The Princeton union., 1900-03-22

Those who had rifles drew them from
the tl q leather beckets that hung ia their.
saddles, VI 4
on haven got. no rife, So you you
cant M do no good with us. Stay here, 4 n
said the foreman as started forward.
sssY 8 on al see some er the fight later on,
don, \ fear. What he said was quite
true. 4 could do no good By going for
ward, armed only with my pistols.
Furthermore. though did not want to
shirk my share in this fight, in the re-
suit OF which I more than any one
there was interested. I had not the
slightest desire to see more of it than
was necessary.
The party led by the foreman toiled
half way up the incline and stopped
while the foreman went forward alone.
Reaching the brow Of the little hill, for
q moment he peered cautiously over,
then beckoned to his men, They came
and lay prone, resting their rifles on
the sand in front of them, After the
pause Of a second the foreman must
have given some signal, for the rifles
spoke together in crash. and the white
smoke drifted lazily back, for moment
concealing the men, Another volley,
and much heavier one answered ours
The bullets knocked little spurts of sand
from. the ridge or flew, singing like
mosquitoes. over our heads. 49, -.
Then the shooting became rapid and
irregular. sounding like nothing SO
much as number Of packs of firecrack-
ers get off together. The men were fir
ing at will Lying next to the foreman
Spider was wasting cartridges, to judge
from the ;rapidity of his fire. He was
using one of the rifles he had captured
the night before we had started out,
and each time he fred he would slip in
fresh cartridge to avoid exhausting the
magazine. Once man who lay near
him screamed and then swore, clapping
his hand to his shoulder and withdraw
ing 1t covered with blood. AS he back
ed down the slope Spider offered him
bandanna handkerchief wherewith to
bandage his wound, but he declined it,
and tore off his shirt sleeve, using that
instead.
After awhile the firing elackened,
until there was only an occasional re-
port. Followed by Spider the foreman
came down the slope and walked to-
ward me-
1T amt no good, he called as he
came within speaking distance. sThem
feners kin hold us here JUS so long as
we don't do no more than we're doin.
All we en- do is ter keep 'em under
cover, an we've done that now. Their
amt one of 'em what dares ter show
his head. But while we're waitin here
they en- take them cattle clean back
ter Portland, Me-, if we only give 'em
time enough. We got ter get 'em outer
there somehow
ss'Rush 'em out!'' exclaimed a voice
among the men.
"Reckon it comes ter sunthin like
that, responded the foreman. "We
can't touch their flanks, cause their
ridge is longer'n ours -
A charge, then, clearly was neces-
sary, and it was as clearly my duty to
lead that charge did not want to,
but if hoped to retain my self respect
orthat of my men there was no other
course left open. ...'.@s-- Lt.s : ..z-...
$ ) sail right, y I called, trying tosspeak
unconcernedly. 'Mount, boys, and line
up"
~*'Hold onl'' cried the foreman. Il
don't need half the men I got up thar,
an you II want all you can GET Wait
till I send those don't want back to
you. Spider, who had been listening
to all that was said, made dash for
his horse. Being sternly ordered back
to'his place on the ridge, he went, tax
ing the horse with him.
The foreman sent me nearly two
thirds Of the men he had. They were
all mounted and waiting when the
Ballet Girl rode up and Joined them. l
ordered him away, but he paid no at
tention to the command Not sound
could be heard except now and then
the faint jingling of bit or the whir-
ring click where some man whirled his
cylinder in examining his pistol The
foreman divided the men he had left
AAco c"O PAL t1SS, OIo VI WHICH u6 plaC6O
at''either end Of the ridge they occu-
pied, leaving an open space between
them. Then he signaled that all was
done. l wanted to give the order to ad-
vance, and the only words that oc-
Cured to me at the time were the ones
used to start footraces in.the college I
had left the year before.
"Are you ready?" called. The men
screwed themselves into their saddles
and leaned forward. Some of them
cooked their pistols Then, "On your
marks Setl Col"
Scarcely knowing what I did, darted
the spurs into the hanks of my horse.
He leaped forward. At the same instant
there was a wild yell from the men,
and the ground thundered and shook as
they followed. AS we passed our men
on the hill, their rifles blazed. all to-
gether. | could see the sand fly, from
the opposite slope. $50:
1t seemed to take hours to traverse
the few yards that divided us from our
enemies. In reality it must have been
somewhat less than half minute.
Then we galloped up the RISE. Behind
H. - 4 y - N@ SO