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362
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
Agonistes.
ET WEEN the pillars 1 Let him
jJfjr The firelcss eyes, the fettered hand,
The Lion-Fox, that vexed the
land 1
Gh) By Baal! but the sport was rare.
To take the cunning in our snare,
The Lion, by his yellow hair!
The world grows weary of the jest;
And there are shadows in the west:
Between the pillars, let him rest!
Perhaps to dream, as captives will,
That on Philistia’s sacred hill
His feet of triumph trample still.
To-morrow —be the darkness short!
Refreshed in rage, our gentle court
Shall bait the Titan for our sport!
So Peace, from pinnacle to porch,
With naked bone or blazing torch
Never more to smite or scorch !
And there was peace; and we have read
The simple prayer the captive said,
The blind man, as he bowed his head;
And when the voice of other wail
Is still in story, let the tale
Os Agonistes turn us pale.
Torch Hill.
Written for Burke’s Weekly
SAL-O-QUAH;
OR,
Boy-Life Among the Indians
?Y REY. F. R. GOULDIXG,
Author of “Young Maroontr s “ Marooner's
Islandetc.
CHAPTER XL.
—SECURING A PRISONER—SECRET SIGNS
—PONY CLUB AGAIN —HOT PURSUIT —
11 HALT ! HALT ! ! ’ —THE TRIAL —DYING
CONFESSIONS.
—
2 jgjjijr HE captors took turn during
the night in guarding thepris-
P oner, and each had his tale of
wonder to tell the next morning of the
negro’s craft. During each man’s watch
he had seized the most favorable oppor
tunity to burst his bonds unobserved,
and then tried in subdued voice, while
the others were breathing hard in sleep,
to move first his pity, then his cupidity,
offering one thousand, two thousand,
and even three thousand dollars, for the
privilege of escape. Several times also
daring each watch he was heard to utter,
in a peculiar wailing tone the cry “Oh
me 1” and “Oh, Juba-h!”
Soon as possible after daylight the
company were in motion, having the
prisoner securely laid on straw thrown
into the wagon, and concealed by the
canvas cover. This last was the pru
dential suggestion of Mr. Roberts, who
said :
“ There is no calculating on the Pony
Club ; who they are or where they are.
This negro certainly belongs to the
gang. If he can let any of them know
BURKE’S WEEKLY FOR BOYS AND GIRLS.
that he is in trouble you will probably
be waylaid. Remember that they speak
by signs as well as by words.”
Thanking him for this kindly warning
they set off, and traveled about two
hours without any noticeable occur
rence, when they met a horseman whose
coat collar was marked with a splotch
of red clay. lie civilly saluted Mr.
Phelps, who rode a few steps in advance
of the company and drew rein, as if ex
pecting words in return, but receiving
only a ned ; he seemed surprised, look
ed inquiringly at the splotch of red clay
on the front of the wagon cover, and
accosted Mr. Davis, who was driver,
with the words :
“ Stranger, will you please tell me
the time of day.”
“ Time of day!” echoed Mr. Davis,
looking rather contemptuously at him.
“If you had only turned your e} r es to
the sun you’d a seen that it is just about
one hour from sunup.”
“ Oh ! ah ! no matter,” the man said,
and passed on, directing a keen look of
inquiry into the wagon from whence had
come more than one “Oh, Juba-h!”
followed by the cry,
“ This rope hurt my arms. Oh, me!”
After passing, he was observed to
stop, take a second look at the com
pany, then hurry off at a rapid pace.
“I fear that man means mischief,”
said Mr. Phelps.
“I ’fraid so too,” responded Iva
neeka.
“Then we must push on as fast as
possible, and keep close watch behind,”
said Mr. Phelps, giving Ivaneeka his
little mirror, and instructing him tc lin
ger in the rear and keep a sharp look
out, while he himself watched in front.
The stranger had evidently mistaken
them at first, and was afterwards moved
by some strong and sudden impulse.
They could account for this only by sup
posing that there was a significance in
the splotches of clay, and that the ne
gro’s peculiar cry was a secret sign of
distress.”
Nothing suspicious occurred until
about twelve o’clock, when they were
only six or seven miles distant from
their journey’s end. The country
around, and all the way before them,
was wild and uninhabited. Ivaneeka
came in a gallop to Mr. Phelps to say
that from the top of a high hill he had
seen four horsemen riding rapidly over
the crest of another high hill about two
miles away. Mr. Phelps’ lips pressed
close together.
“Give the lash, Davis!” said he.
“We must distance those fellows if the
wagon gels knocked to pieces by these
rough roads. We can throw the negro
across one of the horses, you know.”
