Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 102, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 August 1902 — A SISTER'S VENGEANCE [ARTICLE]

A SISTER'S VENGEANCE

By GEORGE MANVILLE FENN

CHAPTER Vll.—{Continued.) “Abel, mate, I’m ready for anything now," said Bart, as they went that morning to their work. “Only say again as you forgive our lass.” “Bart, old lad,” said Abel, hoarsely, ‘Tve naught to forgive." “Ha!" ejaculated Bart, and then he began to whistle softly, aa if in the highest of spirits, and looked longingly in the direction of the jungle beside the mud creek; but three days elapsed before they were set to hoe among the coffee bushes again. When they approached the jungle at last, hoeing more slowly —for, mbch as they longed to go up at once, they knew that any unusual movement on their part might be interpreted by watchful eyes into an attempt at escape and bring down upon them a shot—Bart’s voice trembled and sounded hoarsely as he said, playfully: “Now, Abel, my lad, I’m going to talk to that there poll parrot. Now, then, Polly! Pretty Polly, are you there?” “Yes, yes, Bart/ Abel, dear brother, at last, at last!” came from the jungle. “Mary—Polly, my girl!” cried Abel, hoarsely, as he threw down his hoe; and he was running toward the jungle, where sound was heard, when Bart flung his strong arms across his chest and dashed him to the ground. “Are you mad?” he cried. “Mary, for

God’s sake keep back!” The warning was needed, for from across the plantation the overseer and a couple of soldiers came running, every movement on the part of the prisoners being watched. "Sham ill, lad; sham ill,” whispered Bart, as a piteous sigh came from the depths of the jungle. “Fighting, sir!” growled Bart; “rum fighting. He nearly went down.” “He was trying, to escape.” “Escape!” growled Bart. “Look at him. Sun’s hot.” The overseer bent down over Abel, whose aspect helped the illusion, for he looked ghastly from his emotion; and he had presence of mind enough to open his eyes, look about wildly from face to face, and then begin to struggle up, with one hand to his head. “Is it the fayver, sor?” said one of the soldiers, whose name was Dinny Kelly. “No. Touch of the sun,” said the overseer. “They’re always getting it. There, you’re all right, ar’ift you?’ “Yes. sir,” said Abel, slowly, as he picked up his hoe. “Sit down under the trees there for a few minutes.” said the overseer. “Lend him your water bottle, soldier. And you stop with him till he’s better.” Bart took the water bottle; and as the overseer went off with? his guard Abel was assisted to the edge of the jungle where a huge cotton tree threw its shade; and here Bart held the water to his com-

panion’s lips. It was hard work to keep still while the others went out of hearing; but at last it seemed safe, and Abel panted out: “Mary, dear, are you there?’’ “Yes, yes, Abel. Oh, my dear brother, say one kind word to me!” “Kind word? Oh, my lass, my lass, say that you forgive me!” “Forgive you? Yes. But quick, dear, before those men come back.” “Tell me, then,” said Abel, speaking with his back to the jungle, and his head bent down as if ill, while Bart leaned over him, trembling like a leaf, “tell me how yon came to be here.” “I came over in a ship to Kingston. Then I went to New Orleans. Then to Honduras. And it was only a fortnight ago that I found you." “But how did you come here?” “I’ve got a small boat, dear. I asked and asked for months before I could find out where you were. I’ve been to other plantations, and people have thought me mad; but one day I stumbled across the Bailors of a ship that comes here with -stores from the station, and I heard them ■ay that there were a number of prisoners working at this place; and at last, after waiting and watching for weeks, I caught sight of you two, and then it was a month before I could speak to you as I did the other day.” “And now you have come,” said Abel, bitterly, “I can’t even look at you.” "But you will escape dear,” said Mary. “Escape!” cried Abel, excitedly. “Steady, lad, steady. ’Member you’re ill”, growled Bart, glancing toward the nearest sentry, and then holding up the bottle as if to see how much was within. “Yes, escape,” said Mary. “I have the boat ready. Can you come now?” “Impossible! We should be overtaken and shot before we had gone a mile.*’ “But you must escape,” said Mary. “You must get down here by night.” “How?” said Bart, gruffly. “You two must settle that,” said Mary, quickly. “I am only a woman; but 1 have found means to get here with a boat, and I can come again and again till you join me.” “Then be cautious. Only come by night." “I know. Trust me. I will not be seen. I will do nothing rash. To-night, as soon as It grows dark, 1 shall be here ■xpecting you, for I shall not stir. At daybreak I shall go, and come again at night” “And mind the sentries.” “Trust me, Abel. I shall not come now by day for six days. If at the end of six nights you have not been able to escape,! shall come for six days by day, hoping that yon may be more successful in the daylight; for perhaps you will find that a bold dash will help to get you •way.” “But the risk —the risk, girl, to you!” “Abel, dear, I am here to risk everything. I have risked everything to join yon.” “Yea," he said, hoarsely. “But afterward. If we do escape ?” “Leave the plans to me,” she said, with • little laugh. “I have boat and sail, and the world is very wide. Only escape. Take care; the men are coming back.” Five days passed, and the prisoners were not sent again to the clearing, while, la spite of every effort, thgy found that their chances of eludidg the guard set ever them by night were small indeed.

