The Oklahoma miner. [volume] (Krebs, Okla.) 1912-192?, 1920-03-11

Beaucaire died"
"Ah done heerd oil bout dat, sab.
An yer nebber know'd dis yere girl
afore ct all2"
"No, l never even saw her. l
chanCed to hear the story and went
to the house to warn them, as no one
else would. l was too late, and no
other course was left but to help her
escape. That is the whole of It."
He asked several other questions,
but at last appeared satisfied, and
after that we discussed the guard duty
of the day, both agreeing it would not
be safe for us to permit any possible
pursuit to pass by us UP the river un-
seen. Sam professed himself as IN
wearled by the nights work and will
ing to stand the first watch. l lay
down in the tree shade, and must
have fallen asleep almost Immediately.
l do not know what aroused me, but
l Immediately sat upright, startled
and instantly awake, the first object
confronting me being Sam on the
crest of the opposite ridge, eagerly
beckoning me to Join him. The mo-
ment he was assured of my coming,
and without so much as uttering a
| word of explanation, he vanished
into the shadow Of the woods.
l crossed the ravine with reckless
haste, clambering up the opposite
bank, and sixty feet beyond suddenly
came into view of the broad eXpanse
Of water. Scarcely had glimpsed this
rolling flood. sparkling under the
suns rays. when my gaze turned up
stream, directed by an excited gesture
Of the negro. Less than a mile away,
It's rapidly revolving wheel churning
! the water into foam in ceaseless battle
| against the current, was a steamboat.
A number of moving figures were per-
ceptible on the upper deck. l stared
at the apparitiOn, scarcely compre-
! hending the reality Of what l beheld.
"Yer bettah 'stoOp down more, sah,"
Sam urged. Fer sum O. dem fellars
might see yer yet. All nebber heerd
nuthin' ner saw no smoke till she
cum a-pufin' round de end o. dat pint.
All cudn't dare go fer yer then, sab,
fer fear dey'd see me, so All jus
natarly lay down yere an watched
her go by"
as 1t a government boat"
"Ah reckon maybe; leastwise thar's
a heap O. sojers aboard her-reglar
All reckons, fer dey's all in uniform.
But everybody aboard wasn't sojers."
you know the steamer7"
"Yas, sab. Abs seed her face afore
dis down ct st. Louee. She uster run
down de rlbber-she's de John B.
Glover. She amt no great shakes OBJ
boat, sah."
His eyes, which had been eagerly
following the movements of the craft
turned and glanced at me. "Massa
Kirby he wus aboard dat steamer
sah."
kirby Are you sure about that
Samf"
"Course Abs sure. Didn't All see
him Just as plain as All see you right
now7 he wus forrad by de rail, neal
de pilot house, a-watchin' dis whole
shore like a hawk. Dat sure WI:
Massa Kirby all right, but dar wan
, nobody else long wild him."
But what could he be doing There
on a troop boat2"
The negro scratched his head mo
mentarily puzzled by my question.
"Ah sure don't know, sah," he ad
mitted. "Only dat's perzackly who +
was. All figure 1t out bout dis way
( sab: dat nobody kin tell yit which
way we went-up de ribber er dowr
r de ribber. Long cum de John B
S Glover, an Massa Kirby he just taxi
a chance an goes aboard. De sheriff
e he goes der odder way, downstream
in a rowbOat; an dat's how dey aim
2 ter sure head US Off"
e I sat down at the edge Of the blufi
] convinced that the conclusions Of tn
D negro were probably correct. Tha
was undoubtedly about how 1t hat
t happened. To attempt pursuit up
d stream with only oars as propellin
e power would be senseless, but the pas
n sage upward OF this troop boat al
p forded Kirby an opportunity he woul
not be slow to accept. Getting aboar
:, would present no great difficulty, an
s his probable acquaintance with tn
d captain would make the rest easy
t, The steamer by this time was NOV
a ing diagonally across the river, hea
? toward the other shore, and was a.
n ready so far away the men on dec
were invisible. 1t was scarcely prot
h able that Kirby would go far nortl