Carroll County democrat. (Huntingdon, Tenn.) 188?-1971, 1919-10-17

lust COM down from the lead mines,
toP him tibet Joe Kirby got all this
we're property in a game o. kyards on
the boat, an tibet it want no square
game either. didn't git 1t all straight,
reckon, but accordin' ter the deal
handed me thar wus two dead men
mixed up in the affair-Beaucaire, an
young army officer. Seems ter me
his name was Knox"
"I didn't hear that"
"Well, enyhow, that's the way Bill
told it. Beaucaire he naturally fell
dead-heart, err somethin'-an' the
other Teller, this yere army man, he
went out on deck fer ter see Kirby, an
he never cum back. McAdoo sorter
reckoned as how likely he was slugged,
an throwed overheard. An then, on
top all that, we're sent up we're in the
night like a passed. o. thieves ter take
these niggers down ter Saint Louee.
What do yer make ov it, Jake2"
oval" said the other slowly, his
mouth evidently loaded with tobacco.
II amt never asked no questions since
wus made sheriff. I'm dom whit
the court says. Kirby's got the law
on his side-no doubt bout that-but
1 reckon as how he knows it wus a
durn mean trick, and so he's sorter
skeered as ter how them fellers Twin
down ter the Landin' might act. Thet's
why we tied up ter the shore below
town, in the mouth o. tibet crick, an
then he'd ter hoOf 1t up we're in the
dark. Of course we got the law with
us, but we wanter pull this job off an
not stir up no flght-see?"
"Sure," disgustedly. Il reckon /
know all that; / heerd the jedge tell
yer how we must do the job. But
why's Kirby in such a sweat ter git all
these niggers down ter Saint Louee|
"Ter sell 'em, an git the cash. Onct
they're outer the way there won't be
no row. He'll let the land we're lie
idle fer year or two, an by that time
nobody1l care a whoOp how he got it.
But he's got ter git rid O. them mig
gers right away"
"Well, who the h--s goin' ter pre-
vent? They're his'n, amt they? Thar
amt no Black Abolitionists round
we're, / reckon"
Seems sorter queer ter me-" admit
ted the sheriff, "but l did get a little
outer that Teller Carver comm up.
Carver is som sorter partner with
Kirby--a capper, reckon. faint the
niggers tibet are maxim the trouble
leastways not the black 'uns. No
body's likely ter row over them. 1t
seems that Beaucaire kept a Quadroon
hOusekeeper, a slave, O. course, an a
while back she Civ birth ter child,
the father O. the infant beln' Judge
Beaucaire's son. Then the son skipped
out, an amt never bin heard rum
since-dead most likely, fer all this
wus twenty years ago. Course the
child, which wus girl, is as white as
am-maybe more so. l amt never
set eyes on her, but Carver he says
she's good lookin'. Enyhow, the
ledge he brought her up like his own
daughter, sent her ter school in Saint
Louee, an nobody round yere even
suspected she wus niger. | reckon
she didn't know it herself"
"Yer mean the girls a SLAYER
eyer bet That's the law, amt iii"
"And Kirby knew about this?'
II reckon he did. / sorter judge,
Tim, frum whit Carver sed, that he
wus more anxious fer ter git tibet girl
than all the rest O. the stuff; an it's
her he wants ter git away frum yere
on the dead quiet, afore Haines err
any O. them others down at the Lsndln'
kin catch on"
"They couldn't do nuthin'; if thar
amt no papers, then she's his, ac-
cordin' ter law. I've seen that tried
afore now"
"Of course; but what's the use o.
runnin' eny risk? A smart lawyer
like Haines could make a devil ov lot
O. trouble just the same, if he took a
notion. That's Kirby's idee-ter cum
up yere in a boat, unbeknownst to eny-
body, tie up down thar at Saunders,
an run the whole bunch O. niggers Off
in the night. Then it's done an over
with afore the Landin' even wakes up.
I reckon the jedge told him that wus
the best way"
There was a moment of silence, the
first man evidently turning the situa-
ton over in his mind. The sheriff bent
across the rail, and spat into the dark
ness below.
''The joke Of it all is" he continued
with short laugh, as he Strengthened
up, "this didn't exactly work out
'cordin' ter schedule. When we
dropped in yere we rounded up the
niggers all right, an we got the girl
whar there's no chance fer her ter git
away"
"Is that the one back in the hOuseT
II reckon so; leastways she toll
Kirky her name was Rene Beaucaire,
an that's how It reads in the papers.
But thar amt no trace ov her mother,
ner ov the jedge's daughter. They
amt in the house, ner the niger
cabins. Ieaves me in q deuce OV a