The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-03-15

a regular fusilade. There was a wild
scattering on the part of the crowd, a
| scunfllng, scnrrying panic, and in the
midst of 1t all Gabriel ducked his head,
and made a rush with the rest. He had
| been hand-cuffea but his wrist was near
| ly as large as his hand, and he had found
no difficulty in freeing himself from the
irons as soon as he started out of the
car, and when he ducked his head and
ran he had nothing to impede his move
ments
Running nalf- bent, Gabriel was afraid
| the crowd which he saw all about him,
pushing and showing, and apparently
making frantic efforts to escape, would
| give him some trouble. But strangely
enough this struggling crowd seemed to
help him along. He saw men all around
him with uniforms on, and wearing queer
ly shaped hats. They opend a way before
him and closed in behind him. He heard
a sharp cry, Prisoner escaped" and he
heard the energetic commands of the Of
fcer In charge, but still the crowd opened
a way In front of him. This pathway leo
Gabriel away from the main entrance,
and conducted him to ,he side where
there was opening between the pill
lars. Not twenty feet away was the
countryman with his queer looking team.
He was still complaining of the way he
had been taken in by the town felers
who had told him that the station was a
cotton warehouse.
Gabriel recognized the voice and ran
toward 1t. jumped into the wagon, and
| crawled under the cover. Now here
, now herel' cried the countryman, you
kin rob me of my money, an make a
/ fool out'n me about your cotton ware
houses, but be jigged eff I'll let you take
my wagon an team. l dunner what
/
my Vaughn" With that he stripped the
cover from the stop, and. 10! there was
| no one therei
| He turned to the astonlshed crowd with
| open mouth. 'Wher in the nation did he
! go7' he cried. There was no answer to
this, for the spectators were as much as
tonished as Mr.. Sanders professed to be.
The man who had crawled under the
wagon-cover had disappeared.
There was a tremendous uproar in the
station. and In a short time a squad of
soldiers had forced themselves through
the crowd, and as they made their APP
pearance, Mr.. Sanders gave the word to
old Beck, saying as he moved Off EFF
you gents will excuse me- I'll mosey
along, an the next time / have a crap OF
cotton to sell, I'll Vaughn II to some place
or other wher warehouses; amt depots.
an wher' jugglers don't jump on you an
make th'r disappearance in broad day.
light
AS he spoke the team moved slowly off.
and the soldiers who were in pursuit of
Gabriel had no idea that it was worth
their while to give 1t more than a passing
glance. 1t was providential that Captain
Falconer, who was to have conveyed the
prisoners to Atlanta. should have been
confined to his bed with an attack of ma
larial fever when the order for their re-
moval came. The captain would surely
have recognized the countryman as Mr..
Sanders and the probability Is that Ga
brie would have been recapiured, though
Captain Buck Sanford. who was sitting in
| an upper window of the hotel, with his
Winchester across his lap, says not.
Mr.. Sanders drove his team around to
the Warehouse of Vardeman & Stark,
where he was met by Colonel Tom Var
| deman, who, besides being a cotton fac
| tor, was one of the political leaders of
the day, and as popular a man as there
was In the state.
II heard a terrible fusilade in the d.
rection of the depot" he said to Mr.
Sanders. as the latter drove up. II hope
| nobody's hurt"
| well, they amt much damage done.
! reckon. Gus Tidwell and Major Perdue
! took notion to play game of tag WI
! pistols. They're dom 1t Jest for fun. ]
reckon They want to show you city fell
lers that all the public sperrlt an enter
prise amt knocked outn the country
chaps"
We'll. they're almost certain to get In
the lock-up,' remarked Colonel Tom VAR
| deman.
1T RELY looks that away" said Mr..
Sanders, drily the chief of police was
standin' In front of the depot. and evry
time a gun'd go off he'd wink at me-"
Colonel Tom laughed, and then turned
to Mr.. Sanders with serious air. "What
did I tell you about that wild plan OF
i yours to rescue one of the prisoners
You've had all your trouble for nothing
| You don't catch grown-up men asleer
any more. Why, If the officer in charge
of those poor boys were to permit one of
them to escape he'd be courtmartiaed
and 1t would serve him right"
80 1t would" replied Mr.. Sanders, AN
I'm mighty glad 1t want Captain Fall
coner. Now, then, Colonel Tom, ei
you've done what you laid off to do
you've got safe place where l can store
a bale of long-staple cotton ag'in a rise
in prices. Eff you've got 1t fixed II
drive right in, bekaze the kind of cottor
I'm dealin' in will Spite eff it lays in the
sun too long
do you mean to tell me-"
I'm mean enough for anything. Coone
| Tom. but right now | want to get wher
l can drench long-sufferin' friend OF
mine wi big gourdful of cold water"
why, dash It, mani you've taken my
breath away. Drive right in there. John
Henry! come here, you lazy rascals, and
take this team out. l told you" said
| Colonel Tom to Mr.. Sanders as the me-
groes came forward, that you couldn't
get any better price for your cotton than
| l offered YOU"
The two negroes conveyed the mule
and the oxen to the stable where Mr.
Sanders had arranged for their keep,
as he termed 1t, and as soon as they were
out of sight, Mr.. Sanders went to the
rear of the wagon, and said playfully
Peep eye. Gabriell' receiving no answer
he was suddenly seized with the idea thai
the young man had suffocated behind the
| loose cotton which was intended to con.
ceal him. But no such thing had hap
pened Gabriel had plenty of breathing
room and the practical and unromantiC
| rascal was sound asleep.
| Gabriels place of concealment was
simplicity itself. Mr.. Sanders had con
structed a stout box Of oak boards, and
around this he had PACKED cotton until
| the affair, when complete, had the APP
| pearance Of an extra large bale covered
with. bagging and roped as the majority
| of cotton bales were in those days. The
| only way to discover the sham was to
| pull out the cotton that concealed the
| opening in the end of the box. In deliv-
| ering his message to Cephas, Mr.. San
| ders had called this loose cotton a plug
| and the fact that the word was new tc
| the vocabulary of the school children
| gave great trouble to Gabriel, causing
| him TO lose considerable sleep in the eff
| fort to translate ii satisfactorily to him
| self When the meaning at last dawneC
| on him, the whole scheme became Sc