The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1886-02-10

laue was in deep shadow. When the
scow had been anchored by a stone, the
pair inspected the personal property
and counted the money taken from the
victim. The outlaw then washed the
blood from his hands
When they entered the cabin, or
house. the woman produced some cold
meat and hoecake and threw hunks to
each one, including myself. 1t was
only after the provisions had dissp-
peared, eating mine with the rest, that
the man addressed me.
"See we're, stranG'r," he said, "what
brought you up yere"
Looking over lands, replied.
"Um! Who be your"
| l told him.
Didn't count on seem Black Dan
l reckonp" he sneered
| mo"
(Which is unfortunit fur you. I've
killed every land hunter who ever sot
fut on my claim. and I'll keep KILN,
sure"
"We didn't come here to disturb or
annoy YOU" l said.
sits jst the same thing. I'm down
on the hull human race fur the way
I've bin used, and I'll kill whenever l
kin git the chance. I've dropped ono
o. you're fellers. To-morrer I'll drop
the other, and then take keer OF you.
Git over thar and lay down."
"Over thar" was the far corner, and
entirely out of reach of my Winchester.
When bunked down in my corner the
gun was removed entirely, and the
family lay down in such a way as to
hem me in. For the first three or four
hours they were like cats, starting up
at the slightest move, but toward mid
night was satisfied that all were
asleep. I could not reach the firearms
without stepping over the bodies, and
they knew that any effort on my part
About midnight, after long and
cautious effort, l sat up. TWAS star
light night. and, as there was no door
to the cabin, could see out was
fully determined to make an effort to
escape, but when came to canvass the
chances, had to abandon the idea.
The alligators were constantly about
us, often rearing up to paw at the logs,
and unless could get hold of the fire.
arms and begin the fight, should be
wiped out in any effort l made. !
think l slept for an hour or two, and
what aroused me can not tell. l was
still sitting, and, as l looked out upon
the night l saw human figure draw
itself up on the bows of the boat. ] Al
first supposed it was one Of the family,
but a moments observation convinced
me to the contrary. This figure moved
cautiously, as if desiring its presence
unknown and was a long time in reach.
ing the door. 1t then leaned against
J the logs and made long survey of the
interior, and finally sank out Of sight
My heart was beating like trip-ham'
t mer, and could not fathom the mys
5 terry. Was it an Indian or another out
, lawp Moving SO cautiously, what OBJ
9 ject had he in viewp Had l once
thought of Jackson, l should not have
. dared to hope he had come to my res
, cue through that water; and, too,
could not have believed he knew of my
whereabouts.
. From the time first caught sight O
the figure to daylight was probably al
q hour and half, but it seemed to m,
as If I lived five years. / had M
. hopes that the man was friend, an(
l yet could not look for new enemy
. Perhaps, after all, it was only one o
the refugee negroes, of whom scores
n were hiding in the swamps, who hat
made his way to the scow in hopes K
). lay hands on provisions or clothing.
kept my eyes on the spot where hat
last seen him, and, as he did not reap
pear. l began to feel that he hat
9 slipped back into the water. and re
y turned to the shore.
f Did you ever watch the coming O
. daylight when you felt that with |
might come some life or death trans
" action? The first signs came from
the birds! Then, afar up the lake
l. came the cries of water fowl. A TO!
or some o,her animal stood on tn
shore near where we had tied up tn
4 night before AID barked in an angr
voice. The stars paled and drifted on
. of sight, and the interior of the cabi
4 began to light up until could distin
4 guish the forms of the sleepers.
a Where was the strange man-frien
4, or enemy? As If in response to m
/ query he suddenly rose up, stcppe
noiselessly inside the door, and mex
II instant voice shouted at me:
a Keep down, Colonel; hug I'll
q Aoor!'
\ rolled over on my face. and hear
4 yells, screams and groans. 1t was a
- over in thirty seconds, and some on
called: "All right, Colonel-Tve wipe
the varmints out!'
10 Isprang up to find jackson standin
~ in the center of the cabin, and on tn
:, floor lay the outlaw, wife and children
= all dead. 1t was as I had argued tn
= day previous. The two men had sep;
a rated in the woods-Sheen to retur
:, directly to camp and Jackson to hun
~ for supper. The outlaw had ambushe
y Sheen and killed him, and jackson ha
" heard the report of the gun and becom
Y suspicious. He hurried to camp to fin
O me gone and everything taken, and ha
traced us to the lake. He found ind
le cations to prove that boat had bee
used, and he followed the shore of ii
lake down until he found the scow {
anchor.
NJ Not one in thousand would ha,
shown his nerve. He knew of the all
gators. could see dozen of them mo-
ing about, and yet he disrobed, tied h
g. weapons across his head, and swal
OF straight for the scow, and reached
e. unmOlested. He saw that the only wa