Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1922-11-09
SYNOPSIS

SYNOPSIS
CHAPTER 1.-The time is the late eos
or early '70s and the scene a steamboat
Of the period are present and the doat-
ing palace Is distinguished by merriment,
dancing and .gallantry. There are the
CUSTOMARY sI31 drinking and gambling also.
on his way south on mission of revenge.
He meets an eccentric character In the
person of one Liberty .Shottle, who is
constantly tempting the goddess Of
chance They form singular compact
CHAPTER n.-Drace gets his mind of
his mission by entering into deck sports
In which he exhibits an unusual athletic
prowess. Liberty Shottle is again un--
lucky. at cards and attempts a financial
negotiation with Drace. The latter, see
Ing an opportunity to use Shottle, con-
hdes to him that his mission is to find
q certain ex-guerrilla, Stepho Ia Vitte,
his determination announced to his new
chum, to hang La Vitte as high as
Hannah. Drace has become enamored
of mysterious beauty aboard the boat
CHAPTER III.-The steamer reaches
New Orleans. at that cine in the some
eminent. Shottle becomes possessed of
1 two tickets for the French ball, a great
society event, and proposes that Drace
accompany him to the affair. The young
, men attend and Drace unexpectedly meets
the girl who had fred his heart aboard
the steamer. She is accompanied by one
Boyce, whose proprietary interest indi-
Gates that he is her fiance. Through
stratagem Shottle learns that the name
Of the girl is Nadine la vitte and that
her companion of the evening is the man
who is seeking to marry her.
CHAPTER IV.-Drace passes an uneasy
night torn by the suspicion that Nadine
is the daughter of old Stepho la Vitte,
now an admitted outlaw. Now, more
than ever. is he resolved to find where
the girl lives and to find Stepho. Drace
In one of their nocturnal pilgrimages
they come upon mob intent upon hang
ing poor wretch from the limb of a
tree 1t is a typical carpetbag execution
and aroused the resentment of an oppos-
ing mob of citizens. Drace takes a hand
in the fight which starts and is instru-
mental in preventing the execution. From
q window opposite the scene, he catches
a glimpse of one he is sure is Nadine.
CHAPTER v-The escapade, the fight,
the interference with the execution get
Drace and Shottle into bad standing with
the authorities, but instead of punish
ment are given until the next day to
board a steamer bound north. Returning
to the house where he thought he had
glimpsed the girl, Drace finds the place
abandoned. Through Colonel Josh, an
emissary employed at the suggestion of
Shottle, he gets a faint clue in the dis
covery that a certain Frenchman, wine
Stepho la Vitte. There is only a short
time before the departure of the steamer
when brace and Salottle go to call on
the Frenehman. The latter is too keen
to be inveigled into giving up any infor-
nation, but Shottle, spying around among
the casks and bottles, especially the ar
ticles made up for shipment, makes an
important discovery So as not. to arouse
the suspicious of the Frenchman, he
casually draws Drace away from the
place and onto the steamer. On board
~ u !, Is
was addressed to Stepho la Vitre at Far
NUNS Landing, Mississippi. It is the next
stop below Bethpage's Landing and Col
onel Bethpage is Liberty Shottle's uncle.
CHAPTER vI.-Drace and Shottle are
received with genuine hospitality by
Colonel Bethpage and find the planta-
ton and its environs delightful. After
q brief stay and characteristic financial
transaction with the colonel, Shottle goes
away ostensibly on a business trip to
favorite form of amusement. Drace
makes the plantation his Headquarters
and from pieces of Information gathered
from various sources, becomes convinced
that La Vitte has a haunt in a great
wood of cypress and tangle of salt
cedar, a sort of everglades, marsh with
hundreds of knoll islands rising here and
there among the bayous. A shrewd old
negro had told him that the outlaw lived
in house built of periwinkle shells.
Day after day brace takes canoe and
goes fartner ana IdFCHeT INTO Tile mOS5-
hanging wilds. At his feet lies a rope one
end of it hangnan's moose.
CHAPTER VII brace penetrates in
to the Wilderness discovers Periwinkle
House and finds Nadine alone. She is
much alarmed and warns him her father
will shoot him. He makes love to her and
to get him to go she agrees to meet him
again the following Thursday. On his
way home brace is accosted by three
men who ask to be set across the river.
They overpower him and bind him with
ropes. Led by Tony they throw Drace
into an old cabin. Tony taunts Drace
the others collect fuel. Tony sets fire
to the cabin and the three go off laugh
ing. And then his bonds are cut and
with Madness help he gets safely out
She tells him how she was led to come
to his rescue.
, CHAPTER vIII.-Drace gets safely
back to the Bethpage place The gen.
eral writes him to accompany him to
Natchez, where he Is to address teach
ers' meeting. At Natchez they go to old
lobe Mason's tavern, under the hill,
famous place. There they drink summer
grape wine, listen to 1.-THE Arkansaw
Traveller" see the buck-and-wing dane
ers and have a dinner of doves and fix
ms Stepho la Vitte appears. insults
the General by calling him a Carpet
Dagger" The General tells him he lies.
Stepho draws a dirk. Drace disarms
Stepho, who leaves. vowing vengeance.