Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 304, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 December 1919 — The Devil’s Own [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Devil’s Own

Coprrightby A C. McChtrg A Co.

JI Romance of the Black Hawk War

By RANDALL PARRISH

Author of "Contraband,” “Shea of the Irish Brigade,* "When Wilderneaa Waa King." etc. ILLUSTRATIONS BY IRWIN MYERS

“YES, I AM RENE BEAUCAIRE."

Synopsis.—ln 183 S Lieutenant Knox of the regular army Is on duty at Fort Armstrong. Rock Island. Hl., In territory threatened by disaffected Indians. The commandant sends him with dispatches to St. Louis. He takes passage oh the itamer Warrior and makes the acquaintance of Judge Beaucaire, rich planter and of Joe Kirby (the Devil's Own), notorious gambler Knox learns Judge Beaucaire has a daughter. Eloise, and a granddaughter, Rene, offspring of a son whom the judge has disowned. Rene’s mother is a negress, and she and her daughter, never having been freed, are slavesi under the law. although th« c-irls have been brought up as sisters. Kirby induces the judge to stake his plantation and negro servants on a poker hand unfairly dealt by Joe CarXr Kirby's partner. The two hands contain five aces, and Kirby accuses thl ludgTof cheating. Beaucalre, infurlated, arises to attack Kirby, and drops dMd Inlhecc^urtorTKirby and Carver are enabled to steal away. Knox * induce Kirby to give up his stolen winnings. Kirby refuses and after a hot argument he and Carver throw Knox overboard. The lieutenant swims ashore and reaches a hut. Knox lies unconscious for ten days. Recovering he he i» cabin owned by Pete, a "free nigger " who had shot h m mistaking him for an enemy. His dispatches have been forwarded. Recovering Som his wound, Knox sends Pete to bring Beaucalre's lawyer, and they arrange, with Pete's help, to get the women to the cabin of an abolitionist. Amos Shrunk, before Kirby comes. Knox and Pete start out for Beaucaire. - ■ -■■ -

Chapter vi. The Home of Judge Beaucaire. The road we followed appeared to be endless, and so rough that I soon climbed down from my seat, an unplaned board, uncomfortable under any conditions, in the swaying, bumping' cart, and stumbled blindly along behind, tripping over stumps in the darkness, and wrenching my ankles painfully In deep ruts. It was considerably after ten o'clock when we emerged upon an open plateau, and a glimmer of stars overhead revealed to me afar off the silver thread of the great river. Pete stopped the straining mule, a feat not at all difficult of accomplishment, the animal's sides rising and falling as he wheezed for breath, and came back to where I stood, staring about at the dimly perceived objects in the foreground. “Out dar am de Beaucaire place,” he announced, as soon as he could distinguish my presence, waving his. arm to indicate the direction. “An’ I reckon we bettah not ride no further, fer if Alick shod smell corn, he’d nat’larly raise dis whol’ neighborhood —he's got a powerful voice, sah." - “Equal to his appetite, no doubt.” “Yas, sah; that’s mostly whut Alick am." “How far away is the house?” “Likely ’bout a hundred yards Yer see dat light out yonder; well dal's it, an’ I reckon de ladies mus’ be up yet. keepin’ de lamp burnin’. Here’s de slave cabins ’long de edge ob de woods, but dey’s all dark. What’s yer a goin’ fer ter do now, Massa Knox?” I was conscious that my heart was beating rapidly, and that my mind was anything but clear. The problem fronting me did not appear so easily solved, now that I was fairly up against it, and yet there seemed only one natural method of procedure. I must go 7 at my unpleasant task boldly, and in this case only the truth would serve.. I was an officer in the United States army, and had in my ‘pocket papers to prove my Identity. These would vouch for me as a gentlemaht and yield me a measure of authority. And this fact, once established, ought to give me sufficient Standing in the eyes of those girls to compel from them a respectful hearing. I would tell the story exactly as I knew it, concealing nothing, and adding no unnecessary word, outline my plan of action, and then leave them to., decide what they thought best to do. Strange, unbelievable as the situation was, proof was not lacking. Della ’ could be compelled to acknowledge ■ that Rene was her child —she would J scarcely dare deny this truth In face , of my positive knowledge—and dlie, at j ileast, must know that Judge Beau-, calre had never during his lifetime given her her freedom. This fact ■ could be established beyond question, and then they must surely all compreJbend the ne<?es&ity of iiismediate iiigh! —that there remained no other possible means of escape from hopeless slavery. Desperate as the chance appeared, it was the only one. It dawned upon me now with more 'lntense force than ever before, the position in which I stood, and 1 shrank from the ordeal. A perfect stranger, not even a chance acquaintance of those directly involved in this tragedy, I would have to drag out from the eloset, where it had been hidden away for years, this old Beaucaire skeleton, and rattle the dried bones of dishonor before the horrified understanding of these two innocent; unsuspecting girls. The conviction came to me that I had •best do this alone; that the presence of the negro wouldjhinder, rather than help the solution of the problem. “Pete,” I said, measuring my words, jny plan of action shaping itself even as I spoke. “What lies in there between us and the house?" s / “A truck patch mostly, wid a fence ’rodnd it- Den thar comes som’ flower beds.” , - ' “No path?” “Well, I done reckon ns how thar might be a sorter path, sah, but you’d hardly find it in de dars. De bes’ way’d be ter sorter feel ’long de fence, ’til yer git sight o’ de front porch.” x , “All right, then. lam going to leave you here while I scout around. Keep your eyes open, and have the mule ready to leave atany minute.**

