THE NOVELIST.

Saturday Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 150, 25 May 1878, Page 3

THE NOVELIST.

THE VIRGINNY LILY. ic j-1 j Aaxa tj k —enacku iiiTirr ■ A idfi'i JDaiidl land Sea. v . r By Hickobx Hale.. r , r • hffOoq.-liml fit BfjUyjK] si mbwoH giuAud. aiai j Yi'.ySi 'to o-Wfuifo sfl't io'i.ts isiif; 1 • Written expressly forthe Saturday Adveetiseb 'iu sbflii iis. bit« ,■ ‘iirjfiiti okU: ; Jsi»7-Juo :d;Onthe:ndftreh*. asr *mtf'sea, one sbon learns each others history, bttb l besides: thiSl } I confided the- object!bf" thy mission i! to ! thy /two frieiidy, J who bhtliusiasticaliy vowed to assist 'me iii' the hhos^cution’ of ‘ thy commission to ;thh itvorld’s hlid/ 1 I?he seqhet will show 'how faitlifnlly their’ promise was fulfi 11 ed. ; Ho one, save the hooter, can fully understand the mad-excitement of the hnffalo hqnjt. Xt was therefore with ho ! little attention to the condition of my saddle gear, rifle, and revolvers, that I prepared for my first hunt. Parker, Lightfoot, and myself, were directed to turn the left flank of the herd, while, in following up the quarry, we were careful, to observe our direction, and not to ruh pyer five miles any way. This -was: ordered to prevent' the chance of losing .the main body of hunters, and thus beconiing fair'.game for the Indians, who, ought he in the vicinity mo -il ifujby.il ii - As our "company iconsistedof sixty hardy and well-armed trappers, we must have presented a most formidable appearance. ■"Dolph/Nathan,” the leader of our band, was a particularly stalwart and. hardy pioneer. He was reckoned "the hbst|- shot amongst us with the rifle, Was, a splendid rider, and as brave as' a c lion. Alltiiched to my personal equipment' were two young fellows I picked up in Hew Orleans, both sailors, and Scotchmen at that, as their names indicated. Heither of them were good riders, but, sailor-like, they could stick to their mounts. They were named Dugald Frazer and Donald M'Pherson, and were engaged to look after the pack beasts, or f thing I required of them; jThpy had engaged with me for two years, or until my return to Orleans, r The lads, had an ofr ivyhat I was in search of,, and as the. adventure would afford them good pay, as well as s plenty of excitement,, they were altogether;satisfied. / I. ;'vv; ■«] ,<// <»asoO .X Parker, Lightfoot/. and myself; managed to get within a quarter.of a mile of the herd before they sighted ns, and when they did, up went their tails; i. in; token of headlong flight, j Of course, we were riot long in giving chase, : and as we were mounted on fresh, well-fed mustangs, we soon succeeded in getting alongside. /Then followed the mad gallop; the burning desire to kill, soon to be overcome by the caution of Our good hunters, who, with teeth clenched on the ring: bit, with head tossed bigh in air, with:blood-red steaming nostrils arid waving ' mane, strode with long bounds athwart the shaggy beard of the flying buffaloes, to give his master the sure shoulder -. shot, and when it came, and the mighty beast fell to the report, the noble horse stood still in his tracks, and neighed a wild trumpet call of triumph and delight. ■ I had killed my first buffalo, and my companions had secured three cows between them. Parker rode over the ridge, and signalled for. the pack mules, whiW Lightfoot and I turned and cut up the quarry. In hunting and travelling we filled up the time very pleasantly until we arrived at the houndary of the Indian country and Mexico; From thence to; the Placers, our position each day became more difficult and dangerous] On one day, after crossing a small river, the Dolph Hathan called a halt, to hold a grand council : he, it seems, had become veryuneasy, on account of the frequency of Indian signs and the presence of a number of broken waggons, which we passed the day before. “To be attacked here, boys, would not exactly suit; you see, although we are well armed, mounted, and we might rub out a hundred or so of the devils, yet there are so many of them ; that we would require to be always at it to get through them, but if we could make the old fort just about twenty miles higher up this stream, we could hold out against the whole ‘ pothic’ of the imps.” “ Wall now, Dolph, I don’t just see what’s agoing to hinder us,” said a long down-easter, “ there’s Beds’ tracks enough ’bout here for sarten, but whar’s the Beds?” ], c. “ On this here big plain there ain’t no cover as I see,” said another ; “ whar’s their roost, Dolph ?” and we’ll go and set them off it;” ; “ Well, boys, it seems as how none of you as has spoken has been here before, or, else ye would not chaff Dolph Hathan, but I am game to show yon ‘Beds’ within fivehundred yards o’ this, I am, by Gum. D’ye see yon lines along the sandy ridge yqnder? Well over thar’s a gulch a thousand feet deep, and the Beds are playing 'possum at the bottom ; just you walk into their parlor, Tom Bottle, and see if them red spiders don’t pick your bones as clean as a bustard would. I propose, boys, that we make tracks for the old fort as fast as we can shove.” And shove we did, having" the; satisfaction to get under cover just, in the time, our last mule getting ari arrow 1 behind as he was entering ■ the^'stockade; /V' H '- ‘‘ That was a narrow escape,” ejaculated, one of the, trappers, with a laugh, “ so, whoa! . ole foliar, let’s see the name o’ the wisitor. £ Jehosaphat! ef it .ain’t.; ‘ pash,’ the most . .00 (ivik .avcu.oiiTUK'Hit

