pressed his hand there as if in pain.
IL for moment it was forgotten like an
aching wound, it at the next required
more yividly than before. At last the
great whistle sounded its ear-splitting
scream, and the cry of "All clear!" rang
out, the moorings were east off, the gang
plank drawn in, and there came a heaving
puff.
Those giant paddles began to move,
and the monster swung slowly around.
He was now lost in wonder at the new
power which, chained and banded down
by iron bolts, was destined to move the