Show the deife own by RANDALL author PARRISH shea of the betide bhea Wad ernest wn klaf eie A romance of the black hawk war J illustrations IRWIN BY MYERS 5 copyright by A C CHAPTER XIV continued 15 they must lave said much to de you and I 1 bent forward to touch her hand see I 1 nm ery much alive let me tell vou tant will be the quick est way to understand in alie first place I 1 did not when the boat was but was rendered helpless and borne away on the w ater the adventurer Adien rescued me about daylight the next morning and I 1 w as no sooner OH board than I 1 was told how alie keelboat and been run down below on the river during the night and that your party had all been saved two white men and two alai es of course I 1 knew you must be one of them then then we were actually to gether on the same boat all the way up here yes I 1 tried hard to find where you were concealed on board but failed karby guarded you with great care from all observation do you know why yes she anaw ered as though arc ing herself to speak I 1 do know ii i I 1 thought I 1 knew then but was nils taken I 1 supposed it might be because I 1 looked so little like a but now I 1 realize it was his own cienci cien cp he knew I 1 was a white w n an he had become convinced that I 1 wai eloese beaucaire alre did you know that also 1 I learned the truth on the boat from the same source where karby ob talked his information olsle clark told roe elsie clark 1 who is she now did she know free who had been cm plowed by amos she was the other prisoner on the when you were captured kept locked below in the cabin how could she know w ho I 1 was she did not only she w as positive that ou could not be acne beaucaire alre because she knew that ilane in corn pany with her mother had departed from Sh caban before those raid era came the two had already started for beardstown Beards town she sat upright all gone from her body leaning eagerly toward me her c es alight with interest gone I 1 acne escaped them I 1 she exclaimed her voice clicking oh tell me that again was the girl sure quite sure she saw and spoke with both the women before they left in a wagon they were on the under ground bound canada and safety 1 I am so glad so glad she said simply now I 1 am strong enough to hear the rest lieutenant enox you must tell me there Is not so much to tell that I 1 am cock sure about I 1 began slowly karby had you securely hidden away somewhere on the second deck while this clark girl had been jacked into a stateroom above I 1 possessed lucli a growth of beard and was altogether so disreputable looking as to be mistaken for a roustabout by the boats officers who set me at work to earn my pass oge in this way I 1 managed to talk with elsie but failed to locate your quarters the only glimpse I 1 gained of you was when you were being jakcsi ashore then I 1 followed and a little later succeeded in getting lou out of kirbas kirbys hands that Is about all ah rib it Is not you you came too late too batet latet I 1 know what you mean do you surely not to name I 1 I 1 wah to tell you lieutenant knox but but I 1 scarcely how it Is nil so dim indistinct in my on mind and yet J remember have I 1 been drugged without question we have been riding all night and you were strapped to your horse probably you have no recollection of this she shook her head in bewilderment xo the last I 1 remember I 1 was with karby and another man he he was dressed like a minister but but he was half drunk and once he snore at me the place where we were was a little shack in the side of a hill with stone walls karby took me there from the steamer with a man he called hale jack hale they locked roe la and left me alone after dark then this other man who dressed like a minister came back with karby they had food and something to with them and lit a lump BO that we could sec it was awfully iw fully dismal and dark in there she pressed her hands to her head despairingly 1 I can remember all alil but later it Is not so clear it andes out like a dream 1 I ry to tell me all you can I 1 urged they fed you yes I 1 managed to cat n little but I 1 would not drink they both became angry then and frightened me but clity did compel me to swallow gome of oe stuff then I 1 became dazed partially helpless I 1 had no will of my own no power of resistance ou wre to karby oh loin was I 1 I 1 wondered I 1 did not really know truly I 1 did not know I 1 sem to remember eliat I 1 stood vp and then signed some paper but nothing had any meaning to me Is that true do you know that it true I 1 grasped her hand and held it closely within mi own 1 I am afraid it Is true I 1 answered 1 I know ery little law and tt may be blut well a ceremony is not legal yet I 1 imagine alose men were certain fis to what they could do karby had planned to marry you lerv first as I 1 explained to S oil before lie toad me that on the warrior the our father died yes ou aid so but I 1 did not quite understand he planned then eliy because he had heard 0 conr beauty and that you were rich were these not reasons enough but after he had mistaken ou for rene the only possible way in which he could hope to gain ou was bv force jack rale suggested that ta him and bow it could be done the other man was a friend of kales a renegade preach er macd he hi dead dead killed yes we brought you away