The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-02-22

] NlIEF III pidce OF the drum. " Qe'lsNtl
batch of newcomers entered. he rose
to drink with them. and. at such times
after pouring off his liquor with rich
melancholy, shedding tears after Every
swallow, he would make an exploring
! tour of the room on his way back 10
/ his corner. stopping to look under each
/ chair inquiTingly. and calculate:
Why, where kin he be-" Then. shak-
ing his head, he would observe sadly:
Fine young man. he was. too; fine
/ young man. Pore fellow, l reckon We
| hain't a-goin' TO git him.
At IL o'clock Judge Briscoe dropped
YEARLY from his horse at his own gate,
and said TO a wan girl who came run
! ming down the walk to meet him:
There is nothing. yet. 7 sent the tele-
gram to your mother-to Mrs. Sher-
wood
Helen turned away without answer
| ing. Her face was very white and
| looked pinched about the mouth. She
went back to where old Fisbee sat on
/ the porch. his white head held between
| his two hands; he was rocking him
self to and fro. She touched him gent
~, but he did not look up. She spoke
to him.
There isn't anything-yet. He sent
| the telegram to mamma. l shall stay
| with you, now. no matter what you
say" She sat beside him and nut
]
though for moment he appeared not
TO notice it, when Minnie came out on
the porch, hearing her father at the
door, the old scholar had put his arm
about the girl and was stroking her
fair hair softly.
Briscoe glanced at them. and raised
a warning finger to his daughter. and
they went tiptoeing into the house.
where the judge dropped heavily upon a
sofa with an asthmatic sigh; he was
worn and tired. Minnie stood before
him with a look of pale inquiry, and
he shook his head.
NO use to tell them; but l can't see
any hope" he answered her, biting
nervously at the end of a cigar. L eX-
pect you better bring me some coffee
in here; l couldn't take another step
to save me. I'm too old to tear around
the country horseback before break
fast. like l have to-day"
Did you send her telegram" Min
ME asked, as he drank the coffee she
brought him. She had interpreted "cof-
fee" literally. and, with the assistance
of Mildly Upton (whose subdued nose
was frankly red and who shed tears
on the raspberries), had prepared an
appetizing table at his elbow
Yes, responded the judge, "and I'm
glad she sent it. l talked the other
way yesterday, what little l said-it
1911 any VI our DuSl0eSS-Dut l UOn
think any too much of those people
! somehow. She thinks she belongs with
Fisbee, and l guess she's right That
young fellow must have got along with
with her pretty well, and I'm afraid
when she gives up she'll be pretty tad
over it, but ] guess we all will. It's
terribly sudden, somehow, though it's
only what everybody half expected
would come; only we thought it would
come from over yonder." He nodded
toward the west. But she's got to
stay here with us. Boarding at Sol
Tibb1s with that old man won't Go;
and she's no girl to live in two rooms.
You fix it up with her-you make her
stay"
she must" answered his daughter
as she knelt beside him and patted his
coat and handed him several things to
eat at the same time. Mr.. Fisbee will
! help me persuade her, now that she's
! bound to stay in spite of him and the
| SherwOods, too. l think she is per-
| fectly grand to do it,, I've always
! thought she was grand-ever since she
took me under her wing at school when.
! / was terribly country and frighten-
/ ed; but she was so sweet and kind she
made me forget. She was the pet of
| the school, too, always doing things for
| the other girls, for everybody; looking
| out for people simply heads and heads
! bigger than herself, and so reckessly
! generous and so funny about it; and
always thoughtful and-and-pleas-
| ant"
Minnie was speaking sadly, mechani-
| cally; but suddenly she broke off with
a quick sob, sprang up and went to
the window; then, turning, cried out:
Il don't believe it! He knew how to
take care of himself too WELL He'd
have got away from them"
! Her father shook his head. "Then
why hasn't he turned up? He'd have
| gone home after the storm if something
| bad wasn't the matter"
But nothing-nothing that had
could have happened. They haven't
| CONTEMPLATING"
But why hasn't he come back,
child"
We'll, he's lying hurt somewhere,
that's all"
Then why haven't they found him?"
81 don't care!" she cried, and choked
with the words and tossed her dishev-
elled hair from her temples; lit isn't
true. Helen won't believe it-why
should /? It's only few hours since
he was right here in our yard, talking
| to us all. L won't believe it till they've
searched every stick and stone of Six
| CROSSROADS and found him"
ut wasn't the Cross Roads" said
| the old gentleman. pushing the table
away and relaxing his limbs on the
sofa. They probably didn't have any
thing to do with it. We thought they
had at first, but everybody's about
come to believe it was those two devils
that he had arrested yesterday"
Not the Cross Roads," echoed Min
ME, and she began to tremble violently.
Haven't they been out there yet?"
What use? They are out of it, and
| they can thank God they arei''
They are mott" she cried eXcitedly.
They did it. 1t was the White Caps
! We saw them, Helen and l."
| The judge got upon his feet with an
| til that morning. Whats this?" he
said sharply.
Il ought to have told you before,
but we were so frightened, and-and
| you went off in such a rush after Mr.
| Wiley was here. l never dreamed ev-
| erybody wouldn't know it was the
! Cross Roads; that they would think of
any one else. And l looked for the
scarecrow as soon as it was light and
it was way off from where we saw
them. and wasn't blown down at all.
and Helen saw them in the field besides
| saw all of them"
| He interrupted her. What do YOU
mean? Try to tell me about it quiet
| ly, child" He laid his hand on her
| shoulder.
She told him breathlessly (while he
| grew more and more visibly perturbed
and uneasy. biting his cigar to pieces
and grooming at intervals) what she
and Helen had seen in the storm. When