North Carolina Newspapers

THE NEWS-RECORD, MARSHALL, NORTH CAROLINA; IS &r RANDALL PARRI5H j CONGRESSMAN HEATING'S ANCESTORS 1LLUO 1 KA 1 LU by V. d. JLAV UN 8YN0P8IS. Joseph Hay ward, an ensign In the United State army, on his way to Fort Harmar, meet! Simon Girty, a renegade whose name has been oonnected with all manner ft t inr 1 am m 1 mn ,maAaA fa- 1-Vrt Harm fir, with a message from the British general, Hamilton. Hayward guides him to the tort. At General Har- DAuvray, who professes to recognise him, although he has no recollection of ever having seen her before. Hayward volun teers to carry a message for Harmar to Panduiky, where Hamilton Is stationed. The northwest Indian tribes are ready for war and are only held back by the refusal of the friendly Wyandots to join. The latter are demanding the return of wa-pa-tee-tah, a religious teacher, whom they believe to be a prisoner. Hayward's mission Is to assure the Wyandot that the man la not held by the soldiers. Kene asks Hayward to let her accompany him. Bhe tells him that she Is a quarter-blood "Wyandot and a missionary among the Indians. She has been In search of her father. She Insists that she has seen Hayward before, but In a British uni form. Hayward refuses her request and tarts for the north accompanied by a smut named Brady and a private soldier. Thev come on the trail of a war party and to escape from the Indians take shel ter In a hut on an Island. Hayward finds a murdered man In the hut. It proves to be Raoul D Auvray, a former French offi cer who Is called by the Wyandots "white chief." Rene appears and Hayward Is puixled by her Insistence that they have met before. Rene recognises the mur dered man as her father, who was known among the Indiana as Wa-pa-tee-tah. Bradv reports aeelns: a band of maraud ing Indians In the vicinity and with them filmon Girty. Brady's evidence convinces the girl that there la a British officer by the name of Hayward, who resembles the American. They fin-1 escape from the Island cut off. Reconnolterln around the cabin at n'ht Haywrd discovers a white man In a British uniform and leaves him for dead after a desperate fight. The In dians capture the cabin after a hard struggle In which Hayward la wounded. Rene saves Hayward from death at the hands of the savages and conceals him In the cellar of the cabin. CHAPTER ' XIII Continued., I got to my bands and knees, deter mined to discover for myseVf the na ture of the passage. Any form of ac tion was better than merely to lie there Inert. I had to creep forward, and found barely room for the passage of my body. My wound still hurt suf ficiently to make me cautious of every movement, and consequently my ad vance was slow. There never , wae blacker darkness; it was like a weight pressing me back, and the silence was like that of the grave. I could bear my own breathing, but my hands and knees made no sound 'on the earth floor. - Whatever of savage fury, was occurring above, no echo found way to where t burrowed below. To all ap pearance the tunnel ran in a direct line; at least I could discover no evi dence of deviation. . I stopped to rest a moment, sitting cross-legged, my bead barely escaping the roof. Suddenly from out that in tense darkness before me, came a pe culiar sound. Intensified by the long silence, and the contracted walls, I could not tell whether It was cough or groan. Something man or animal was certainly there in the tunnel hiding, crouched in the darkness, un aware as yet of my presence. Then it would not be an animal; it must be a man.-' ' ':.' ' rv'.?' .;. I got upon bande and knees again, slowly and with utmost caution, aware that If I was to escape notice I must advance as stealthily as a wild cat, the slightest sound would carry far in that gallery I moved forward a yard, two, three yards, extending one hand out into the dark and feeling about care fully, before venturing another inch. Mine were the movements of a snail. I had almost convinced myself there iras nothing there, either brute or hu man; yet some instinct continually told me there was. I felt an uncanny presence, and an ill-defined sense of danger I could not cast off. I came to a pause,, actually afraid to go on, my flesh creeping, with strange horror. I rested on one knee, my face throat for ward si I stared blindly into the awful blackness. I even held my breath In suspense, listening, for, the slightest movements Merciful God I . Some one something was actually there! I could hear now the faint pulsing of a breath, as though through clogged nos trils; yes, and a meaningless mutter ing of the Hps. - CHAPTER XIV. - A Struggle Underground. ,".. I remained poised, breathless, hud dled in the dark, hesitating. ' A dozen considerations flashed through niy mind, as I swtftly decided what to do. I could scarcely hope to move back ward without noise; .nor, it I succeed ed, would I be any better off with him till blocking the passage? There