The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1919-11-06

Eyes he won all the
property, including the slaves, in a
poker game. on the river, the night
Beaucaire died."
"Ah done heerd all bout dat. sab.
An yer nebber know'd dis yere girl
afore ct allY"
"No, / never even saw her. /
CHANGED to hear the story and went
to the house to warn them, as no one
else would. ! was too late, and no
other course was left but TO help her
escape. That is the whole of it,"
He asked several other questions,
but at last appeared satisfied, and
after that we discussed the guard duty
Of the day, both agreeing 1t would not
be safe for us TO permit any possible
pursuit to pass by US up the river un
seen. Sam professed himself as I'M
wearied by the nights work and will
ing to stand the first watch. / lay
down In the tree shade, and must
have fallen asleep almost Immediately.
/ do not know what aroused me. but
/ Immediately sat upright, startled
and instantly awake, the first object
confronting me being Sam on the
crest Of the opposite ridge, eagerly
reckoning me to join him. The mo-
ment he was assured of my coming,
and without s much as uttering a
word Of explanation, he vanished
into the shadow of the woods.
/ crossed the ravine with reckless
haste, clambering up the opposite
bank, and sixty feet beyond suddenly
came into view of the broad expanse
of water. Scarcely had l glimpsed this
rolling flood, sparkling under the
suns rays, when my gaze turned up
stream, directed by an excited gesture
of the negro. Less than q mile away,
its rapidly revolving wheel churning
the water into foam in ceaseless battle
against the current, was a steamboat.
A number of moving figures were per-
ceptible on the upper deck. l stared
at the apparition, scarcely compre-
hending the reality of what I beheld.
"Yer bettah stoop down more, sah,"
Sam urged. Ser sum o. dem fellars
might see yer yet. All nebber heerd
nuthin' ner saw no smoke till she
cum a-pufin' round de end o. dat pint.
All cudn't dare go fer yer then, sab,
fer fear dey'd see me. so All JUS
nat'arly lay down yere an watched
her go by"
rs 1t a government boat?'
"Ah reckon maybe: leastwise thar's
a heap o soiers aboard her-reg'lars.
All reckons, fer dey's oil in uniform.
But everybody aboard wasn't ~sojers.'
you know the steamerT"
"Yas, sab. Abs seed her face afore
dis down ct st. Louee. She ulster run
down de ribber-she's de John b.
Glover. She amt no great shakes oh
a boat, sah."
His eyes, which had been eagerly
following the movements Of the craft,
turned and glanced Mt me. "Massa
Kirby he wus aboard dat steamer.
sah."
"Kirbyi Are you sure about that,
Sam?"
"Course Abs sure. Didn't All see
him just as plain as All see you right
now? He wus forrad by de rail, near
de pilot house, a-watchin' dis whole
shore like a hawk. Dat sure wus
Massa Kirby all right, but dar want
nobody else long wild him."
"But what could he be doing there
on a troop boat?'
The negro scratched his head, mo-
mentarily puzzled by my question.
"Ah sure don't know. sah," he adj
mitted. "Only OATS ~perzackly who II
was. All figure 1t out bout dis way.
sab: dat nobody kin tell yit which
way we went-up de ribber er down
de ribber. Long cum de John b.
Glover. an Massa Kirby he just take
a chance an goes aboard. De sheriff
he goes. der odder way, downstream
in a rowboat; an OATS how dey aims
ter sure head us or"
/ sat down at the edge of the bluff,
convinced that the conclusions of the
negro were probably correct. That
was undoubtedly about how 1t had
happened. To attempt pursuit up
stream with only oars as propelling
power would be ~senseless. but the pas
sage upward Of this troop boat af-
forded Kirby an opportunity he would
not be slow to accept. Getting aboard
would present no great difficulty. aud
his probable acquaintance with the
captain would make the rest easy.
The steamer by this time was NOV
Ing d~iagonally across the river. head
toward the other shore. and was NJ
ready so far away the men on deck
were invisible. 1t was scarcely prob
able that Kirby would go far north
ward. but just what course the man
would take when once more ashore
was problematicai. Where he might
choose to seek for us could not be
guessed. Yet the mere fact that he
was already above us on the river was
in itself a matter for grave consid.
GRAFTON. Stu thus far we remained
INDICATED. and there IA less danger
In that direction than downstream.
Once we attained the Illinois and
made arrangements with Shrunk the
immediate danger would be over.
Then l need 90 no farther--the end of
the adventure might be left to others,
I looked up-the steamer was a mere
~~l-~ - Az. 3t~k~-k r~~~~ - Ar