Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1911-12-06
CHAPTER VIII.-continued.

do not permit the darkness to
alarm you" l whispered softly, bend
ing down as l spoke until | could
feel her quick ,reathing against my
cheek. Our visitors are not likely to
remain longer than will be necessary
TO get something to eat. They need
never suspect our presence. and all
we have to do is to wait patiently
until they move on. I only wish
could discover something upon which
you might sit down"
Pray do not think me a coward"
she answered, but 1 have heard of
fhis man Lowrie in the Federal camps,
and l would rather die than fall into
his hands"
/ had heard of him also, and of his
outrageous treatment of women. The
memory caused me to clasp my hand
warmly over hers, and set my teeth
hard.
'It may not prove to be Lowrie at
lall," | said soberly; ''but all these
gentry are pretty NUN alike, I fear.
However, I promise that you shall
never fall alive into the hands of any
of their breed"
Before she could answer me other
than by a slight nesting closer in the
darkness, Bungay whispered: This
yere hole, Cap, leads down ter the
right, an comes out in a sort O. gully
bout a hundred feet back. Thars
light 'nough ter see ter walk by alter
ye turn the corner, bout twenty
feet er so. You uns kin go on down
thar if ye'd rather, follerin' Their dorgs,
but I reckon as how I'll stay right
Eere an sorter see how Their oil woman
lcomes out.
{" Where, where was Roderick then?
One blast upon his bugle horn
Were worth a thousaE men,
IIf you uns like ter see burned good
fight maybe We better stay tew-ther
'or woman is pisen if she once gifts her
dander up"
I His voice was expressive Of great
expectations. anu had reason ito be-
Iieve his faith in Maria would be
Justified. Before any of us, however,
had time to change our positions we
heard the fellows come stamping
roughly into the cabin. The thin slabs
(which divided us scarcely muffled
their loud voices,
Well old woman" exclaimed one in
voice so gruff as to seem almost as
sumed, pretending to be alone, are
,you, with all those dishes sitting out
ION the table; just bee. eaten off, too
Have MT seen no strange party along
1.-THE road this morning, have ye?"
Mary a one" said Maria and l
knew from her voice she was standing
close beside the fireplace.
Are you Mrs. Bungay?"
Il reckon l am. if it's any o. yer
business"
Don't git nifty, old woman, or we're
ness before we leave" The leader
dropped the butt Of his gun with
lcrash on the floor. Where is the lit
tile sneak anyhow"
What do you want of him?"
Want him to go long with US;
,we're hunting some parties, and need
"a. guide They tot us up tn road
hit he knew every inch o these yere
Anountings.'
Isndeavoring to decide as to the hon
lesty of the speaker, Her final answer
proved the mental survey had not
proven satisfactory.
! wal. ] reckon" sh1 said calmly,
I as you uns II be more likely ter
find him down bout Connersville.'
! Then whuts all these yere dirty
dishes doing on the table?'
He'd sum Yankee officers fere; they
Just rode on down Their trail as you
luns cum up"
Like hell" calculated the fellow
with complete loss of temper. See
there, old woman. we're too old birds
ito be caught with any such chaff.
Wen take a look arouu the old she
bang anyhow, and whilO we're at it
you put something on the table for me
land my mates to eat"
The voice and manner were rough,
hut was impressed with certain &C
sent creeping into the mans speech
.bespeaking education. More, In spite
of an apparent effort to make it so. his
dialect was not that OF those noun
ltains.
! Even as he uttered these last words,
Throwing into them threat more in
the tone than the language, / became
iaware of a thin ray of light pene-
'trating the seemingly solid wall just
in front of me, and bending silently
forward could dimly distinguish the
,el.iptical head Of 'Bungay as he applied
lone eve to a small opening he had
'5uGugtriously made between the logs