was nothing for it then but to come to hand grips. But the fellow, whoever he might be whether wftite.tr radian . was doubtless armed, white I was weaponless. To get him right was a desperate chanc yet a cfiance which must be taken. Fortunately I had him located, his heavy breathing being un mistakable, and evidence also that the man remained unaware of my pres ence. I shifted one foot forward to get firmer purchase, and then grasped for him through the darkness. My hand came In contact with a shoulder; then gripped a mass of long hair. He gave vent to' a sudden cry. startled, "al most Inhuman in its wlldnesa, strug gling backward so quickly my other hand closed on air. But I held hard to what I had, dragged off my balance, feeling bis fingers after my throat Tiers was no room for us to da oLh t t t cofiYiojrr a. wise than claw tat each other. After that first cry neither of us uttered a sound, but I closed in on him, getting a stronger grip. He was a man, a white man, for he wore a rough coat, and his face waa covered with a growth of straggly, coarse whickers. Enemy or friend I could not be sure, nor did I find opportunity to discover. We both fought like beasts, resorting to teeth and nails. His one object was to wrench him self loose, but my fortunate grip on his hair foiled this effort. Yet both his hands were free, the one clutching my throat;' but, in those first breath less seconds, I could not locate the other. He was lying on his side, with right arm underneath. Fearful of a weapon, I let the fellow gouge at my throat with long ape-like fingers, while I struggled fiercely to expose the hidden hand. If It proved empty I knew I could handle the man; that I possessed the strength to draw him to me, to crush him into subjection with in the vise of my arms. Straining every muscle I could bring into play, I succeeded In forcing him over onto his face. But he was a cat, wiry, full of tricks. In some manner he twirled his arm out of my grip. There was a flash of reddish yellow flame searing across my eyes, an awful report,, like an explosion In my stunned ears. Where the bullet went I will never know, but I saw the man's face leap out at me from the darkness Just an Instant of reflection, as though thrown against a screen by some flash of light the unmistakable face of a negro. Yet startled as I was by this appari tion, his view of me had no less an ef fect. Even in that single instant of revealment . the hate in his , eyes changed to fear, to uncontrollable panic; hie Hps gave vent to a wild cry, an exclamation ' in mongrel French, and, before could stiffen In resistance, or recover from my own shock, the fel low flung his pistol at me, and Jerked free. ' The flying weapon tore a gash In my scalp, but his haste and fear proved his own undoing. Half stunned as I was by the blow, I heard him spring to hie feet, the dull crash of his head as he struck the hardwood slab of the low roof, and then the thud of a body on the tunnel floor. In his haste, his desperation, his strange fright, he had forgotten where he was, and attempted to spring erect My head reeled; the blood from this new cut trickling down my cheek. The ne gro lay motionless In the darkness; I could not even distinguish his breath ing, although I hestlated, listening in tently, half fearing some trick. What had frightened the fellow so? What had brought that look of Insane terror into his eyes? It was as if he stared at a ghost, the very sight of which had crazed him. I mastered my own nerves, and crept forward along the passage, feeling blindly in advance with one outstretched hand, until it came in contact with the man's figure. With clinched teeth, I touched the coarse hair with my fingers; then the forehead. The flesh retained some warmth; yet the feeling was not nat uralIt seemed lifeless. For the in stant this appeared impossible. Why, he did It himself; he crashed his own skull against the slab. Yet I could not make the affair seem real, or probable. J Ana a negro i ; 1 naa seen lew or tne race, but had always been told they were of thick skuH; but if this man was actually dead, his head must have been smashed like an egg-shell. And it was I found the gash a moment later, the jagged edge of bone. The fellow -was dead, stone -dead; there wae no heat to his heart, no throb to his pulse. Still dazed by the discov ery, I ran my fingers along the roof overhead, ' hoping to find something these which would account for the myutery. No flat surface could ever have jabbed that wound. Ah! I felt it the sharp point of a stake protrud ing between the logs. The poor fellow had struck that with sufficient force to penetrate the brain. I conquered my abhorrence, and searched him, finding tobacco, a knife an ugly weapon flint , and steel, a few colne, and some powder and. rifle balls. There were no pistol bullets, and the thought occurred to me that the Bmaller weapon probably did not belong to