West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1886-02-19

went over and sat down on the bed.
IL was not the corner i'm which my rifle
stood, but the weapon was not more
than ten feet away. The woman then
said something 90 the children i'm their
own mougrel dialect, and both of them
sat down facing me and only three on
four feet away. Then man and wife
cast of the rope, seized long poles, and
presently the boat slowly moved down
the lake 20 the north The lake ap-
pcared 10 be about three miles wide by
five long, and was shut i'm by dense
forest
The views / had through the open
door and the chinks between the logs
showed me that the craft was kept near
the shore. While the people seemed i'm
no great hurry to get down the lake,
they kept the scOw moving at a fair
pace until we were about three miles
from the place where we had en-
barked. A landing was then made i'm
the mouth of creek and the scow was
entirely hidden from sight of any one
on the lake. Hunters and tourists, and
even small pleasure steamers came up
from the main river as far as the lakes
1t was mid-afternOOn when the boat
was made fast. The pain and swelling
had now entirely departed from my
hand and arm, and the helpless feeling
which had come over me when first
captured had given way To a dctermin-
alton to help myself out OF the scrape
II could get hold of my rifle / would
TIC match for the whole four of them.
| counted them as four. because the
boy and girl had hunting knives, and
would surely take part i'm any scrim =
mage brought ON. Their looks and ac-
tons proved this. They maintained
their places directly i'm front of me, and
their eyes never left me for second
Ihey held their knives as If they OK
! pcctcd nm attempt 10 escape. and meant
to thrust and cut if tried it.
While the boat was moving there wa,
no show for me. score of alliga,ory.
some of monstrOus size. followed us in
procession. and I had but % look out
upon the lake 20 realize that IL was
alive with these fierce reptiles. One
who jumped or fell overheard would be
seized a. soon as he struck the water
Not word was addressed 10 me
Entil the boat had been tied up. Then
the man came i'm, took singlc-bar-
relied rifle from under the other bed
and, after few hurried words with the
woman outside, jumped ashore and dis
appeared. When he had gone the
woman entered, lighted a pipe and,
sending the boy outside to watch, She
sat down in his place with the cooked
revolver on her lap. She had a face
which betrayed the mind of a beast.
well. what are YOU going to do
with meY' | asked, after while.
"tccd YOU to the alligators, ~ she re-
piled.
Where has your husband gomez"
10 kill the other two men
What do you want TO murder us
for? We have in no way injured you. 3"
1--WE was whipped and druv out of
the settlements, and we want revenge, ="
she growled.
But we had nothing to do with it. -
! protested, in a firm tone
Cant help that. You came poach-
ing ON our claim she answered,
But Wen go away"
Il guess you won't. We never let
any one git away to tell on u.s."
said nothing further, but / by no
means looked upon myself as dead
man. II worst came to worst | would
! give them fight. could not move
then. with knife and bullet ready for
me, and deemed it wiser to settle back
and bide my time.
The man had been gone about half
an hour when the faint report of rifle
came to us through the trees The
woman had been listening for it, and
Is 1t came she gave start and cried
out:
There goes one of 'em."
/ 'Who?' / asked.
"One OF Your partners Dan has
! dropped him for sure"
There was such liendish. blood
/ thirsty look on her face that / was ap-
! paged. and the same expression. TO a
/ certain degree, rested on the faces of
the children. Like dogs, they licked
/ their chops i'm anticipation OF a bloody
feast In about half an hour the man
appeared. lie had bundle of CLOTHING
\ in one hand and two rifles and a re-
I voiveT i'm the other
" Git one?' the woman asked. as he
came aboard the ungainly craft.
! " Yes
" Didn't git the both?"
| " No. The other got away. I'll CIT
him to-morrcr," he replied
/ Git muchP'
| Lots
! lie had in MS hand the suit OF clothes.
rifle and revolver belonging to one of
/ my men-GcOree Sheen. of Mobile.
! There Were bloOd-stans on the cloth
2 i'i-' dHh ~ Uc unfOlteO the bundle
saw % bullet-hole through the vest. he
| mad killed the man and then stripped
+ him stark naked Yes. he had boots.
/ socks. hat. collar. everything. The
. other man was Robert Jackson. of Chi
cage. who had worked with me for
. years lie had not got him. WhvP
/ Jackson was well armed and a brave
man. II be had been present at the
shooting OF Sheen ne would not have
run away. Sheen had an old-fashiOned
| rifle Jackso had Winchester. He
would in turn have killed the outlaw.
The two men must have been separat-
ed, and the outlaw musthav
Sheen
Leaying the children 20 watch me.
the man and woman now cast the scow
loose aud pooled her out about three
hundred feet from shore. The sun was
getting well down. and our side Of the
lake was bon deep shadow When the
scow had been anchored bya stone the
pair inspected the personal property
/ and counted the money taken from the
victim The outlaw then washed the
T blood from bi- hand.
When they entered ih. cabin. or
. house. fle woman produced ome cold
met. and h0eoake and threw hunks to
each one uo'udu myself n was