The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1920-02-06
CHAPTER VI.
The Home of Judge Beaucaire.


The Home of Judge Beaucaire.
The road we followed appeared to
be endless, arr so rough that / soon
climbed down from my seat, an I'M
planed board, uncomfortable enough
under any conditions, in the swaying,
humping cart, and stumbled blindly
along behind, tripping over stumps in
the darkness, and wrenching my
ankles painfully in deep ruts.
1t was considerably after ten
o'clock when we emerged upon an open
plateau, and q glimmer of stars over
head revealed to me afar off the silver
thread of the great river. Pete
stopped the straining mule, feat not
at all difficult of accomplishment, the
animals sides rising and falling as he
wheeZed for breath, and came back
to where l stood, staring about at the
dimly perceived objects in the fore
ground.
"Out dar am de Beaucaire place"
he announced. as soon as he could dis
tingush my presence, waving his arm
to indicate the direction. "An' l
fer if Alick shud smell corn. he'd
nat'larly raise dis Who'll neighborhood
lies got a powerful voice, sah."
EQUAL to his appetite, no doubt"
'.Yas, sab; that's mostly whut Alick
am
How far away is the house?"
Likely bout a hundred yards Yer
see dat light out yonder; well dat S it.
an 1 reckon de ladies mus be up yet,
keepin' de lamp burnin'. Here's de
slave cabins long de edge OBJ de
woods, but dey's all dark. What's yer
a goin fer ter do now, Massa Knox?"
l was conscious that my heart was
beating rapidly, and that my mind was
anything but clear. The problem 'front.'
ing me did not appear so easily
solved, now that / was fairly up
against it, and yet there seemed only
one natural method of procedure. /
must go at my unpleasant task bold
ly, and in this case only the truth
wood serve. I was an officer in the
United States army, and had in my
pocket papers to prove my identity.
These would vouch for me as a gen.
tleman, and yield me measure of au-
thority. And this fact, once estab- |
iished, ought to give me sufficient |
standing in the eyes of those girls to |
compel from them a respectful hear |
Ing. I would tell the story exactly as
I knew il, concealing nothing, and add
ing no unnecessary word, outline my |
plan of action, and then leave them to
decide what they thought best to do. +
Strange, unbelievable as the situation
was. proof was not lacking. Della
could be compelled to acknowledge
that Rene was her child-she would
scarcely dare deny this truth in face
of my positive knowledge-and she, at
least must know that Judge Beau
caire had never during his lifetime
given her her freedom. This fact
could be established beyond question. !
and then they must surely all compre-
bend the necessity of immediate flight |,
that there remained no other pos
sible means of escare from hopeless
slavery. Desperate as the chance ap-
peared, it was the only one.
1t dawned upon me now with more
intense force than ever before, the po- y
sition in which / stood, and / shrank
from the ordeal. A perfect stranger,
not even chance acquaintance of
those directly involved in this tragedy,
[ would have to drag out from the
closet. where it had been hidden away
Tor years, this old Beaucaire skeleton.
lEd rattle the dried bones of dishonor
before the Mortified understanding of
hese two innocent, unsuspecting girls.
rhe conviction came TO me that | had
best do tbs alone; that the presence
If the negro would hinder. rather than
help the solution of the problem. (,
Pete said, measuring my words,
ny plan If action shaping itself even
Is spoke. "What lies in there be- I
tween us and the house?"
"A truck patch mostly, wild a fence
round it. Den thar comes SOM flower s
,eds'' II
mo pathY' t
Well, done reckon as how thar ,
night be sorter path, sab, but you'd r
;ardIy find 1t In de DARK. De bes'
sayd be ter sorter feel long de S
ence I'll yer git sight O de front
.3fon- /
=, right. then. ! am going to leave !
~ acre while scout sro1s'.- Keep
oar eyes opez and have the mule
10y = 1870 At any minLxe."