°“’Bout how ion’ yer be gone, sah?” “I cannot tell you that. As short a time as possible. It may require considerable explanation and urging to get those three women to trust me. However, all you have to do is wait, and be stlre that no one sees you. If you should be needed for anything at the house. I’ll get word to you some way; and if I should send Delia and Rene out here alone, without being able to come with them myself, load them into the cart at once, and drive to the’boat. I’ll manage to join you somewhere, and the important thing is to get them safely away. You understand all this?”

“Yas, sah; leastways I reckon I does. I’se ter take keer ob dem all, an’ let yer take keer o’ yerself." “Exactly, because, you see, I haven’t the slightest idea what I am going to run up against. There may be others in the house, and I might not dare to leave Miss Eloise behind alone with--out some protection. I shall endeavor to induce her to go to Haines at once.” Following” some Impulse I tshook hands with him, and then plunged into the darkness, my only guidance at first that single ray of light streaming through the unshaded window. As I advanced cautiously along the fence, a low structure built of rough rails, and thus approached more closely to the front of the main building, other lights .began to reveal theiiiselves, enabling r ine to perceive that the inner hallway was likewise illuminated, although not brilliantly. All about'me was silence, not even the sound of a voice of the flap of a wing breaking the intense stillness of the night. I came below the veranda, still in the deep shadow, utterly unconscious of anj 7 other presence, when suddenly, from just above me, and certainly not six feet distant, a man spoke gruffly, the unexpected sound of his strange voice interrupted by the sharp grate of a chair’s leg on the porch floor, and a half-smothered yawn. “Say, sheriff, how long are we all goin’ ter set yere, do yer know? This don’t look much like Saint Louee afore daylight ter me.” I stopped still, crouching low, my heart leaping into my throat, and every nerve tingling. “No, it sure don’t, Tim,” replied another, and the fellow apparently got down from off his perch on the porch rail. “Yer .see Kirby is bound he’ll get

hold o’ them two missin’ females fqrst, afore he’ll let me round up the niggers. The papers is all straight ’nough, but they’ve g®t ter be served afore we kin lay hands on a durned thing. The jedge tol’ me fer ter do everything just as Kirby sed, an’ I alm ter do it, but just the same I got ter keep inside the law. I dunno as it makes much difference when we strike the ol’ town.’’ \ *' “ Tain’t so much that, sheriff. I kin stan’ it fer ter be up all night, but Bill wus tellin’ me we might hav’ som’ trouble down ter the Landin’ unless we finished up our job yere afore Hornin’." I reckon not; whut was 7 it Bill said?” “Quite a rigmarole fnun furst ter last Giv* me a light fer the pipe, will yer?" There was * flare above me, and then darkness once more, and then the alow drawl of the man’s xoks as he re-

