Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-03-26
TffffHH { HE PAR&TffSA AIR { JAM
A Romance of the American Revolution
BY w. GILMORE SIMMS

"Harkee, young man." said Porgy,
as the youth approached him, you
will pay dearly for good counsel, un-
less you heed carefully what now give
you. Do you know that you had near
ly felt my bullet just now, as l caught
the sound of your paddle, before you
condescended to give the signal? A
moment more of delay on your part
would have given us both no little
pain, for truly l should have sorrowed
to have shot you; and you, l think,
would have been greatly annoyed by
it."
THAT 1 should, Mr.. Porgy. and l
ought to have whistled, but l did not
think"
You must learn to think, boy. That
is the first lesson you should learn.
Not to think, is to be vulgar. The first
habit which a gentleman learns, is to
think-to deliberate. He is never TO
be taken by surprise. The habit OF
thinking is to be lost, or acquired, at
the pleasure of the individual; and not
to think, is, not only to be no gentle
man, but TO be a criminal. You will
suffer from the want Of such habit.
It is the vulgar want always, and per-
nit me to add, the worst
Il try, sir, to think, for know the
good or II; out II taxes tlllie W ietih
everything, sir"
1T does; but not so much time as
people usually suppose. The knowl-
edge of one thing brings with 1t the
knowledge Of another: as in morals,
one error Is the parent of dozen
one crime, the predecessor of thou
sand. Learn what you can, and the
rest will come to you; as in fowling,
you inveigle one duck, and the rest OF
the flock follows. Talking of ducks,
now, boy, puts me in mind of dinner.
Have the scouts brought in any pro-
visions?"
mo, sir-not yet; and no sign Of
any"
Porgy looked, with a woe-begone
expression, towards the sun, now on
the decline, and sighed audibly.
"A monstrous long day, Lance-a
monstrous long day. Here, boy
draw this belt, and take in another
button hole-nay, take in two, 1t will
admit Of it,"
The boy did as he was directed
stretching himself along the grass for
the purpose of facilitating the opera
tion-the boy actually bestriding him;
the slender form Of the latter oddly op-
posed to the mountainous mass OF
matter that lay swelling and shrinking
beneath him. While engaged in this
friendly Office, the boy started, and in
a half-whisper pointing to the OPP
posite shore, exclaimed
"Oh! Mr.. Porgy, look! the deer!
What a beautiful shot! / could kill
him here, Pm sure, off-hand. l could
lay the bullet betwixt his eyes, with
out damaging the sight"
You'll damage mine, II you show
me such sights very often!" murmur-
ed Porgy, as he let the rifle drop heav-
lily to the ground. He had started at
Frampton's words, followed the guild
ance of his fingers, and seizing the RI
fe, had taken aim without word;
but Immediately after he remembered
his special duties, and was compelled
to forego his prey. Well might he be
mortified. Before him, on the oppo-
site bank, his whole figure standing
out beautifully in the sunlight, in per-
feet relief, was fine buck Of the larg-
est size The young horns were Jut-
ting out like great spikes, giving
promise of the glorioups antlers which
he would wear by Christmas. Now ne
tossed his head in air, now seemed to
snuff the breeze; at length he bent his
nose to the stream, prepared to drink.
and anon suspiciously lifted his head
to listen-in all these changes Of at
Uluue, the spirit diiu SidSC VI tiiS
beautiful creature furnishing a fine
study for the painter not less than the
gourmand.
Master Lance Frampton," continued
Porgy, you will certainly be the death
of me. You show me a deer, yet deny
me a dinner. Why, boy, the beast is
nearly half a mile away, and you talk
If shooting him through the head!
could sooner pitch you on his back"
The boy laughed.
Don't laugh, boy; it is too serious
matter quite. 1t is too provoking.
D-n the beauty! look at him-he
seems to see us, and to know our NOR
at least. Now could
/ be tempted to send him shot, If 1t
were only to scare him out of his
breath. He looks most abominably
He looked scared, SIR" said the boy,
as starting to one side of the bank,
and towards the thickening swamp on
the right of it, the animal seemed to
show alarm, and a desire for flight.
Yes: something has frightened him,
that's clear; and what troubles him,
may be equally troublesome to US.
Lie fiat. boy-draw that brush a little
more in front of you, and take of
your cap. You can see through the
leaves we'll enough.
At this moment, a whistle behind
them announced a friend, and Hum
phrieS joined the two a little after.
What do you see, lieutenant
The gourmand pointed to the deer
which now, in evident alarm, bounded
forward a few PAGES into the stream
then. swimming a few rods up the
river, sought a cover in the swamp
thicket to the right. His alarm was
unequivocally clear to the partisans,
and Humphries, following The example
CT the two. Squatted down beside
them; taking care so to cover his per-
son behind the brush, as, while seeing
everything, himself to remain unseen.
He had scarcely done so, when the
cause of the deers alarm was made
evident in the approach to the very
spot upon which the animal had been
standing, of man, in the common
dress of the woodman. His appear
ance was miserably woe-begone and
unhappy. His garments, tattered and
dirty, consisted of the coarse StuffS
worn by the poorer orders Of the coun-
try He had no armS-nO apparent
weapons at least, of any kind and his
movements, sluggish and without elias
ticity, seemed those OF one greatly
fatigued. He threw himself a mo-
ment after his arrival, at length along
the bank with that air of listless self
abandonment which indicates eXhaus-
ton.
Poor devil! he seems wearied and
worn, Humphries."
He is one Of our men. Ten to one
he brings us news from camp"
Bad news. then; he looks like any
thing but the messenger Of good. But
stay-what is he about?"
The stranger. while they spoke. had
arisen: and, leaving the edge OF the
bank. went back to the wood, from
which, a few moments after he emerg-
ed, bearing in his hands a couple OF
common fence rails. These he bore
with difficulty to the edge Of the wa
ter. and. though no burden to man
in ordinary strength their weight in
his fatigue. seemed to demand more
than ordinary effort.
why. what's he going to do now"'
said Porgy.
The fugitive threw off his jacket and
shoes, and taking a ragged handker-
chief from his pocket, inclosed them
within its folds. then placing them
over the two rails, which he laid side
by side for the purpose, he lashed
them strongly together. This done, he
advanced to the stream. taking the
bundle in his hands. For few mo-
mentS he paused, looked up and down