bloody-minded reds side the Bocky’s. ! Wal, Dolph,” speaker, “you; wor right, here’s the arrer. and it’s pash.’,i iIFopTI/haveS >plehty 1 of arrerl Iwbod j „Tpm,,thdt’lL: Jcohiei bveri the, stockade, selAef! r.ye:idon’fj”oJ at«f ; wwo'dleM \» slrA ] - i i < To' shorten,: my a tor y , I> , mhy ! as -vrell ' say - that the Apaches besieged f us ! Whole month without success, and finally retifed * Frctfn this ’point to .the Placers yve'inet withno more 'f&ViHils Wtbppages* and we arrived in safety. The band” here broke up, Dolph Hathari attacliing himself to niy pabty for: luck as he said; biit really for’ thb sake of the, .old- companionship between - Lightfoot- and: himself. fdetermiried td/confide, mv! secret to the remainder of my party; and with that motive/ called 'a: council. - It was resolved that Dolph "Hathan should be captain while ori the Placers and in *California, on account of his knowledge of, t]i f e, cquptry; cofrimdni dahgeVs ;■ that the proceeds: or : our digging should be equally divided atuorigst! Us/ while a tenth of should be 'set aside to proyide for a prolonged if sue!/’was found Strangely enough Dolph knew the Cheateurs and John Grahem, and had an unsatisfied grudge against them likewise, so that he entered heartily ’.the affaiy jin hand. i, “ Ef the skunks are here-aw ? y» ? ’ .said Dolph, we ought to, fetch ’em, dam ’em, /they’re worse than the rampageous reds, for they know better, ahd ’tother don’t.”/ mid ."{'Well, we.[ stayed nine; months on the Placers, and . had great .luck; finally clearing out with a hundred thousand dollars each. This gave us sixty thousand dollars to devote to the Hemesis, and on reaching ’Frisco everything was arranged 1 for a complete campaign. Ho tiding 3 had been gleaned bli the Placers of the abductors, but Dolph thought we, ihight learn something of themiih 'Frisco. / Almost thb first man we encountered whom I knew was Bob Friendly, who, poor fellow, had heard nothing about the. abduction. s of cousin Helly, and .'whose grief and rage, knew no bounds when he was informed by me of the sad eyent, and the reason of my presence in ’Frisco. When he became cooler, he told me that Capt. Bandel’s ship had arrived in safety,, but that her -enti/o «rew had immediately bolted for the Placers, j Seeing it was no use to remain, he went off also, persuading ’Uncle Randel' to join him. They had been lucky, and had:only returned: a week before, and were now waiting the ; charice of a crew ifor the run home. , ~ | - : Late on the evening on which Mr John Grabem received his dues from Hellie's cousin and lover, he was to be seen in close conversation with the - Cheatems, and the subject they had in hand evidently interested them highly. At length; Grabem exclaimed, i “Its a bargain, boys V’ to which they assented in strong terms. “ Let us, then, prepare at once. I will go and take out the passages, while you two clear out tlie saloon. ~ V, / .IL Still no immediate opportunity offered to carry out their views, until at length Capt. Randel sailed, and the news of the outbreak of the Californian gold Placers arrived in Hew York, giving everyone the yellow fever at once. f _ “ This evening I intend to take her,” said John Grabem to his associates. She goes to the riiusic hall practice; and I will have a cab waiting—the one she always engages to bring her here. Then,’ no ! for the Placers, or what will be more profitable/a saloon in ’Frisco. Waiting for his prey, softly, engrossedly—washing his hands in invisible soap, carressingly stroking his tangled beard,' twirling his wirey moustache —John Grabem ■ stood by the horses’heads, waiting for cousin Helly. Down the street came Hell, with; the step of a queen, after having received a double round of applause for her exquisite rendering of one of the solos of the day, right up to the cab, and then taking a last look at liberty, she stepped within the cab, shut the door with a sharp click, and, springing on the box, drove off. “ Surely we are near home,” said Helly to herself; “ dear me, it seems along way tonight. I wonder what mother will say. But she’d he glad to know that I have won the prize for the best solo. And won’t dear old papa laugh when he comes home ? and my rough bear Bob ? Dear old Bob, I wonder when he’ll come back again, and we’re to be married. Then I’ll be Helly Friendly. Hike that name so much; it always makes me feel so good-humored. I feel somehow to-night as if I could forgive all my enemies, even that nasty fellow Grabem. ‘Why, we’re getting down to the wharves ! that’s riot the way. Where’s the check ?! dear me it ? s broken—the window ! why,; it’s fastened !- the door too, locked, what shall I do ? O! mamma, mamma, do? ” / / / And iibw the conviction dawned .upon her that she was entrapped—she doubted nqtrby. the man whom a moment ago, in the fullness of her loving heart; she thought 1 she could forgive.,: “ Poor cousin ISTell I ; *’. j. Women are s.trange contrarieties at times,/ and in this instance Helly {showed! herself tp,he a true woman. First she thought out her whole 1 thought,■ then, she cried heartily, hut silently, for a few minutes; finally she jheyj eyes; and Again; began; to;.:thin|c! aloud’/' JL “ Well, I am Captain Howard’s daughter, , and although born a Yankee, am descended ■ fcTzaica^mih yua sou HtnaaM xaas

