The National tribune., 1903-11-12

"'Well, I'll bet this won't catch on 1
| cat briar,' said Sandbreaker, unsheathin;
his knife and springins forward. III
finish him.
81 jumped before them. You shan
kill wounded man., I said positively.
"sWhy shan't II asked Sandbreakef
stopping with his knife lifted. I Onl!
want one more lick at him. .v''''-5s.
| But you shan't have another lick a
him. You have had your lick already,
II said. % % '''" '""' "',
"T didn't kill him them ~
That was your fault. You had you
chance then"
"'Rut he deserves to die
'Doubtless; but you shan't kill him
now. Wait till he gets WELL
What, wait till he is able to do some
more sneaking deviltryT
"'Certainly, unless you can catch him
before he does It.
"Here, Yank,' said sandbreaker, sui
lenly, as he put his knife back into itl
sheath, you air boss 'kase you air the
Gov'ment as far as we'uns 30, but you
have some moughty funny notions. When
him till he's daid. don't wait for him
|! 10 git able to bite me again before givin
him another clip "a
1--WE have our own ideas about war,
|IHsaid That's all.'
".Well, they won't work in this country,
kin tell yOu,' lie said. sulkily. The only
'wdy you can do with these varmints is to
kill en- off anyway you kin, just as you
would wolves or painters. would give
every one Of them dog-buttons II l could
"SIobbering Swackllammer had recov-
cred car enough by this time to be able
to talk.
".Was it you what swatted me, Life
Sandbreaker? he whined feebly, rubbing
the back of his neck, and what ON airth
did you do hit for? was always your
friend. never done nothin' to you.
Wolf Sloan done made me 60 with him,
| got n chance. l was a-gwine to hunt
you up and tell you he was alter you.'
Gas big a liar as ever, sneered Sand
breaker. My lick didn't 90 you a mite
Of good
"Le'me go with you,' whined Swack-
hammer, seeing us turning away. He had
the hound-like admiration for a man who
had beaten him. L will go through fire
and water for you; l swar' to goodness
/ will
"If you follow us step l will shoot
you down like an egg-suckin' dog said
ThrOckmortOn. Lay down thar! Don't
you move until we air out of sight
"Sandbreaker conducted us to safe
retreat of the layers-Out. thought l was
pretty sharp at wOodcraft, but l never
should have suspected that place. We left
the road suddenly by dry guich that
seemed only few rods long, and not to
lead anywhere. Its gravelly bed left no
trace of our steps or our horses hoofs,
and the brush and briars were so high
above us that there were no broken
branches or disturbed foliage to betray
our entrance. A little way up the gulch
another opened out most unexpected at
right angles. This was apparently closed
by a great rock which had fallen into it,
but when we came right up to the rock
we saw that there was a narrow way
around it leading to rocky shelf of q
cave large enough to shelter us and our
horses except when the rain and wind
came from due west. 1t was but few
hundred yards from the road-sO near
that no one would think of looking for q
place of conceafment that close. The
steps of men and horses on the road could
be heard, andla means of retreat was af-
forded by passage through the cave to
thicket of yeedars connecting with the
limitless woods of, the mountains. In the
back part of ,thef cave was a spring of
be built without hthe least danger of its
smoke being seen by any one passing Oh
the road. We fed our horses, made some
coffee, fried some meat, and spread our
blankets on the, rocky floor. looking for
ward to n sound sleep and rest from our
fatigue, while Sandbreaker would be home
learning the news and sending out run
ners to gather in qthe men for meeting
on the next day. Burt Throckmorton had
already left us on the road for the same
purpose" Sii rs;
But you found your place of refuge
was not so safe after all, and the rebels
slipped up on you while you were sleep
ing" inerjected the impatient Shorty.
''No, the cave was all that Sandbreaker
claimed for it," said Larry.
Before Sandbreaker went, we gave
him a couple Of pounds of roasted coffee,
to distribute among his friends. to assure
them that we were sure-enough Yankees,
and lie left with us n fine little hahn, and
a poke of meal which did not go at all
bad with the rest Of our rations for sup
per and breakfast"
I'm bet it didn't" interjected 81, with
mouth watering recollections, which moth
ing in the clearinghouse fare--I,ot even
Sol. Rosenbaum's gorgeous feast--could
obiiterate.
"The next morning We waited impa-
tiegtly for Elijah Sandbreaker to show up. ,,