The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1893-11-29
even up that they would murder us tc
conceal their identity.
A PRETTY GOOD FORT.

even up ClaC GHey WUuIu uuluei uo Y.
conceal their identity.
A PRETTY GOOD FORT.
Having served as a soldier for over
| three years, and knowing the strength
| of the position I occupied, l was not
at all frightened by the presence Of
| the gang. A demand was again made
on me to open the door, and when ]
refused I knew pretty well what thei1
first move would be. On the beach
| near their boat lay O piece Of timber
which the tide had stranded. They
went fol it at once, and in the hands
of six stout fellows it would have
proved a powerful battering ram. They
had evidently made up their minds
that I wouldn't dare shoot, for they
came straight at the door with the
timber. Even when I thrust my mus.
ket through the loophole they paid nc
attention, but as I saw they were
bound to batter the door in, put
bullet into the right shoulder OF the
leader. He wasn't over fifteen feet
away, and the bullet whirled him
twice around and then pitched him
headlong. Two of the gang seized
him and pulled him aside, and then
got out of range. Every man Of them
had knife and a pair of revolvers,
but they soon discovered that numbers
and weapons didn't count. There was
no chance to fire on me except through
the loopholes, and l was carefully
watching one of those. They did
creep up to the other and fire five OF
six shots into the room, but it was
powdered ball and thrown away.
1t was about $50 o'clock in the at.
ternoon when I was driven inside;
Half an hour after the woundlng Of
their leader, they were ready to give
it up as bad job and. return to their
sloop. Their small boat lay directly
in front Of the door, and as they began
moving toward it, 1 fired and slightly
wounded one Of the men assisting the
leader to get down to the beach. All
of them at once hurried to the left to
get out Of range. It had struck me
that if they took Wilson away they
would murder him, and I determined
to keep them from the boat. In fe"
minutes one of the gang came creeping
around as near my loophole as ne dared
to demand my surrender. 1t lrefused,
thew would burn me out.
There being no,drift stuff within a
mile of us l did not worry over nj:
threat. As he retreated to the rear OF
the house to rejoin his companions,
saw Wilson's head rise above the gun,
vale Of the boat. Seeing the coast
clear he rose up, leaped out of the
boat and showed her into the water
The tide was going out, and with the
help of the oars he was soon aboard Of
the sloop. made my way to the Ian.
tern room to watch his movements,
and when [ saw him handling dou-
ble-barrelled shot gun which he had
brought from the cabin, I gave him 8
cheer, which put the rascals below on
the alert and resulted in their discov-
ery of what had occurred. The situa.
tion now presented was curious one
I was prisoner inside the lighthouse,
but the gang were prisoners outside as
we'll. Wilson had captured both boat
and sloop, and while he could render
me no assistance he stood between
them and escape.
I expected to be fred on when
lighted the lantern, which was in an
exposed position, and, sure enough.
they opened on me with their revolvers
and shaved me pretty close three OF
four times. I got down safely, how
ever, and then had only the door to
guard during the night. The fellows
could not tell whether I had been hit
or not, and about 9 o'clock heard one
of them at the loophole where 1 was
watching and listening. Ihad cooked
revolver close at hand, and the vel
which followed the report told me that
he had been hit. What the four un-
wounded men would do during the
night L could only guess at and be on
the watch to checkmate. BY IL
o'clock it was so dark I could not see
the beach, and then two of them, as
subsequently, appeared, went down te
the shore and undressed and swan of
to capture the sloop. 1t was daring
thing to do, for the craft.was quarter
of a mile away, the tide running strong
and the waters infested by sharks
Wilson not only found the shotgun
but loaded revolver and a cavalry car
bine, and he rightly reasoned that as
soon as night came the gang would at
tempt to retake the sloop. Being al
| anchor and swinging with the tide, he
| knew that she could not be boarded al
the bows, and he took his station
| there, and was on the alert when the
| swimmers came on. One Of them was
swept past him and out to sea, shout
ing for aid, while the other was shot
| as soon as he seized the forechains.
| saw the flash and heard the shot
Wilson afterwards waved a Lighted
lantern to me as signal that he wa:
all right.
THE eUERILLAs TRY CRAFT.
I. of course, could not tell how
many of the gang had gone off to the
| sloop and continued watchful for any
move against the door. The two
wounded men must have suffered ;
great deal, but the leader was deter
mined fellow, and bound to get re
venge if nothing more. He sent tht
two unwounded men back to the woot
for fagots and about midnight heart
sounds which made me suspicious
Of a sudden both loopholes were
closed up by limbs being thrust int
them. and the fagots were heapeo
against the door. l had anticipated
this move and planned what to do
Before the fellows could fire the fagot:
I opened on them from the parapet
with the revolver, wounding both
It was not until two hours later, how
ever. that I knew had hit either one
| of them. / had managed to clear one
of the loopholes when one of the gang
crawled as near as he dared anc
shouted:
Say yo' in thar We want to sur