him; he had appropriated it elsewhere. ; I crept about and across the body, searching for it in vain, but I found the rifle, and took time to test its flint, and load It 5':;:;j-;. I. waa still engaged at ' this task, blindly feeling, about In the dark for everything needed, and always con scious of that dead body beside me. when I suddenly detected smoke not the puff of powder which still clung to the passage, but the acrid, ' pungent odor of burning wood. Even as J be gan' to breathe the fumes they in creased in intensity; ' the narrow tun nel filling rapidly with the smoke waves, and setting me to coughing. I realized at once what had happened. Mademoiselle's word of warning com ing back to mind they were burning the cabin, and through some orifice the emoke was being swept down into this underground passage. If there were no outlet no way by which it could escape again to the open air, I must die there - in that black hole, choked and suffocated. I might He tka,' fnav kw4a thl hideout ne c. mow?o &, a?., gro; He there until our bones rotted. and we also became earth. The hor ror of the thought brought me to my knees. ' Already the air was stifling, my lungs laboring' heavily for breath M the smoke clouds filled the passage. Only as I bent my - nostrils close against the earthern floor could I find life-giving air. Even in my terror I clung to the ne gro's rifle desperately. The entrance leading forth Into the cave-cellar must be closed, or the smoke cloud would never be so dense and suffocating. To open it might require strength, the blows of the gun stock. If I retained power to burst my way through I must hurry. Already I felt my head reel dizzily, my. open lips gulping for air. I crept forward recklessly in the dark, bruising my body against the sides of the tunnel, actually feeling the thick enlng smoke swirl about me In dense clouds. I gasped for breath, and drew a bit of cloth about nose and mouth in slight protection. I was panlc-strick- en, overcome by sudden horror, yet some nature within compelled me to struggle on. Suddenly I came to a body lying lengthwise of the passage, the head to the south.' This new discovery was a shock, yet seemed to affect me little. ., I crawled over him, as though he was no more than a stone in the path, yet as one hand came down in the dark on the upturned face, I experi enced a sudden thrill the flesh was warm, the man lived. Barely had my numbed mind grasped this helplessly, when my rifle barrel, thrust before me, struck the" end of the passage, the faint sound of contact signifying wood. Not three feet extended between the man's head and this barrier' which blocked us from the outside air! Desperate, half crazed indeed, not only by my own situation, but aleo by the memory of those bodies behind In the dark tun nel, I found scant knee-room in the small space, and fumbled madly about for some latch. The surface was of wood, roughly faced, but smooth, eave for what might be a handle in the mid dle, a mere strip, bevelled to give finger-bold. I pulled at this in vain; then pushed with my shoulder against the oak, but the wood held firm. Weak as I was, and in so crumpled a position, I could bring to bear but small strength. To batter the door down was the only hope left; no matter what noise re sulted, or the possibility of capture by the savages, I could not He there and choke to death in that place of horror. Better any danger than such a fate. ' I drew back and struck, the power of fear giving strength to my arms. Again and again I drove the iron-bound rifle stock against the hard oak. I left the center and attacked the sides, feeling the wood give slightly. Encouraged by this I redoubled my efforts, central izing my blows on one epot, until cer tain the tightly Jammed door was be ing driven from the groove. It-was bot and stifling; the perspiration streamed from me; the smoke was suf focating, deadly. I gasped and choked, my head swam with dizziness. I felt my strength ebbing away; . despair clutched me. Yet I struck no longer with clear intent but automatically, driving the heavy gun butt against the slowly yielding wood, with every pound of strength I had left It seemed as if I had struck my last blow I believe now I bad; I believe my body fell with it I cannot remember clearly Only I I Fell Forward Into Light Air. ' know the wood gave way, and I fell forward Into light and air, my face without my body still In the tunnel Merciful mother! How I gulped in those first refreshing breathe; how the clogged lungs rejoiced. glanced back into the tunnel, suddenly remembering the man who still lived. If be were out the door might be forced back into place again, that volume of smoke sup pressed. ' , ' : 1 refastened the cloth across my face, and crept back into the tunnel until I waa able to grip the fellow's arms. ' He was a large man, clothed as a white; I even thought I felt braid on his sleeves; and, as I drew him