| Show u SYNOPSIS the tile erene at 1 I the opening ol 01 at the lory story Is 1 laid in the library ut of an n old worn orn u southern ou thern plantation known n as the a not U on ony y the laeb in a t p be b bold and its U history ivry ant and that or of the tile owned the ie Is the su isvet of bv b crenshaw Crenn haw a bune business mun nian a str strander anver known AM an staden and blob yunn a when hannibal wayne llari a burd iril it mysterious child of the old makee makes hie hill lanta pile tells how ho he adopted lie tile boy nn nit I 1 arram buy buys the tile barony but the QU niril deny any ally kno know bedr loil nf of the bpi yane auncy to keep captain a briend friend of of the Quin tards op at ortro ort ro and apko o questions quent lone the he liar op trouble nt tit scratch HIU when ilan liebal an by dove blount cap talis murrell turrell a agent yancy ov Il lount loutit given him a alij the boy yancy pleura bearre liquido Al and in 1 disc spears surged with witts coif costs for the ho hetty klat malroy roy a it friend of the I 1 I 1 er rises ha has an encounter with cap tain murrell who force forces tits hi attention attentions on 0 n her and Is rescued by bruce carringto n artly sets out aut for her tennessee I 1 home atilt carrington taken the ame same stage and Il annibal disappear dik appear with blu murrell rrell on their trail hannibal arrive at the home of judge slocum price the who judge reco ilee miles in tho the boy the grandson of an ofil OKI time filand i lend murrell arrive arrives at judges home cavendish Cavend tah family on raft rescue yancy who la to apparently dead price breaks hotl jail hetty and carrin I 1 ton arrive at belle be a plain pla n riffe ride dis discloses cloves nome tart bartling ling things to the judge ilan nabal and nd hetty betty meet again murrell nr ar rive in belle plain Is playing for big peakes takee yancy awakes awaken from long dream less leop sleep on board the raft judice price makes start ng discoveries in looking up land title churley charley norton it i young planter lanter who assists the judge Is my mys eulaus assaulted norton informs car r ington that tty halt ha prom 11 laird to marry him ism norton a mysteriously more light ight on murrlle plot alot ile plane plans uprising of negroes ju judge go price with bal bol visits betty and she ho keep keeps the boy BJ as a companion in a stroll hetty betty taked wa with t h they meet bess I 1 licks daughter of the oe oer reer seer who wh 0 warns betty of danser danger and counsels her to leave delle belle plain at once betty ceiri fled tied acta acts on bess ue advice and on their way WILY their carriage it slopped by s on the tavern keeper and a it confederate and hetty betty and hannibal are made prisoner prisoners the pair are taken to nicks hick cabin in an almost put and a all there murrell visits hot betty and reveals hia his part in the he plot and ad hie 9 object betty spurns his proffered love and mhd interview Is 1 end ended by tho arrival of yare terrified at possible outcome of the crime judge price healing of the abduction tb plan plans action the judge take har harge of the liu atlon and search for the missing one ones li is instituted in carrington visits the tile judge and und allee allies are discovered CHAPTER 1 continued and general quintard never saw nim blin never manifested any interest in him the worde words come slowly from tho the judges lips be he seemed to gulp down something that roso in bis his throat poor tittle little lail ue tic muttered and again poor little lad ad never once dr cir he le told the laves slaves to keep him out of bis his eight sight we all Non wondered dered fo to you know bow how will talk we thought maybe be he as some kin to the quin Qui marda tards but we figure out bow the old general never had but one child end and she bad had been dead fo to 5 bears ears the child have been tiers no how bow yancy paused the judge drummed idly on an the lesk desk what implacable hate what iron tron pride be he murmured ind and swept his tits band hand across hie his ebes absorbed Abe orbed aad and be he was hasy with bis his thoughts that spanned panned tt the e waste of 0 years yerra that seemed to glide before him in review each bitter with its hige hideous ous memories em ories of shame and defeat then from the ampire of these lost battles emerged the lonely figure or of the child as s he had seen him that june night his ponde ponderous roust arm stiffened stIfT ened where it rested on the he desk he straightened up in hie chair and his face assumed its custo inar expression of batt battered tred dig dis rista alle a smile nt at once wistful and tender under hovered about his lips one other question be he said until this man murrell appeared you bad no trouble with bladen he tie was as content that act should keep the child your right to hannibal as cover challenged novel neer sir fir all my troubles began bout chrt lime time I 1 murrell belongs in these parts 11 iu the judge id admire fo to to meet him said yancy quietly the judge grinned 1 I place my profess professional loial services