sumed. “Some feller by the name ov down ter Saint Louee, who’s Just com’ down from the lead mines, tol’ him thet Joe Kirby got all this yere property in a game o’ kyards on the boat, an’ thet It wan’t no square game either. I didn’t git it all straight, I reckon, but accordin’ ter the deal handed 'me thar wus two dead men mixed up in the affair —Beaucaire, an’ a young army officer. Seems ter me 3Hs name was Knox.” , . “I didn’t hear that.” “Well, enyhow, that’s the way Bill told it. Beaucaire hei naturally fell dead —heart, er somethin’ —an’ the other feller, this yere arthy man, he went out on deck fer ter see Kirby, an’ he never cum’ back. McAdoo sorter reckoned as how likely he was slugged, an’ throwed overboard.'* An’ then, on top’ all ; thaL we’re sent up yere in the night like a passel o’ thieves ter take these niggers down ter Saint Louee. 3 What do yer make ov it, Jake?” “Wai,” said the other - slgwly, his mouth evidently loaded with tobacco. Tain’t never asked no questions since I wus made sheriff. I’m doin’ whut the court says. Kirby’s got the law on his side —no doubt ’bout that —but I reckon as. how he knows it wus a durn mean trick, and so he’s sorter skeered as ter how them fellers livin’ down ter the Landin’ might act. Thet’s why we tied up ter the shore below town, in the mouth o’ thet crick, an’ then hed ter -hqof it up yere in the dark. Of courseVe got the law with us, but we wanter pull this job off an’ not stir up no fight—see?” “Sure,” disgustedly. “I reckon I know 7 all that; I heerd the jedge tels yer how we must do the job. But why’s Kirby in such a sweat ter git all , these niggers down ter Saint Louee?” “Ter sell ’em, an’ git the cash. Onct they’re outer the way there won’t be no row. He’ll let the land yere lie idle fer a year or two, an’ by that time nobody’ll care a whoop how he got it. But he’s got ter git rid o’ them niggers right away.” “Well, who the h—s goin’ ter prevent? They’re his’n, ain’t they? Thar ain’t no Black Abolitionists ’round yere, I reckon.” “Seems sorter queer ter me,” admitted the sheriff, “but I did get a little outer that feller Carver cornin’ up. Carter is som’ sorter partner w 7 lth Kirby—a capper, I reckon. ’Tain’t the niggers thet are matin’ the trouble- — leastways not the black ’uns. Nobody’s likely ter row over them. It seems that Beaucaire kept a quadroon housekeeper, a slave, o’ course, an’ a while back she giv’ birth ter a child, the father o’ the infant bein’ Judge Beaucaire’s son. Then the son skipped out, an’ ain’t never bin heard *fritm since—dead most likely, fer all this wus twenty years ago. ’Course the child, which wus a girl, is as white as I am —maybe more so. I ain’t never set eyes on her, but Carver he says slip’s gdod lookin’. , Enyhow, the jedge he brought her up like his own daughter, sent her ter school in Saint Louee, an’ nobody ’round yere even, suspected she wus a nigger. I reckon she didn’t know it hersetE” “Yer mean the girl’s a slave?” “Yer bet! That’s the law, ain’t it?”

