er to the group on the piazza. The
Judge took the paper into the sitting room. On the paper was some
writing done with a sprawling hand. He had some difficulty in
deciphering it, but at last made out its contents. This is how it read:

"judg lemond yer Dater iz wel and in Gud hans. You must gib 1000
dollars in Gold and She wil kum hum put Mony in Holler Tre whar
Riber Bens 4 mile belo bridge-water nex Mundy Eve. If de Man Who
Kums for de Gold gits shot or tuk yer Dater wil dy.

"Sind Po Wite."

Judge LeMonde was some time deciphering the note. When he understood
it, he called the sheriff and the other men into the room, and read
aloud the writing. At once a council was held. The Judge said:
"Evidently the bandits have put the time of payment next Monday evening
to give me opportunity to get the money from the bank. Sheriff, what do
you advise?"

The officer thought deeply for a while, and then answered: "Those are
very desperate and determined men. Their reason for abducting your
daughter is now plain--it was for ransom. Of course, Judge, you do not
put one thousand dollars in the scale against Miss Viola's life. It is
outrageous to think of gratifying the wishes of those scoundrels, but I
am afraid it must be done, if we cannot circumvent them before that
time. We have still tomorrow and Monday to continue the search. Perhaps
we can discover their hiding place in these two days."

Jasper Very said: "We must be more diligent, if possible, than before
in seeking the captive. Tomorrow is the Sabbath, but I feel it my duty
to give up all my church engagements to help find the missing one."

"Tomorrow," added the sheriff, "we will cover new territory in the
forest, and let us hope for success."

CHAPTER XXII.

The Rescue.

While the men at "Mount Pisgah" were planning how to deliver Viola from
her captors, Mart Spink, father of Susanna, the girl with the wonderful
eyes, was down with a severe chill in his cabin among the hills. Cold
shivers ran up and down his back, as though a lizard shod with ice were
making a playground of it. Then the cold struck his head, and his teeth
began to chatter worse than if he were climbing "Greenland's icy
mountains." Soon his whole body was in a frigid state which made him
cry out for bedclothes, and more bedclothes, and still more blankets
and quilts. He shook so with his chilly sensations that the bedclothes
above him were in perpetual motion, and the