The Dolores star., 1920-01-23

"De good Lord! An de OIL jedge
| never set her free?"
The lawyer shook his head. words
evidently failing him.
But are you absolutely certain of
this?" l broke In impatiently. "Have
| you searched the records?"
Not 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 ac-
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, uueXecuted.
| There is no mistake-Rene Is legally
slave. together with her mother"
"My God ~ exclaimed. Gould any,
one conceive more horrible position :
Here is n young girl, educated, refined.
OF mor- than ordinary attractlveness.
Throck kmorton tells me, brought up
amid every comfort, and led to be-
lieve herself the honored daughter of
the house, awakening in an instant to
the fact that she is u slave, with ne
gro blood in her veins--a mere chat
TEL owned body and soul by gam
bier. won in card game, and to be
sold to the highest bidder. Haines
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 Beaucaire girls: they meant
more to him than either the money or
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 can judge yourself what ne meant ::
She's worth fifty thousand dollars by
her mothers will, and l Intend to win
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.
This is as near he'll as anything
ever knew" he said land so far as
! can see there is no legal way out
Of 1t. We are utterly helpless to as
sist."
1--WE are not" I answered hOtly. ''if
we are men. There may be no legal
way in which we can beat this villain,
but there is an Illegal one, unless we
are already too late. and l propose
to use it, whether you join me or not.
You are sure the girls are still ut the
pantntion house-that they know
nothing of this condition?"
81 have reason to believe so. Della
was buying provisions ut the Landing
yesterday; l talked with her mo
mcnt.'
And YOU said that Kirby and Car
yer were only in town for one night.
leaving the next morning on keel
boat for st. Louis. My idea Is they
were not quite ready to take posses
sion; that they have gone to st. Louis
I" file the papers, and will come back
with officers prepared TO execute
them. This means that we must work
fast to get out of their way"
What do YOU propose dolng?"
"-rt me ask n question first. Is it
true that ElOiSe Beaucaire Is heiress
to fifty thousand dollars through her
mothers estate?"
"YcS; | invested most of it."
"1n WHAT"
New Orleans property principally"
Then 1t is safe enough whatever
happens. The only thing we can do
is this: tell those girls and the mother
the whole truth-tell them ut once, be-
fore Kirby can return, and then help
them to get out of this country. 1t
is not necessary for Eloise to go, un-
less she desires TO, but there is nc
other safe course for Della and Rene
They must reach a northern state be-
fore Kirby can lay hands on them.
Could Della pass for n white woman? %
Not in the South: still she could
travel as Renes maid. But | do not
believe it is possible for the two to
escape in that way, Knox. Understand
I'd be willing TO risk it If there were
any show. How can 1t be dGne? On
the average at this time Of year there
isn't Il steamboat along here once IL
month. If we did get them onto a
boat they would have to travel
straight south as far as the Ohio.
Kirby wouldn't be more than day
or two behind them, with friends on
/ every boat on the river. Illinois is no
| free state for fugitive slaves--thcy
might just as well be caught in Mis-
souri, as over there. There Is not one
chance in Il thousand that they make
| it."
"And less than that If they remain
here for Kirby to get his hands on
I retOrted bitterly. "Now look here
Haines. 1 am going to carry out this
plan alone If you will not back me In
1t. l am not talking about steam
boats; they could travel by night, and
hide along shore during the day All
they would need would be two negro
oarsmen, sufficient food. and boat
big enough to carry them safely. You