The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1919-12-11

I
~ Advise You Not to Move, You
Young Fool"
any wrong. The man left two daugll-
tiers, both young girls, who will now be
homeless and penniless."
He laughed, and the sound of that
laugh was more cruel than the accom-
panying words.
"Two daughters I" he sneered. "Ac-
cording to my information that strains
the relationship a trifle, friend Knox
at least the late judge took the
trouble to acknowledge the fact. Per-
| NIT me to correct your statement. I
happen to know more about Beau
caire's private affairs than you do. He
leaves one daughter only. I have
never met the young lady, but I under
stand from excellent authority that
! she possesses independent means
through the death some years ago of
her mother. I shall therefore not
worry about her loss-and, indeed, she
need meet with none, for If she only
prove equal to all 1 have heard I may
yet be induced to make her q PROPOSE
ton"
"A proposition?"
ITO remain on the plantation as it's
mistress-plainly, an offer of marriage,
If you please. Not such q bad idea,
is It'll"
/ stood speeches., held motionless
only by the pressing muzz1e of his pis-
tol, the cold-blooded villainy of the
man striking me dumb. This then had
probably been his Zeal purpose from
the start. He had followed Beaucaire
deliberately with this final end in view
of running him, and thus compelling
his daughter to yield herself.
"And you actually mean that you
propose nov to force Judge Beau
CARES daughter to marry you?"
swell, hardly that, although I shah
use whatever mean I possess. I in
tend to win her If I can, fair means, or
foul"
I drew a deep breath, comprehend
ing now the full iniquity Of his plot,
and bracing myself to fight 1t.
"And what about the other girl,
Kirby? for there is another girl"
EYES," rather ,indiferently, "there is
another"
"Of course you know who she isl"
"Certainly-a niger, a white mig
ger; the supposed illegitimate daugh-
ter of Adelbert Beaucaire, and q slave
woman. There is no reason why I
should fret about her, is there? She
Is my property already by law" He
laughed again, the same ugly sneering
laugh of triumph. "That was why I
was SO particular about the wording Of
that bill of sale-I would rather have
her than the whole bunch of field
hands,"
"You believe then the girl has never
been freed-either she, or her
mother?"
Believe? know. I tell you I never
play any game with my eyes shut"
Sand you actually intend TOTO
hold her as a SLAYER"
"Well, I'll look her over first before
I decide-she. would be worth q pot
full of money down the river"
The c~ontemptuous, utterly indiffer-
ent manner in which he voiced his vii
famous purpose, would have crazed
any man.. To me this utterance was
the last straw, breaking down every
restraint, and leaving me hot, and
furious with anger. I forgot the muz-
zle of the pistol pressed against my
side, and the menacing threat in
Kirby's low voice. The face of the
man was indistinct, q mere outline,
but the swift impulse to strike at it
was irresistible, and / let him have the
blow-a straight-arm jab to the jaw.
My clinched knuckles crunched against
the flesh, and he reeled back, kept
from falling only by the support of
the d~eckhouse. There was no report
of a weapon, no cutlery, vet, before I
could strike again, / was suddenly
gripped from behind by a pair of arms,
which closed about my throat like a
wise. ~throttiing me instantly into silent
helplessness. ! struggled madly to
break free, straining with all the art
1"Ol q WICoIACis CACltiHS every JUICE VI
strength, but the grasp which held me
was unyielding, robbing me of breath,
and defeating every effort to call for
help. Kirby, dazed yet by my sudden
blow, grew eager to take d hand in the
ARRAY, struck me q cowardly blow in
the face. and swung his undischarged
pistol to a level with my eyes.
ID you" he calculated, and for
the first time his voice really ex-
hibited temper. I'D kill you with this,
bu: for the noise. No, by Godl there
Is q safer way than that to settle with
you. Have you got the skunk, Carver?'
You can bet have, Joe. ! kin
! choke the life out o. him-shall IT.
"No; let up 4 bit---just enough SO he
can answer me first. I want to find
ont what all thts mssns. Now look