The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1912-01-24
CHAPTER XXVI.
Murrell Shows His Hand.

At length points OF light began 70
show through chinks in the logs. Han
nibal reused and sat up, rubbing his
eyes with the backs of his hands.
"Wasn't you able to sleep none?''
he inquired Betty shook her head.
He looked at her with an expression
of troubled concern. ''HoW soon do
you reckon the judge will know?" he
asked.
every soon now, DEAR Hannibal
was greatly consoled by this opinion.
''Miss Betty, he will love to find us. y
"Hark! What was that?" for Betty
had caught the distant splash OF oars.
Hannibal found chink in the logs
through which by dint of much squint-
ing he secured partial view of the
bayou.
"They're fetching up keel boat to
the shore. Miss Betty-its whoop-
er!" he announced Betty's heart
sank; she never doubted the purpose
for which that boat was brought into
the bayou, or that it nearly concerned
herself.
Half an hour later Mrs. Hicks ap-
peared with their breakfast. 1t was in
vain that Betty attempted to engage
her in conversation. Either she cher
ished some personal feeling of dislike
for her prisoner, or else the situation
in which she herself was placed had
little to recommend it, even to her
dull mind, and her dissatisfaction was
expressed in her attitude toward the
girl.
Betty passed the long hours of the
morning in dreary speculation con-
corning what was happening at Belle
Plain. In the end she realized that
the day could go by and her absence
occasion no alarm. Steve might reas
onably suppose George had driven her
into Raleigh or to the Bowens' and
that she had kept the carriage. Final
ly all her hope centered on Judge
Price. He would expect Hannibal dur
ing the morning; perhaps when the
boy did not arrive he would be tempt.
ed to go out to Belle Plain to discover
the reason for his non-appearance. She
wondered what theories would offer
themselves to his ingenious mind, for
she sensed something of that indomi-
table energy which in the face of re
bluffs and laughter carried him into the
thick of every sensation.
At noon Mrs. Hicks, as sullen as in
the morning, brought them their din
ner. She had scarcely quilted the loft
when shrill whistle pierced the sill
ence that hung above the clearing. 1t
was twice repeated, and the two wom-
en- were heard to go from the cabin.
Perhaps half an hour elapsed, then 2
step became audible on the packed
earth of the dooryard. Some one en-
tered the room below and began to
ascend the narrow stairs, and Betty's
fingers closed convulsively about Han
nibal's. This was neither Mrs. Hicks
nor her daughter nor Slosson with
his clumsy shuttle There was brief
pause when the landing was reached,
but it was only momentary; a hand
lifted the bar, the door was thrown
open, and it's space framed the figure
of man. 1t was John Murrell.
Standing there he regarded Betty
in silence, but a deep-seated fire
glowed in his sunken eyes. The sense
of possession was raging through him,
his temples throbbed, fever stirred
his blood. Love, such as it was, he
undoubtedly felt for her, and even his
giant project, with all its monstrous
ramifications, was lost sight of for the
moment. She was the inspiration for
it all, the goal and reward for which
she struggled.
"Betty!" the single word fell soft
ly from his lips. He stepped into the
room, closing the door as he did so.
The girls eyes were dilating with a
mute horror, for by some swift, in
tuitive process of the mind, which
asked nothing of the logic OF events,
but dealt only with conclusions, Muir
rell stood revealed as Norton's muir
derer. Perhaps he read her thoughts,
but he had lived in his degenerate
ambitions until the common judgments
or the understanding of them no long
err existed for him. That Betty had
loved Norton seemed inconsequential,
even; it was a memory to be swept
away by the force of his greater pas
sion. So he watched her smilingly,
but back of the smile was the menace
of unleashed impulse.
Cant you find some word OF wei
come for me, Betty" he asked at
length, still softly, still with something
of entreaty in his tone.
"Then it was yOu-not Tom-Who
had me brought here!" She could have