Marcy the Blockade Runner

ated himself on the ease with which he had "got to windward" of this sneaking spy. "If I figh

n't. I whooped her up fur ole Car'liny when she went out, I done the same when our gov'ner grabbed the forts along the coast, an' I yelled fit to split

r's words were true, but he shook his

, and you must not expect me to take your word for it.

the first place, an' off on the ocean with Beardsley in the next?" exclaimed Kelsey. "Ask

l reluctant to be convinced of the man's sincerity. "And if they, or any of them, sent you up here to talk t

lsey solemnly, "I ain't

e it sure's

d w

p here thi

vering his face with his hands so that his visitor could not see it. "Some of the best men in the country have so far forgotten their

" he cried, jumping to his fee

ter Marcy, mebbe this is something else you don't believe. Them men whose names I jest give you,

ness and let me attend to mine," answered Marcy. "Ar

; an' nut

n favor of

Marcy knew all the while that he could n

o are saying things behind my back that they don't care to say to my face? Why don't

," exclaimed the visitor, who had never had t

ood will in one way or another. And there's that loudmouthed fellow Allison, who went out of his way to insult me in the post-office just before I went to sea. Nashville is full of such braggarts as he is. Whe

tactics the visitor would go away without giving a hint of the errand that had brought him to the house; for Kelsey picked up the hat he had placed upon the floor beside his chair, put it on his head and leaned forward with his hands on his knees, as if he were ab

s," said the young pilot, in a much pleasanter tone of voice than he had thus far use

man. But his actions said plainly that he did know, and that he had no intention of faci

best about that; but if it is anythin

on it'll do any harm to tell you-but ain't there a

ed the sentence by getting up and closing both the doors that opened upon the veranda. "Now

that it could have been heard by an eavesdropper (if there had been one) at le

is

sneak of an

f the overseer really was a Union man the planters round about would have sent a person of more influence and better

f?" was the first

hought to be Union, but it turned out that they wa

hat just then flashed through his mind. "If they will write me a note stating the facts of

that there's so many Union folks in the settlement," said Kelsey. "They'

ce growing red with indignation, although, as he afterward told his mother, there wasn't really anything to arouse his indignation. "You may tell those gentlemen that if they want t

ester you uns," said Kelsey,

y won't

ey think you'

can think so when they

rate pr

mebbe you'd be willing to turn Hanson loose when you heared

t effect the words would have upon him, and Marcy returned his gaze with

staggered. The latter believed that there was rich booty hidden somewhere ab

n' around," replied the man, who, in coon hunters' parlanc

she brought any mo

said as plainly as words that he wished he could

money we have is safe," said Marcy, with a good deal of emphasis on the adjective. "If you want to see what mother brought back from the city,

ght here on the plantation, a man who is all the time waitin' an' watchin' fur a chance to do harm to both of ye. If you don't think so, all

t he is a dangerous man to have around; but I shall make no move unless the colonel says so, for I don't want to get into trouble with my neighbors." ["I wonder

hen got up and walked into the sitting-room, where he found his mother pacing the floor. Her anxiety and her imp

red the boy, as he entered the ro

afraid of," replied Mrs. Gray. "Wh

on Beardsley; but he's

for one, the postmaster

for a

hborhood," gasped Mrs. Gray, sinking

oop as low as they have, they are mean enough for anything. I suppose you ought

trying to bear up bravely.

norance, she would be at a loss how to act and speak in a sudden emergency. She might be surprised into saying something in the presence of a secret enemy that would be utterly ruinous. So he drew a chair to her side and told her everything th

knew I was at home almost as soon as you knew it yourself. Another is that the suspicions aroused in the minds of some of our watchful neighbors are so strong

not the only spy there is on the place?

u at night," said Marcy quickly. "The neighbo

ith me on purpose to a

d not think yourself safe out of Captain Beardsley's reach even when he is at s

?" asked his mother, after she had

st plot is not fully developed yet, and until it is we must not make a move in any direction. I am as impatient as you are,

ous, Marcy," s

r hoeing. The overseer's mule was hitched to the fence, and the overseer himself sat on a convenient stump, watching the hands at their work, and whittling the little switch that served him for a riding-whip. The man was almost a stranger to Marcy. The latter had seen and spoken to him a few times since his return from Barrington, but of course he did not like hi

t man ride away from th

n before it "was shut out from sight by the trees and the whitewashed negro quarter. It followed then, as a matter of course, that Hanson could not hav

o-nothing chap, Kelsey," replied the ov

rseer wanted to talk, he might talk all he pleased; but Marcy was resolved that he would not help him along. Hanson twisted about on the stump, clear

f anything t

od deal, but di

on my

and Shelby's and Dillon

er, after waiting in vain for the boy to go on an

looking up and down the long fence

n desperately. "Kelsey told you I was

g it? I don't care a cent what your politics are so long as you mind your own business, and don't try to cram your ideas down my throat. But I'll not allow my

oing to di

t that if they want you run off the place, they can

uld have been clear to a third party that Hanson was disappointed, and that there was something he wante

ey said to you?" h

e with which the Osprey captured that Yankee schooner, and l

all he sa

ouldering a musket. I don't go about boasting of the great things I would do if I were only there. There'

're Union, all the

s? Are the

Citiz

fingers in the air. "When they put uniforms on and show by their a

hen at last the boy made up his mind that he had heard all he cared to hear from Hanson, he brought his leg down fro

d your maw down on me, did he?" inquired

o lose my place just be

ead against

ll have it so," answered Marcy. "You are hired to do an overseer's work; and as long as you

t," continued Hanson, who was obliged to confess to himself that he had not learned t

cold and hungry, and hiding from soldiers who were trying to make a prisoner of you, I wo

h, although I give him all the chance in the world, and he didn't say "money" a single time. Now, what's to be done? If the money is there and Beardsley is bound to have it, he'd best be doing

ting. "They haven't got a thing out of me, and I have left the matter in their own hands. If there is anything done toward getting Hanson away from this co

brief interview with the overseer. Was it possible that there were some strong Union men in the neighborhood, and that Beardsley hoped Marcy wou

knows there is no man in the family; that we'd be only too glad to have somebody to go to for advice; and he hoped we would take that ignorant Hanson for a counselor, if he could mak

from a mob," said his mother, who tremb

ll make by it. They might burn the house without f

on't think they would do

hat that Committee of S

at woul

rt in the woods. I don't reckon that Julius and I have forgotten how to handle axes and build log cabins. The practice we have had in building turkey traps would stand-- Say," whispered Marcy suddenly, at th

ea? Our home would be in ashes now. Those flags are dangerous things, and must be disposed of without loss of time.

, and think it will make you feel any

was quick to notice it. "What did y

lonel's room one night because he did not want to see it insulted and destroyed, as it would have been if Rodney and his friends could have got their ha

e not hoist it here,

r sister, and every other member of her family except her father, were the worst kind of secesh. Rodney thought sure he was going to put the Stars and Bars on the tower when th

had been awakened by the simple narrative. "I shall not permit a party

our heads. Now, think of some good hiding place for them, and I'll put them there right away. Not in the ground, y

ilt?" said Mrs. Gray, suggesting the first

Put them in one of mine, and then I shal

to one of the quilts. It never occurred to them to ask what they would do or how they would feel if some half-clad, shivering rebel should find his way into the room a