Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1902-04-12
CHAPTER XVIII.
NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY THE
DOCTOR-END OF THE FIRST
FIGHTING.

OF the branches as they breasted across
a bit of thicket.
1 began to see we should have n
brush for IL in earnest, and looked 10
my printing. -
dead shot. Give him your gun; his own
is useless"
They exchanged guns. and TrelaW-
ney, silent and cool as he a been since
the beginning of the hustle, hung a mo-
ment on his heel to see hat all was ut
for service. Attic same time observing
Gray TO be unarmed, l handed him my
cutlass. 1t did all our hearts good TO
see him spit on his hands, knit his
brows. and make the blade sing
through the air. II was plain from eV-
cry line of his body that our new hand
was worth his salt.
Forty PAGES further we came TO the
edge OF the wood and saw the stock
ade I'm front VI us. We struck the In
closure about the middle OF the south
side, and, almost at the same time
seven mutineers-Job Anderson, the
boatswain, at their head, appeared in
full cry at the southwestern corner.
They passed, as If taken aback, and
before they could recover not only the
squire and |, but Hunter Joyce
from the block-housc had time TO fire.
The four shots came In rather a scat
tering yolley; but they did the busl-
ness; one OF the enemy actually fell,
and the rest, without hesitation, turned
n plunged into the trees.
After reloading, we walked down the
outside Of the palisade to see the fall
len enemy. He was stone ~dead-shot
through the heart.
We began TO rejoice over our good
success, when just at that moment a
pistol cracked In the bush, a ball whis-
tied close past my ear, n poor Tom
Redruth stumbled ana fell full length
on the ground. Both the squire n /
returned the shot; but as we had moth
ing 10 aim at, It Is probable we only
wasted powder. Then we reloaded, n
turned our attention to Door Tom. .
The captain and Gray were already
examining him, and l saw with half an
eye that MI was over
l believe the readiness Of u return
volley had sCattered.the mutineers once
more, for we were suffered without
furthr m~olestation TO get the poor old
gamekeeper hoisted over the stockade
and carried; grooming n bleeding,
into the log house.
Poor old fellow, he had not uttered
one word Of surprise, complaint, fear,
or even aCquiesCenCe, from the very
beginning OF our troubles till now,
when we had laid him down In the log
house to die. He had lain like a Trojan
ehind his mattress In the gallery; he
had followed every order silently, dog
gedly and well. he was the Oldest of
our party by n score OF years; and now,
sullen, old, serViceable servant, 1t was
he that was to die.
The squire dropped down beside him
on his knees and kissed his hand, cry
ing ike q child.
BE / going, doctor?" he asked.
tom, my man." said /, you're 60
ing home"
Il wish l had n HEX at them with the
gun first" he replied.
"Tom," said the squire, SAY you for
give me, Won't you?"
would that be respectful like, from
me to you, squire was the answer
"Howsoever, so be It, amen!'
After a little while of silence, he said
he thought somebody might read a
prayer. It's the custom. sir" he ad-
ded. apologetically. And not long after,
without another word, he passed away.
In the meantime the captain, whom
had observed to be wonderfully
swollen about the chest and pockets,
had turned out a great many various
s~tories-the British colors, a bible, a
coil of stoutish rome, pen, ink, the log
book, and pounds Of tobacco. lie had
found a longish fir tree lying felled and
cleared in the Enclosure, and, with the
help Of Hunter, h had set 1t up at the
corner OF the log house where the
trunks crossed and made an angle.
Then climbing on the roof, he had
with his w hand bent and run up
the colors.
This seemed nightly to relieve him.
He reentered the log house and set
about counting the stores, as il moth
ing else existed. But he had an eye
on Toms passage for all that; n as
soon as all was over came Onward with
another flag and reverently spread 1t
on the body.
Don't you take on, sir" he said.
shaking the squire's hand. "All's well
with him; no fear for q hand that's
been shot down i'm his duty to captain
and owner. 1t mayn't be good divinity,
but it's n fact
Then he pulled me aside.
"Dr. Livesey," he said, sin how many
weeks do you and squire expect the
Consort?"
/ told him It vas a question, not of
weeks, but OF months: that If we were
not back by the end OF August, Blandly
was to send TO find us: but neither
sooner on later. You can calculate
for yourself" ! said.
why, yes" returned the captain,
scratching his head, IAN making a
large allowance, sir, for all the gifts OF
providence, / should say we were pref
ty close hauled"
How do you mean?" l asked.
ITS Il pity, sir, we lost the second
load. That's what j mean" replied the
captain. AS for powder and shot,
| Wen DO. But the rations are short,
very short-so short, Or. Livesey, that
! were perhaps rs well without that eX-
fHsn l1nInin '#
And he pointed to the dead body UNI
der the flag.
Just then, With a roar and a whistle,
a round shot passed high above the
roof OF the log house n pumped far
beyond us in the wood.
"Oho.' said the captain. Blaze
away! You've little enough powder
already, my lads"
AT the second trial the aim was bet
ter and the ball descended inside the
stockade, scattering Il cloud of sand,
but doing no further damage.
Captain said the squire, "the
house is quite invisible from the ship.
II must be Il flag they are aiming at.
Would it not ne wiser to take il in?"
Strike my colorsi" cried the cap
tain. mo, sir, not l." and, as soon as
he had said the words, l think we all
agreed with him. For 1t was not only
a piece of stout, seamanly good feeling;
IT was good policy besides and showed
our enemies that we despised their
~cannonade.
All through the evening they kept
laundering away. Ball after ball few
over or fell short, or kicked up the sand
in the Enclosure; but they had to fire
so high that the shot fell dead and
buried itself in the soft sand. We had
no ricochet to fear; end though one
popped in through the roof of the log
house and out again through the floor,
we soon got used to hat sort of horse
play and minded it no more than
cricket.
There is one thing about all this"
observed the good captain; the wood