Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1904-12-30

better mex tracks an put a mild er
tew 'twixt us N here fore we hev any
trouble. II amt a-goin' t. be no Sum
day school. Eff they can, they re a.
goin' t. tex us dead er live. Eff they
ever TUX us we would MT be with
shucks. nuther on us, efter court-mar-
tial"
Il shall not permit you to co." said
the baroness. "They may be here now,
about the house in the dark. They
would shoot you, they would stab you,
they would cause you to die as you
went. No, shall permit you not to
go. There are four of them? Very
we'll; we shall fight here, we shall con-
quer. We have general, count, mil
lionaire, a marquis, a lawyer, an astron-
omer, scout and" she added, pat
ting me on the shoulder, ''le brave
capitaine! have four guns and three
pistols, and M'sieur Bell has arms also.
We shall conquer. We shall make
them bite the dust"
Gums, did We say? Jerushy Jane!
Le' s hev EN-" said D'ri
what did he call me? Mon Dieu!
Jerushy Jane! 1t is not l." said the
baroness.
Again l explained the difficulty.
"Ain't very proper-spoke," said D'ri,
apclogetically. "Jest wan t. say ct
them air guns er likely t. come handy
here most any minute. Give us guns.
n we III sock it to EN-"
I'VE shall sock it to them, we shall
indeed" said she, hurrying out of the
room. 1--WE shall make them to run
for their lives"
They We're all in the dining room
the men of the party-save the gen.
eral. who could not be awakened. Guns
and pistols were loaded made a
novel plan of defense that was unani-
mously approved. 1 posted watch
a. every window. A little after dawn
the baroness, from behind curtain,
saw a squad of horsemen coming
through the grove.
"1ci! they have comet" said she, IN
. loud whisper. There are not four;
there are many"
took my detail of six men above
stairs. Each had strip of lumber we
had found in the shop, and each care
fully raised window, waiting the sig
nal. knew my peril, but was never
30 cool in my life. If had been wiser,
possibly I should have felt it the more.
The horsemen promptly deployed,
covering every side of the mansion.
They stood close, mounted, pistol and
saber ready. Suddenly gave the sig
nal. Then each Of us thrust out the
strip Of lumber stealthily prodding the
big drab cones on every side. Hornets
and wasps, great swarm Of them,
Of sower. 1t was my part to unhouse
colony of the long. white-faced hor-
nets. Goaded by the ruin of their
nests, they saw the nodding heads be-
low them, and darted at man and
horse like flight Of arrows. They
put their hot spurs into flank and face
and neck. l saw them strike and fall;
they do hit hard, those big-winged
vespae. It was terrible. the swift
charge Of that winged battalion of the
air. I heard bowls of pain below me,
and the thunder of rushing feet. The
horses were rearing and plunging, the
men striking with their hats.
heard D'ri shouting and laughing
at his window.
,"Give 'em hell, We little blue
devils!" he yelled; and there was all
evidence that they understood him.
Thep, again, every man of us opened
his window and fired volley at the
scurrying mass.
One horse, rearing and leaping on his
hind legs, came down across the back
Of another, and the two fell heavily in
rolling, convulsive heap. One, as If
blinded, bumped a tree, going over on
his withers, all tours flashing in the
air. Some tore off in the thickets,
as unmanageable as the wild horse.
More than half threw their riders
Not man of them pulled a trigger;
they were busy enough, God knows.
Not one of them could have hit the sky
with any certainty. I never saw such
torrent of horsehair and red caps.
"Whut! Been on the back O. one O.
'em hosses?" said D'ri, telling of it a
long time after. cd ruther o. been
shet up n barrel with lot o. cats
n rolled down hill. Good deal better
fer my health, an d "a luked more
like human bein' when come out
Them fellers-they did MT LUX fit t.
'sociate with nuthin' er nobody when
We led 'em up t. the house-nut one
| on 'em."
Only one Britisher was brought down
by our bullets, and he had been the
mark Of D'ri; with him a rifle was
never a plaything. Five others lay
writhing in the grass, bereft Of horse
deserted by their comrades. The
smudges were ready, and the nets
Drt and put on the latter and rar
out, placing smudge row on every
side OF the Hermitage. The winged
fighters were quickly driven away. o.
the helpless enemy one had staggered
OF in the brush: the others lay groan.
Ing, their faces lumpy and one-sided
A big sergeant had nose of the lool
and diameter of goose-egg; one car.
ried a cheek as large and protuberan
| as the jowl of porker's head; and one
had ears that STUCK out like a puffee
bladder. They were helpless. We dis
armed and brought. them in, doing al
we could for their comfort with blue
clay and bruised plantain 1t was hare
on them, have often thought, but
saved an ugly fight among ladies, and
no doubt, many lives. 1 know, if the.
had taken us. D'ri and I would neve
have got back.
4 / have saved myself many a tim
! by strategy, but chose the sword al
ways if there We're an even chance