The Minneapolis journal., 1902-08-12

4 4 & ~ d
manded the road. and the rush of the mob
into the village wastchecked. but only for the
instant.
A rickety woodshed, which formed portion
OF the Skillet mansion, closely Joined the
Last Chance side of the family place of
business. Scarcely had the guns of the de-
tenders sounded. when, with a loud shout,
Lige Willetts leaped from an upper window on
that side of the burning saloon and landed
on the woodshed. and, Immediately climbing
to the roof Of the house itself, applied a fiery
brand to the. time-worn clapboards. Ross
schofield dropped on the shed, close behind
him. his arm lovingly enfolding a gallon jug
of whisky, which he emptied tnot without evil
dent regret) upon the sclapboards as Lige fired
them. Flames burst, forth almost instantly,
and the smoke, uniting with that now rolling
out of every window of the saloon. went up
to heaven in scumbrous, gray column
AS the flames began to spread, there was a
rapid fusilade from the, rear Of the house, and
hundred. men and more. who had kept on
through the fields to the north, assailed 1t
from behind. Their shots passed clear through
! the fimsy partitions, and there was horrid
screeching, like a beasts howls, from within.
The front door was thrown. open, and a lean,
fierce-eyed girl, with. case-knife in her
| hand, ran out in the face of the mob. At
| sound Of the shots in the rear they had begun
to advance on the house "a second time. and
| Hartley Bowlder was the nearest man to the
| girl. With awful words, and shrieking incon-
ceivably, she made straight at Hartley and
! attacked him with the knife. She struck at
him again and again, and. in her anguish Of
hate and fear, was so extraordinary a spec
Etacle that she gained for her companions the
four or five seconds they needed to escape
from the house.. AS she hurled herself alone
at the oncoming torrent, they sped from the
| door unnoticed, sprang over, the fence and
reached the open lots to the west before they
were seen by Willetts from the roof.
Don't let 'em fool your he shouted. Look
to your left! There they go! Don't let 'em
get away!' .-,...
The Gross -Roaders were running across the
field :Theywere Bob Skillet and his younger
! brother, and Mr.. Skillet was badly damaged; !;
he seemed to- be holding his jaw on his face
with both hands The girl turned, and sped
after them. She was over the, fence almost
las they were, and the three ran in
single file, the girl last. She was either mag
Enifcently sacrfcial and fearless, or she cum
ningly calculated that the regulators would
take no chances Of killing WON an child, for
She kept between their guns and her two
companions, trying Ito cover and shield the
I latter with her tfrail body. ~. =
"Shoot, Lige, ,"%called Watts: ''If we fire
from here we'll hit the girl shoot!'
Willetts and Ross schof1eld were still
standing on the roof, atthe edge, out of the
smoke and both fired at the same time. The
and they had nearly reached the other side OF
the field when suddenly, without any pre-
monitory gesture the elder Skillet dropped
fiat ON his face. =. The Cross
Readers stood = by each other thai
day, for four or five 5men ran out of the
nearest <shanty into the open, lifted the pros
trate figure from the; ground and began to
carry it back with them. But Mr.. Skillet
was alive; his curses were heard above all
other sounds. Lige and Schof1eld fired again
and one of the rescuers staggered. Neverthe-
less, as the two men slid down from the
roof the burdened Cross-Roaders were seer
to+ break into a run; and at that with an
other, YELL -fercer, wilder, more joyous thar
the first, the Plattvlle men followed.
The yell rang loudly in the ears Of ole
Wilkerson, who had remained back in the
road, and at the same instant he heard an.
other shout behind him. Mr.. Wilkerson hat
not shared in the attack, but, greatly pre-
occupied with his own histrionic affairs, was
proceeding up the pike alone-except for the
unhappy yellow mongrel, still dragged along
by the slip-noose-and alternating as was
his natural wont, lDfrom one fence to tht
other; crouchng etehild every bush to fire
an imaginary rife at his dog, and theI
springing out, withztriumphmant bellowings
to fall prone upon sthe. terrified animal, Il
was after one Of these victories that shout
of warning was raised behind him, and Mr.
Wilkerson, by 4graee11of 1.-The god Bacchus
rolling out Of the zin time to save his
life, saw horse dash by him-a big, black
horse whose polished flanks were dripping
with lathers Warren Smith was the rider
He was waving aQslip of yellow paper high
in the air. .4e
He rode up the slope, and drew rein beyond
the burning buildings,- just ahead of thos.