Away they went at a gallop, Kaneeka
keeping watch still in the rear, and re
porting only once, having seen the pur
suers, then about a mile and a half dis
tant. A few minutes after this, to their
great relief, they met a number of men
returning in a body from the burial of
the unfortunate family. Os coui-se they
had no arms, but three guns in the
hands of eight men are more than a
match for four guns in the hands of
four men.
Mr. Phelps still kept command, and
his plan was well and quickly laid. He
ordered the wagon to be driven into
concealment of the bushes, and each
man to furnish himself with a stick
made to look as near ar possible like a
gun by blackening the muzzle-end with
powder, and to lie hid on the roadside
until the enemy were halted.
They were not kept many minutes in
waiting. Scarcely was each man at his
post before the clatter of hoofs was
heard, and four desperate-looking fel
lows, all be-whiskered and disguised,
came dashing up the road in gallant
style. They drew rein at the place
where the wagon turned into the woods,
and their leader’s face lighted up with
pleasure at the prospect of a speedy re
capture of their comrade. At that mo
ment, Mr. Phelps, supported by two
men on each side, apparently armed,
called out:
“ Stand ! Halt where you are !”
The scoundrels were taken all aback.
For a moment their leader hesitated, as
if doubtful whether or not to make fight,
even against this unexpected odds, but
the voice of “Halt! Halt!” from both
sides of the road, and the protiuding
of dangerous-looking muzzles from the
bushes determined him.
“ Back, men ! Back !-” he shouted ;
and as they turned and scampered away,
a shout equally loud from Mr. Phelps,
came :
“Let them have it men ! But,” he
added in a low tone, “don’t shoot so as
to hit.”
The rest of the story in brief is this :
The negro was brought before the pro
per officer, by whose order he was
searched and S3OOO in bank bills found
concealed upon his person. He w r as
lodged in a safe jail, where, however,
there was more than one attempt made
to rescue him. In due time he was
tried for murder in the first degree, con
demned, and finally executed. So long
as there was hope of deliverance, he
“lied like a trooper,” whenever ques
tioned about his crime. But when his
case became manifestly hopeless, he
made great professions of penitence,
and at last would sing and pray aloud,
and sometimes even exhort. Few per
sons thought him sincere. When he
came to be executed, he confessed every
thing, and even implicated in some of
his crimes the names of parties who held
respectable positions in society.
The family of Perrot was almost ex
tinguished by this act of murder. His
only son, an interesting young man,
just come of age, was so horrified at
the details brought out on the trial that
he never recovered. A month’s time
saw him in the grave. The widowed
wife and mother gave up her solitary
house in South Carolina, and went to
live with her daughter in Alabama;
soon after which she also sickened and
died.
The name Garqon, which had been
given to the dog, I changed to Perrot,
which has been retained by his descend
ants ever since ; and, so far as I know,
the family name, with this exception,
now exists nowhere in America.
.<►.
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
BIOGRAPHIES OF ANCIENT PERSONS,
FOR YOUNG FOLKS.
BY PROF. T. B. RUSSELL, A. M.
SAMSON —hi. .
> h \\v*
VJISyOME after the fight at Le
rSw hi, Samson visited the town of
Gaza, in order to remain du
ring the night. The men of the place,
having heard of his presence, assembled
and determined to lie in wait for him,
about the gate of the city, until the mor
ning, when it was their purpose to kill
him. But, at midnight Samson arose,
“ and took the doors of the city, and
the two posts, and went away with
them, bar and all, and put them on his
shoulder, and carried them to the top
of a hill that is before Hebron.”
This mighty man of strength and valor
was at last entrapped by his cruel foes.
He fell in love with a woman named Deli
lah, who resided in the valley of Sorelc.
The Philistines bribed this woman,
with immense sums of money to decoy
Samson, and to discover from him, in
what thing his great strength lay, and
to reveal this to them, so that they
might prevail against him. To her
persuasive questions he several times
gave false answers, and took occasion
every time to show his supernatural
power. The seven green withes, and
the new ropes with which they bound
him, he broke as if they had been
threads. Again, she fastened him while
asleep, by weaving his seven locks in
the web of a loom, and securing it with
a pin ; but, when aroused, he went away
with the pin of the beam and with the
web. At last, however, he told her
that if his hair were cut off, his strength
would depart from him. Having gain
ed this information, she lulled him to
sleep with his head resting on her lap,
and while he slept, “ she called for a
man and caused him to shave off the
seven locks of his head, “and his
strength went from him.” When he
awoke, he thought to go out as at other
times, but the Bible says, “ He wist not
that the Lord had departed from him.”
HisNazarite vow had been broken, and
consequently he had been deprived of
his miraculous strength. “The Phili
stines took him, and put out his eyes,
and brought him down to Gaza, and
bound him with fetters of brass,” and