after a fight with those fellows we left rale aund and karby unconscious unconscious hurt but not dead he had a bad gash in his skull but was nahe kenned puling happily upon a alpe came loitering about the corner of the hut and approached us alloise staggered to lier feet shrinking bick against the wall of he shack her ees on ills face that man here I 1 she cried in ter that man why he was at Beau calrel lie is the one to whom J claimed to be itene tim grinned at me but did not ap pear particularly flattered at bis reception not quite so fast oung lady he said stuttering a bit and holding the alp in his hand I 1 reckon I 1 all right just as ye say an thet I 1 did yer a mighty mean turn but I 1 aln t such a dern arnary cuss as ye think am I 1 cap no you are not I 1 hastened to ex plain miss beaucaire alre docs not un that Is all kennedy here mi rely supposed he was doing bis duty until he learned what karby bontem plated then he refused to have any hand in it and the two quarreled shall I 1 relate that oart of the story her eyes softened her lips almost smiling yes she said 1 I am glad to know tell me all I 1 described tims part in the whole tragedy swiftly while he shifted awk w ardly from one foot to the other and occasionally interjected some comment or correction then I 1 shall count you my friend now she said simply and I 1 am so delighted to understand everything there are four of us here counting the mulatto girl and we are in hiding not far from yellow banks tims eyes fell upon the map lying outspread on the ground an did ye think best cap he inquired gravely taint likely we got all summer ter sit round yere an talk in taint such a bad place but my notion Is we ought ter be long mine also come over here both of you and gl e you my idea 1 figured our chances in this way in a few words I 1 explained raj choice of route pointing it out on the map and telling them briefly why 1 that man here she cried in terror da afraid to seek refuge either a fort madison or fort armstrong or indeed at any of the nearer settlements eloese said nothing her gaze rising from the map to our faces a we debated the question for tim spoke his wind freely Ms stubby forefinger tracing the course I 1 had indicated an wear do yer reckon arc them the hostile ones this yere bunch b black hawks spose wed run inter a raldon party 0 them red lucks I 1 akrit got much hair but I 1 kin uso I 1 hav got 1 I am not sure tim but I 1 would even prefer that to being overtaken by joe the gang hell probably have with him I 1 retorted my caze on the face he girl however there Is little chance of our encountering such a parly the soldiers are all coining up from the and are bound to fore black hawks warriors to the other bank of the hock there will be nothing but barren countie cast of here what do you say miss bjes met mine bravely without a shadow of doubt in them J shall go wherever you say she replied firmly 1 I believe you will 1 now boht then I 1 decide on this route once we get beyond the swamp those fellows are going to have a inard tack follow lug us unless chev have an in dan along with them we have been baie several hours the horses must be rested lets eat what can again and then start kennedy stood up and stared about us at the scene the espres ion of Us face proving his alon wath the prospect 0 course im a coln long with ver cap he acknowledged dryly 1 I never avus no quitter but this yere trip dont look so d d easy ter me fer all thet III wake up thet churk gurl an then siddle the hoasea I 1 watched him round the corner of alie cabin not at casp in my own mind then gathered up the map und replaced it in kiy pocket aw ire that eloese had not moved from her position on the grass iq he right she questioned looking up at me Is there adv real danger of indians some perhaps it Is all indian country north and east of here or has been I 1 am not that but this danger does not compare in my mind with the peril which confronts us in every direction I 1 am trying to choose the least conr greatest dim culty will be the lack of food we possess no guns with which to kill game only pistols and an exceedingly small stock of ammunition that Is what troubles tim that and his eagerness to get back down the river he falls to realize what it would mean to you to fall again into hands do you realize do I 1 it Is the one memory which controls me tell me am I 1 not highl you despise the fellow you are will ing to race any hardship so as to escape him 1 I would rather die than have him touch me surely you connot deem it possible that I 1 could ever forgive no that would be hard to conceive and yet I 1 wished to hear the words from your own lips will ou answer me one thing more bihy did vou first assume the character of acne and why did you repose such instant trust in me I 1 think I 1 myself hardly knew she admitted timidly it all happened was horn of impulse rather than through any plan perhaps it was just the woman in me after my father died delia thought it best to tell us the story of renes birth this this was such a terr ble tale and later we sought all through his private papers hoping be had taken some action to set those two free there was no proof that he had no mention indeed except a memorandum of intention to refer the matter to lawyer at the landing this merely served to confirm what delia