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Show ! . - . I. iOne Angnst Night m 61. , WILKSK C0LLIK8' LAST 6T0RY PLOT, WRIT-TEN WRIT-TEN FROM HIS ORIGINAL SKETCH. i Copyrighted. All ritjhta reserved. f ........ . CHAPTEK I. ! ; THE PROPHESY, Old Judee took his hand, and reached for one of Mrs. Armytage's, too. Still kneeling, and with the hands tightly clasped, she gazed steadfastly at the young couple, and then beyond them into the distance. "I see yo' both," she said. "Yo Mass'r Oliver, is in front ob de soldiers." "Ah! at last you've put me in command," com-mand," he interjected. "Dey am de Union soldiers standin' still standin' solemn. Yo' am facia.' deni. Dey lifts dar guns. Dey fires at yo' an yo' falls. De lady am dar, too, pale as death. She am faintin'. She drops on de groun'. De smoke ob de guns gets thick. It hides yo both. I can't see. Datamall." Old Judee arose to her feet, rubbed her eyes, had a minute of apparent bewilderment, bewilder-ment, and then was sufficiently wide awake to bike the coin which Oliver handed to her. "All humbug," he said. "Of course," Mrs. Armytage assented. But they gazed in silence after the black woman, as she walked away, and nobody was prompt to ridicule her prophecy. It had made, at least momentarily, momen-tarily, a serious impression on all who heard it. aering vagabond she was, and she told fortunes with all the weirdness of which she was capable. She was regarded as a voudou necromancer, and among the blacks she was feared, if not quite reverenced; rever-enced; while the whites were not free of superstition regarding hnr charms, spells and prophecies, although at the Willett homestead there was an intelligent disposition dis-position to treat her jocosely whenever she visited the place. But she was quickly the center of a group comprising all the persons of the premises, and she shrewdly chose the two strange ladies to especially impress herself upon. The account which is here to be given of her prediction, and what ensued, is to be construed as the reader pleases either as a narrative of something occult, or of something altogether alto-gether explainable as matters of chance coincidence. The writer is merely a historian, his-torian, with no disposition to theorize upon the incidents which he sets forth. Old Judee was formal in her method as a prophetess. She proffered- her services to Mrs. Armytage first, and then to Mrs. Dimmock; but those ladies, conscious of their roguery in having figured before their two wooers as maidens, mai-dens, were scared by the negress' offers of divination and refused to have their fortunes told. "Den yo', Mass'r Oliver," old Judee said; "lemme tole yo' fortin. Dah'e fo'tellin' in yo' case, sail, impo'tont fo'-tellin'. fo'-tellin'. I kin see dangah, Mass'r Oliver; dangah right ahead o' yo." "That's not hard to foretell in these war times," Oliver laughingly responded. The solemnity of the black witch was not disturbed by ridicule. She was used to that. Sinking slowly to her knees, closing her eyes and waving her arms slowly above her head, she half muttered and half chanted a jargon of meaningless meaning-less words. This lasted two or three minutes. Then she stopped her movements, move-ments, opened her eyes and stared fixedly fixed-ly at Oliver. He had witnessed her mummery mum-mery before, and was not much impressed im-pressed now, but to the two guests it was new and strange. . "Ax' me, Mass'r Oliver, ax' me," she droned. "Tell me what you see," he said, aiming aim-ing only to satisfy the curiosity of the ladies. "I see yo' in de middle ob a soldier comp'ny marchin' marchin'." ' '"Day's Union toldiern marchin1 march- . in'." HE American civil war had i. f I "begun. Missouri was about '; I evenly balanced between sec- I cession with the southern I states and loyally with tlio I northern stales. The time I was August, in 1861. There t I had been struggles of legisla- SS tion over the question whether Missouri should go with 1 tho south or stay with tho north. Every city, every town, and many a family, was distracted and divided. All was turbulence. Gen. Fremont was in command of the Unionist military de-i de-i partment, and he had sent Gen. Lyon i with a small army to drive out the Confederate Con-federate troops, who had entered the atate from Indian territory under com-mand' com-mand' of Gen. Ben MoCullooh. The ;j movements of both commanders were for j- J awhile as chaotic as the diverse senti-, senti-, ments of the people, for the governments ' of the United States and the Confederate States were alike indecisive in