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Show 400 JUCIIAIW IIUHOIS. 1hc lalcllt hope which hml begun to kindle in his breast nt tl1i" d iscoYcry. "Awny-I know you not, villain," was my cry, as I r<'toilt•tl from him, nnd ngain lifted the pistol in deadly aim. The idiot gi rl rushed between u!-:, and rising on tiptoe, sought to g rnsp tho extended haud, which I was compelled to raise above her rcaclt. "Hun, Uastcr John, run for denr life," was 11Cr cry, ns she clun:; tipon my shoulders. " Run to the bushes, wl•ilc I l1old Mr. ltidlllrd-l'll hold him t ight-he can't get away from me. 1' 11 !Jold him tight enough while you run." rl'hc miserable dastard obeyed her counsel; and while clinging, now to my nrms, nnd now to my legs, she La flied my movcll1(' 11b;, antlrcally gave l1im nu opportunity, which n cool, bra ve fe llow woultl h:-t\'0 tmncd to nccount, and most proLaiJiy saved billlS{' lf. li e, in his nl:mn, actu.1Jly rushed iuto the woods in tile n·ry direction of the pursui t. H ad he possessed tl10 spirit of a man, he woultl have lea ped upon his l1orse, or upon mine, nnd trusted to the chnsc a second time. llardly a minute l.ad elapsed from !tis disappearance in the woods, and whcu 1 lwcl just extricated my::;clf from tile clutches of the girl, which 1 did with as little violeuce ns possible, when I hcanl one shot anrl then another. I resumed my l10rse .a.nd ltnnicd to tile f-pot whence the sounds came. One of om p:uty, who !tacl taken the same route wit.!. me, hac1 overtaken the fugitive, aud had fired twice upon hin• as I.e fled. 1\Ly voice tr<'mLlcd wl1en I asked the trooper, as he emerged from the bush, if the outlaw wns t1ead. " As a door-nail!" was the reply . I stopped for no more ; but turuing the he:1d of my horse ngnin, I rcuewcd tltc pursuit of the second fugitive, whom l had first fo1lowcd. l\ly com· pa niou kept with mr, nnd we went fo rwnrJ nt full spC'cd. As we rode we heard t he faint nccents of the idiot girl crying in the woods for "l\[astcr J 'ohn ;" af,!, here and thrre, site wou1tcl. her wn,y through its rocesses, seeking for him who could no longer answer to her call. The sounds were p:tiu t'ul to me, aml I wns glad to get out of hearing of t J,cm. I had now none of those scruples in the pursuit which lu.\d beset me bcfo,·c. l\ly trial was over i and fervently in my heart d id I thank God, CO)l'('LUSION. 401 :sltlrHi{l ;ktheen sttho ut f.e llow w.l~ o .r?t1 c b '1 I 1 1 1 CStL c m(', I J:lt my l:tlll t:ld not e Clncl hlo\\ \\ lnl'lt wns yd d('m:mdccl hy justice. I ~~~·~ed ll.1Y.hOJ'Se to the utmost nnd soon le ft my compnnion LcM !\'nd. l felt llt:tl r must gnin upon tltr footstC'ps of t.hc furrit.iv(', l here were ~C' w horsl's in tltc count ry of Letter lJOI.tOJ~, :uHl morc .un rel:l~ mg s pt·ell thnn mine. ll o proved himself on this occasJOn .. l hrougl1 Log and br:uu;h, J,c spl'd; over hill, throu•~h d:de, unld tho roatl opened in dot.!IJ!c breadth upon u~. •.r]1e trcei' g rew more spar.->cly - the undergrowth wns more dense in p.at.cltes~ and it was evident. that we had nearly rcnchrd tlte 1'1\'CJ' .• fn another moment I caught a ~l i 111 pse, not of' it only, Lnt of tho JH<lll I punnt<>tl; antl he was l:'nstcr. lie looked roun<l onc:e, nnd I f:wci('(\ I co~tltl detect a smile. playing on his lip~. I fl'lt lotl1 to froutde tltJS strnngc fellow. li t· wns a gcner(Jus ~ntlaw, nw~ pofiS('SSt•tlmany goot! qualities. ] [e ha<l given me freely of Ius mOll<')', thouglt counte rfeit, and had s11own me a degree of .kindu<'ss and considt'rntion, wl1ich made me hesitate, now tllnt l had brought !tim to the post. I concluded it to be impossible that be should l'f.icnpc HH', nnd I sununo1wtl him with loud tones to surrender, under a promise w!tich I made !Jim of usiug nil my efforts and infln<'ncc lo sa,-c !tim from the co1,tseq. uenccs of the lnws. Dut he lnughcd nloud, and poiutcd to t!to 1'1\'Cl'. " He will u6t ,-e nturc to swim it sm cly ," wns my thought on tho instant. A few moments satisfied my doubts. '!.'here w:1s n pi le of cotton, consisting of ten or fif'teen bags, lying on the brink of the ri,·cr, and ready for t r:lllsportalion to market wl1enevcr the boats came Ly. lie threw himself from his horse ns ~~e reached t.hc bags, and tumbling one of them from the pile mto the stream, he leaped boltlly upon it, and when I rcnchcd the same spot, the current had alrc:a1y can icd l1im full forty yart~s on his_ way, Uowu the stream.• I discharged my pistol at hun but wtlltout any hope of touching l1im nt t hnt d istance. H e laughed good-naturedly in return, nnd cried out - " Ah: \Villiams, you nrc a sad dog, and something more of a hypocnte than the 11arson. I mn afrnid you will come to no good, if you keep 011 nfter this fashion ; Out, should you ever * This is n ~net.; such n mocle of escnpc would not. rerHlily suggest. itself to n romnncet·'s mvent ion, but. it diJ lo that of n very great rogue. |