at your disposal bo be spid yours Is a clear case or fel calous assault no it aint sir 1 1 11 look ut at it this a nays its a clear case of my giving him win the damndest son sort of a body beating sir said anid the be judge IK ill hold your jat while iou ou ore are about it hick hicks had taken bis his time in re sp spending pon ding to the judges summons but now his step sounded in the ball flail and throwing open the door he entered the room heaber het ber consciously or not bp he had acquired something of that aurl url forbidding 1 manner waa was characteristic of his employer A curt of the head was wa his only greeting will you yno sit lowar asked the judge hicks by another movement of the head hend that he would not 1 ahls his Is a very ery dreadful bust dessl begun the judge softly aint it agreed hicks flicks what you got to say to me be added petulantly havo ou started to drag tho bayou asked the judge hicks nodded that was your idea j suggested the judge no it want objected falka quickly nut but I 1 said she had teen been like she was plumb plum retracted ever since charley norton got shot a how inquired tho the audze arching bs his eyebrows hicks flicks was plainly dl tle ly by nie the question ort of or out or her head mr war sap n it im T THE E i SY 10 alez MIX ora years A cow P I 1 al 0 1 9 V d N 1 poor lattio bladl he muttered he spoke of it yes air him and me discussed it together the judge regarded hicks flicks long and intently and in silence his magnin cent mind was as at dvork ork if it hetty betty had been distraught be he had not observed ed any sign of it the pr previous elous day it waro ware were better informed as to her true mental state why had be he chosen this time to go to memphis 1 I suppose mr ware asked you to keep an eye on an alias malroy while he was away from home said the judge hicks suspicious of the drift of his questioning made no answer 1 I suppose you told the house servants to keep her under observation continued the juda 1 I dont talk to no biggers nig gers replied hicks except to give em am my orders well did you give them that order no I 1 the sudden and bt harried entrance ot or big steve brought the judges examination of mr jr flicks to a standstill maar you know dat dot ar coachman george the big black fellow dat ditt took you into toan las ee benin nin I 1 jes been down at shanty hill whar milly his wife wire la tit carrein car on something scandalous cause george aint never come home steve as la lato ang under intense excitement but he ignored the presence of the overseer and addressed himself to slocum price well what ahat of that cried hicks flicks quickly ta W nt no george mind you caspi ault dar vias hie his team in de do stable this moning ng and look lookin mighty nigh done up with hard driving yes interrupted hicks flicks uneasily put a pair of lines in a biggers nig gers hands and hell run any team off its legs an the ferriage kerr kerri lago age all scratched ua up from bein thrashed through the lushes bushes added steve theres a tor for ou said hicka she took tho the rascal out of or the ald dressed him like he was a gentleman and pampered him up and now first chance cliance he be gets he lie rune runs off I 1 ahl abl eald said the judge softly then you knew this of course courso I 1 knew know want it my business to know I 1 reckon be he wae was off skylar skylarking klug and when hed seen the mesa hed made the trifling fool took wok to the wooda woods well he catches it U when I 1 lay jay bands on him himi I 1 10 lo you jenow when and under what the tho team wa was stabled mr air hicks flicks inquired the judge no I 1 dont but I 1 reckon it must have been long after dark eald said hicks unwillingly 1 I seen to the feeding just after sundown like I 1 always do then I 1 went to supper hicks flicks vouch sated to explain and no one saw or heard the team drive in not as I 1 know of said hicks maar done gone off ort to get a pack of daggs he lows iowa hits might important to find come of george bald said steve hicks flicks started violently at this piece of news 1 I reckon hell have to travel a right smart distance to find a pack or of dogs 11 be he muttered 1 I dont know of or none this side 0 of colonel dates bates down below girard the judge was lost in thought he j je permitted an interval of silence to elapse in which hicks glance slid round in a furtive circle when did mr air ware set out tor for memphis asked the judge at length early yesterday he goes there pretty often on business you talked rith mr ware before he left hicks shook his head did be he speak of mias atlas malroy hicks flicks shook his bead head did you see her during the afternoon no maybe you think lese nig gers aint enough to keep a ri man stir ring said hicks flicks uneasily and with a scowl tho judge noticed both the uneasiness and the scowl 1 I should imagine they would absorb every moment of your time mr hicks he agreed affably A mans got to be a hog bog for work w ark to bold hold a job like mine said hicks sourly bourly but it came to your notice that miss bliss malroy has hs been in a disturbed mental