The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1900-05-23

nave given SONIC SlSnal, Tor 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
Then the shooting became rapid and
irregular sounding like nothing so
much as number of packs of firecrack.
ers set 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, claiming
his hand to his shoulder and withdraw.
ing 1t covered with blood. As he back
ed down the slope Spider offered him a
bandanna handkerchief wherewith to
bandage his wound. but he declined il.
and tore off his shirt sleeve. using that
instead
After awhile the firing slackened,
until there was only an occasional re-
Port Followed by Spider the foreman
came down the slope and walked to.
ward me.
ut ain't no good" he called as he
came within speaking dista nee ''Them
fellers kin hold rs 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
ain't 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
Rush 'em outi" exclaimed a voice
among the men.
"Reckon it comes ter sunthin like
that" responded the foreman. 1--WE
can't touch their Hanks. cause their
ridge is longer'n ours.'
A charge. then. clearly was neces.
sary, and 1t was as clearly my duty to
lead that charge. did not want to,
but II l hoped to retain my self respect
or that OF my men there was no other
course left open.
"All right. II called. trying to speak
unconcernedly. "Mount. boys. and line
up"
"Hold onl" cried the foreman. IL
don't need half the men I got up thar.
an you'll want all you can get. Wait
till / send those don't want back to
yon. 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 mp and joined them.
ordered him away. but he paid no at
tention to the command Not sound
could Go 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
into two parties. one of which he placed
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 l
had left the year before. .
care yon readyP" I called. The men
screwed themselves into their saddles
and leaned forward. Some of them
cooked their pistols Then. ION your
marks Setl Col"
Scarcely knowing what did, darted
the spurs into the flanks of my horse
He leaped forward. At the same instant
there was 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. l could see the sand fly from
the opposite slope.
1t aeemed to take hours to traverse
the few yards that divided Us from our
enemies In reality it must have been
somewhat less than half a minute
Then we galloped up the rise. Behind
it's crest there was q row of malignant
faces that Immediately vanished behind
clouds Of rifle smoke. My horse reared,
lurched forward and recovered himself
dropped the reins on the pommel and
began firing rapidly with a pistol held
in each hand. Another yell broke from
our men as they charged over the ton
of the ridge. The six shooters began
to talk rapidly and all at once. inter
rupting the rifles.
One Of our enemies turned and ran
then threw up his hands. seemed 10
stumble and fell. saw that it was
Hollis, and I wondered vaguely why he
was behaving in such a manner and
whether he was as badly frightened as
l was. Then something struck me as a
club might strike, and for time every.