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

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understand this river. We are going
to head upstream"
"Yas, sir; yer plannin' fer ter go |
nor. Wal, sab, dars plenty o. watah
fer dis yere boat right now, wild de
spring floods. Nothin' fer ter be
afeerd of bout dat"
THAT is good news. Now, Sam. l
am going to cut this line, and 1 want
you to steer straight across into the
shadows of the Illinois shore. 1 be-
lieve you are going to play square,
but for the present I'm going to take
no chances with you. / am holding
this pistol within foot of your head,
and your life means nothing to me If
you try any trick. What is the speed
of this boat upstream?"
Bout ten mile an hour, sah."
swell, don't push her too hard at
first, and run that engine as noiseless-
ly as possible. Are you ready? Yes
then I'll cut loose"
l severed the line and we began to
recede from the shore, cutting diago-
nally across the decidedly swift cur
rent. Once beyond the protection of
the point the star-gleam revealed the
sturdy rush of the waters, occasion
ally fiecked with bubbles of foam.
Sam handled the unwieldy craft with
the skill of practiced boatman, and
the laboring engine made far less
hnA tod
in hand, and vigilant to every motion
of the negro, my eyes swept along that
vague shore line, catching nowhere
spark of light, nor any evidence that
the steady chug of our engine had Gre
ated alarm. We were alone upon the
| mysterious bosom of the vast stream,
tossed about in the full sweep of the
current, yet moving steadily forward,
and already safely beyond both sight
and sound.
Every moment of progress tended to
increase my confidence in Sans 10y
atty. The fellow plainly enough real
lied the situatiOn-that safety for
himself depended on keeping beyond
the reach of his master. To this end
he devoted every instant diligently to
coaxing his engine and a skillful guild
ance of the boat, never once permit
ting his head to turn far enough to
glance at me, although / could occa-
sionally detect his eyes wandering in
the direction of the girl.
She had not uttered a word nor
changed her posture since first enter.
ing the boat, but remained just as
had seated her, one hand grasping the
edge of the cockpit, her gaze on the
rushing waters ahead. 1 could realize
something of what must be passing
through her mind-the mingling OF
doubt and fear which assailed her il
this strange environment. Up unit
now she had been accorded no oppor
tunity to think. to consider the nature
of her position; she had been com
PEELED to act wholly upon impulse anC
driven blindly to accept my sugges
tions. And now, in this silence, tn,
reaction had come, and she was al
ready questioning If she had don,
right.
1t was in my heart to speak to her
In effort to strengthen her faith, but
hesitated, scarcely knowing what t,
say, deeply touched by the patheti
droop of her figure, and in truth un
certain in my own mind as to whethe
or not we had chosen the wise
course. All dared do was to silentl
reach out one hand and rest it gentl
on those fingers clasping the rail- Sh
did not remove her hand from beneat
mine, nor indeed give the slightest evi
dence that she was even aware of m
action.
"Wus All to turn nor, sah?" aske
!, the negro suddenly.
"Yes, upstream; but keep in as clos
to the shore as you think SAFE Their
is no settlement along this bank, /
: thereY
: "No, sab; dar's JUS one cabin, 'bou
. a mile upstream, but dar amt nobod
: livin' thar now. Whar yer all all
! fer ter goT'
/ hesitated an instant before / ar
swered, yet almost as quickly decide
that the whole truth would probabl
:. serve us best. The man already ha
: one reason to use his best endeavors
: now I would bring before him a se
: ond.
"Just as far up the river before da,
: light as possible, Sam. Then / hoE
: to uncover some hiding place whel
:, we can lie concealed until it is dar
: again. Do you know any such place:
ION de Illinois shore, sab? Les see
thar's Rassuer creek. bout twent
mile up. All 'spects you all know
whut yer headin' fer2"
= "To a certain extent-yes; but "
had to decide on this action vel
quickly, with no chance to plan it ou
/ am aiming at the mouth of the Ill
nois."
He glanced about at me, vainly e.
deavoring to decipher my expressic
in the gloom.
"De Illinois ribber, boss; what y,
4 hope fer ter find thar?"
u "a certain man I've heard abou
a Did you ever happen to hear whi
n man mentioned who lives near ther,
a His name is Amos Shrunk."
n could scarcely distinguish his eye
q but l could feel them. l thought Fl
q a moment he would not answer.
n "Yer'll surely excuse me, sah,"
Va said at last, humbly, his voice with
X note Of pleading it 1t. "Ah's feeli
N friendly 'nough an all dat, sab, b
n still yer mus member dat Abs talk
n ter perfect stranger. If yer w
" sure tell me furst just whut yer W
aimin' at, then maybe Ah'd know
heap morn All do now."
81 guess you are right, Sam. I'll t
you the whole of it. | am endeav,
es ing to help this young woman
escape those men back yonder. 7
must know why they were there;
It, doubt you overheard them talk comi
ct upT
"Yas. sab; Massa Donaldson he W
K goin' up fer ter serve sum papers
Ut Massa Kirby, so he cud run off
es Beaucaire niggers. But dis we're @
IL she ain't no uippor-Sbasy - -