The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1905-07-13

1t seemed, by the recoil Of the great
bell-mouthed blunderbuss which he
was still cl%utching. The fall had partly
stunned him, but he was alive enough
to protest feebly that he would take a
dozen oaths of his loyalty to the cause;
that he Lao mistook us for some thiev-
ing marauders of the other side; craft
lily leaving cause and party without a
name till he should have his cue from
us.
W~hereupon Richard loosed his neck
cloth to give him better breathing
space, and bidding me see If the rev
elers had left a heel-tap of wine in any
bottle nearer than the wine cellar,
lifted the old man and propped him in
the corner Of the high backed hall
settle.
The wine quest led me to the ban
quoting room. Here disorder relgned
supreme. The table stood as the rois-
terers had left 1t. the very wreck and
litter Of a ~bachanalian feast. Bottles,
some with the necks struck off, We're
scattered all about. and the floor was
stained and sticky with split wine and
well sanded with shattered glass.
l found a remnant draining in one of
the broken bottles. nj q cup to pour 1t
in, and with this salvage from the
his charge. The old man had
come to some better sensing of
things-he had been vastly more fright
ened than hurt, as l suspected-and to
Richards eager queStionings was able
to give some feebly q~uerulous replies.
Yes, they're gone-all gone, curse
EN-; and they've every piack ana
bawbee they could lay their thievtng
hands upon he mumbled. IT'S like
the dogs; to stay on here and eat and
drink NE out of house and home, ald
then to scurry off when I'm most like
to need protection
But Madge?" a j Richard. rs She
safe in bed?"
She's a jade" was all the answer he
| got. Then the old man sat up and
peered around the end of the settle to
where l stood, cup and bottle in hand.
'"Tis a Christian thought" he quaver-
ed. Give me a sup of the wine, man.
/ served him and had a Scottish
blessing for my wa~stefulness, because,
forsooth, the broken bottle split a Thin
bleful in the pouring. | saw he did not
recognize me, and was we'll enough con-
tent to let it rest thus.
Richard suffered him to drink In
peace, but when the cup was empty he
renewed his asking for MargerE. AT
this the master of the house. heartened
somewhat by my fathers good madeira.
made shift to get upon his feet in some
tremuious fashion.
"Madge, dye say? She's gone; gone
where neither you nor that dour-1aced
deevil that befooled us all will find her
soon, I promise you DiclSie Jennifer!!"
he snapped; and 1 gave them my pack
and stumbled blindly to the door, max
ing sure his next word would tell my
poor wronged lad all that he should
have learned from ~neveTany other lips
but mine own. But Richard himself
parried the impending stroke of truth.
saying:
80 she is safe and well, Mr.. Stair.
tits all I ask to know"
"She Is safe enough; safer by far
than you are at this minute, my young
cock-a-hoop rebel, now that the king
God save him!-has has W again"
1 turned quickly on the broad door
stone to look within. Out Of doors the
early August dawn was graying mist
lily over head, but in the house the
suffering tallow dip still struggled
facing each other, these two, my hand
some lad. the pick and choice Of q
comedy race, looking, for all his tolls
and vigils, fresh and fit; and the old
man in his wooden dressing gown. his
wig awry, and his lean face yellow in
the candle light.
How is that you say, Mr.. Starr"
says Dick. The king-but that Is
only the old Tory cry. There will never
be a king again this side OF the water"
The old man reached out and hooked
a lean finger in the lads b~uttonhole.
Say you SO, Richard Jennifer? Then
you will never have heard the glorious
news?" This with a leer that might
have been of triumph or the mere whet-
ting Of gossip eagerness-I could not
tell.
NO" says Richard, with much ndif-
ference.
Hear it, then. Twas at Camden.
four days since. They came together in
my Lord CORVALLIS and that poor fool
Gates. De Kalb is dead; your blether-
ing Irishman, Rutherford, is captured;
and your ragtag rebel army is scatter
ed to the four winds. And that's not
all. On the Friday, Colonel Tarleton
came up with Sumter at Fishing Creek
and caught him mapping. Whereupon,
Charlie Mcdowell and the over-moun-
tain men, seeing all was lost, broke
their camp on the Broad n took to
their heels, every man jack of them for
himself. So We see, Dickie Jennifer,
there's never a cursed corporal's guard
left in either Carolina to stand in the
kings way
He ratified all this off glibly, like a
child repeating some lesson got by
heart; but when I would have found a
grain Of comfort in the hope that it
was a farrago of Falconnet's lies, Jen-
infer made the truth appear in answer
to a curt question.
'"Tis beyond doubt?-all this, Mr..
Starr"
The old loyalist-loyalist now. if
never certainly before-sat down on the
settle and laughed: a. dry wizened
cackle of a laugh that sounded like the
crumpling Of new parchment.
You'd best be off, light foot and
tight foot, Master Richard, lest you
learn shrewdly for yourself. It's in
e~verybody's mouth by this. There were
some five and forty Of the kings friends
come together here no longer ~ than
yestere'en to drink his majesty's health,
and eh, man! but 1t will cost me q
pretty penny! Will that satisfy YEP
Yes" said Jennifer, thinking, may
hap. as I did, that nothing short OF
gospel-true news would have suffieed
to unlock this poor old miser's wine
cellar.
We'll, then; you'd best be off while
you may; dye hear? I bear We no i'll
VIII, Richard Jennifer; and il Mr..
Tarleton lays hold of you, you'll hang
higher than Haman for evading your
parole, l promise you. Well say naught
about this rape of the door-lock, though
It's actionable, sir, and I'll warn you
the law would make you smart finely