toward me by a mighty effort the light stream ing in revealed a red Jacket CHAPTER XV. , I Meet My Double. The probability that the man was a British officer, whose life depended on my exertions, nerved me anew. No matter who he might prove to be, whether friend or foe, he was of my race and blood, and evidently the vic tim of treacherous attack. First of all I must get him out of that stifling bole Into pure air, and discover the nature of his injuries. It was no easy task dragging the heavy body through the narrow entrance, and across the dis lodged door. It had to be accomplished by sheer strength of arm, for I worked on my knees, choked by the foul at mosphere, almost blinded by the smoke, and unable to find purchase. Yet foot by foot I won, until, exhaust ed by the effort, I hauled the limp form free of the barrier, and agalnet the side wall of the cellar. , I leaned against the wall as the waves of smoke thinned, and drifted out through the open door. At last there wsb but a thin vapor showing against the blue expanse of sky. It occurred to me the blue was shading into gray, as if approaching twilight I retained no sense of time; so much had occurred I felt I had been confined for. hours In that tunnel; when I first emerged and perceived light I could scarcely realize that It was yet day; that all had occurred the fight in the cabin, my rescue, the horrors Of the tunnel within so short a space. There suddenly swept over me the fresh memory of it allr-I saw the faces, heard the volcee. And they were dead, those men I had companioned with; they had gone the long Journey, some quickly, mercifully, and Brady In the agony of torture. How it nauseated me! The swift reaction leaving me sobbing like a child, my hands pressed over my eyes. All at once I experi enced the full horror, and broke down as weak as a babe. I remember now how my knees shook, so that I sank down to the earth floor; ay! and how I prayed, my voice a mere senseless murmur, yet, no doubt, clear enough to God's ears. . I felt tempted to 1 get outside, and discover where the raiders had gone; their trail might reveal much, if it could only be found before night came. I had straightened up, determined to try the venture when a movement be low," and the muffled sound of a voice speaking English, reminded me of the soldier. Descending from out the sun light I could perceive little in the dark er cave-cellar. The red jacket was, however, sufficiently conspicuous to convince me that the man was sitting up, his back against the wall. "I don't know who you are, friend," he called out heartily, "only you look to be white. By any luck do you epeak English?" , "Not much of anything else," I an swered,' endeavoring to discover his features. "I'm of the blood." "Ay! With a colonial twang to it, unless my ears lie. Is that the story? So! Then what in God's name are you doing here?" I could not take the measure of the fellow, his face remaining indistinct in the shadows, but there was a reckless ring of good-fellowship In his vole which Inspired me to frankness. "I came this way with a message for the Wyandots. I belong to the gar rison of Fort Harmar." "An officer?" "Yes." "Holy smoke, man, but you certainly, stumbled into a hornet's nest. Didn't you know all the northwest tribes have declared war? That it has actuaV ly begun?" - "No; it was in the hope of prevent ing such a catastrophe that I was sent Word was brought us that the Wyan dots would not join the confederation." "Who brought such word?" "Simon Girty. He bore a letter from Hamilton, and sought information re garding the disappearance of a Wyao dot chief." "Wa-pa-tee-tah?" "That was the name." The man laughed, but the sound was not altogether pleasant ,- "There is a touch of humor to your tale, my friend," he said slowly, "al though I doubt if you will be able to perceive it, Girty and Hamilton may have had reasons of their own for a bit of byplay; egad! They failed to con sult me. i But as for this Wa-pa-tee-tah, that chanced to be my. business, al though Juet now, and in the presence of the enemy, we will let the discus sion go. Diplomacy never reveals its cards, and I have become more diplo mat than soldier. What am I then a prisoner?" - - (TO BB CONTINUED.) Wifely Praise Qualified.'