Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1902-02-22
CHAPTER VI.
THE CAPTAINS PAPERS.

We rode hard all the way, till we
drew up before DR.. Livesey's door. The
house was all dark In front.
Mr.. Dance told me to jump down and
knock, and Dogger gave me a stirrup
to descend by. The door was opened
almost at once by the maid.
us DIR. Livcsey in?" / asked.
No, she said: he had come home in
TIE afternoon, but had N up to the
hall to dine and pass the evening with
the squire.
80 there we go, boys" said Mr..
Dance.
This time, as the distance was short,
] did not mount, but ran with Dogger's
stirrup-leather TO the lodge gates, and
up the long, leafiess, moonlit avenue to
where the white line of the Hall build
ings looked on either hand on great old
gardens. Here Mr.. Dance dismounted,
and, taking me along with him, was adj
mitted at a word into the house.
The servant led us down a matted
passage, n showed us at the end into
a great library, all lined with book
cases and busts upon the top Of them,
where the squire and DR.. Livesey sat,
pipe In hand, on either side OF the
bright fire.
l had never seen the squire so neal
at hand. He was n tail man, over six
feet high, and broad in proportion, and
he had a bluff, rough-and-ready face,
I'll ~rounghened and Redeemed and lined
in his long travels. His eyebrows were
very black, and moved readily, and this
gave him a look Of some temper, not
bad, you would say, but quick and
high
Come In, Mr.. Dance" says he, very
stately and condescending.
Good evening, Dance" says the doc
tor, with a nod. And good evening to
you, friend Jim. What good wind
brings you here?"
The supervisor stood up straight and
stiff, and told his story like a lesson:
and you should a seen how the two
gentlemen leaned forward and looked
at each other, and forgot to smoke in
their surprise and interest. When they
heard how my mother went back to the
inn, DR.. Livesey fairly slapped his
thigh, and the squire cried Bravo"
n broke his long pipe against the
crate. Long before 1t was done, Mr..
Trelawney Chat, you will remember,
was the squire's name) had go up
from his seat, n was striding about
the room, and the doctor, as If to hear
the better, had taken off his powdered
wig, and sat there, looking very strange
indeed with his own close-cropped,
black poll.
At last Mr.. Dance finished the story.
Mr.. Dance" said the squire. you
are a very noble fellow. And as for rid
ing down that black. a~trocious mis-
creant, / regard IT as an act of virtue.
sir, like stamping on a cockroach. This
lad Hawkins Is a trump, 1 perceive.
Hawkins, will o ring that bell? Mr..
Dance must have some ale"
And so, JIM" said the doctor. "you
boya tho thing that fhau uvara af.zz
have your"
Here 1t is, sir" said I, and gave him
the oilskin packet.
The doctor looked it all over, as If his
fingers were itching to open IT.; but, in
stead OF doing that, he put it quietly III
the pocket Of his coat.
Squire" said he, when Dance has
had his ale he must, of course, be off
on his majesty's service; but / mean
to keep Jim Hawkins here to sleep at
my house, and, with your permission, 1
propose we should have up the cold pie,
and let him sup"
"As you will, Livescy," said the
squire; Hawkins has earned better
than cold pie"
SO a big pigeon pie was brought in
and put on a side table, and / made a
hearty supper, for I a as hungry as
a hawk, while Mr.. Dance was further
complimented, and at last dismissed.
And now, squire" said the doctor.
And, now, Livesey," said the squire,
In he. same breath.
One a at time, one at a time"
laughed DR.. Ljvesey. You have heard
of this Flint. i suppose?"
Heard Of him!" cried the squire.
Heard Of him, you say! He was the
bloodthirstiest buccaneer that sailed.
Blackboard was a child to Fiat. The
Spaniards were so prodigiously afraid
OF him. I tell you. sir, 1 was some
times proud he was an Englishman.
I've seen his topsails with these eyes,
OFT Trinidad, and the cowardly son of a
rum-puncheon that 1 sailed with put
back-.put back, sir, into port of
Spain"