The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1919-12-18

words Of the lawyer, his WI legal
counselor, brought conviction, and for
the moment all power of speech de-
serted me. 1t was actually true, then
the girl was a slave, a thing belonging
to Kirby. Nothing broke the stiffness
within the cabin except the sharp
cracking Of flames in the open fire.
place, and the heavy breathing Of the
negro. He was seated on the edge
of the bed. his black face showing q
greenish tint and revealing puzzled
amazement, with w~ide-opened eyes
staring blankly at Haines, who stood
motionless before the fire.
"Whut wus dat yer sed, Mister
Haines?" he asked thickly. "You say
as how Missus Rene Beaucaire Is a
slave, sab? Pears like I don't just
rightfully understan'."
"Still, that is true, Pete" and the
lawyer lifted his head and surveyed
US both. "She is the illegitimate
daughter of Della, Judge Beaucaire's
housekeeper; her father was Adelbert
Beaucaire, the judges only son. No
n knows where he Is, dead or alive"
de good Lord! An de OF jedge
never set her free?"
The lawyer shook his head, words
evidently failing him.
"But are you absolutely certain of
this?" I broke in impatient1y. "Have
you searched the recOrds?"
mot only searched them, Knox, but
before he left for the north on this
last trip Beaucaire was in my Office,
and l practically forced him to &C.
knowledge the negligence. He even
authorized me to draw up the neces.
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
a slave, together with her mother"
my Godw I exclaimed. "Could any
n conceive a more horrible position
Here is a young girl, educated, refined,
of more than ordinary attractiveness,
TnrockmortOn tells me, brought up
amid every comfort, and led to be-
lieve herself the honored daughter OF
the house, awakening in an instant to
gro blood in her veins-a mere chat.
tel, owned body and soul by a gam.
bier, won in a card game, and to be
sold to the highest bidder. Haines,
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 Beauc1ire girls; they meant
more to him than either the money OF
the property. This card game gave
him one; the other"
"Eloise, you mean? Did the fellow
threaten herr"
"Here is what he said sneeringly
you a Judge yourself what he meant
She's worth fifty thousand dollars by
her mothers will, and I intend to wir
her if I can, fair means or FOUL"
Haines did not speak for some mo
ments, his eyes on my face. Then he
paced back and forth across the floor
finally stopping before the fire.
HThis is as near hell as anything ]
ever knew" he said, land so far as
I can e there is no legal way out
Of it. We r utterly helpless to as
sist."
"We are not" I answered holly, III
we are men. There may be no legal
way in which we can beat this villain,
hint +horo ;c on iI1opo1 oro ,,p1ace ,n,n
are already too late, and I 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 If this condition."
g! have reason to believe so. Della
was buying provisions at the Landing
yesterday; I talked with her a mo
ment."
"And you said that Kirby and Car
yer were only in town for one night
leaving. the next 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 the papers, and will come back
with officers prepared to execute
them. This means that we must worr
fast to get out of their way"
"What do you propose doing?"
LET me ask a question first. Is Il
true that Eloise Beaucaire is heiress
to fifty thousand dollars through hel
mothers estate?"
"Yes; / invested most of it."
'In what?"
"New Orleans property principally
""Then it is safe enough whatever
happens. The only thing we can de
is this: tell those girls and the mother
the whole truth-tell them at once, be
fore Kirby a return, and then helI
them to get out of this country. II
Is not necessary for Eloise to 60, un'
less she desires 70, but there is nc
| other safe cour> n Della and Rene
They must reach a northern state be-
fore Kirby can lay hands on them
Could Della pass for a white woman?'
"Not in the South; still she could
travel as Rene's maid. But / do not
believe 1t is possible for the two to