The Penn's Grove record., 1888-07-07

Mr.. S--full on the chest with enough
force to drive him to the extreme end
of the hut. At the same instant a
spear whizzed through the open door
way, and quivered in the slabs behind.
"By gum"
More remarks were drowned by a
loud. %quivering snort from the poor
horse; a moment after, and he rolled
heavily across the hut door, completely
blocking up the entrance.
Mat muttered away. "First-rate for
us coonsI Ye'd better bar the door
Bill Doctor! doctor! doctorl Psti pstl
Here lad" The dog leaped on the
shepherd. "By gum" he said, 81
thought he was outside"
BY this time Mr.. S. vas coolly
accommodating through the loopholes.
He had let down the window, and was
preparing for action.as unconcernedly
as the shepherd.
These brave. quiet men inspired me
with confidence, and i remember think
ing, as / threw water on the fire, so as
to extinguish all light, that the black
fellows had met with their match. By
this time the noon was up, and the
light was gradually growing OIL the
landscape. at first we could discern
the outlines of the trees. and then, as
the night withered, the white scared
grass between the shadows. There was
a long time of silence. Mat, Mr.. s.
and myself had our barrels through the
loop.holes and were closely watching
for any movement outside. The con-
vulslve shuddering OF the horse had
ceased, and there was a painful silence.
The squatter and Mat were like two
statues, and notwithstanding the quiet
breathing of the dog and the croaklng
Of the frogs along the river, there
seemed to be a frightful significance in
the silence that was broOdlng above
these sounds. Every instant l was
expecting a rush from the outside, but
there was not a sign nor sound to be-
tray the presence of any enemy. The
The sheep were camping quietly round
the hurdles. Silence-the bright moon
the white fleeces mingllng with the
color of the grass--the still shadows of
the trees-the far black forest-the
spectral tracery or the branches in the
moonlight. The silence was terrible.
One of the outside wethers rose and
walked forward a few yards, then COM
menced stamping quickly on tie
grounds.
"Darn my eyes!" said Mat. for the
first time breaking the silence, ''if the
Ole Parson hain't sighted one Of the
%niggers."
The sole Parson" was a patriarch
wether that was affected with the foot
rot, and usually fed on his knees.
$50 he has, and by gum there's a
crowd-the whole tribe hev come to
visit. Not enough in shade, boss"
concluded Mat, after another interval,
and in a hard whispering tone.
The next moment the first report
rang out iu myriad echoes. A shrill
death-shout followed, as the dark fig
ure of a man leaped with sudden force
from the ambush and fell prone, gurg-
ling out blood and broken words.
snow. boss" said Mat, looking out,
but still charging; "Fifty yards to the
right of the hurdle"
Boss (Mr. S---) changed the direc-
ton of the gun, and fired. The human
figure seemed to sink down 30 quickly.
so calmly, that l felt a strange thrill of
pity.
"He's fixed safe as houses; let's
physic another or two. and maybe they
will make tracks" again muttered the
shepherd IN a tone of suppressed glee.
"Cook, why the devil don't you shoot?
SQuint round that block to the right of
the waffle"
Looking in the direction indicated
by Mat. whose eyes seemed everywhere,
l saw the figure of a man partially Wis.
ible against the ground. He was evil
IDENTIFY sheltering himself from the
other two guns, but, owing to my
silence hitherto. he must have been of
the opinion that the portion Of the hut
where l stood was ~un0ccupied. For an
instant / could see nothing through the
smoke, but it cleared almost lmmedi-
ately. Just as the shepherd said:
Don't shoot again-he's axed," 1 saw
the poor wretch staggering wildly
towards the hut, and then falling with
a dull sound. God forgive me, it was
very like murder. This was the first
life l had eyer taken. The next thing
l remember was MI. S. asking me
if 1 had run any bullets"
"Not one."
"Have you any in the hutp"
"Not one."
Mat informed US that we were
''treed," much In the same way that
he would tell the overseer that the
ratIons were short. He quietly pulled
his gun from the loophole. saying:"I've
only one more pull to keep our skins
whole. Wen have to trust to Doctor"
Mats dog Doctor was partly a Smith
GaII anH partlu q Newfoundland He
had been trained by him to all kinds of
tricks. Among others, he repeatedly
took messages to the station when at
tached to his collar, and 1 presume
this was the object Mat had in view
when referring to him as capable of
relief:
mister, dye think you kin rite a
missage in the dark, or by the Doh
light, askin' the hands at the Home.
stead to come this wayp No tlne to
loose; / see the darkies dcdging round
the hut. Bill, knock away the lower
part of the rotten slab behind your
back. Here, Doctor"
The message was scrawled. and fast
ened to Doctors collar in less than a
minute, and the noble brute, who
seemed to know the danger, stood
anxiously trembling till the prepare
tions were completed.
As I before stated, the hut stood
c'ose to the stream, and from the rear
the bank sloped abruptly towards the
water. The American for the first
time seemed affected. When the men
fell under our shots, there was not the
slightest change perceptible in his
voice; but the few words he spoke to
his dog were broken and s~ingularly
soft. I'll be sworn there were tears
in the mans eyes. Everything being
at last prepared, he spat upon the dogs
muzzel, held his head close to his cheek
for q moment. and then pressed him
quickly out of the hole and away down
the shelving bank.
We listened ~anxiously for a time,
and then there arose a wild iabbering
for a minute; the next instant we
detected q yelp of pain.
my Godl' said l, i~nvoluntarlly,
'the DOCTORS speared."
"No, he AMT, darn yel' snapped
Mat. "He's Just touched, an no
more. He'll do It,"