Fettered by day, they were doubly chained by night. The building they slept was strongly secured and guarded, and in spite of the newness of the settlement it was well chosen for its purpose, and stronger even than the prisoners thought. During the following week the prisoners were only once in the coffee plantation, and so strictly watched that they felt that; to attempt an evasion was only to bring destruction upon their hopes, perhaps cause Mary's imprisonment for attempting to assist prisoners to escape. “It’s of no use* Bart,” said Abel at last, despondently. "Poor girl! Why did she come?’ “Help us away,” said Bart, gruffly. “Yes, but all in vaih;” “Pshaw!” cried Bart again, “when you know she’ll keep on coming till she’s an old gray-haired woman, or she gets us away." Abel shook his head, for he was lowspirited, and dot convinced; but that night his heart leaped,' for as he lay half asleep, listening to the thin, buzzing hum of the mosquitoes which haunted the prisoners’ quarters, and the slow, regular pace of the sentry on guard outside, there was the faint rattle of a chain, as if some prisoner had turned in his unquiet rest, and then all was silent again, till he started, for a rough hand was laid upon his mouth. His first instinct was to seize the owner of that hand, to engage in a struggle for his life; but a mouth wa.s placed directly at his ear; and a well-known voice whispered: “Don’t make a sound. Tie these bits of rag about your irons so as they won’t rattle.” Abel caught at the pieces of cloth and canvas thrust into his hand, and, sitting up in the darkness he softly bound the links and rings “of together, hardly daring to breathe, and yet with his heart beating tumultuously in his anxiety to know his companion’s plans. As he was tying the last knot he felt Bart s hand upon his shoulder, and his lips at his ear.

“Quiet, and creep after nie. —Keep touching my foot so’s not to miss me in the dark.” Abel’s heart thumped against his ribs as he obeyed, taking Bart’s hand first in a firm grip, and then feeling a short iron bar thrust between his fingers. Then he became conscious from his companion’s movements that he had gone down upon his hands and knees, and was crawling toward the end of the long, low stone-walled building that served as a dormitory for the white slaves whose task was to cultivate the rough plantation till they, as a rule, lay down and died from fever. Just then Bart stopped short, for there were steps outside, and a gleam of light appeared beneath the heavy door. A oices were heard, and the rattle of a soldier s musket. “Changing guard," said Abel to himself; and he found himself Wondering whether the sergeant and his men would enter tEe~ prison! Then there was a hoarsely uttered command; the light faded away, the steps died out upon the ear; there was a clink or two of chains, and a heavy sigh from some restless sleeper, and once more in the black silence and stifling heat there was nothing to be heard but the loud trumpeting buzz of the mosquitoes. '• Softly, as some large cat, Bart resumed his crawling movement, after thrusting back his leg and touching Abel on the chest with his bare foot as a signal. ■ The building was quite a hundred feet .long by about eighteen wide, a mere gallery in shape, which had been lengthened from time to time as the number of convicts increased, and the men had about two-thirds of the distance to traverse before they could reach the end, and at their excessively slow rate of progress the time seemed interminable before, after several painful halts, caused by movements of their fellow prisoners and dread of discovery, the final halt was made. “Now, then, what is it?” whispered Abel.

