OCR Text |
Show fiS rtjrjfl rf n ram J tUU UWIII LI Ml rnrripCTmgm rrnT.THi'trarai uinmanmilllll HgS . wire had been. "All skue ve." which I was as satisfactory as any other form I of reply would have been mors so. Pr-! Pr-! haps, for It showed that the Captain I was In hljrh rood -humor. Mr. Tldwell and CoL Blasengame arrived ar-rived In time to. eat a late supper, and the next moraine; found them all ready to take the train for Malvern. MaJ. Perdue Per-due and Mr. Sanders were In hlrh feather. 8omehow their spirits always rose when a doubtful Issue was to be faced. U seemed that everything either one of them said reminded the other of a story or a humorous Incident, and they kept the car In a roar until Malvern Mal-vern was reached. Mr. Benders did not go at once to the hotel, but turned his attention to. the various detaUs which he had arranfed for. Mr. Tldwell went to the hotel opposite op-posite the railway station.- while MaJ. Perdue and Col. Blasensame for. obvious obvi-ous reasons went to the rival hoUl. There they found Capt Buck Sanford. lounging about with a Winchester rifle i slung across his shoulder. A great many A people .were Interested when this pai J and weary-looking little man appeared In public with a gun in his hands, and he was compelled to answer many questions. ques-tions. To all he mad the same reply, namely, that he had been out practicing at a target. ." 'l I'm getting so I can't miss." he said to MaJ. Perdue. "I wasted twenty-four cartridges trying to miss the bull's eye. but X couldn't do It. I don't knowwbat to make of It" he complained. i"The,e must b something wrong with me. That kind of shooting don't look reasonable." rea-sonable." Then he left his gun with a clerk in I the hotel, and taking MaJ. Perdue by the arm, went Into a corner and discussed dis-cussed the scheme which Mr. Banders had mapped out. They "ere Joined presently by Col. . Blaeengame. and) as they sat there, whispering together and making many emphatic gestures, they were the center of observation, and word went around that some persona! difficulty, in which these noted men were to act together, was Imminent. (Continued Monday.) CHAPTER XXX-CoBtbitied. Thus, long before he become Impatient Impa-tient enough to walk the streets or Seek consolation en the oewrthouse ste?s, Mfi Sansers had rhade All the arMrtementM frfcessar W the facjseee pi his scheme; llejbad Seriti Wit Irf .clothei ft friend iri Malterri: hi had stripped three bales 6 fcpttoil id.ifii Jlrni of rarderrtari, .ft Brarkr wh8, M beeri rtrformei bt the ttsg W whicft Mr: Sanders eerlrfd tdiut ltj he" had hired iri .bx-car.i arid fnade ft cdVered wsfori. of lti and .the idke .bf 6?ceri he proposed W M bad beefi .ftrlveti through the edhntry and were" now at -Malvern: . . y ? . In.lhortj. no "matter hew deeply Mr; Sanders might ponder over the matters there -was nothing he Hmld think bf td add. to" the oetails bf the arrangement that ne had .already. made: One roefmnsri while Nari;.who ws..en hef ,wajf 8 borrow a book frtjrrt Eri-genUk Eri-genUk Claiborney Was leaning bit the courthonsd fence talking td Mr: SkriJ dersi solitary rider rod as fast as a tired horse could fetch birn; By the time this rider reached the public d.ti4re, Mr. Sanders bad mounted the Racking Roart and was awaiting him: The ridei1 was n other than Col: Blas-engame; Blas-engame; ... He was the bearer of a telegram addressed ad-dressed to MaJ; terduei ''Consignment wlit be shipped tomorrow night. Reach Malvertt next . morning; Invoice by madl." This was signed by the firm bf factors with whom Meriwether" Cloptorl had had dealings for many years, and to Mr, Banders the message read! "The prisoners will go to Atlanta tomorrow night, and they wli reach Malvern the next morningt This information can be relied on." " "It's a Joy to see yoti, Colonel,H cried Mr. ganders. "One mote day of watUn would ,'a' pulled the rivets out, Tou know Miss Nan Dorrlngton, don't you, CoL Blasengame? t lay you used to dandle her on your knee when she wss a baby." The Colonel bowed lower to Nan than If shs had been a queen. "You were not to the tavern," remarked Mr. Sanders. "Meriwether Clopton wants the messenger mes-senger to go straight to his house, an' he'll be. all the gladder bekase it's you. Qus Tldwell will drive you home in his buggy In the cool of the even In, an' you can leave your boss at Clopton's for a day or two. . Ef you see Tldwell. Nan. please tell him that the Colonel is at Clopton's. I reckon you'll be wtllln' to buss me, honey, the next time you see me." "If you have earned it, Mr. Sanders," said Nan, trying to smile. Thereupon, Mr. Sanders waved his band miscellaneously, as he would have described it and moved away at a clipping clip-ping gait, stirring up quite a cloud of dust as he went. He reached Halcyon-dale, Halcyon-dale, and at once sought out MaJ. Tom-lin Tom-lin Perdue, and found that a telegram had already been sent to Capt. Buck .Sanford. whose prompt reply over the |