The Winslow mail., 1922-11-24
Continued from Last Week. }
SYNOPSIS

CHAPTER 1.-The time is the late 'ses
Or early '7Os and the scene 4 steamboat
On the Mississippi river All the types
Of the period are present and the float
mG palace ie distinguished by merriment
dancing and esnantry. There are the
customary drinking and gambling also.
Virgil Drace, a young northern man, IL
on his way south on q mission Of revenge.
person of one Liberty Shottle who IL
constantly tempting the goddess Of
chance. They form singular compact.
CHAPTER II.-DEaee. gets his mind on
his mission by entering into deck sports
In which heeexhibitE ,sn. unusual athletic
prowess. Liberty Shottles is again un-
lucky at cards and attempts ~ financial
negotiation with Drace. The latter, see
Ing an opportunity to uEe.> Shottle. con-
ndes to. him that his mission is to, find,
. certain ex-Euerrila, Stepho la Vitte,
who had murdered ;Draces father 1t is
bis determination announced to his new
chum, to hang La Vittes as high AZ
Hsman. Drace has become enamored
of mysterious beauty aboard the boat
CHAPTER II-The steamer reaches
New Orleans, at that time in the some
what turbulent throes of carpetbag gov
eminent. Shottle becomes possessed of
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 fired his heart aboard
the steamer. She is accompanied by one.
Boyce, whose proprietary interest indi-
Gates that he is her fance Through
gtratagem Shottle learns that the name
of the girl is Nadine Ia 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 admitted outlaw Now, more
than ever, is he resolved to find where
the girl lives and to find Stepho. Drace
and Shottle begin search of the city.
In one of their nocturnal pilgrimages
they come upon q mob intent upon hang
ing a poor wretch from the limb of a
tree It 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
a 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 steamer bound north. Returning
to the honsesssSaaere he thought he had
s]impsed the girl, Drace finds the place
abandoned. Through Colonel Josh, an
enlissary emploYeds at sthe suggestion of
ShottIe, he gets faint clue III the dis
covery that certain Frenchman, wine
dealer is reported to be an intimate of
Stepho la Vitte.y There is only short
time before the Neyssrture of the stea ner
when Drace and Sfottle so to call on
the Frenchman. The latter is too keen
to he irveigled into giving up any infor-
nation. but Sbottle, spying around among
the casks and bottles. especially the ar
ticles made up for shipment. makes
important discovery So as not to arouse
the suspicious of the FTcnchman, he
casually draws Drace away from the
place and onto the steamer On board
he Informs Drace that one of the cases
was addressed to Stepho la Vitte at Far
NUNS Landing. Mississippi. 1t is the next
stop below Bethpa ge's landing and Col
Onel BE ihpage is Liberty Shottle's uncle
CHAPTER VI.-Drace and Shottle are
received with genuine hospitality by
Colonel Bethpage and find the planta
tion and its eINirons delightful After
q brief stay and a characteristic financial
transaction with the colonel. Shottle goeS
away ostensibly on business trip to
Wick sburg. but in reality TO seek his
favorite form of amusement. DrAce
makes the plaata his Headquarters
and from pieces Of information gathered
from various sources, becomes convinced
that La Nitte has haunt in. great
wood of cypress and tangle of salt
eedar, sort of everglades, a 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 Drace takes a canoe and
goes farther ard farther into the moss
hanging wilds At his feet lies a rope, one
enc OF ii hangman's moose.