Bart was slowly drawing out rough pieces of badly cemented stone —rough fragments really of coral and limestone from the nearest roof, of which the prison barrack was built. At last, after what seemed an age, a faint breath of comparatively cool air began to play upon Abel’s cheek, as Bart seemed to work steadily on. Then his hand was seized and guided where it hardly wanted guiding, for the young man's imagination had painted all—to a rough opening level with the floor, a hole little larger than might have been made for fowls to pass in and out of a poultry yard. They crept on in silence, and in the midst of the still darkness matters seemed to be going so easily for them that Abel’s heart grew more regular in its pulsation, and he was just asking himself why he had not had invention enough to contrive this evasion, when a clear and familiar voice cried, “Shtand!” and there was the click of a musket lock. What followed was almost momentary. Bart struck aside the bayonet leveled at his breast, and leaped upon the sentry before him, driving him backward and clapping his hand upon his mouth as he knelt upon his chest; while, ably seconding him, his companion wrested the musket from the man's hand, twisted the bayonet from the end of the barrel, and, holding it daggerwise, pressed it against the man’s throat. “Another word, and it’s your last!” hissed Abel. "Sure, and I’ll be as silent as Peter Mu Honey's grave, sor,” whispered the sentry; “but it’s a mother I have over in the owld country, and ye’d break her heart it ye killed me.” “Look here,” whispered Bart; “it’s neck or nothing, my lad. If you give the alarm, it will be with that bayonet struck through you.” “And would a Kelly give the alarm, gfther he said on his honor? Sure, you might thrust me.’* “Over with you, then, Bart,” whispered Abel; "I’ll stand over him here. Take the gun.” Bart obeyed, and Abel stood with one

hand upon the sentry’s shoulder, and the bayonet close to his throat The man scaled the gate as easily as Bart had done before him, and then Abel followed; but as he reached the top and shuffled sideways to the wall, which he bestrode, there was the sound of a shot, followed by another, and another, and the fierce baying of dogs. “Bedad, they’ve seen ye,” said the sentry, as Abel dropped down. "SltoTtiee'!’’ hissed Abel; ns there“was the loud clanging of a bell with the fierce yelping of dogs, and they dashed off, hand joined in hand, for the coffee plantation, away down by the cane-brake and the swamp. In the swamp they found men with a boat and pole ready and waiting for them, and thus made good their escape.

CHAPTER VIII. Had he been asleep and dreamed that he and Abel had escaped, and then that he was in the Dells’ boat, with Mary poling it Along? *» What did ft all mean?. Bart was in a boat, and behind him lay back the soldier with his mouth open, sleeping heavily. On his left was Abel Dell, also sleeping as a man sleeps who is utterly exhausted by some terrible exertion. But that was not the Devon.coast upon which tlTeTuir’wai. shedding its early morning rays. 'Dense belts of mangrove did not spread their muddy roots like intricate rustic scaffoldings on southern English shores, and there were no clusters of alligators lying here and there among the mud and ooze. It was true enough. They did escape in the night, and Mary had been there to help them with a boat; but where was she now? and who was this sturdy youth in loose petticoat-canvas trousers and heavy fisherman’s boots? Bart stared till his eyes showed a ring of white about their pupils, and his mouth opened roundly in unison for a time. Then eyes and mouth closed tightly, and wrinkles appeared all over his face, as he softly shook all over, and then, after glancing at Abel and the Irish soldier, he uttered a low—- “ Haw, haw!” The figure in the boat swung round and faced him sharply, glancing at the two sleeping men, and holding up a roughened brown hand, to command silence.

“All right,” said Bart, half choking with mirth; and then, “Oh, I say, my lass, you do look rum in them big boots!” “Silence, idiot!” she whispered, sharply. “Do you want that strange man to know?’ “Nay, my lass, nay,” he said, becoming sober on the instant. “But you do look so rum. I say, though,” he cried, sharply, “what’s gone of all your beautiful long hair?” > “Fire,” said Mary, coldly. “Fire! what —you’ve cut it off and burned it?” : - Mary nodded. "Oh!” ejaculated Bart, and it sounded like a groan. “Could a girl with long hair have worked her passage out here as a sailor boy, and have come into that cane-brake and saved you two?” said Mary, sharply; end as Bart sat btaring at her with dilated eyes once more, she bent down after gazing at Dinny, still soundly sleeping, and laid her hand with a firm grip on her brother’s shoulder.

