Wichita eagle., 1890-02-26

| their steps: Zone, two, three, Tour. Hve. SIX,
seven"-then he stopped and lifted can
"eight, ninen-
"Stop, or he will kill us!" shriezed the
widow, seeing Jim swing the can. and her
words called a halt jim lowered the can
| and awaited the next movement of the pro
| ducers
Hes crazy said Harbaugh, s'and he viii
| throw those cans at us sure. Let us fall back
| and wait till after dark"
| IN a minute the widow was left standing
| alone, her knees shaking and her breath com
ing in short convulsive gasps. Tears filled
| her eyes, and through the mist before her she
| gave Jim reproachful look; then she turned
and walked slowly away.
HE would have thrown that bomb whether
| it killed me or not" she murmured, 'and all
| for that old pump that could be replaced in
three weeks
She began to sob, not caring that many
men were looking at her, DESTROYS only that
Jim should not see her. Suddenly the grow
ing darkness against the western hillside re-
Elected to her eyes yellowish tint. She
looked back. The big gas jet at the station
was ablaze. Jim had taken advantage of the
momentary discontinue of the producers to
light it, and the wide circle Of its light made
the ground within a hundred yards of him
almost as plain to his vision as it was in the
daylight. And in spite of her grief she was
glad he had the protection that the gas jet
gave him.
As the darkness settled, the silence in the
valley was broken only by the crickets, and
from toward Hartford came the faint sound
of the whistle of locomotive. jim moved
restlessly on the small platform, wishing the
officers of the lines would send rescuing par
ty. Again the whistle sounded, nearer this
time, and Jim hoped that the approaching
train bore to him relief from his trying po-
sition. While he looked down the valley and
listened for tho rumble of the cars, a fash
iilumined the darkness of the woods and he
fell prone upon the platform He was shot
through the side. There was a shout from
the mob as they charged on the pump sta
tion.
Jim heard the cry of onslaught and stag
ge-ed to his feet By great effort he was
able to appear strong in spite Of the stream
of warm blood on his leg.
''Stop, you devils, or I'll kill every one of
you'll" and he threw can of glycerine right
in the path of the producers. It burst, and
the explosion covered Them with dust and
pelted them with pebbles. "Stop!" he yelled
again as he swung another can into the air.
The producers huddfed together and then
fell back to wait until Jim was exhausted by
the flow of blood from his wound The
swoon came sooner than they expected. AS
he sank on the platform the short, sharp
whistle that to the railroader means "Down
brakes!" sounded in his ears Immediately
the producers charged on the station; but
Hpr hal hcfn hoy OF
it, for he saw the sheriff and his armed depu-
ties trnany of whom were clerks and employees
of the lines advancing from The train, just
come to standstill. Seeing tte number of
the sherifrs posse, the producers fed and
scattered under cover Of the woods
There was surgeon with the sherif's
force, who dressed Jin's wounds, and then,
on a stretcher, the pumper was carried off to
his room at Mrs. Stearns' house. His recov-
cry was very slow, and the widow was I'M
failing in her attention to him She was
kind and gentle, but there was change in
her manner that distressed Jim. He could
not account for it, and spent many an hour
in silent meditation upon it. One day light
broke in upon him, and he framed question
for the widow.
Ibid you think I would "a throwed that
Cs1N dl you tAat Gay "ich VAC ~ oAONcAS " Is
pUshin' yer to'rd the station?"
When he launched the query at her the
widow was confused, and answered discon-
nectedly that she thought he would have
thrown it.
you are mistaken, for I would have let
'enl smash the old pump rather than run the
risk of takin' any innocent life, much less
yours, or even hurtin' you. for I've had q
hankerin' after you this many aAday."
Yhe widows cheeks flushed deeper red
and her eyes sparkled with the Light of joy;
but she could not resist the temptation to
say: You looked good deal moro in earnest
when you threatened TO throw that can at
me than you do now, and il l was mistaken
then, nebbe ought not to be quick in be
lieving now"
~ had TO look mighty much in earnest
then. for looks had to do the business, but
now I'm trustin' mostly TO words"
We'll, If you can trust them, / guessI can,
too
After that declaration there was nothing
in the widows manner thss distressed jim
Harpes's Weekly.