their policy j concerning the uncertain territory. The 1 battle of Wilson's Creek was not far off, and the immediate region was loosely possessed by Confederate troops. But peaceful quite was the yard of a farm house which overlooked the stream at sundown of a summer day. Four persons were unconsciously grouped in a way that made a fair picture. They were two men and two women, not one of whom had gone further in life than a few years beyond maturity. One woman eat negligently on a bench, with one arm hanging over its back, and the other winging at her side. Her face was so perfectly regular and proportionate in its j features that it might have been expressionless expres-sionless but for large black and wonderfully wonder-fully lustrous eyes. Ho who stood behind be-hind her, leaning on the back of the seat, was a very manly fellow. A tendency to slour.hiness in his clothing was in keeping keep-ing with free and oarelesa ways, and indicated in-dicated his rural rearing as certainly as the woman's nicety of dress showed her ; acquaintance with the exactions of a fashionable life in the city. The other couple were in a swing that 1 hung from the limb of a tree, the brawny I , man clasping the ropes with his hands, and the slender woman clinging to him P with more energy than her position jl seemed to require. She jumped down of : a sudden, and perverted the fact by saying: say-ing: "You , were hugging mo, Tudor P, Ti n oi. it .i.. - , L "Well, I trust they re Confederates in gray, Aunt Judee. And can't you put me at their bead? I am to be a captain, you know." "Dey yan't In gray. Dey's in blue, sah. Dey's Union soldiers marchin' marchin'," and she swayed her body and held up her head, as though in unison with the tread of the troop which she saw. "An' yo' yan't in de command. Yo's wearin' de same clothes yo' got on now. Oh 1 I see dat yo's a pris'ner, fo' yo' arms is tied, an' de comp'ny guards yo' close." Her eyes turned slowly away from Oliver, and she seemed to be watching watch-ing something that was moving steadily away. "Marchin' marchin' marchin'," she repeated over and over, but in a lower low-er and lower tone, until she finally whispered: whis-pered: "Dey's gone out'n sight, sah, an' I don't see no nioah." "But I'd really like to know what becomes be-comes of me," Oliver remarked carelessly. careless-ly. "I trust that you," and he covertly addressed Mrs. Armytage, "have some regard as to that." Old Judee turned her gaza on that lady, and stared steadily, yet vacantly. "Well, well," Mrs. Armytage asked; "and what are you seeing now?" "I see yo' on horseback, lady ridin' hard ridin' fast. Great trouble in yo' face great trouble." Suddenly she ceased to speak and spread one hand to j nuwim. oua lau vui ui Lutj yuru, no following, and clumsily protesting his innocence of intentional impropriety. The pair that remained had listened with the air of being still diverted by i something that was by no means new to them; and the woman said: "They are amusing, Mr. Willett." Her tone was lazy, like her attitude and her manner. Whether she was affected by the listless-ness listless-ness that conies of summer lounging in the country, or whether her calmness of I surface was a careful covering of activ-' activ-' ity underneath, young Oliver Willett had been trying to discern. lie courageously determined on a more direct way to the desired knowledge than guessing, and precipitately began, in thoughtlessly chosen, but ardent words, au avowal of his passion. A woman came to the open window of : the house and stood eavesdropping. This was May ,WiUett-01ivei''s siiiter, and older than he. She waited only long enough to comprehend what her brother was doing and then interrupted by presenting pre-senting herself before them. Oliver walked into the house' without saying j: auother word. May took the place that ' he had left at the back of tho Beat, and I said quietly, but with a firm modulation: 5 "Mrs. Armytage, 1 have been listening. I heard what my brother said, and I knew what he was going to say. I am going to speak frankly it is my duty. You and Mrs. Dimmock married women camu here to spend a few weeks. I welcomed you as a school day friend, and her as your friend. You asked me not to tell anybody that you were wives." , "That was her freak, not mine," Mrs. Armytage replied; "I was ashamed of it from the start." "You acquiesced at least, aud I gave you my word not to let even Oliver f ' know. I did not foresee that you would o quickly become lovers. He bus been commissioned an'oflicer in the Confeder-ate Confeder-ate army, yet