Sally Dows

by Bret Harte

in when all de Higbees was played out, fo' dey was relations,but dey was chawed up by some of de Dowses, first cousins to deDoomonts."

  "What? Are the Dows in this vendetta?"

  "No, sah. No mo'. Dey's bin no man in de family since Miss Sally's faderdied--dat's let de Dows out fo' ever. De las' shootin' was done byMarse Jack Doomont, who crippled Marse Tom Higbee's brudder Jo, andden skipped to Europe. Dey say he's come back, and is lying low over atAtlanty. Dar'll be lively times of he comes here to see Miss Sally."

  "But he may have changed his ideas while living abroad, where this sortof thing is simple murder."

  The negro shook his head grimly. "Den he wouldn't come, sah. No, sah. Heknows dat Tom Higbee's bound to go fo' him or leave de place, and MarseJack wouldn't mind settlin' HIM too as well as his brudder, for descores is agin' de Doomonts yet. And Marse Jack ain't no slouch wid ascatter gun."

  At any other time the imminence of this survival of a lawless barbarismof which he had heard so much would have impressed Courtland; now he wasonly interested in it on account of the inconceivable position in whichit left Miss Sally. Had she anything to do with this baleful cousin'sreturn, or was she only to be a helpless victim of it?

  A white, dazzling, and bewildering flash of lightning suddenly litup the room, the porch, the dripping ailantus, and the flooded streetbeyond. It was followed presently by a crash of thunder, with whatseemed to be a second fainter flash of lightning, or rather as if thefirst flash had suddenly ignited some inflammable substance. With thelong reverberation of the thunder still shaking the house, Courtlandslipped quickly out of the window and passed down to the gate.

  "Did it strike anything, sah?" said the startled negro, as Courtlandreturned.

  "Not that I can see," said his employer shortly. "Go inside, and callZoe and her daughter from the cabin and bring them in the hall. Staytill I come. Go!--I'll shut the windows myself."

  "It must have struck somewhere, sah, shuah! Deh's a pow'ful smell ofsulphur right here," said the negro as he left the room.

  Courtland thought so too, but it was a kind of sulphur that he hadsmelled before--on the battlefield! For when the door was closed behindhis overseer he took the lamp to the opposite wall and examined itcarefully. There was the distinct hole made by a bullet which had missedCato's head at the open window by an inch.

  CHAPTER VI.

  In an instant Courtland had regained complete possession of himself. Hisdistracting passion--how distracting he had never before realized--wasgone! His clear sight--no longer distorted by sentiment--had come back;he saw everything in its just proportion--his duty, the plantation, thehelpless freedman threatened by lawless fury; the two women--no longerhis one tantalizing vision, but now only a passing detail of the workbefore him. He saw them through no aberrating mist of tenderness orexpediency--but with the single directness of the man of action.

  The shot had clearly been intended for Cato. Even if it were an actof mere personal revenge, it showed a confidence and security in thewould-be assassin that betokened cooperation and an organized plan.He had availed himself of the thunderstorm, the flash and longreverberating roll of sound--an artifice not unknown to borderambush--to confuse discovery at the instant. Yet the attack might beonly an isolated one; or it might be the beginning of a general raidupon the Syndicate's freedmen. If the former he could protect Cato fromits repetition by guarding him in the office until he could be conveyedto a place of safety; if the latter, he must at once collect the negroesat their quarters, and take Cato with him. He resolved upon the lattercourse. The quarters were half a mile from the Dows' dwelling--which wastwo miles away.

  He sat down and wrote a few lines to Miss Dows stating that, in viewof some threatened disturbances in the town, he thought it advisableto keep the negroes in their quarters, whither he was himself going. Hesent her his housekeeper and the child, as they had both better remainin a place of security until he returned to town. He gave the note toZoe, bidding her hasten by the back garden across the fields. Then heturned to Cato.

