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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