The Penn's Grove record., 1894-08-24

e"J SVou hss or Z tn ones tibet he'll
neart was set on, I'd drag 'em out, glad
~, an throw 'em down before her. An
as l Kept on lookin', for her eyes was OF
tn cradle an she wasn't takin' auy no
tice ) me, an thought o. TIL fate the
might be In store fer her before TIL gam
we'd got ready fer was played Z h. finisl|
tnet night, l promised myself, firm an
true, thetit 1t came e the worst sh,
should have my last ca'tridge. fun in hg
pure, loyin' heart C. send her straight n
Heaven safe an easy.
An then l thought o to- baby. an
though ! knew what a slim chance Oh
was tibet TIL redskins Pad load them
selves weth live plunder, KNOWN well
how swift an hot th' pursuit 'u'd be
etiu IN was a chance. If TIL fend,
Drained her, it 'u'd be nigh as short an
merciful as my bullet; an If they die
lake her OIL alive, o course I knew Win.
ston d have every man on TIL Northern
range out after 'en an wipe tn wao!tI
Blackfoot nation of n tn face o. tn
earth but what he'd bring her back
Twas torture = me Z think O. her in tn
hands o. TIL dirty brutes, but tn, was /,
chance q knew I'd got = resk it.
AS fer TIL Chinamau-well, we was
men, an I'D have t. take whut came ou,
war.
Ii they only dida's set US on frel The.
was TIL terrible fear in my mind, though
l hadn't mentioned it T. tn Others,
But then, on the other hand-harkI
at last my strained ear had caught th'
long dreaded sound. TIL thud, thudl
{, horses feet on a long, steady gallop.
l looked at Mrs. Winston, an as her eye
met mine, / saw tibet she heard it too,
an that at last our time had come. 1
Nobody moved after TIL sort o. wavt
thet seemed t. pass over US Jest at first.
Everything was ready an there wal,
nothin' T. be done till til attack came.
Ihud, thudl-nearer, now; quite plain
= our strained hearin'. Click!-Over
III log bridge, an thud, thuii--up TIL
hill-quite close up T. TIL hou,e-an'I
Then, all at once, silence!
l never want t. live through tibet five
minutes a9'ln. Wh'rs was thew Dis.
mounted an %surruundiu' IT, hoIsei
Creepin' up weth flamin' torches, T. fire
III place over our heads an drive us out,
ike rats from q sinkiu' ship2 Crawlin'
~ scores through TIL new buildin' 4
throw themselves On the door, au' burst
n it weth a rush, overpower me before
cd fire a shota-Sh-i Is tibet step
,utside3 A hand on tn door2
Snow, then, Mrs. Winston; steady
with the gunsl-"
"Steve- Steve Scarrett" Twas
Perry Wlnston's welcome hail. "Are
fou there, Stevef And safef Open the
ioor, mani Mary, darlingi Never mind
Steve, but cry it out in my arms, love.
Thanking God, as | do, that it isn't You
hats lying out aud burned to death in
The ashes of your own home as poor, AL
ryndal's wife and babies are this nigat,
Molly"
"Wbere's young Len Troule at2' said
!, rather gruff, from tn feelin' o. relia
ihet had sort o'surged up into my throat
md choked my voice at tn hearin' an
light o Perry.
"All right, Steve, outside with the
boys. We met him five miles below the
bend, with the welcome news that you'd
come over here to take care of my
people; but we'd already heard that the
Piegans were down and had raided the
'Three-Bar' and were hard on our way
up to look out for my wife and fight the
:usses if we can lay our hands on them.
"You gave US a tremendous scare wit
your dark house, Steve. 1 could I,
make it out, but was inclined to th'
that they'd cleaned you out, garrisoned
the place and that an attack from us
would be the signal for the murder of
any of you that were left alive. Thank
God! once more, that it's all right.
"George! Steve, you're ready for a
siege, hereI You could stand off a regi.
ment if they charged in small platoons.
Wing, my brave boy, I see you meant to
carve Piegaus with that knife. Go and
turn it loose on a ham, and knock us up
some supper lively, for we must hit the
trail north before it gets cold.
"You1l come along, Steve, of course.
There'n be no more danger here this
year, Molly, and please Godl we'll fix it
this time so there'll never be another
Piegan raid into the Gear dor country"
San Francisco Examiner.