had told us and as had to st louis were unable to see him we were all of us nearly crazed so I 1 suggested that re run and drew money out of my private account for that purpose my only thought was to tale a steamer up the to some place where wo were not knoon and begin life over again ah sou cannot understand I 1 had no mind left only a blind impulse to save them I 1 caught her hand in mine and held it firma perhaps I 1 do understand it was my knowledge of this very condition which first brought toe to you you heard about us on the boat the warrior did father tell you no it was karby lie was actually proud of want he had done boasted to me of his success I 1 ha e never binon a man so heartlessly conceited lloyse listen you may have thought was largely an accident it was not it was a deliberately planned cold blooded plot I 1 tell apu that joe karby Is 0 the dells jovn breed he is not human rene s f ither told him first of the peculiar conditions at beau caare henes father I 1 docs does he still ahe loo but be did live for years after he disappeared supporting himself by gambling on the lower at one time be and karby were together after he died karby investigated his story in st louis and found that it was true then he laid this plot to gain control of everything including bogli of you girls the roan dreamed of owning of possessing all it contained he was willing to risk everything to carry out his hell bom scheme and to ruin everyone who interfered with him I 1 aru telling you all this fiolle because it la now time you should ehnow will you not tell me just how it all came to you her hands clung to me as though ahe dare not let go her eyes were filled with a mingling of wonderment and pain why of course we thought it lest not to go until after we could see the lawyer I 1 could not believe my father had neglected to set those two free he he loica them both delia and ilene had gone down to the landing that night to see if he had returned ve w ere both of us afraid to leave rene alone she was so despondent so unstrung it was dark and I 1 was all alone in the house then these min cabrie they did not know me und I 1 did not know them but I 1 was sure what they came for I 1 was terribly frightened without an idea what to do only I 1 refused to talk all I 1 could do was to pray that the others might be warned and not return they searched the house and then left m in tim to guard me he told me be was a deputy sheriff from st louis and and I 1 encouraged him to explain all he knew about the case then I 1 made up my mind what to do 1 would pretend to be ilene and let them carry me off instead of her but did you not realize the danger to 0 o I 1 suppose I 1 or rather I 1 did not care all I 1 thought about was liow to save her these were law cars they would take me to st louis before a court then I 1 could make myself known and would be set free they do anything else could they there was no law by which I 1 could be held but butr dont yon see the delay might give rene time to es cape that was not wrong was it wrong it was one of the bravest things I 1 ever heard of and I 1 know the rest your encounter with kirby in the library I 1 overheard all of that through the open window and how sou learned from nun that certain legal pipers would have to be served on eloese beaucaire alre before any of the slaves could be touched or removed from the estate that knowledge only brought you new courage to play out your part but why did you trust me enough to go with me and after trusting me so fully why did you refuse to tell me who you really were her eyes fell before mine and lier checks were flushed you think that strange I 1 did QU lieutenant nox and I 1 trusted ou more completely the longer we were together but but I 1 did not wholly understand you were endeavoring to rescue rene from slavery I 1 could not conceive what interest you might feel it I 1 should confess myself you were strange to me we vere there alone with the negro and and somehow it seemed a protection to me to claim a drop of black blood tw ice I 1 thought to tell you the words were on my lips but something stopped them possibly just a little I 1 was afraid of you then but not now iso DO now not even a little you have proven yourself all I 1 ever hoped QU would be I 1 am glad so glad to say to ou now I 1 am beau she stopped suddenly the word halt uttered the smile fading from her lips my godf she burst forth but I 1 am not I 1 am hotl why I 1 nc er felt the horror of it all before I 1 am not eloese beaucaire alre 1 A moment I 1 stood moU onless seeming to hold my breath my eyes open struck silent by the intense bitterness of that cry then the reaction came the knowledge that I 1 must turn her thoughts elsewhere do not say that or even thank it I 1 urged scarcely able to restrain myself from grasping her in my arms even if it shall prove true legally true some way of escape will be found the others ara sate and you are going need all your courage pledge me to forget to ignore this thing I 1 need ou iier hands fell nerveless and her questioning eyes sought my face lou are right lieutenant knox she said frankly 1 I owe my loyalty now to you I 1 shall not yield again to despair ou may trust me my friend the day was not ended when we finally retraced our 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