from the best bloo'd ; and I Y° n | disgrace it, nor allow it to be I can see my forefathers all in their iron mail before me —those who, battled for England S; right And yearsvjago. I. can see them,,at;the fcpurney, .cast down with strength of Arm arid weight of lance thematchle.sK knights jiof.[Dhristendpm before the lists of beauty not like Catharine Howard my fate shall he ; nor will I fall; before -ithe lust ,<ofa’:shameless, : iiamelesS, ; Scoundrel, «Whose blobd has sprung from the gut ter'S 1 Of Drl’eiaris]’ But 1 ;! 1 must ! he 1 waty, ’ I have no aribed 1 khight !( tb ! dq ’his s dev , bii‘ it for meJGiYet:the keen wit of the Howards, and ',« At length the pab.’stOpped. and a humber of men came to the door and ,a () .conversation,/ ; ,it y^n s cpened,aqa..the driver.poiijtely ashed the, youngjady. Jo, ,is my { next>, ffestinatiop;/, !t sheJohn Grabem was astounded. >He had expected feries,! tears/ andi and he hardly knew how to act under the present circumstances. A ‘ln ■ truth,' John 1 was a rough wooer, and liked to ’make love after his; own. fashion, arid 1 this passive; 3 silent acceptance 6f’a terrible late was to him an anomaly : he'corild ribthriderstand or cope with. Jl / “ The best legforeraqst,” he muttered. Then aloud he said/“ dbar'Miss Howard, do not be alarmed, you are amongst, friends who will render you" evbry attention and kindness.”' j*. fcanoA j !y.w-A’rrt / .itMimrr.v “ I cannot understand you sir,” she returned] “If you wish to render me an atten- > tion arid real kindness, you will at once dri/o me tb my home.”'