The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1900-05-16

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"Come herel Hear me9' commanded
the foreman again. "Look here. young
man. he continued as Spider came re.
iuctantly forward. ut ain't good bust.
ness lettin your mad get up 80 bad you
lose yer head, not for no one what
works roun horses an cattle. You had
orders too. Nobody what won't obey
orders works in my gang. Their WASH (
no shootir called for. Besides. he add
ed as an afterthought. ''you a-knowed
II you'd had any senso that You could
not hit nothin at that range" Spider
glanced at the foreman. and his face
fell.
"That's right los my head clean.
| know / did. i won't do it again an.
say. I'm awful sorry. he said penitent-
ly. Carefully lowering the hammer, he
placed the rife. apparently as a sort of
token OF surrender. in the foreman e
hands Then. without another look at
the men VINO were still capering about
on the ridge. he went away to saddle
horse.
"The boys got the bes' eyes of any
body in the outfit. all right enough"
eaid the foreman. setting down the
rifle. II alwus knowed that. but yet
don't believe he en- tell who those men
are, not SO far away as that
II certainly seemed impossible that
Spider could distinguish any one at so
great distance. ran into the tent tc
get pair Of fieldglasses. but when
returned the men had disappeared.
"Jus' give one yell an then walloped
on benin the ridge thar as you went
in. said the foreman. "They was lef'
benin by the res er ther gang SOS ter
watch us, reckon. an see what I,e're
a-gonter do
"Well. they won't watch nothin,'
commented Lee. who had strolled up to
ua They're drunk an they'll get
drunker. specially il Hollis is there.
He's ben sober 80 long now that he
won't stop soon once he gets started"
"Meekness an sobriety an the rest of
1t amt his style enough ter hurt"
agreed the foreman. "But maybe Hol-
lie wasn't there. Look here, you kid"
ne called as Spider rode up on the big
gest and. next to his own. the ugliest
horse had brought from the ranch.
forgot ter tell yen before that you're
likely ter steer up agains' heap er
trouble one er these times IL you 70
shootin at men what you don't know.
specially when they're so fur of You
can't Lit 'em. 1t amt perlite."
SO earnest was Spider that he failed
for the moment TO see that the foreman
was joking.
II did know 'em-two of 'em.-Hol-
lis an that there greaser. he cried.
II saw 'em. Deed I did. Honest.''
"Sor replied the foreman. with as.
sumed gravity. "Well. il that's the
case. jus you climb down. often that
ther horse an 60 an get yer supper fore
you start"
Don't need ter. Got some grub here
in my cerones (saddlebags). The Bally
Girl. give il to Inc JUS now. Mayn't
go" The foreman waved his hand and
smiled. With an answering grin Spider
galloped away.
In view Of the distance that must be
travelled we hardly expected to see
Spider again befoio daylight. Making
allowance for delays. we hoped to get
away on the following evening. To me
the wait Of "a hours seemed fatal
waste OF time. The cattle would prob.
ably be we'll into Mexico before that
"Prawb'ly they will. agreed the
foreman. "TheD all we got ter do is ter
get 'em outer Mexico again, that's
all. This was delightfully."- simple in
theory The practice. feared. would
be somewhat difficult. 1t was obviously
impossible for rs to move. as we were
then situated. Until our reinforcement
should come we could do nothing but
wait.
Much sooner than was expected. how.
ever. these re-enfcrcements came. The
men were just finishing their supper. In
order to guard against possible though
unlikely attempt at surprise. one of
their number. posted In position from
which he could watch both the mesa
and the river fat. was acting as senti.
mel Suddenly he hailed the camp.
"Ther's gang er men an horses com.
In mp the river. he cried. In an in.
slant every man was on his feet. had
caught mp his rife and was running to
the edge of the cliff. sheltering himself
behind the rocks that fringed it. Some
OF the men were ordered to fall back in
order to guard rs against surprise from
the rear. They went. and then for mo-
ment there was silence on the top of the
cliff. A buzz Of conversation from the
men below could be plainly heard.
''ThemS fellers amt greasers. any
how, whispered the foreman.
''How do you known" asked
'Why. greasers talks high up in their
heads. like women. er kids These men
talks low in ther chests. like us. Lis
ten.''
''Hello the campi' hailed some one