Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-10-07

"But are you absolutely certain of
Ehis?n. / broke in impatiently. "Have
you searched the>recordsT' ~.
"Not only searched them, Knox, but
before he left for the north on this
last trip Beaucaire was, In my Office,
and practically. forced him to ac-
knowledge the negligence. He even
authorized me to draw up the rieces-
sary papers for him to sign on his re-
turn-for both Della and the girl.
They are In my desk now. unexecuted.
There. Is no mistake Rene Is legally
q slave, together with her mother"
taMy .Godln ! exclaimed. could any
one conceive a;more horrible positioni
Here is young gtfi, educated, refined,
Of more than ordinary attractiyeness,
Throckmorton tells me- brought up
amid every comfort and led to be.
lleve herself the honored daughter of
the house, awakening in an instant to
the fact that she is a slave, with ne
gro blood In her veins-a mere chat
tel, owned body and soul by gam
bier, won In a card gameh and to be
sold to the highest bidder. Ha!nes,
I tell you Kirby knew all this-he
either suspected, or had discovered
through some source that Rene Beau.
caire had never been set free. For
some reason he desired possession of
both Beaucaire girls; they meant
more to him than either the money or
the property. This card game gave
him one; the other-o
4 aEloise, you mean2 Did the fellow
threaten herr"
aHere Is what he said sneeringly
you car. Judge yourself what he meant:
She's worth fifty thousand dollarssby
her mothers win, and-I intend town
her If I can, fair means or folE'" >,
Haines did not speak for some mo-
idents, his eyes on my face. Then he
paced back and forth acress the floor,
finally stopping before the fire. !.
.This, is as near hell as anything ]
ever knew he said, sand so fcr as
I can see there Is no legal way out
Of It. Wear utterly helpless to as
sist." ia 80. a.
1--WE are not I answered hotly, .f
we are men. There may be no legal
way in which we can beat this villain,
but there IS an Illegal one, unless we
are already too late, and propose
to use It, whether you join me or not:
You are sure the girls are still at the
plantation house--that they know
nothing of this condition.
Thave reason to believe so. Della
was buying provisions at the Landing
yesterday; I talked with her a mo
ment." Il ,y.,,
4And You said that Kirby and Car
yer were only IN town for one night,
leaving the neIt morning on a keel.
boat for ST. Louis. My idea is they
were not quite ready to take posses
sion; that they have gone to st. Louis
to file fne epapers, and win come back
with officers prepared to execute
them. Thls meaifSihat we must wort
fast 60 get out hefr way"
"What do yotf propose doing!"
'Let me. ask a question first. Is II
true that Efofse. Beadcafre is heiress
to fifty thousand dollars through her
mothers ;estatef's ~ si.4~
"Yes;SI invested most Of It,"
aIn what?y ~ &
aNew Orleans property principally
"Then it Is safe enough whatever
happens. The only thing we can do
Ii this: tell those girls and the mother
the whole truth-tell them at once, be-
fore Kirby can return, and then help
them to get out Of this country. 1t
Is not necessary for Eloise to go, un-
less she desires to, but there Is nc
other safe course for Della and Rene.
They must reach a northern state be-
fore Kirby can lay hands on them.
Could Della pass for white woman"
"Not in the South; still she could
travel as Rene's maid. But I do not
believe it is possible for the two to
escape in that way, Knox. Understand,
I'd be willing to risk 1t IL there were
any show. How can 1t be done? On
the average at this time Of year there
isn't q steamboat along here once q
month. If. we did get them onto
boat they. would have to travel
straight south as far as the Ohio.
Kirby, wouldn't be. more than a day
or two behind them, with friends on
every boat on the river. Illinois is no
free state for fugitive slayes-they
might just as welt..be caught in Mis-
sourl as over there. There Is not one
chance in q thousand that they make
It."
"And less than that If they remain
here for Kirby to get his hands on
1 retorted bitterly. "Now look here,
Haines. am going to carry out this
plan alone if you will not back me in
it. 1 am not talking about steam
boats; they could travel by night, and
hide along shore during the day. All
they would need would be two negro
oarsmen, sufficient food, and a boat
big enough to carry them safely. You
have small boats, surelyT
81 got one. Massa Knox" burst out
Pete eagerly. ashes down by de
NM %