The National tribune., 1901-06-06


Yankees he had an incurable repugnanee
toward being where they could shoot ae
him. Before the war he had followed the
businesS-aS far as he followed any busi-
neSS-of running down negroes and Grim
inals with his blOodhounds, and managed
to make fair income, incomes went
in Georgia. When the rebel conscription
act went into force he added to this duty
that OF tracking unwilling patriots who
required unusually strong persuasion to
get them to take up arms in defense OF
Southern Rights" By his usefulness in
this work he managed to keep from being
ccnscripted himself, and when the prison
was established at AIillen he was put on
duty there with his dogs. He saw, from
safe distance, 81 scatter the guards, and
then retired to his secluded cabin to wait
the progress of events. The location Of
his cabin was such as q man of his in
stincts would select. While it could not
be seen, he had q good view of the road
mp and down for miles, and could retire
| from it back into the deep tangle Of woods
! leading to the swamp which bordered the
sluggish creek. In the cabin he lived with
an old crone Of negress, whom he had
taken for his fee from mOneyless plant
er, who owned four or FIVE unlikely" ne
groes, whom he worked and starved SO
that they were continually running away,
and he was constantly in need of Jabe's
services to Tecapture them.
The withered negress was Turnbulrs
housekeeper and sole field hand. He
worked her cruelty, and she was. beside,
the victim of his savage ill-temper when
things did not go right with Mr.. Jabez
Turnbull, and they very often did not.
That afternoon, after having beaten her
! for not having supper ready for him, Jabe
was sitting on stool, switch in hand,
cursing her, as she hobbled around the fire.
place cluTnsily labOring with the heavy
/ pots and skillets.
The dogs raised an alarm of some one
coming through the woods from the rear.
and Jabe peered out angrily, thinking that
some lurker in the swamps was approach
! ing his dwelling, probably with thieyins
| intent.
He still thought this when he saw
Foster Walsh, clothed in Brother Alberts
coat, and otherwise in Southern homespun,
ride out.
"Hyah, yo,' he called out savagely, mis-
taking him for one of the guards, .'what're
yO' doin' away from yer command? Go on
| an jine hit ter-Yunst, an save me the
| trouble O. takin' yo' thar. Go on Yo'
can't git nothin' t eat hyah. Go on, an
jine yer company. Thar's the place t git
rations. How many o you ms is that out
thar? An yo', too," continued Jabe, ad-
dressing another, who seemed to have
| taken heart from Fosters appearance to
| show himself. Foster looked at him in
surprise. He was really one of the miser-
able guards, cadaverous, aguish, long,
! haired, round-shouldered man, without a
| hat or a bit of military equipment, and
| looked as frightened as a hotly-chased rab-
| bit Foster instantly saw that he had
| been scared nearly to death by the fight,
| and, throwing away everything, had
rushed into the swamp, from which hunger
| now forced him. Foster paid no further
| attention to him, but jumping from his
horse threw the bride over a jagged limb
of a pine tree, and walked straight up to
Jate, fixing his bayonet on his gun as he
| walked
DO You recognize me, Jabe Turnbull?'
he asked sternly.
'N-n-n-o-o," stammered the master of
the hounds, stepping backward, and reach
| ing out vaguely with his hand for his shot
gun.
You're liar; you dor said Foster,
approaching still close. Don't you move
another step, or I'll kill you instantly. You
recognize me as the Yankee prisoner who
with a fair-haired boy, You ran down with
your dogs when we were trying, with some
others, to escape"
81 wuz only doin' my duty stammered
Turnbull. Il had my orders. l couldn'e
help hit
You're a lying, cowardly, cruel villain"
said Foster in slow, measured tones, with
out particle of heat in them. You had
no business to be in the work of hunting
down your fellow-creatures like wild
| beasts. That showed you to be brute,
without a particle of saving grace.
/ doubt if you have a soul, in spite of the
Scriptures. Ii so, you were elected from
the beginning TO. be eternaily damned"
! The sweat was starting from Jabes
gnarled, ugly face, in an agony of fear.
Did you have orders, after you caught
u.s." continued Foster implacably, Ito tor,
ture US, as we stood there, wet, worn out
I fo.iu aH nd 6pfanSploSS
sinking under our ill-luck, by setting your
dogs on us, while you sat in your saddle
and hissed them onT
'I-was-tole-t'- '-let-the- dogs-rassle-yo yo't-o-
skeer-the-others-from tryin'-t -git-away,"
stammered the luckless man.
And you sat in your saddle and
laughed when you heard that poor boys
screams and saw the blood running from
his mangled limbs. | care much less for
what you did to me, than what you did to
him. | was man and your bitter enemy.
Perhaps you had 4 right to torture me
| as an Indian would. But to think what
you did to that poor, delicate boy. l told
you then that the Lord would some day
deliver you into my hands to requite your
! wickedness, and you struck me with your
whip, and cursed ME for n nigger-thievlng
Abolitionist. Worse than that, you struck
that boy because he wouldn't go faster
Il uz-obleeged-tO-hurry back-t camp
with yo'uns," mumbled Jabe.
The dogs. seeing their master talking
! with the new conner, ceased their noisy
barking. and gathered about the two men.
The runaway guard. with his long, bony
hands hanging Imply by his side. looked
on with dumb wonderment in his faded
eyes The old negress, wooden spoon in
her shriveled talons, stopped stirring the
dough and listened.
Il haven't forgot you, Jabe TUrnbull,
for a minute since then," continued Foster.
with the awful slOwneSs of a Judge pro-
nouncngthe death sentence. Il was afraid
you'd have sense enough to run away with
! the rest OF the guards. But this after
noon, after we had burned the train, an
! inward voice seemed to whisper TO me
that nv prayers would be answered, and
that the Lords time for delivering you into
nv hands had come. | knew then that |
would find you ut this house, and some
thing led me through the woods straight
to it. Jabez Turnbull, am going to kill
ycu Get down on your knees, confess
your sins to God, and ask for His for
Civeness. for you have but only so much
| time to live as it will take yOu to do that"
| Without lifting his feet, Jabe had edged
backward little toward his gun. Now he
made a frenZied spring for it.
| But Foster Walsh's leap upon him was
like a panther's. Jabe fell with his hand
within an inch of his gun and Fosters
bayonet drove through his breast deep into
the hard boards of the floor.
The dogs sprang upon Foster as he