The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1875-03-06

he made his bed, so let MIN lay-puzzarus
are the sections for the likes O. him."
The woman sort Of groaned, and then l
heard Wolf 90 up and joggle the rain barrel
at the corner of the cabin, and 1lnally go |
away with the remark =
"He amt far OF he couldn't stick to |
that blind critter when he begun ter hur-
ry." 81,
"What shall l do? what shall do?"
pasped the woman 'they will be back in |
twenty minutes, for l believe that your |
horse is in sight, not more than three.quar-
tiers of mile of, and my husband Is liable
to come at any moment"
"But with him inside the house we
might"
SWith him |" she emphasized it in de-
spairing tones-"he's Bill VOLTS brother"
/ was out OF the coffin in trice then,
you may well believe.
at is death for you any way, she moan
ed, "for hear the rattle of Dicks axles
already
"Stay, there's the rain barrel SAID I, in
desperation, "they've tried that once, they
may not again"
And before you would be able to speak
sentence, the water was dashed out of the
cask and stealing down into the arid soil,
and | was in the barrel, and the woman
dropping tub half filed with water in at
the top as cover. She had barely time to
enter the house, the door of which, for
tunately, on the side away from the moon,
when a rafting vehicle drew up at the door
and heard a hoarse voice raving and swear
ing at the woman for something done, or
undone, and then from the bunghole, the
plug having been dislodged in the upsetting
of the cask, saw the furious return of the
three renegades.
There was good deal of. loud talking,
and explanations, and oaths, and stirring
up of hot nectar, and rough remarks about
the cistern in the corner; but Dick and the
woman both seemed sore about that matter,
and the man peremptorily refused to join
the hunt because of the coffin.
swell, you're going our way piece"
said Wolf, "likely enough you'll have the
fun of seeing us wing the turkey"
The conversation was distressingly per-
sonal, made acutely so by Dick asking
"Is there water enough out there, Jen.
to drink my horse2'
"Ill see," she returned, moving slowly
over the door-sill, and then leaping to the
cask she lifted out the tub and tipped my
prison over little SO that 1 could spring
out. / was behind the cask when Dick came
to the door, and chirruped his beast up to
the tub to drink.
'sI'll 60 with you as far as the forks, he
said, as two of them came out with the cof-
fin and slid it into the body of the wagon.
They then stepped back, PROBABLY to call
the others.
AT that moment, wild and desperate
plan entered my brain, but feeling for my
knife l found that it was missing, along
with the belt to which it was attached. In
the sudden jostle which the falling steed
had given me, the girdle had been snapped
and lost without my knowledge. The horses
of the three renegades-my own, which had
been retained by the hostler at the inn,
among them-were hitched on the farther
side of the door where the moonlight, strik-
ing by the end of the cabin, rested fully up
on them. 1t was suicide to attempt Selling
one of them; but as the woman with some
purpose in her mind sang out to the men
to come back and get the last Upper full Of
liquor which she had mixed, l seized the
only alternative. l sprang lightly into the
wagon, lifted the coffin lid, and again crawl
ed into the long, narrow prison.
There was no choice. The flood Of moon
light had swept so far forward my hiding
place that only part of my body was con-
cealed by the barrel, and knew that dis.
covery was inevitable, for the mans horse
stood in such position that in order to re-
me and there was no earthly thing as fal
as the eye could reach over the plain, be
hind which a man could hide. All, but wha
if he should re-adjust his freight? Can you
think how my heart jumped away at the
thought? You wonder what my plan coult
be? had none, other than the hope of hav
ing only one man to deal with, if he wen
on his way as he calculated. The three
, ruffians were mounted and all were about tt
, start, when the woman ran out with some
sort of blanket and muttered something
about covering the coffin. The man yelled
out to her to mind her business and let the
thing aiono. She retreated with the cloth
but she had accomplished her purpose II
It's roIus she mad concealed bowie knife
under its cover she had raised the lid ant
dropped the weapon inside, risking giving
me cut as it fell upon me but in the mo-
mentary noise and confusion / had got the
weapon in my hand, and with its point rails
ed the heavy lid of the rough box the frac
ton of an inch, so that breathing was easy
If my position was cramped.
The three horsemen spread out, remark
ing to each other: "Beat up the game now
speedily before by any miracle, he gets in
to the wooded belt by Bufford's Springs.
They continued to halloo at each other fol
some time their liberal rotations surmount
ing their discretion.
"Dick," they called back as they were
driving Off "a cool twelve hundred apiece
throw out your old shell and join the hunt.
The driver mumbled something, but the
whisky had thickened his speech so that il
was unintelligible to me. If lie lid attemp
to move the coffin, was lost. They KEEP
within hailing distance for the length o.
some three or more miles, Dick smashing
the heavy wagon along at a stunning gait
and l expected every moment that my shell
would be jostled out. BY and by, ther,
was a shout off to the right; a "tally no" a,
if the huntsmen had sighted the quarry
, Nothing but an unwarrantable amount o
liquor could have influenced them to con
; duct themselves as they did, for no soone
, had they called out from the right, thar
, Dick came to a sudden halt, leaped from
the seat, and ran off toward those who wer,
hallooing.
For an instant my heart stopped beating
at thought of the hazard which was abou
to run. The next moment, sprang from
/ the coffin to the ground few lightning
light strokes, and had severed the traces
, and the hold-backs of the harness.
| The whole scene is wildly pictured in my
mind The moon-lighted prairie, the littl,
ravine toward which the renegades wer,
= dashing, the wagon standing in the trail
then the rafting of the falling thills reached
, the ears of the party, and, with wilt
. shout, they turned toward me. / was oil
: the horses back, but boldly defined by tn,
moonlight There was the sharp report O.
Y two rifles. felt a sting in my foot, anoth
' er in my shoulder, but the horse was un
harmed and the race for life began There
? was disheartening disadvantage for me
= for | had no saddle, but was riding for m,
life, and l held my steed betw cen m,
knees, and took the broad trail with tn,
, fury of a tornado. But the issue woult
f rest mostly with the horses. know moth
0 ing of the one which rode knew moth
+ ing of those that were pursuing me, except
ing my own white faced mare. She coul,
A run like an antelope and out-wind hurri
cane. On and on and on my steed, desper
atelY snnrred with the noint of NV Lnifa