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

never VenLuFlnS TO remove my eye
from the negro. His actions and what
ever / was able to observe Of the ex-
preston of his face only served to
convince me of his trustworthiness,
yet l could take no chances.
"She's just a real, live woman, sah7'
he managed to calculate. half in
doubt. 'She sure amt no ghost, sah?'
by no means, Sam; she is Just an
real as either you or I. Now listen,
boy-you know what will happen to
you after this, if Donaldson ever gets
hold of yOu?"
II 'spects I does, sab. He'd just
nat'arly skin dis niger alive, All
reckon"
every well, then it il up to YOU
to get away, and l take it that you
understand this river. We are going
to head upstream"
"Yas, sir; yer plannin' fer ter 60
nor. Wal, sab, dars plenty o. watah
fer dis yere boat right now, wild de
spring floods. Nothin' fer ter be
afeerd Of bout dat"
n IS SCC0 news. NOW, Sam, i
am going to cut this line, and I want
you to steer straight across into the
shadows of the Illinois shore. I be-
lieve you are going to play square.
but for the present I'm going to take
no chances with you. am holding
this pistol within q foot of your head.
and your life means nothing to me If
you try any trick. What is the speed
Of this boat upstream?'
Bout ten mile an hour, sah."
well, don't push her too hard at
first, and run that engine as noiseless-
ly as possible. Are you ready? Yes
then I'll cut loose"
l severed the line and we began to
recede from the shore, cutting diago-
nally across the decidedly swift cur
rem Once beyond the protection Of
the point the star-gleam revealed the
sturdy rush Of the waters, OCCASION
ally flecked with bubbles Of foam.
Sam handled the unwieldy craft with
the skill of a practiced boatman, and
the labOring engine made far less
linz IIti L az AblISlvAlCu AStUl
In hand, and vigilant to every motion
of the negro, my eyes swept along that
vague shore line. catching nowhere a
spark Of light, 0 any evidence that
the steady chug Of our engine had Gre
ated alarm. We were alone upon the
mysterious bosom of the vast stream,
tossed about in the full sweep of the
current, yet moving steadily forward.
and already safely beyond both sight
and sound.
Every moment Of progress tended to
increase my confidence in Sans 10y
atty. The fellow plainly enough real
lied the situation-that safety for
himself depended on keeping beyond
the reach of his master. To this end
he devoted every instant diligently to
cOaxing his engine and a skillful guild
C. of the boat, eve nee permit
ting his head to turn far enough to
glance at me, although l could occa-
sionally detect his yes wandering in
the direction of the girl.
She had not uttered a word nor
changed her posture since first enter
ing the boat, but remained just as I
had seated her, n hand grasping the
edge of the cockpit, her gaze on the
rushing waters ahead. I could realize
something of what must be passing
through her mind-the mingling of
doubt and fear which assailed her in
this strange environment. Up until
now she had been accorded no oppOr-
tunity to think, to consider the nature
of her position; she had been COM
PEELED to act wholly upon impulse and
driven blindly to accept my sugges-
tons. And now, in this silence, the
reaction had come, and she was al
ready questioning If she had done
right.
1t was in my heart to speak to her,
in effort to strengthen her faith, but I
hesitated, scarcely knowing what to
say, deeply touched by the pathetic
drOOp of her figure, and in truth UNI
certain in my own mind IS to whether
or not we had chosen the wiser
course. All dared do was to silently
reach out one hand and rest it gently
on those fingers clasping the rail. She
did not remove her hand from beneath
mine, nor indeed give the slightest ev1.
dence that she was even aware of my
action.
"Wus All to turn nor, sah?" asked
the negro suddenly.
eyes, upstream ; but keep in as close
to the shore as you think safe. There
Is no settlement along this bank, is
there?"
"No, sab; dar's JUS one cabin, bout
a mile upstream, but dar amt nobody
livin' thar 10Y Whar yer all aim
fer ter goY"
/ hesitated an instant before / an
swered, yet almost as quickly decided
that the whole truth would probably
serve us best. The man already had
n reason to use his best e%ndeavors;
now / would bring before him a &c
Ond.
"Just as far up the river before day
light as possible, Sam. Then I hope