Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1902-07-30
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His Friend,
The Enemy
BY WILLIAM WALLACE CoOK
Author Of Rogers Of Butte" 1.-THE Spur Of
necessity. Mr.. Fit. Astroloeer," etc.
Copyright, 1901, by the 8. &. Mcclure Co.,
CHAPTER Nv

IN the night Col. Keever guarded
the county records, he took with him
INTO the courthouse Winchester
r1ne and pint flask. Kentucky born
ana ored it is to be presumed that
ne was as familiar with one of these
weapons as he was with the other.
be that as it may, however, it is GER
tain that he fortified his courage
to such an extent that he slept
soundly throughout all the opera
lions connected with the moving of
the building.
SO level was the road leading from
the courthouse site in Concord to
the vacant square in Harmony, and
SO skillfully did the enemy work, that
Coz. keever, If he realized anything
at all, could only think that the
storm was most furious and that
this half-finished structure was sad
~ in need of underpinning.
a never-to-be-forgotten picture he
presented to Capt. Blue and his In
vincibles, who did the work connect
ed with the moving. In the light of
an occasional lightning flash the
Colonel could be viewed at leisure
by any one who wished to walk along
beside one of the windows and peer
into the single unfinished room
which the building contained.
The great man was lying upon a
cot in such way as to reveal the
noble proportions of his platonic
brow. Under the cot was the tin box
containing the precious records and
close beside the cot lay the empty
flask. The Colonel's pillow partly
covered the rife, only the stock and
muzzle of the weapon being in evil
dence. AS the Colonel slept he
smiled-smiled condescendingly in
that superior manner which was
part of him. He was dreaming
dreams, no doubt, and pleasant ones.
1t was late in the morning when
the awakening came. The rain had
ceased, the clouds had dispelled and
burst of June sun trailed in
through an eastern window. The
Colonel stirred restlessly, opened his
eyes and yawned. The melancholy
gaze he rested on the empty flask
changed to a look of pride as his
eyes took in the box of records, all
intact. 1t would have taken an army
corps to separate him from those
documents.
Suddenly he had startling
thought and he jerked spasmodically
and blinked in his bewilderment.
Then he lay quite still, thinking.
What business had the morning sun
shining through a western window?
The courthouse, at the present stage,
had only one glazed opening and
nothing but blank wall on it's east
ern side. What did this mean? The
Colonel rubbed his forehead. Was it
possible that he had slept into the
afternoon and that the sun was de-
scending instead of rising? He got
up and hurriedly dressed himself.
Then he walked to the window.
Merciful powers! There were iron
bars across the outside of it! The
mystery deepened. AS he stood
there staring 10, the face of Dingle,
of the hated Dingle, appeared and
looked in at him.
The Colonel staggered against the
wall and caught his head in his hands.
Was this a hideous dream or was it
reality? Dingle remained at the win
dow but spoke no word. All he did
was to grin, in sarcastic way and
draw the lid partly down over his
glass eye.
That. half-win]x broke the spell.
With a roar the Colonel rushed to the
cot and grabbed up the Winchester.
"Villain!" he cried, tossing the gun
to his shoulder. "Your insolence has
overshot the mark! You have dared
to come into this town again and this
time I've got you. Egad, we'll teach
you lesson now that you won't soon
forget"
Once more Dingle drew down the
left eyelid. The Winchester seemed
to have no terrors for him and the
Colonel's fury passed all bounds. He
pulled the trigger-not with the in
tention to Stay but merely to brighten
and to arouse the town. There was
q sharp click, but no report. The
Colonel pumped" the lever and tried
again, but with like result. Then Din
gle found his tongue. "Don't excite
yourself, Keever," said he. "Capt.
Blue unloaded the magazine of that
gun last night"
"Gad!" yelled the Colonel. "Blue
is here, too, is he? And he came in on
me last night and tempered with my
rifle!" He lifted his voice to its
strongest. up Concordians! Hello!
Hey! The enemy, the enemy!"
AS he finished he hurled the Win
chester at Dingle and the resonant
call ended in the crash of glass. Keev-
er sprang to the door. The key had
been removed from the inside of the
lock and the door did not respond to
his furious pull. He hurled himself
upon it and struggled like demon.
So furious was the onslaught that the
knob came away and the great man
was precipitated to the floor. A laugh
foated in from the window Gaining
his feet after an elephantine tussle,
he braced himself in a corner and
turned his cleaning eyes upon the
barred opening. Dingle had been
Joined by others, whose heads were
crowded together in the narrow
space; and when the Colonel had rec
ognized Capt. Blue, Mr.. Boomer, Maj
Harp, .Vlandingham, Barney and few
more, his brain became dizzy and he
staggered to the cot. Dropping down
there he buried his face in his hands.