The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1920-03-25

small stater0Om window. No n wal
In sight along the deck, and the rag
I was welding hung limp in my hand.
who was 1t that Spoken I ven
turcl, the words barely audible.
"Ah did-the prisoner in the state
room. Have both those men gomez
eyes; I am here alone. You are a
woman? You are Rene Beaucaire?"
mo, All am not her; but All know
.whar Rene Beaucaire Isl"
"You know? Tell me first who you
are"
"Elsie Clark. All am a mulatto, a
free negress. All bin helpin' Massa
"Shrunk, an cookin' fer him. Yer
know whut it wus whit happened
down tharw
II know part of it, at least-that
Shrunk's cabin and found the bodies.
Tell me exactly what occurred there"
"Whut's yer Names"
"Steven Knox; l am a soldier. Rene
must have told you about me"
mo, sab; she never done toll me
nuthin'. Nh didn't much morn see
her enyhow, fur as tibet goes"
"Not see her! Then she is not con-
fined there with vOu?'
"Wiv me? Oar amt nobody con-
fined yer wiz me. All Just amt set
eyes on nobody since All done got on
board, 'cept de cook. All reckon dem
!, white men aim fer ter tote me soufe,
J an sell me fer a slave; dat's why Abs
locked up yere dis way. But All sure
does know whar dis yer Rene Beau
, caire wus."
"WhereY"
"Wal, sab, 1t wus bout like dis:
, Long bout three o'clock in de maui
. ming Of Bill Skies cum up hrum de
| lower pint, a-drivin' his kivered wag-
on, an made Massa Shrunk git up out
er bed fer ter git him anodder team O.
bosses. Den deg done routed me up
fer ter hustle up suln grub"
"Sikes who was Sikes?"
"He lives down by de lower pike,
. sab !; he's an abolitionist. sah."
t "Oh, I see; he and Shrunk worked
|, together. He helped with the runaway
slaves"
I Eyes, sab. Abs b:a called up tibet
way afore. So All just nat'larly went
ter work cookin', an purity o o dey
all ov EN- cum stragglin' in ter de
cabin fer ter eat. Oar was four ov
EN-, sah," her voice a husky whisper.
'Bill Skies, totin' a gun in his ham, a
free niger whit dey called Pete, an
: two wimmin. De bigger one was a
; quadroon, maybe bout forty years OF,
an de odder she want much more'n
: a gal ; an dar want nuthin' ov de mig
. ger bout her, 'cept it mought be de
: hair, an de eyes-dem was sure black
'nough."
"You learned who they were?"
"Course All did. Skies he 'splaihed
all bout 'em ter Massa Shrunk, an All
heerl whit he sed. All was a waitin'
on 'em. We all ov US helped fer ter
put 'em in de wagon, hid undeh q lot O
truck, an den Skies he done drove 'em
out thro' de bluffs. All done walked
wifi de gal, an she tol' NOR bout her.
wus her name, sah."
aHer name? What name?"
irene Beaucaire; de %quadroon wom-
an, she wus her mother"
I could scarcely voice my surprise,
the quick throbbing of my heart threat
ening to choke me.
"She claimed that name? She actual
ly told you she was Rene Beaucaire?"
"She sure did. Why? Want tibet
her name?"
II do not know I confessed Per
haps / shall understand better, If you
go on. What happened after they
left?'
"Why, we just went back ter bed,
an long bout daylight, I reckon, sum
fef1ars cum ashore off a steamboat, an
done broke inter de house. We never
done heerd 'em till dey bust in de dore.
One OBJ dem he knocked me down, an
den All saw Massa Shrunk kill one,
just whut did cum OBJ de free niger;
All reckon maybe he run away. Oars
a fellar on board yere whit killed
Massa Shrunk an he's de same one
whut made me cum long wild him. A
smooth-faced man, sorter tall like, all
dressed up, an who never. talks much"
"Kirby-Joe Kirby, a river gambler
"Dat's de name-Kurby. Wal, he's
de one whut was lookin' fer dis yere
gal, Rene Beaucaire. He wanted her
pow'ful bad. Dey hunted all round
fer ter git hol: her, cussin' an threat
enin', an a haulin' me round; but
'twan't no sorter use. So finally dey
took me long ter a boat in de crick-a
keelboat, run by steam. Most de odder
men disappeared; All never did know
whar dey went, but dis we're Kurby
done shut me up in de cabin. All don't
know much whit did happen after
dat, til bout de time de steamboat
done hit us; an bout de next thing
All wus yanked up we're on deck"
"But there was another woman o.
the keelboat when it was sunk-a pris-
0ner Also. Surely you must have seen