The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1875-11-11

running through the woods, but pursuit
failed to ovcrtakc him. Accustomed to
face danger as the dcspcradoes were, and
ii6isrs*td as they were of brutal courage,
they trcmblcd before this mysterious
danger. 1t could not be faced, and it
could not be averted.
The result was that some of the band
deserted and fled the region. There re-
manned only the captain and four more
rcsolutc of his followers. These five
hunted and made their raids together for
some time without harm. Among the
five was the man who had endcavorcd 10
save Long at the time Of the whipping
from so severe Il torture. This man, one
morning, ycnturcd out in the woods
without his comrades. lie was walking
slowly along, looking for game, when the
brown barrel of rifle projecting from a
bush beside him checked his course. A
tall, lank figure rose from the bush, and
the startled man recognized sam Long,
the hunter, Long raised the rifle, then
lowered it.
"You'rc the man who said good word
for me, an you may 90, bad as you are,
Iwon't take your miserable life, Go."
The man needed no second invitation
to 90. The captain and the other three
men started out in pursuit of Long, and
but two men accompanied Dick Rcddctt
when he returned, The third man had
fallen, shot in the eye, and no search of
the underbush revealed the hunter
The next day another man was killed
in the camp, and again the hunter cs-
capped. On the next day the two remain
ing men fled the country, leaving the
fierce Rcddctt alone. The leader of the
desperadoes dared not remain where he
was. lie knew he was the man whom
Long sought above all Others.
Conccaling himself until night, he
mounted his horse and fled far the nearest
point on the Arkansas river where II
would be possible to take passage on II
steamboat. Two days later be reached a
small landing in the woods on the bank
of the river, where the steamer stopped
for passengers when there were any to
take. He learned from the occupant Of
the only cabin in the ncighborhood that
the boat would be down in the afternoon,
and 50, having put up the signal to
secure landing of the boat, established
himself on the bank and waited He
deemed himself safe enough from pur-
suit, and took no precautions. Throwing
himself on the ground, he slept until late
in the day, when he was awakened by
the sound of the boat in the distance.
She would round point in a moment or
two, and he waited cXpcctantly. As
suddenly as though risen from the ground,
a land figure stood before him, and the
muzzlc of II rifle pecrcd in his face. The
terrified desperate had no difficulty in
recognizing the man as the one he had
injured With the rifle still held steadily
upon the face of the startled Reddett,
Long hissed out.
"l'vc got YOU! You whipped me
whipped me like dog sworc I'd kill
you before | called myself man again,
and I'm going to do it Eve cleaned
ont your band, and now it's your turn !
Oh, I've got you ~
The ruiIian in abjcct fear pleaded for
his life, grovcling at the feet OF the nun
ter. He cIung to his words asa drowning
man cings to straws. The boat was very
near. Should she round the point in
time he would be saved.
Already the smokestackssho through
the brush, when the hunter pressed the
trigger, the sharp report rang out, and
Rcddctt fell dead, shot to the brain
through the left eye. Long slipped away
in the woods, and when the boat stopped,
in response to the signal, they found a
dead man, but no one else. Harrison
county was rid forever of the worst gang
of rullians in the southwest.
An that, stranger" said the old man
in the Dallas hotel, is the true story OF
the way Sam Long settled accounts with
the blackguards."