The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1902-10-10
Gil COUNTY, MD, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1909. NO. 6.

then break into a peal of ghastly
laughter.
After. about an hour and a half old
Ben exclaimed:
"Marse Alf, we's mighty nigh dar!'
In five minutes more Layburn saw a
break in the margin of the stream,
fringed with cane and overhung by
grapevines. 1t looked like the begin
ming of bayou. 1t was in reality the
mouth of Blackberry creek.
Ben tied the fiat to a low spreading
bough of cottonwood tree, and the
party entered the skiff. The old man
took his seat in the stern, and, gently
padding. they began the ascent of the
sluggish creek. When they had gone
about fifty yards, they caught a crac-
King sound.
whats dat?' said the negro under
his breath.
''It must be wildcat or an opos.
sum-" replied Meriweather.
Meantime old Ben had stopped the
skiff.
mo, sah," said the negro. "Look
dar! See dat light? Yo' never seed no
cat nor possum totin' a lantern. It's
folks"
eyes, Jack. Didn't you hear wheel
.reak?" said Layburn.
"Bless God, somebody's after dat
cotton! hear 'em talkin'," returned
the negro.
The three had now got out of the
skiff and were advancing cautiously
and peering through the underground.
Perhaps the garrison had informa-
tion of the cotton and has come to
haul it away" said Meriweather.
"No, sab; 'tain't no Yankees" said
old Ben in an excited whisper. "It's
Brown. l sees him, an sees two mig
gers, an one of 'em is Black Jake,
Browns driver"
Further accommodating discovered
two large wagons, one of which was
already freighted, and the two negroes
were rapidly loading the other with
the cotton bales, which they were roll
ing out from rough shack built Of
logs and rooted with bark.
Under his supervision Browns dusky
aids were working with celerity. 1t
was not possible to remove all the cot
ton at single trip, and the haste was
evidently occasioned by the desire to
haul away the remaining bales that
night. 1t was an eXasperating sight to
Layburn and Meriweather to behold in
the light of the lantern the look of in
tense satisfaction on Browns traitor
GUS ceuntenance, and when they pic
tured to themselves the hypocritical
surprise and sorrow with which the
rascal would condole with them their
indignation was beyond the power of
words to express. At whatever reso-
luton they should arrive, the demand
for action was urgent. In less than ten
minutes the loading of the second wag-
on would be completed and the wretch
would be off.
Calf, can't stand this. Pm going to
shootv' exclaimed Meriweather, breath
ing heavily.
! "Stop! said Layburn. "If we kill
Brown, there will be an investigation,
and we may not only lose the cotton,
but also our lives, as the result of a
court martial.
/ "Are you going to let the scoundrel
make off with the cotton" asked Meri-
weather angrily.
"No," said Layburn; 1--WE must have
the cotton at all COSTS"
"Marse Alf, skeer him an he'll run
lax turkey" said old Ben.
''Yes, Jack; We'll fire our revolvers
and raise a yell, and Brown will think
we are a detachment from the garri-
son."
"Dats it; dat's it, Marse Alf! Yo'
shoot. an I'll help holler, an dey'n
break DER necks to git out OBJ dis
swamp an never come back no mo- to-
night"
After brief whispered colloquy
Ben's idea was adopted. Both of the
white men believed Brown to be an ar
rant coward. and the issue proved the
correctness of the surmise. At the re-
port of the pistols and the triple yell,
which, quickly repeated by echo, re-
sembled the voices of a dozen men,
Brown and the negro drivers deserted
the teams and broke through the cane
and laurel as if the devil were after
them. At the same time, stampeded
by the. .frightful hullabaloo, the horses
wheeled and, plunging through the un-
dergrowth, upset the cotton bales and
wrecked the wagons, strewing the
swamp with broken wheels and shat.
tered woodwork in their wild flight.
The army of the fleet was overjoyed
by the bloodless victory, but what de-
lighted it most was the certainty which
each felt that Brown would never dare
to tell of his discontinue.
i Old Ben viewed the wrecked wagon
with malicious glee.
"Black Jake gwine have trouble
hitchin' up tomorrow" said the old
negro, chuckling.
But little time was wasted in unprof-
liable talk. A hard nights work was
before the three. By exerting every
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