The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1875-02-26

| up 10 exactly represent mine IN the even
ing. This discovery brought an apLall-
ing Interpretation of the on-coming horse
men. / gave the horse the whip as soon
as his unstable legs were well under him,
and sent him n securing on ahead, while
L ran off to the right, making for little
hollow near "a shallow, dry ravine. Here
to my profound establishment / discov-
cred a lone cabin, or hut, about the
Dimensions of an ordinary country log
house, and, impulsively dashing up to
this, gave rapid succession of knocks.
A shrinking, pale, and covering woman
opened it.
"What is it 2" was her first question,
noticing my breathless haste.
Had L stopped for moments rehec-
ton upon the strangely isolated position
of the cabin, should not have passed in
by her with the explanation
sc Is there any chance to hide here
my horse has thrown me and L believe a
party of desperadoes are close up with
me"
noticed that the moon was coming
up dry and red in the east, when she
mechanically closed the door behind me,
before L had finished my explanation.
" No, no; there is no place." she
gasped, her quick ear now catching the
sound of the coming horsemen. This
is all the room there is-and there is
neither cellar nor attic"
" But this 2" exclaimed, rushing for
dark object in the corner.
" It's a coffin, was her quick response;
"but there's no other chance-they are
turning up to the door-get in.
L had barely time to place myself in
this receptacle for the dead, when n
hoarse voice-one that L knew by the
description which had of it-called out /:
Here you, Dick.
The woman threw her apron over her
head and opened the door.
"Where's Dick 2"
Z" He hasn't come back yet" returned
the woman.
"Oh, he arn't-Jen, hev yer hurd a
horse go by to-nightl"
Yes, only little while ago-a small
man? 2"
Yes-driving like the devil.
81 guess" she said, and then paused,
"you can hear the horse now, feigning
to listen.
But Bill Wolf must have been of Sis
picious nature. / heard him leap from
his horse and strike with Earring PUNK
upon the sod. A smoldering fire was
burning on the stone hearth. / could
imagine Bills attitude-he had hand
on each decreasing, his brutal head was
thrust inside the room he was peering
about the apartment.
"What in h is thatl" he ques-
toned and my heart stood still, for L
knew he spoke of my retreat.
cts Staufier's coffin. Dick is going
to carry it over tonight"
"Stuff" calculated the desperate, cas-
he made his bed, so let him lay--buz-
yards are the sections for the likes O
him."
The woman sort a groaned, and then 1
heard Wolf go up and ioggle the rain
barrel mt the corner of the cabin, and
finally go away with the remark:
=" He amt far off he couldn't stick to
that blind critter when he began ter
hurry"
What shall / dol what shall do?"
gasped the woman "they will be back
in twenty minutes, for l believe that
your horse is in sight, not more than
three-quarters of a mile off, and my hus-
band is liable to come at any moment. "
But with him inside the house we
might"
"With him /! =" she emphasized it in
despairing tones-"he's Bill VOLTS
brother"
1 was out of the coffin in a trice then,
you may well believe.
cit is death for you any way" she
moaned, "for hear the rattle of Dicks
axles already"
"Stay, there's the rain barrel, said
1, 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 l was in the barrel,
and the woman dropping a tub half
filed with water in at the top as n cover
She had barely time to enter the
house, the door of which, fortunately,
opened on the side away from the moon,
when rafting vehicle drew up at the |
door, and | heard hoarse voice raving
and swearing at the woman for some
thing done, or undone, and then from
the bung-hole, the plug having been
dislodged in the upsetting of the casl,
/ saw the furious return of the three |
renegades.
There was good deal of loud talking,
and explanations, and oaths, and stir
ring up of hot nectar, and rough remarks !
about the cistern in the corner but both |
Dick and the woman seemed sore about !
that matter, and the man peremptorily
refused to join the hunt because of the
coffin.
"Well, 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
personal, made acutely so by Dick ask
ing:
els there water enough out there,
Jen, to drink my horse 3"
"I'll see," she returned, moving slow
ly over the door-sill, and then, leaping |
to the cask, she lifted out the tub, and |
tipped my prison over a little so that L
could spring out. l was behind the
cask when Dick came to the door and |
his beast up to the tub to
drink.
"Ill go with you as far as the forks"
Ia ao;J 90 txvo of tbapn coup ont with tha /