Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1919-10-24

me to my own duty rs swiftly aA
though she had thrust a knife into my
side. Do? We must do something!
We could not sit down idly there in
the swamp And to decide what was
to be attempted was my part. If Kir-
by and whoever was with him had
stolen the missing boat, as undoubt-
edly they had, ttcy could have pos
seseed but one purpose They
were inspired to the act by desire
to get away, to fe9 from the scene
of their crime. They must believe
that we were left helpless, unable to
pursue them or create alarm. Yet if
1t was Kirby why had he fed so
swiftly, making no effort to take Rene
captive also? 1t was she he was seek
ing; for the purpose of gaining pos
session of her these murders had been
committed. Why, then, should he run
away when he must have known the
girl was already in his grasp? The
same thought apparently occurred to
her.
"You-you believe that Kirby did
this?"
what other conclusion is possible?
We know that he passed us on the
steamer-Sam saw him plainly. 1t
was his man, Carver, whom we found
dead in the hut. 1t could have been
no one else."
But" she questioned, unsatisfed,
che would have only one reason for
being here-hunting me, his slave.
That was his one purpose, was it not?
| If he saw US then he must have known
| Of my presence, that l was here with
you. Why should he make no attempt
to take me with him? Why should he
steal our boat and run away?"
"One theory is as good as another"
said, "and mine so far have all been
wrong. What do you make of it,
| Sam?"
''Who, sab? Me, sah?"
'Yes, take a guess at this"
"'Pears like" he said, deliberately,
rubbing his ear with one hand, 'as
how it mought have happened dis yere
way, sab. All amt a-sayin' it wus-
it mought be. Maybe Massa Kirby
nebber got no sight OBJ us tall, an
wus afeerd fer ter stay. He just
knowed a party wus yere-likely
'nough sum Black Abolitionists, who'd
be huntin' him if he didn't cl'ar out
just so soon as dey foun' dat Amos
Shrunk wus dead. Here wus his
chance, an he done took it."
He bent suddenly forward, his
glance at the edge of the log. "Dey
amt took but just de one boat, sab,
fer de odder am showed under dar
out'r sight"
As stopped further over saw that
this was true, the small rowboat with
the oars undisturbed in it's bottom,
had been pressed in beneath the con-
cealment, of the log wharf, almost COM
pletely hidden from above, yet to all
appearances uninjured. The very fact
that it should have been thus left only
added to the mystery of the affair. II
it had been Kirby's deliberate purpose
to leave US there stranded ashore
why had he failed to crush in the
boats planking with rock? Gould
the leaving of the craft in fit condi-
ton for our use be part of some care
fully conceived plan; bait to draw
US into some set trap? Or did it occur
merely as an incident of their hur
ried flight? These were unanswerable
questions, yet the mere knowledge
that the boat was actually there and
in navigable condition promised us ar
opportunity to escape. While hope re
manned, however vague, it was not my
nature to despair. Whether accident
or design had been the cause made nc
odds-I was willing to match my wits
against Kirby and endeavor to win
And 1 must deal with facts just as
they were.