Argosy, Vol. 1 (December 9, 1882) — page 386: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

lH te RA ES ee Ge eS Ses. LIZ BASCOM’S REVENGE. 7 . BY REDPIBLD CLARKE. The faithleesness of a moonshiner turns love to hate—Treachery—A good fight and its dire results. é “LT HERE, there, Liz,don’t go on that a way; I’ve tole ye fifty times a’ready, an’ I tell ye once mo’ that I mean to do whut’s squar’ an’ right.”’ “TI know ye’ve told me that a good many times, Jeth, an’ that’s jes’ why my heart’s a-breakin’ now. Whin ye tole me fust, I b’lieved ye, but now it ‘pears like ye tell me thet jes’ to put me off an’ don’ low to eveh be no mo’ to me ’n whut ye be.” “Well, Juiz, if thet’s how ye feel ’bout it, I reckon we’s might’s well quit right now. I don’t want no wife thet cain’t take my word.” “ Thet’s what I reckoned ye’d say, Jeth Baxter; thet’s what I knowed ye’d say. Do you think I’m blin’ an’ cain’t see whut other folks sees? If I couldn't see it m'self, there‘s ‘nough to tell me. | “T know ye fe in love with that yaller haired Oaks gal. I know ye go to see her eveh’ night ye kin leave the ‘ still,’ an’ I know as soon as ye git whut money ye want, ye ‘low to leave these mountains an’ take her with ye.” The girl’s voice, at first low and pleading, broken with sobs, had gradually grown clear and intense as her great wrongs rose up before her, causing her for the moment to forget sorrow, shame, and even her love for the man for whom ghe had sinned, and who now stood frowning before her. She paused a moment, panting, expectant; and the man spoke. His voice was cold and his lip was curled by a sneering smile. ‘Well, mebbe I am goin’ to light out when I git good ’n’ ready, an’ mebbe Sue Oaks 1s goin’ long, but when she goes. abel go as ny wife, an’ not as you'd be willin’ to go.’ It he had looked at the girl standing close beside him, Jeth Baxter, reck- less fellow though he was, would have said something to placate, rather than rouse, the demon surging in that passionate breast. Liz strove to speak, but for a moment the words seemed to stick in her throat and strangle her. When at last she had recovered her self control, she spoke in the same low, intense tone as before, and only the rapidity of her words and the quick gasping for breath betrayed the wild tumult within. “ She'll go as your wife an’ not as I’d be willin’ to go, eh? An’ why would I be willin’ to go any otheh way? Why, but to hide my disgrace, to keep the folks heah in these yer’ mountains thet hev’ knowed me frum a little chile, to keep ‘em frum findin’ out whut I’ve come to through love fo’ you? “ No, Jeth Baxter, you an’ Sue Oaks won’t leave these mountains together —neveh, neveh, neveh! Theh wuz a time when you could hev’ lef’ me fur anotheh an’ I wouldn't ’a’ said a word ef it hed ’a’ killed me, but that time is ECOMmicoookKks CO