The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1920-01-01

~ AN AA - AAA
operated by an engine, and that they
anticipated no resistance. The engi-
neer was left to watch the boat and
be ready to depart downstream at any
moment
"Good; that leaves us a clear pas
sage. Now I am going to drop to the
ground; it Is not far below. Can you
make it alone?'
Il have done so many q time"
We attained the solid earth almost
together and in silence.
Snow let me guide you," she sug-
gested, as ] hesitated. II know every
inch Of the way about here. Where is
the negro waitingw
AT the edge of the wood where the
wagon road ends. beyond the slave
quarters"
Eyes, l know; it will be safer for
us to go around the garden"
She fitted forward, sure-fo0ted,
confident, and I followed as rapidly as
possible through the darkness, barely
keeping her dim figure in sight. Our
feet stumbled over the ruts of a road,
and / seemed to vaguely recognize the
spot as familiar. Yes, away off yon-
der was the distant CLEAN of the river
rejecting the stars. This must be the
very place where Pete and I had part
ed, but-where had the fellow gone?
Here is where he was directed to
wait,' I explained hurriedly. "I am
cI1rn mn not ,nic}n1,nr Il, tln oy,c% -
"Yet he is not here, and there is
no sign of him. You left no other
instructions except for him to remain
until your return?"
II think not-oh, yes, l did tell him
if you wOmen came without me he was
to drive you at one to the boat and
leave me to follow the best way I
could. Do you suppose it possible the
others: reached here and he has gone
away with them?'
She stood silent and l strove by
peering about to discover some marks
of guidance, only to learn the USE
lessness of the effort. Even a slight
advance brought no result, and it was
with some difficulty I even succeeded
in locating her again in the darkness
indeed, only the sound of her voice
made me aware of her immediate pres.
ence.
"The negro's boat is some distance
away, is it not?"
-Four miles, over the worst road I
ever travelled" A sudden remembrance
swept into my mind, bringing with it
inspiration.
"Have you ever visited the mouth of
Saunders creek? You have! How
far away is that from here"
Not more than half a mile; it en-
ters the river just below the Land
ing."
"And, if I understood you rightly
I urged eagerly, you said that these
fellows left their keelboat there; that
it had been rugged up to run by steam,
and had no guard aboard except the
engineer; you are sure Of thisY
'"That was what the man who talked
to me first said-the deputy sheriff
He boosted that they had the only
keelboat ON the river equipped with
an engine and had come up from st.
Louis in two hours. You-you think
we could use that?"
1T seems to be all that is left us.
I intend to make the effort, anyway.
You had better show me the road"
I followed her closely, a mere
shadow, as she silently led the way
along the edge of the wood and back
of the negro quarters. l felt confident
of being able safely to approach thu
unsuspecting engineer and overcome
any resistance before he could real.
lie the possibility of attack. / was
obliged to rely upon a guess at the
time of night, yet surely it could not
be long after twelve and there must
remain hours of darkness amply suffi.
cient for our purpose. With the boat
ono securely in Jul possession the en-.
gineer compelled to serve, for 1 had nc
i. skill in that line, we could strike out
directly for the opposite shore ant
creep along in it's shadows past the
attained the deserted waters above
BY then we should practically be be.
yond immediate pursuit. Even if Car.
yer or the sheriff discovered Kirby
any immediate chase by river woulC
be impossible. Nothing was available
for their use except a few rowboats
at the Landing; they would know moth
ing as to whether we had gone up or
down stream, while the coming of the
early daylight would surely permit us
to discover some place Of concealment
along the desolate Illinois shore. Des-
perate as the attempt undoubtedly
vas the situation as I considered it in
all it's details brought me faith in our
success and fresh encouragement to
make the effort.
We moved forward slowly. I took
the lead myself, bending low and feel
ing carefully for footing in the wiry
grass. The darkness so shrouded ev-
erything, blending objects into shape
less shadows, that it required several
moments before I could clearly deter
mine the exact details. The mouth of