Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1903-08-07

numbers OF cattle were oriven of; the
sheep they less seldom take, because they
cannot travel so fast, but they do drive
them off sometimes. You are now the
furthest settler, and consequently the
most exposed. Your estancia is strong
and well built, and you are all well arm
ed and good shots. You are, 1 think.
in that respect, safe, except from sudden
surprise. The dogs are sure to give an
alarm; still l should sleep with every
thing in readiness"
This conversation caused Mr.. Hardy
great uneasiness. 1t was possibility. he
had been quite prepared for; but he could
not feel that the danger was really at
hand withopt an anxious feeling. His
thousand sheep had cost him twelve hun
dred and fifty dollars, and his cattle as
much more. The lambing season had
come and gone, and the flock of sheep
had doubled in number. The cattle, too,
had greatly increased, and the sheep
were nearly ready for shearing. Alto
gether the value Of the stock was over
five thousand dollars. The loss would not
be absolute ruin, as he had still three
thousand dollars Of his original capital
in the bank at Buenos Ayres; but it
would be a very serious loss.
Mr.. Hardy told the boys as much as he
thought proper of the state Of things,
and gave them their instructions. The
girls, who had no idea there was any real
danger, and who had besides an unlimit
ed confidence in their father and broth
ers, were disposed to look upon it as fun,
III md had 30 IL cnrs
ously to be sure that his orders would be
strictly attended to. A box had been
placed in the storeroom on the upper
floor of the tower, and the boys were
given screwdrivers and hammers to open
it. The astonishment Of all was un-
bounded to find that it contained four
dozen large rockets and a dozen blue
lights. One dozen Of these rockets were
ordinary signal rockets, but the rest were
covered with strong tin cases.
"Fireworks!" they all exclaimed in in
tense surprise. "What have you brought
fireworks all this way for, papa?"
Il will tell you, my dears. l knew
that the Indians Of the pampas were
horse Indians, and the idea struck me
that as they could never have seen rock
cts, they would be horribly scared at
night by them. Rockets, you know, are
used in war; and even if the riders are
not frightened, it is quite certain that the
horses would be horribly alarmed by one
or two Of these rushing, fiery things
charging into their midst l therefore
had them specially made for me by a py-
rotechnist in London. One dozen, as you
see, are ordinary rockets of the largest
size; they contain colored balls, which
will give out a most brilliant light. One
of them thrown into the air, even where
we believe any Indians to be, will light
up the plain, and give us a fair view Of
them. The other three dozen are loaded
with crackers. AS you see, l have had
strong case of tin placed over the ordi-
nary case; and one of them striking
man will certainly knock him off his
horse, and probably kill him. The roar,
the rush, the train Of fire, and finally the
explosion and the volley of crackers in
their midst would be enough to frighten
their horses altogether beyond control.
What do you think Of my idea?"
Capital, capital!' they all cried
But how, papa" Hubert asked, will
you manage to make your rockets go
straight at the Indians? All the rockets
ever saw went straight up into the air."
Yes, Hubert, because they were point
ed up. A rocket goes whichever way It
is pointed. Rockets in war are fred
through a tube, or from a trough. We
will use the trough. Set to at once, boys,
and make trough about four feet long,
without ends. 1t must stand on legs high
enough to raise it above the level Of the
wall round the top of the tower. Let
there be two legs on the front end, and
one leg behind; and this leg behind must
have hinge, so that, when it stands
upright, it will be six or eight inches
higher than the front, in case we want
to fire at anything close at hand. When
we want to elevate the head of the rock
ct to fire at anything at a distance, we
pub the hind leg back, so that that end
is lower than the front. Put q spike at
the end Of the leg, to let it have a firm
hold on the floor"
CTo be continued)