he lingers here, away from 1 ' bis duty and in dangerous proximity to the Unionists' advance." Mrs. Armytage's manner was placid as she said: "Am I to blame? I have not ' undertaken to confcrl his conduct or his heart. I am the wife of a United States S srmy officer, and who can say that I am unfaithful? I have tried to discourage j your brother, and it is not my fault if I j iiave not succeeded. But if you order ! me away, I will not hesitate about go-' go-' iine." Mrs. Armytage arose with stately dignity, dig-nity, but May drew her back to the seat, saying, "Forgive me." . ' "I impose only one condition," Mrs. lArmytage 8aid. "Promise never to un-jdeoeive un-jdeoeive your brother. Let him continue I to think of me with respect." "I promise," May said. Tudor Bowne and Mrs. Dimmock re-. re-. turned to the yard, and saw nothing in Mrs. Armytage's beautifully immobile face to show that a gust of feeling had. k'wept over it. Mrs. Dimmock was cling-Ug cling-Ug to Tudor 's arm with a clever mocker mock-er of affection, and he was exhibiting an exaltation of delight. They were bringing along an aged negress, whose J gaudily-tuibaned head and tatterdemal- ictt garments made her a singular iig-ff iig-ff are. That was Old Judee, of familiar f V repute in tho county as a witch, but an I A engrossing novelty to the guests. A wan ner ear in tne auituue or. listening. -i heahs yo' say somefing. 'I must sabe him I must sabe him I' Dat's what yo' sayin'. An' now yo' rides into de woods." She had seemed to follow with her eyes the course of the equestrienne, making recognizable the movement of a person in the saddle of a running horse. "Dah, yo's gone. I doan' see no moah." "Try again." "No, missy; I doan' see no moah." Even those who had seen Old Judee before in similar exhibitions were soberly sober-ly impressed. There w'as martial excitement ex-citement in the air, and the woman's rude yet moving description of Oliver a captive in the hands of a company of soldiers stirred them. Within a week they bad witnessed the incursion of Gen. McCulloch and his Confederate rangers from Texas and Arkansas, The local sympathies of the whites favored tho cause of the south, aud they had been widely enthusiastic when the redoubtable redoubta-ble McCulloch came into sight, surrounded surround-ed by his gsyly dressed staff and accompanied accom-panied by Governor Jackson, Gen. Price and Gen. Pearce. They had looked with delighted eyes on the first Confederate soldiers that they had seen, the men all dressed in gray, and their officers resplendent re-splendent with gilded buttons, golden braid and stars of gold. To look like these gallant soldiers; to be of them; to light beside them, was the one desire of most Missouriuns in that immediate neighborhood. But to oppose this force Gen. Lyon hud brought from the eastward east-ward a Union army, and the minority of Unionists had been dazzled and made enthusiastic by his possession of Spring-' Spring-' field. Some had seen the brave appearance appear-ance that Lyon made as he dashed through the streets on his irou gray horse, under escort of a bodyguard of stalwart troopers enlisted ir. tit. Louis for that especial duly. The fearless horsemanship aud defiant bearing of these bearded warriors, mounted on powerful chargers and arnwd to the teeth with great revolvers and massive swords, their heroic size aim lerucions aspect, gave luster to tne entry into the chief city of the southwest south-west of the grim soldier who had driven the insurgent governor from his capital, had dispersed the army that was gathering gather-ing at Booneville, and had forced Jackson Jack-son and Price and all their men to fly for safety into the uttermost 'corner of the state. So the ferment and the contraiety of feelings had wrought the peoplo up to a high pitch of excitement. "I'm ufraid, Aunt Judee," said Oliver, half jesting and half iu earnest, "that youre indulging your northern sentiments. senti-ments. We're old, old friends, yet you make the Yankees capture me." "But she sends a rescuer after you," Mrs. Dimmock suggested. Hud the negress merely indulged her wish and fancy in doscribing tho Confederate Con-federate officer as a prisoner? Aud had she, taking an easy cue from his manner and words to Mrs. Armytage, sought to mollify him by representing the lady as seeking his deliverance? She had the cunning of the southern voudou votaries, whether she possessed any of their supposed sup-posed supernaturalism or not. "Look again." Oliver insisted. "You've put me into, a predicament now "see me through it.' : .' . |