Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-01-09
"Oh, shut up" said Tom, dropping

DlQ Sne DrlnB tne DOy mere ldSs
night? 1 saw you drive off with him
in the carriage"
Yes, she makes a regular pet OF
the little ragamuffin-it's perfectly
sickening!"
Who were the two men with him?
"One of 'em calls himself Judge
Price; the other kept out of the way
1 didn't hear his name"
rs the boy going to stay at Belle
Plain?" inquired Murrell.
That notion hasn't struck her yet,
for 1 heard her say at breakfast that
she'd take him to Raleigh this after
noon."
That's the boy l travelled all the
way to North Carolina to get for Fen
tress. 1 though l had him once, but
the little cuss gave me the slip"
"Eh-you don't say?" cried Ware.
Tom, what do you know about the
Quintard lands; what do you know
about Quintard himself?" continued
Murrell.
He was a rich planter, lived In
North Carolina. My father met him
when he was in congress and got him
to invest in land here. They had some
colonization scheme on foot-this was
upward of twenty years ago-but moth
ing came Of it. Quintard lost interest"
And the land?"
'Oh, he held on to that"
is there much of it?"
"A hundred thousand acres" said
Ware.
Murrell whistled softly under his
breath.
What's 1t WORTH"
"A pot Of money, two or three dol
lars an acre anyhow" answered Ware.
"Quintard has been dead two years
Tom, and back yonder in North Caro-
lima they told me he left nothing but
the home plantation. The boy lived
there up to the time Of Quintard's
death, but what relation he was to the
old man no one knew, What do you
suppose Fentress wants with him? He
offered me five thousand dollars If I'd
bring him west; and he still wants
him, only he's lying low to see what
comes Of the two old sots-he don't
want to move in the dark. Offhand,
Tom, I'd say that by getting hold Of
the boy Fentress expects to get hold
of the Quintard land"
That's likely" said Ware, then struck
by sudden idea, he added, Are you
going to take all the risks and let him
pocket the cash? If it's the land he's
after, the stakes big enough to divide"
He can have the whole thing and
welcome, I'm playing for a bigger
stake" His friend stared at him in
astonishment. Il tell you, Tom, I'm
bent on getting even with the world!
No silver spoon came in the way Of
my mouth when I was a youngster;
my father was too honest-and I think
the less Of him for it,"
Mr. Ware seemed on the whole edi-
fed by the captains unorthodox point
of view.
MY mother was true grit, though;
she came of mountain stock, and taught
us children to steal by the time we
could think! Whatever we stole, we
hid, and dared my father 10 touch US.
remember the first thing Of account
was when l was ten years old. A
Dutch peddler came to our cabin one
winter night and begged us to take
him in. OF course, he opened his pack
before he left, and almost under his
nose ! got away with bolt Of linen.
The old man and woman fought about
1t, but If the peddler discovered his
loss he had the sense not to come back
and tell of It, When I was seventeen
1 left home with three good horses I'd
picked up; they brought me more
money than I'd ever seen before and
got my first taste of life-that was in
Nashville where I made some good
friends with whose help I soon had
as pretty a trade organized In horse
flesh as anyone could wish" A somber
tone had crept into Murrells voice,
while his glance had become restless
and uneasy. He went on: I'm lick
ing a speculation into shape that will
cause me to be remembered while
there's a white man alive in the Mis-
sissippi Valley" His wicked black
eyes were blazing Goals of fire in their
deep sockets. Have you heard what
the niggers did at Hayti?'
MY God, John-no, l won't talk to
you-and don't you think about It!
That's wrong-wrong as hell itself!
cried Ware.
There's no such thing as right and
wrong for me. That'll do for those
who have something to lose. 1 was
born with empty hands and I'm going
to fill them where and how l can.
believe the time has come when the
niggers can be Of use to me-look what
Turner did back in Virginia three years
ago! If he'd had any real purpose he
could have laid the country waste
but he hadn't brains enough to engi-
neer a general uprising"
Ware was probably as remote from
any emotion that even vaguely approx
imated right feeling as any man could
we'll be, but Murrell's words Jared his
dull conscience, or his fear. into giving
signs of life.
Don't you talk Of that business, we
want nothing of that sort out here
You let the nigers alone!" he said, but
he could scarcely bring himself to be-
lieve that Murrell had spoken in earn
est. Yet even if he jested, this was
a forbidden subject.
white brains will have to think fol
them, if it's to be more than flash in
the pan," said Murrell, unheeding him
You let the niggers alone, dom
you tamper with them" said Ware
He possessed a profound belief ir
Murrelrs capacity. He knew how the
latter had shaped the uneasy popula'
tion that foregathered on the edge Of
civilization to his own ends, and tha
what he had crstened the Clan haC