  "I am going with you to the quarters tonight," he said quietly, "and youcan carry your pistol back to the armory yourself." He handed him theweapon. The negro received it gratefully, but suddenly cast a searchingglance at his employer. Courtland's face, however, betrayed no change.When Zoe had gone, he continued tranquilly, "We will go by the back waythrough the woods." As the negro started slightly, Courtland continuedin the same even tone: "The sulphur you smelled just now, Cato, was thesmoke of a gun fired at YOU from the street. I don't propose that theshot shall be repeated under the same advantages."

  The negro became violently agitated. "It was dat sneakin' hound, TomHigbee," he said huskily.

  Courtland looked at him sharply. "Then there was something more thanWORDS passed between him and you, Cato. What happened? Come, speak out!"

  "He lashed me with his whip, and I gib him one right under the yeah, anddrupped him," said Cato, recovering his courage with his anger at therecollection. "I had a right to defend myse'f, sah."

  "Yes, and I hope you'll be able to do it, now," said Courtland calmly,his face giving no sign of his conviction that Cato's fate was doomed bythat single retaliating blow, "but you'll be safer at the quarters."He passed into his bedroom, took a revolver from his bedhead and aderringer from the drawer, both of which he quickly slipped beneath hisbuttoned coat, and returned.

  "When we are in the fields, clear of the house, keep close by my side,and even try to keep step with me. What you have to say, say NOW; theremust be no talking to betray our position--we must go silently, andyou'll have enough to do to exercise your eyes and ears. I shall standbetween you and any attack, but I expect you to obey orders withouthesitation." He opened the back door, motioned to Cato to pass out,followed him, locked the door behind them, and taking the negro's armwalked beside the low palings to the end of the garden, where theyclimbed the fence and stood upon the open field beyond.

  Unfortunately, it had grown lighter with the breaking of the heavyclouds, and gusty gleams of moonlight chased each other over thefield, or struck a glitter from standing rain-pools between the littlehillocks. To cross the open field and gain the fringe of woods on theother side was the nearest way to the quarters, but for the moment wasthe most exposed course; to follow the hedge to the bottom of the fieldand the boundary fence and then cross at right angles, in its shadow,would be safer, but they would lose valuable time. Believing that Cato'svengeful assailant was still hovering near with his comrades, Courtlandcast a quick glance down the shadowy line of Osage hedge beside them.Suddenly Cato grasped his arm and pointed in the same direction, wherethe boundary fence he had noticed--a barrier of rough palings--crossedthe field. With the moon low on the other side of it, it was a mereblack silhouette, broken only by bright silver openings and gaps alongits surface that indicated the moonlit field beyond. At first Courtlandsaw nothing else. Then he was struck by the fact that these openingsbecame successively and regularly eclipsed, as with the passing of someopaque object behind them. It was a file of men on the other side ofthe fence, keeping in its shelter as they crossed the field towards hishouse. Roughly calculating from the passing obscurations, there musthave been twelve or fifteen in all.

  He could no longer doubt their combined intentions, nor hesitate how tomeet them. He must at once make for the quarters with Cato, even if hehad to cross that open field before them. He knew that they would avoidinjuring him personally, in the fear of possible Federal and politicalcomplications, and he resolved to use that fear to insure Cato's safety.Placing his hands on the negro's shoulders, he shoved him forwards,falling into a "lock step" so close behind him that it became impossiblefor the most expert marksman to fire at one without imperiling theother's life. When half way across the field he noticed that the shadowsseen through the openings of the fence had paused. The ambushed menhad evidently seen the double apparition, understood it, and, as heexpected, dared not fire. He reached the other side with Cato in safety,but not before he saw the fateful shadows aga
in moving, and this time intheir own direction. They were evidently intending to pursue them. Butonce within the woods Courtland knew that his chances were equal.He breathed more freely. Cato, now less agitated, had even regainedsomething of his former emotional combativeness which Courtland hadchecked. Although far from confident of his henchman's prowess in anemergency, the prospect of getting him safe into the quarters seemedbrighter.

  It was necessary, also, to trust to his superior wood-craft andknowledge of the locality, and Courtland still walking between him andhis pursuers and covering his retreat allowed him to lead the way. Itlay over ground that was beginning to slope gently; the underbrushwas