Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1905-01-27


lost will that he had not heard it.
Guess the servant is in there
strengthening things up bit,' he
said. 1--WE don't get much company
around here, and when any one comes
| it makes him nervous"
| After had satisfied my hunger Fred
asked me if | would like to look about
1.-THE homestead. l told him l was a
little tired, and would rather sit and
chat in the library. He assented and
| led the way. He must have been
| thinking of his letter as he entered.
for he walked right up to the desk.
Then | heard him utter a cry.
looked and saw his hand nervously
fumbling through the papers.
Anything missing?" | asked.
Eyes, the letter.
May be the servant mislaid it while
he was dusting"
The servant, an old dsrkey and former
slave, was called. He denied having
touched the papers.
did you see anybody in this room,
after we left it?" Fred asked
mo, massa."
well, did you see anybody about
the house?"
mo stranger, massa. Jes' Massa
Henry wild his gun out a-huntin''
My brother?" Fred quickly asked.
WAS he near the house?"
Yes, Massa Henry was a-chasin'
rabbit. He jes' done show me de rab-
bit runnin' down de hill. He say he
no mo- shoot today. Massa Henry
mighty good to me; give me big
coon he shot"
When did you see my brother near
the house?"
bout fifteen minutes go. l jes'
coon, she says-an' den come here"
well, you can CO. Ezra
Turning to. me, Fred asked me if l
thought his brother had stolen the
letter.
1T looks that way" answered,
value to him."
Don't you think l ought to ride
over to his house at once, and"
81 don't think that will do you any
good"
Nevertheless, I'll ride over"
He ordered horse saddled. When
the darkey came in to say it was ready,
he added
'Massa Henry got fine hoss."
"How do you know" Fred inquired.
HE jes' done ride down he road
fine, black hoss.'
We looked at each other in surprise,
but for while neither said word.
Fred evidently did not know what to
advise.
Fred told Ezra that he would not
use the horse. After the surprised ne
gro had gone, my friend walked to the
window, and stood there, lost in
thought. I Joined him. Before us was
a grand scene. The sun was setting,
and lent its colors to the rushing
river, and the fields were waiting for
the magic wand of spring. A caravan
of farm wagons passed the house on
| their way to town, for tomorrow would
be market-day.
Suddenly I saw something which
made me grasp Fred's arm.
do you see that man in the kuggy
over there, Fred?"
1.-The man with the gray beard and
the large spectacles, in the yellow
buggy"
Eyes. Have a horse hitched to
carriage at once. l believe that man
knows something about your letter. I
saw him in your brothers. house, on
my way here, and his behavior was
suspicious"
Fred was going to ask questions, but
l urged him to hasten, and promised
| to tell him more while following the
| stranger.
In ten minutes we were Oh the road.
In twenty minutes we saw the yell
low buggy, and then drove SO as not
to lose sight of it. 1t was getting dark.
and the stranger, even had he taken
the trouble to look back, could not
have seen our faces; and since many
vehicles passed along the road, our
buggy would hardly have aroused his
suspicion On the way l told Fred of
my theory and plan.
TT is clear to my mind" l said,
that that letter is very valuable to
your brother He was seen near your
house shortly before the letter was
missed. Then he rode to town on a
! fast horse, and this suspicious looking
stranger, most likely implicated in
| your brothers schemes, follows him.
| believe they will meet in the city,
and if we can manage not to lose sight
of this man we may be able to gain
a great deal of information"
After an hours drive We reached
| the town. The yellow buggy in front
of us drove more slowly. Finally it
stopped at livery stable, and after
| talk with the man in charge, the
stranger drove his vehicle in through
the large doorway Most likely he was
| going to leave it in care of that es-
Enlistment.
What were we to do? Should we
drive to the stable. and leave our rig,
| it might arouse the mans suspicion.
We concluded to stop and await de-
velopments. After a few minutes the
man came out, crossed the street, and
| entered a saloon. Then | told Fred
to take our horse and buggy to the
stable while | would watch the saloon
until he could rejoin me. 1t was now
| quite dark, and the entrance to the
stable was not. we'll lighted, so the
stranger could not see our faces. We
had the advantage in that respect, for
the entrance to the saloon was bright
ly illumined.
After Fred came back we had not
to wait very long. The stranger came
out of the saloon, rubbed his mus
tache with his handkerchief, cleaned
his glasses, and slowly walked up the
street. We followed him. AS we
passed along we heard people talk of
flooded cellars, and the warning in
the papers Fred paid little attention
to those remarks, but to me the ex-