The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1902-03-21
CHAPTER XIV.
THE FIRST BLOW

" CHAPTER NV.
THE FIRST BLOW.
I was so pleased at having given the
slip to Long job that l / began to enjoy
myself and look around me with some
interest on the range land that l was
in.
I a crossed a marshy tract full of
willows, bulrushes, and odd outiand-
ish, swampy trees, and I had now come
out upon the skirts of an open piece OF
undulating, sandy country, about a
mile long, dotted with a few pines, and
a great number of contorted trees, not
unlike the oak in growth, but pale in
the foliage, like willows. On the far
sile Of the open stood one of the hills,
with two quaint, craggy peaks, Shin
ing wildly in the sun.
I now felt for the first time the Joy
of exploration. The isle was %ninha
tied; my shipmates'1 had left behind,
| II nothing lived in front of me but
| dumb brutes and fowls. l turned
hither and thither among the trees.
| Here and there were lowering plants
unknown to me: here and there l saw
snakes, and one raised his head from
a ledge of a rock and Kissed at me with
g. noise not unlike the spinning OF a
top. Little did l suppose that he was a
deadly enemy. n that the noise was
the famous rattle.
. LAX l. III L " lcAbS ~ -
these oaw-like trees-live or evergreen
oaks, 1 heard afterward they should
be called-which grew low along the
sane like brambles, the boughs cur
iously twisted. the foliage compact, like
thatch. The thicket stretched down
from the top one Of the sandy knobs.
spreading and growing taller as 1t went
until it reached the margin Of the
broad. reedy fen, through which the
hearts Of the little rivers soaked its
way into the anchorage. The marsh
was steaming in the strong sun, and
the outline of the Spy-glass trembled
through the haze. y.
All at once there began to go a sort
of hustle among the bulrushes; a wild
duck flew up with a quacls, another fol-
lowed, and soon Over the whole surface
of the marsh a great cloud Of birds
hung screaming and circling in the
air. I judged at once that some of my
shipmates must be drawing near along
the borders Of the fen. Nor was I de-
ceived; for soon I heard the very dis
tant and low tones Of a m voice,
which as I continued to give ear, grew
steadily louder inc nearer
This put me in great fear, and I
crawled under cover of the nearest live
oak and %squatted there, hardening, as
silent as a mouse.
Another voice answered.; n then
the first voice, which 1 now recognized
to be Silver's, once more took up The
story, and ran on for a long while in a
stream, only now and again interrupts
ed by the other. BY the sound they
must have been talking earnestly, and
almost fercely; but no distinct word
came to my hearing.
At last the speakers seemed to have
paused, n perhaps to have sat down;
for not only did they cease to draw any
na9 car h11t tho hir6S thaJnEa1vaq hap9 n
to grow more quiet, and to settle again
to their places in the swamp.
And now 1 began to feel that I was
neglecting my business; that since ]
had been SO foolhardy as to come ashore
with these d~esperadoes, the least ]
could do was to overhear them at their
c~ouncils; n my plan and obvious
duty was to draw as close as l could
manage, under the favorable ambush
of the crouchlng trees.
I could tell the direction Of the speak
ers pretty exactly, not only by the
sound of their voices. but by the be-
havior of the few birds that still hung
in alarm above the heads of the In
truders.
Crawling on a1l-fours, l made
steadily but slowly toward them; til
at last, raising my read to a N aper-
/ ture among the leaves, I could see cleal
down into d little green dell beside the
. marsh, and closely set about with trees
, where Long John Silver and another
: of the crew stood face to face in con
| versation.
The sun beat full Upon them. Silver
had thrown his hat beside him on the
!. ground, and his great, smooth, blonde
face, all shining with heat. was lifted
. to the other mans in a ind of appeal
Mate" he was saying, its because
r I thinks ~gold-dust of you-gold-dust
, and you may lay to that! If l hadn'
= took to you like pitch, DO you think X
have been here a~-warning of you? All
, up-you can't make nor mend; it's t.
, save your neck that I'm a-speaking
and If one of the wild 'uns knew il
! where I'D I be, Tom-now, tell me
e where 'ud ! be?"
: silver" said the other man-an'
I observed lie was not only red in tn
e face, but spoke as hoarse as a crow
v and his voice shook, too, like a tau
ro~pe-'Silver.' says he, you're ole
e and you're honest, or has the name TO
n it; and you've money, too, which lots Q
poor sailors hasn't; and you're brave
s or I'm mistook. And will you tell m
you'll let yourself be led away wit
that kind Of a mess Of swabs? not you
: AS sure as God sees me, I'd sooner los
d my hand. If I turn again my dooty-
6 CONTINUED next week.
# Belgium has 1850 tayerns and ga
1oopa for the sale of liOuor. r.