. The husband 'was : listening with blushing pleasure to his wife's praises of his bandlness. He looked a little deprecatingly at the other passengers, as though to say, "I didn't seek this fame!", Then, unfor'unately, says the Manchester Guardia'i, his good wife perpetrated one of those errors some times classified as "things which might have been expressed different ly." "Ties," she said, with an em phatic nod. e made , a greenhouse all Iss'elf. an' to look at it you'd think a real man 'a4 mrde it" him for .telling a falsehood In school. "I couldn't Just help It," he replied. "Those other boys are always bragging about their ancestors and I had to have some to keep up with the rest" - Another time Keating was asked to speak at a banquet of some kind of a colonial society. When he rose, he smilingly said: "Gentlemen and ladies, I appreciate this honor, but confess I cannot understand why I am asked to address you. When your forefathers were distinguishing themselves In the Revolutionary war mine were hoeing cabbages In some Irish garden." Yet the fact Is, Keating is of aaclent Irish lineage, and of Its "bluest" blood. KETTNER IS ON THE MOVE "I'm thinking of breaking Into poetry and writing a philosophic ode on the mutability of mundane affairR, with metaphors and similes and things in it," confided Representative Kett ner, from the San Diego, Cal., district. "I'll have something to say about be ing like a leaf afloat on the chancing tides of fate and how, just as you've gotten your little card house nicely built, something Joggles your- elbow and spills the milk or whatever's poetry for spilling the milk. "It's experience that inspires me,", continued the representative from the clime of climate. "Nine years ago I said to myself, 'Come, I shall pick out a suitable spot, build me and my fain tly a home there and settle down for the rest of my life.' So, after care fully weighing a score of localities, I determined on Visalia, Cal. "I bought me a ranch near by, built me a house that will outlast the monument, put up fences, barns and other improvements so permanent that they will echo to Gabriel's trump. Then we planted ourselves there and cried aloud: 'Behold us! This Is our home forever and aye!'. "Three years from that day I was in the insurance business in San Diego! "-v' "And then I said, 'Now, I am fixed for good. I shall tie myself in a hard knot to my business here and nothing but a universal cataclysm shall re move me!' "And three years later I was in congress!" "Are you going to stay in congress?" queried his visitor. "That depends upon a higher power," replied Mr. Kettner. SENATOR THOMAS TELLS OF BIG TUMBLE . . .. V fw csme clattering down on top of him. have to be brought up again In a box, severe bruises. , STEFANSSON'S ARCTIC PARTY SAFE : Brief cable dispatches from St Michael and Nome indicate that when Vtlhjalmur Stefansson's exploring ship Karluk was crushed In the Arctic near Herald island, northeast of Si beria, January 16 last, the men saved all their instruments, supplies, dogs and food and left only the crushed hulk and its. coal cargo when they , headed east over the ice to camp on Wrangell island. : .: . The experience of the Karluk proves that the drift of the ice sheet from Point Barrow is not northerly, as had been supposed,' but westerly. Both Stefansson and Amundsen had believed that a ship entering the pack at Point Barrow could be carried cross the pole and to Greenland. Probably the shipwrecked men passed the win ter in comfort, having dogs to carry them on hunting expeditions. , v It. is expected that the Canadian government will authorize Capt Rob- ert X Bartlett who Is at at. Michael, where he arrived after a dog team and engage a ship to go to the island and Representative Keating of Colo rado, when a small boy, was taken from Missouri to the Centennial state. The family settled at a small place called Greeley, in honor of the great Horace. The inhabitants were all prim New Englanders, whose ancestors had come over in the Mayflower, and whose talk waa only of their lineage. Keating was the only kid at school who was Irish and not long on Ameri can forefathers who had fought in the Revolution. And this fact was a cause of constant humiliation to him, for the other children at school boasted dally In history lesBon of an uncle at Bunker Hill or a grandfather at York town. So one day young Keating made np a story. He invented a wonderful forefather and his glorious deeds; and when he told it to the breathless, ad miring class, he was the hero of the recess hour. His mother upbraided "To tumble down a mine shaft to i a depth equal to the height of a fifteen story skyscraper is a trick anybody can turn If he ' is careless enough around a mining camp," said Senator Charles S. Thomas of. Colorado, who is one of the most ' eminent mining lawyers in the West and also one of the early settlers in the Centennial state.' S ' "But to come through such an ex perience alive is ' a feat few can . achieve," he continued. "Yet that Is just what happened to a man I knew In Colorado. A fellow : named Jim Dorris of -Leadville performed this Fall of Man act In 1881 and went through an experience enough to kill ten men, yet came out as chipper as though he had been lying In a ; feather bed. . .- ' ' ' ' ' , ' "Jim slipped at the top of ' the shaft of the Cleora mine and fell a sheer 297 feet to the hard rock bot tom, while a 300-pound ore-bucket Of course, we all thought he would but Jim came out with only a few '-i' - v..' sea Journey from Wrangell Island, to bring off the 18 men marooned there.