The Delta independent., 1896-02-12

hands. ! have expressed desire to
avoid bloodshed."
"Shcritf, arrest this man." cried the
general. ''He defies n law, and we are
under cover of the guns of the state
troops"
Hendricks took a step toward them.
"One moment" he said, 'before you
attempt to arrest me. You and your
men are covered by four hundred re-
peating rifles. One move on your part
to arrest me and your force will be au-
initiated. Il mention this in the in
tcrest of humanity. If you decline to
treat me with the courtesy due to a
brave enemy, you had better retire.
will give you two minutes to rejoin
your men,"
The impulsive general wheeled his
horse. galloped into the center Of the
lawn and called, in loud voice, us he
drew his sword:
Capt. Hawkins, mass your men.
Bring up the reserves. Prepare to
storm the house."
Hendricks leaned against one of the
pillars of the balcony.
You see" said the sheriff, resist
nncc is useless. 1t would be better to
surrender ut once, as propose to take
You now," and he made motion to
draw his pistol.
Before he could get it fairly into his
hand. there was n sharp crack of
rifle ut short range and he half raised
himself in the stirrups and fell heavily
backward upon the horses launches,
the pistol falling upon the ground.
Hendricks stepped down and picked it
up as the horse reared and backed
away-and at that moment n crack of
firearms was heard and he vent quick
ly back into the house and shut the
door.
As soon as he got to an opening in
the barricadcd window, he saw the
general wildly galloping up and down,
tlourishing his sword and calling upon
his men to fall in. But many of them
were past falling in. Their bodies
were conspicuous by their uniforms,
lying where they had fallen in the
grass and the rest were huildling con-
fusedly. running indcterminately into
the trees at the foot of the slope under
Il mur,lcroui fire from all parts of the
house.
lie could sec when the general turned
his head that n stream of blood was
running down his face from cut in
the temple and had dyed his white
whisiicrS.
Wounded ms he was. the old general
succeeded after awhile in withdrawing
his men across the road to the opposite
ACTIVITY, where under the shelter of
some rocks, he reformed them and tried
to encourage them. His condition was
distressing one. He had lost, ont of
hundred and forty-four men, ut least
fifty. Ht could not even bring them
all off and consequently did not know
if they were killed or wounded. The
sheriff was dead. He had no hospital
stores or strctchcrs. for it would have
required more than the ordinary mill
tary prcsicncc to have calculated upon
such reception as this. However, he
did the best he could. and the first act
was to dispatch couriers to the nearest
telegraph station to summon assist
nnce and notify the governor. he CIV
ing up his own horse to one of the
messengers.
What was his surprise about noon to
receive communication from the
house. A man dressed like an ordinary
workman was brought into his little
camp by picket and delivered the
following note with n military salute:
ITO the Commanding Onlcer:
"SIR: You can SAFELY remove YOUR dead and
wound ID II You are in need OF btnlages
surg cal assistance or m die Il res AMI will
send for ihcin. th"y will be supplied ultil you
receive help from tho state. Respectfully.
"OFFICER CoMMANDISG OPPoBiiG Fo' CEs."
The audacious GOODNESS of this pro-
ccesling aroused the old general to an
eruptive state OF Indignation. lie tore
the message to pieces and ordered the
arrest of the messenger. Half an hour
later another arrived
81 am ordered" lie said. ito say to
you that if you do not release the mes !
enger sufficient force will be sent to
,e him"
Svay with him." shouted the iras-
III general. ''If he attempts to
i2ot him"
,e night Gen. Waterson and
S;n II The bayou entrance,
corning Gen. Luscomb's
tlicn upon and complete
ApTER XVIII
year there appeared in
icna papers the fol- !,
JON
.,inrs In Indiana, |
D!on battalion To .,ake !
eolYorl, In Jelly. viii please /
,sidweil At indianapolis I'm |
Pits arc ffercd 20 organized d COM
ftnis pleasure party. The battal-
the guest of New York for two
This vngue announcement of pro- /
Jectcd excursion did not fail to attract
some attention in New York. Several
oil the papers referred to it in para
graphs, which briefly stated that the
militia of Indiann intended to visit tho
city during the summer.
on the 9Th of July the superinten-
rent Oh police in New York received
,prn'ii ., letter from indianapolis saying