The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1902-07-25

goin' TO keep yc here till mornin',
and then he'll hand We over to the
law. dead or alive. You stay down
there. II you lift your head above
the combin's I'll blow it or"
! argued. coayed, threatened, but
it did no good. ! enlarged upon the
subject of the lynves, but he only
cacklcd qucrulously and disdainful-
". He seated himself on a carpen-
tcr's chest beside the combings.
The gun-butt rang on the deck, and
| heard him cock both barrels.
Then he began to complain to
himself about his rheumatism and
the trouble | was making by keeping
him on deck all night instead of in
the comfortable cabin. But he
showed no signs Of weakening. |
can recommend him for a faithful
Waterman.
But il was the lynxcs themselves
that finally solved my problem. Dnr-
ing my colloquy with the old man
they had been very silent and at
tcntivc. Probably they thought that
We were both planning u scheme to
attack them. They kept very close
together. and ! could tell by the
position Of their eyes that one WIS
resting his head on the back of the
Others neck. as he stared ut me.
The moon was now well up in the
eastern sky. As il rose over the end
of the cabin it flung an oblong patch
" light on the deck beneath the
hatch. One Of the eat, skunk across
The corner Of this bright spot. and
the Waterman caught sight Of il.
Got a dog with him. | heard
him muttcr.
In the dim light that now filled
the whole poop ! could see that both
animals were getting ready TO make
a bolt through the opening. The
old mans ears were keen. and hc
must have heard something that
made him suspicious. At any rate,
he stopped his complaining. and for
two or three minutes not a sound
was heard on the schooner.
Then. on the edge Of the patch oi
moonlight. ! saw one of the lynxc'
c%rouching for a spring outside. lii
mate was close TO him. The watch.
man must have looked down til,
hatchway just at that moment, for
rs the animal sprang, one barrel o.
the gun roarcd. lie missed. and tn,
charge buried itself in the deck
The second eat followed the firs.
through the smoke, and the old fcl
low lost his head and fired his othc.
barrel.
Now was my chance, before h,
had time to reload. | ran STOPPING
TO the hatch, popped my hca,
through, and made n grab with botl
hands for the combing. and swun.
myself up. In my hurry my lief
hand missed it. hold, and | fell back
This literally saved my neck.
Something sliced through the al
and struck the combings; the watch
man had thrown n broadaN. Luckil.
for me it passed over my head; luck
, lily also he lost his balance, and cam
tumbllng headlong into the hatch
Without waiting To see whcthc
. or not he had broken his neck,
swung myself up and dashed for III
gngplank. ! lcapcd the rail with
! out touching il. barely missing a ia.
Of 30 feet. rushed down the plan.
: To the ground, and made up throug
, the yard for the rond. 4 few hun
Y drcd feet before me | raw two lynxc
scampcring for the woods, EVIDENT
as badly frightened as ] was, nm
as much relieved to get away froi
C the vessel. On the edge Of the clcaI
t ing ! looked back at the schoone
b and caught n glimpse of a figur
. climbing slowly out Of the hatch. $
knew that the Waterman could n,
( have been badly hurt.
hurried through the woods bac
j To the hotel, and gained my rool
r without being seen, as the rally VI
@ not yet over. was not sorry TO @