The Bolivar County Democrat., 1922-10-14
pcriwinkle House

| In exactly two hundred, and here
am as refreshed as a horse grazing or
clover"
Colonel, 1 congratulate you!" said
Drace.
The two breakfasted together, and
then Drace set out to find again the
house at the scene of the riot-the
house at the window Of which he had
seen the face of Nadine la Vitte. AT
length he found himself in the side
| street where he had taken refuge the
night before, and turning out of this
he came to the tree from the limb Of
which he had cut down the half
strangled victim of the mob. There op-
| posite was the house and there was
! the window at which he had seen Ma
| dimes face; but across the window,
boards had been nailed. The other
windows, too, and the doors, were
! nailed up; the place was deserted.
! Could that face at the window have
! been only creature of his imagina-
ton?
| An old negro in nondescript livery
came down the walk from a house a
few doors away He might have been
| footman to q harlequin. But when
Drace spoke to him, the dignified
change In his countenance appeared
to alter even the aspect Of his attire !;
and now he might have been usher to
governor. This quick change had
been brought about by his intuitive
discovery that Drace was a man Of
consequence.
do you know anything about the
people who lived across the street :"
Drace asked.
"Wall, no sab; da wus po' folks,
sah"
'Then you don't know where they
went"
mo sab. My 'ployment is ter look
after folks OBJ er higher 'dition, sab.
An den ter preach on Sunday"
"Oh, you are preacher"
"Called. sab, wild er blast from de
trumpet"
"Does your church ever need
money!" In a moment he lost his
dignity.
Look yeah, boss, whut's er niger
church fur eff 1t amt ter need money?
Co'se 1t need money. But what you
gwine do erbOut it?
"Yassuh," he said, when Drace had
warmed him with a greenback, 81
reckon dey done moved away. There
was er kind of rumpus last night. And
I reckon they-all thought it wasn't no
place fob dem no mo-; dey lef' mighty
sudden-like, uhly dis mawnin'."
And that was all Drace could learn;
no one in the vicinity would admit
that they knew them or their destina-
ton. Disliking to call too much at.
tention to himself, Drace walked away
heavy hearted. For long time he
wandered the streets. He came to the
levee, and the French market. He
and looked upon the novel sight Of
bodies sepulchered in wall with
doors like a furnace. These compart-
ments, he learned. were rented by the
month to the poor; and a short tenan-
try it was for many son and daugh-
ter of penury answering Eternity's
call, for when the grim agent failed
to collect the pittance promised by
sorrow, the shrouded renter was evict-
ed-an old Spanish custom, Drace was
told.
Recalled by these grim surroundings
to the purpose that had brought him
to the South, Drace now determined
to give himself wholly to his quest for
Stepho la Vitte. He returned to the
hotel, and found Shottle nervous in a
cloud of smoke. The floor was GOV.
cred with burned matches and the
stubs of cigars.
LIB, I'm crushed" announced Drace.
$50 am I. But how does it happen
that the dust-cart drove over you too?"
Nadine is gone. The place is nailed
up"
"That's tough, all right. But what
are y9u going to do about it? Are you
going to come to your puritanic senses
and give the whole thing up, or do YOU
expect"
II expect to fulfill my sacred mis-
sion. must find Stepho la Vitte."
Shottle got up and shook hands with
his friend. He swore that he would
make the search the aim of his life
Suppose you hire me by the day." he
suggested. "A man does better work
by the day. He always has fresh stim-
ulus every time the sun rises"
every well-ten dollars a day."
"That's liberal, Virgil, and I'll take
it. And let's get Old Josh to help u.s.
He is more or less acquainted with
Stepho's habits"