state ever nortons murder I 1 am interested in thia point mr hicks flicks because your experience Is in so entirely en entirely tirel at variance withey with my 0 own wn it was as my privilege to see and speak with her I 1 was profoundly Profound ty impressed by her tiR naturalness tural and composure the judo judge smiled then he leaned forward acrons the desk what were you doing up here early this morning brant a bog hog for work ork like illge you got any business of his own at that hour the judge judges tone was suddenly atre offensive asive look here what right nave have you got to try and pump mer cried hicks for no discernible reason mr cov spat on his palms paling mr hicks enid said the judge and gracious 1 believe in tran frankness kriess sure agreed hicks flicks mollified by tho the judges altered uttered tone therefore rh I 1 do not hesitate to any that I 1 consider you a damned drel drell concluded tho the judge mr air cavendish accepting the judges ultimatum as something which must debar flicks from all till further consideration er era tion atlon and being ns as he lie war exceed angly active and energetic by nature if one passed over ho be forms of gainful industry uttered n loud whoop and threw him himself soll on tho the overseer there was a brief st struggle and hicke flicks wont down with the earl ot of lambeth astride of him then from his boot lei ler that knightly soul flashed noshed a born handled tickler of formidable dimensions the judge and mahaffy sprang from their chairs mr ma baffy batty was plainly shocked at tho the spectacle of mir mr lawless violence yancy was disturbed too but not by the moral aspects of tho case ho be was doubtful as to how his friends act would appeal to the judge he need not havo have been distressed on that score since the judges one idea was to prout profit by it with hie his hands on his knees ho he was mas now bending above the ta two men what do you want to know knows judge cried cavendish panting from his exertions ill learn this parrot to talk up Illic hs said tha the judge it IP I 1 in your power to tell us a few things we are here to find out hicks looked up into the tho judges face and closed bis his lipa grimly mr Cavo cavendish kindly let him have the point of that large knife where hell feel it monti ordered the judge talk quick said cavendish witto a ferocious scowl talk or what to hinder me slicing open your wooz booz en on and he pressed the blade t bla his knife against tho the overseers throat 1 I dont know anything about miss betty said hicks in a sullen whisper I 1 maybe you dont but what do you know about the thear I 1 gor br alicki hicks was silent but he was vas grateful for the judges question from tom ware he be bad had learned of fentress Fon tress interest in the boy why should ho shelter the colonel at risk of himself it you please mr cavendish said the judge nodding toward the knife you ask me about him said hir hibba ka quickly 1 I do now said the judge he ile was here yesterday mr davendish Caven dlab again the judar glanced toward the knife walt wait cried hicks you go to colonel fentress let him up mr cavendish aa al 1 we want to know said the judge CHAPTER colonel fentress Fen trese the judge had not forgotten bis big ghost the ghost he had seen in mr sauls office that day be he went to the court house on business for charley norton working or idling principally the latter drunk or sober prin cipully the former the ghost otherwise colonel fentress bad had preserved a place in his thoughts and now as fis be he moved at stolidly mildly up the drive toward fentress Fen tresa big white house on the hill with bla mahaffy haffy cavendish and yancy trailing in his wake memories of what had once been living and vital crowded in upon him some sense of the wreck that littered the long years and vad the shame of the open tihamer name that bad had swept a avey aey ey pride and self solf respect rr r came back to him aut or of the past he only paused when be stood on the portico before fentress open door he glanced about him at mc wide fields bounded by the distant timber lands hoods that hid bid bottome bottoms at the great log barns in the hollow bollo to his right at the huddin ot of whitewashed cabins beyond then with his big fist flet he reached in and pounded on the door the blo TR echoed loudly through the silent house nad an 11 tn slant stant later fentress tall spare haure was seen advancing from the tar far end of the hall who is to it he asked judge price colonel fentress said the judge judge price uncertainly and still advancing 1 I had flattered uttered myself that jau must have heard board of zie j fold the judge 1 I think I 1 hap baa said fentress pausing now he ile thinks he be has muttered the judge under his breath will you come in it was more a question than an invitation if it you are at liberty the colonel bowed allow me the judge continued tin ed colonel fentress mr mami mr air yancy and mr cavendish again the colonel bowed will you step into the library very good and the judge followed the colonel briskly down the ball TO BE UE CONTINUED |