He started into wakefulness on the instant, and gazed without recognition in the face leaning over him. “Don’t you know me, Abel?” said Mary, sadly. “You, Mary—dressed like this?” He started up angrily, his face flush-, ing as hers had flushed, and his look darkened into a scowl. “What else could I do?” she said, repeating her defense as she had pleaded to Bart. Then, as if her spirit rebelled against his anger, her eyes flashed with indignation, and she exclaimed hoarsely, “Well, I have saved you, and if you have done with me—there is the sea.” “But you—dressed as a boy!" said Abel. “Hush! Do you want that man to know ?” whispered Mary softly. "My brother was unjustly punished and sent out here to die in prison, while I, a helpless girl, might have starved at home. What could I do?” There was only one of the two equal to the emergency as the soldier woke up, and that was Bart, who gave his knee a sounding slap and cried aloud: “Jack Dell, my lad, you’ve behaved like a trump, and got us away splendid. I only wish, Abel, I had such a brother. Halloo, soger, where shall we set you ashore?” “Set me ashore?” said the Irishman, nodding at Mary; “what for?” “What for?” cried Bart. “To go back.” “I’m not going back,” said the Irishman, laughing. “Sure, I want a change.” “You can’t go with us.” “Sure, and you forced me to come, and ye wouldn’t behave so dirthily as to send me back?"

“But we’re escaping,” said Bart. “Sure, and I’ll escape too,” said Dinny, smiling. “It’s moighty dull work stopping there.” “But you’re a soldier,” said “T be sure I am—a sowldier of fortune.” “You’ll be a 1 deserter if you stop with us,” growled Bart. "“Ye made me a prishner, and I couldn’t help meself.” “Why, I wanted you to go back last night!” growled Bart. “To be ate up entoirely by the ugly bastes of dogs! Thank ye kindly, sor, I’d rather not.” Dinny looked at Mary, and gave her a droll, smile, which made her frown and look uneasy. “Can you keep faith with those who trust you?” she said, quickly. “And is it a Kelly who can keep faith, me lad? Sure, an’ we'rt the faithfulest people there is anywhere. And, bedad! but you’re a handsome boy, and have a way wid you as’ll make some hearts ache before ye’ve done.” Mary started and turned a deep dark red, which showed through her sunbrowned skin. “I’ll trust you,” she said. “And ye shan’t repent it, me lad, for you’ve done no harm, and were niver a prishner. And now, as we are talking. I’d like to know what yer brother and number noinety-sivin did to be sint out of the counthry. It wasn’t murther, or they’d have hung ’em. Was it—helping yerselves?” “My brother and his old friend Bart Wrigley were transported to the plantations for beating and half killing, they said, the scoundrel who had insulted his sister!” cried Mary, with flashing eyes and flaming cheeks, as she stood up proudly in the boat, and looked from one, to the other.

-+ . ; ;— _— “They transported thim two boys to this baste of a place, and put chains on their legs, for giving a spalpeen like, that a big bating? Gintiemen, I’m proud of ye!” He held out his hands to both, and, Intruder, as he was, it seenffed impossible to resist' his frank, friendly way, and the escaped prisoners shook hands with him again. “And now what are ye going to do?” sai d - Bnnjy, - eagerly. —— -—-—r“We don’t know yet,” said Abel, rather distantly. “That’s jist me case,” said Dinny. “I’m tired of sogering and walking up and down wid a-mushket kaping guard ovog a lot of poor fellows chained like wild beasts, I tuk the shilling bekase I’d been in a skrimmage, and the bowld sergeant said there’d be plinty of foighting. Now, ye’ll tak me wid ye, only I must ge*t rid o’ these soger clothes, and—look here, what are ye going to do with them chains?” "Get rid of them,” said Abel, “whan we can find a file.” “I did not think of a file,” said Mary, with a disappointed look. (To be continued.*