Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1896-09-17


then johnson burst INFO the room.
With bound he was beside Lamar.
painting from his run. but quite l,re-
pared to take hand in whatever might
be doing.
It was "a strange scene that the lamp
shone down upon. There we were.
three to three. ranged on either side of
the table, The attacking force no longer
outnumbering the defenders. but. of
course. far better prepared for a strug-
gle. They had Numbered in DELAYING
II. and now for a moment they hesI-
tated. exchanging quick glances, and
giving the fisherman ar opportunity 10
study them. Lamar sat motionless.
except for his eyes, which followed
every movement of his chief adversary.
Suddenly the tall man gave a short
quick order. and the youth. stepping to
the door. opened it. and whistled shril-
| ~. We heard an answering signal.
followed by sounds of some one APP
preaching the house. and then a fourth
man, dressed like the rufian at whose
hands ! had suffered. appeared in the
doorway. The light dazzled him at
first. and he halted on the threshold.
shading his eyes with his left hand and
displaying an ugly-looking knife in his
| right. While he stood there, his mate.
with an oath, whipped out a similar
weapon and sprang toward the table.
Quick as the man was. however. John
son was quicker, graphing him and
hurting him back against the wall with
such force that he lay stunned by the
blow. had had high respect for the
tisherman's muscles, but never had |
credited them with the ability to put
forth such power as was evidenced by
the crash of the ourly stranger against
the wall.
Again the defense had gained an adj
vantage, cut the odds were still against
IT. Three able-bodied assailants re-
manned, and all of them now gave proof
that they were armed; for, while John
son was putting his man out of the
fight. the leader and the Young fellow
opposite me had drawn daggers. al
though they had been unable TO use
them in aid of their ally so speedily |
had he been worsted. l dare say they
had revolveTs as well, but preferred
cold steel for the work they expected
TO do. Even on that lonely knoll
fusillade of pistol-shots might have at
tracted attention from the people of the
knot of houses half a mile away. | Il
know that the blades had a most wicked |
look, and that the sweat gathered on
my forehead as | watched them and
wondered which of them might be des-
tined for me. l was frightened, thor
oughly frightened; such courage as l |
possessed vanished at the gleam of the |
weapons, and, could | have fled, not
moment would | have tarried. But |
there was no escape; was forced to re-
main and to see the end, which, though |
it involved the defeat of the enemy, l !
had no hand in bringing about. |
Well-laid plans once disarranged are
generally worse than none at all. The |
programme of the assailants, no doubt, |
had been prepared most carefully. /
After posting one of their number on
the landward side of the knoll, the only |
direction from which, in their ignorance
of the line of communication with John
sons cottage, they would reasonably !
look for interference, they had adj !
yanced, and forced an entrance to the |
house. Once within, their prey was so
completely in their grasp that, | dare
say, they felt able to go about their |
business with cold-blooded delibera- .
ton. l do not fatter myself with the |
belief that my presence disturbed them /
in the least. But, while the arraign-
ment of Lamar may have been intense /
~ satisfying as prelude to their ven
geance, it was a sad blunder; for it
gave johnson time to reach the scene !
and to change the whole aspect of the |
affair.
Had they pressed the attack as soon
as their comrade was overthrown, it is |
altogether likely that one of them |
might have reached Lamar; but, un-
luckily for them, they failed to seize the |
opportunity in the second or two of its |
existence. Their hesitation, brief as it |
was. meant defeat; for no sooner had !,
his man fallen than johnson drew a /
brace of revolvers from his pockets, and |
when the strangers started forward |
they looked into the muzzles of the |
pistols. Lamar, too, thus protected, |
had pulled out key and was unlocking |
drawer of the table; and presently he |
added another ugly-looking weapon to
the array trained upon the foe.
Sorry there amt none for you, doc
tor / heard johnson remark. but l |
guess we can attend to our friends i
now"
For moment l thought that two of |
our adversaries would risk the bullets, !
though the last conner quailed at the
first sight of the firearms; but even for
them the odds were now too great.
They dared not even risk trying to |
reach their own pistols. They probably
had no stomach for such a combat as
was now offered them. Reluctantly,
step BY step, they retreated toward the
door. Then, suddenly. with an oath,
the leader wheeled about. and. gnash-
ing his teeth in baffled rage. strobe from
the room.