"And Kirby knew about this?” “I reckon he did. I sorter judge, Tim, frum whut Carver sed, that he wus more anxious fer ter git thet girl than all the rest o’ the stuff; an’ it’s her he wants ter git away frum yere on the dead quiet, afore Haines er any o’ them others down at the Landin’ kin catch on.” “They couldn’t do nuthln’; -if thar ain’t no papers, then she’s his, accordin’ ter law. I’ve seen that tried afore now.” “Of course; but what’s the use o’ runnin- eny risk? A-smart lawyer like Haines could make a devil ov a lot o’ trouble just the same, if he took a notion. That’s Kirby’s idee —ter cum’ up yere in a boat, unbeknownst to enybody, tie up down thar at Saunders’, an’ run the whole bunch o’ niggers off In the night. Then it’s done an’ over with afore the Landin’ even wakes up. I reckon the jedge told him that wus the best way.” There was a moment of silence, first man evidently turning the situation over in his mind. The sheriff bent across the rail, and spat into the darkness below. •The joke of it all is,” he continued with a short laugh, as he straightened up, “this didn’t exactly work out 'cordin’ ter schedule. When .we dropped in yere we rounded up the niggers all right, an’ vfe got girl whar there’s no chance fer her ter git away—” “Is that the one back in the house?” “I reckon so; le&Stways she tol’ Kirky her name was Rene Beaucaire, an’ that’s how it reads in the papers. But thar* ain’t no trace ov her mother, ner ov the jedge’s daughter. They ain’t, in the house, ner the nigger cabins. Leaves me in a deuce ov a fix, fer I can’t seryp no papers less we find the daughter. Her name’s Eloise; she’s the heir et law, an* I ain’t got no legal right fer ter take them niggers away till I do. looks , ter me like they’d skipped out.' Thar’s Kirby an* Carver, a cornin' now, an they’re

alone; ain’t got no trace ov the girl or her mother, I reckon.” Where I crouched in the shadows I could gain no glimpse'of the approaching figures, but I heard the crunch of their boots on the gravel of the driveway, and a moment later the sound of their feet as they ipounted the wooden steps. Kirby must have perceived the forms of the other men as soon as he attained the porch level, and his naturally disagreeable voice had a snarly ring. “That you, Donaldson? Have either of those women come back?” “No,” and I thought the sheriff’s answer was barely cordial. “We ain’t seen nobody. What did you learn down at the Landin’?” “Nothing,” savagely. “Haven’t found a d —- trace except that Haines hasn’t been home since before dark; some nigger came for him then. Is that girl safe inside?” “Sure; just as you left her, but she won’t talk. Tim tried her again, but it’s no use; she wudn’t even answer him.” - jz “Well, by Heaven! Til find a way to make her open her mouth. She knows where those two are hiding. Tbfey haven’t had no time to get far away, and I’ll bring her to her senses before I am through. Come on, Carver; I’ll show the wench who’s master here, if I have to lick her like a common nigger.” - The front door-opened, and closed, leaving the two without standing in silence, the stillness between them finally broken by a muttered curse.

I drew back hastily, but In silence, eager to get away, before the sheriff and his deputy should return to their seats by the porch rail. My original plan of warning the women of the house of their peril was blocked, completely overturned by the presence of these men. Beyond all question those I had hoped to serve were already aware of their position —someone had reached them before me—and two at least were already in hiding. Why the third. the one most deeply involved, had failed to accompany the others,, could not be comprehended. The mystery only made my present task more difficult. Why should Delia, the slave, disappear in company with Eloise, the free, and leave her own daughter Rene behimj to face a situation more terrible than death? I could not answer these questions; but whatever the cause the result had been the complete overthrow of the gambler’s carefully prepared plans. Not that I believed he would hesitate for long, law or np law; but Donaldson, the sheriff, refused to be a party to any openly illegal act, and this would for the present the fellow’s hands. Not until MisimJEloise was found and duly served wftjh the eviction papers would Donaldsott consent to take possession of a single slave. This might still give me time Iter action. xk

I slipped along In the the house, without-definite plan of action but with a firm purpose to act. The side door I knew to be securely locked, yet first of all it was essential that I attain to the interior. But one means to this end occurred to me —the unshaded window through which the glow of light continued to stream. I found I could reach the edge of the balcony with extended fingers, and drew myself slowly up until I clung to the railing, with feet finding precarious support on the outer rim. This was accomplished noiselessly and from the vantage point thus obtained I was enabled tosurvey a large portion of the room. I’ clambered over the rail, assured by the first glance that the room was empty, and succeeded in lifting the hetivy .satih a few without any disturbing noise; (Then it stuck, and even as J ventured to. .exert my strength to greater extent to force it upward, the single door directly opposite, evidently leading Into the hall, was flung violently open and I sank back out of view, yet Instantly aware that the first party to enter was Joe Kirby. He strode forward to the table, striking the wooden top angrily with his fist and knocking something crashing to the floor. “You know where she is, don’t you?” he asked, in the saihe threatening tone he had used without. “Of course I do; didn’t I help put her there?” It was A’arver who replied, standing in tlfe* open doorway. ‘Then bring the hussy in here. I will make the wenjh talk, if I have to choke it out of her; she’ll learn what it means To be a nigger.” fl had but a moment in which to observe ttie man, for almost immediately Oarver flung the door of the room open and Kirby swung impatiently about to face the entrance. Except for a possibility'Of thus attracting the attention of the neWcdffifer I was in no special danger of being de-tected-by those within*? Carver thrust her forward but remained himself blocking the doorway. I use the word thrust, for I noted the grip of his hand on her arm. yet in truth she instantly stepped forward herself, her bearing in no way devoid of pride and dignity, her head, held erect, her eyes fearlessly peeking the of

glances met, and she advanced to the table, the light of the swinging lamp full upon her. The impression she made is with me yet Hers was a refined, patrician face, crowned by a wealth of dark hair. Indignant eyes of hazel brown, shadowed by long lashes, brightened a face whitened by Intense emotion, and brought into agreeable contrast flushed cheeks and red, scornful lips. A dimpled chin, a round, full throat, and the figure of young womanhood, slender and yet softly curved, altogether formed a picture so entrancing as to never again desert my imagination. With one bound my heart w6nt out to her in sympathy, in admiration, in full and complete surrender. . Before I could change posture, almost before I could

draw fresh breath, her voice, trembling slightly with an emotion she was to suppress, yet sounding clear as a bell, addiessed the man confronting her. “May I ask, sir, what this outrage means? I presume you are responsible for the insolence of this fellow who brought me here?” Kirby laughed but not altogether at ease. “Well, not altogether,” he answered, “as his methods ape entirely his own. I merely told him to go after you.” “For what purpose?” “So pretty a girl should not ask that. Carver, close the door and wait outside.” I could mark the quick rise and fall of her bosom and the look of fear she was unable to disguise. Yet not a limb moved as the door closed, nor did the glance of those brown eyes waver. “You are not the same man I met before,” she began doubtingly. “He said he was connected with the sheriff’s office. Who are you?” “My' name is Kirby; the sheriff is here under my orders.” “Kirby!—the—the gambler?” “Well, I play cards occasionally, and you have probably heard of me before. Even if you never had until tonight it is pretty safe to bet that you do now.” “I know,” she admitted, “that you won this property at cards and have now come to take possession. Is that what you mean?” “That, at least, is part of it,” and he took a step toward her, his thin lips twisted into a smile. “But not all. Perhaps Donaldson failed to tell you the rest, and left me to break the news. Well, it won’t hurt me any. Not only this plantation is mine, but every nigger on it as well. You are Bene Beaucaire?” “Yes,” she replied, slowly, almost under her breath, and hesitating ever so slightly, “I am Rene Beaucaire.” “And you don’t know what that means, I suppose?” he insisted savagely, angered by her coolness. “Perhaps the sheriff did not explain this. Do you know Aho and what you are?” She rested one hand on the table in .support, and I could note the nervous trembling of the fingers, yet .her low voice remained strangely firm.

Knox acts after the fashion of a man in love.

(TO BE CONTINUED.?

I Stopped Still, Crouching Low, My Heart Leaping Into My Throat and Every Nerve Tingling.

Carver Thrust Her Forward, but Remained Himself Blocking the Doorway.