The Washington times., 1904-08-07

maddened him and he came at me again
and with such fury that 1 was forced
back a step or two.
Give him the knife" heard one of
the men say, but they kept their dis
lance and did not interfere.
! was awel aware, though, that vic
tory for me would but save me for the
knives Of the other fellows; and even
as I stood face TO face with the MeXi-
can, saw the hatred In his eyes. his seJ
features and heavy breathing. and knew
that he meant 10 kill me. / was fOrmu-
lating a plan to escape.
Assuming to weaken, I let him press
me hard. I lost ground The fellows
back Of me gave way that I might be
pushed to the wall 1 had been aware
that they felt that l was gaining an
advantage. and now the reaction came
to those looking on and they thought
they saw me defeated as also did my
opponent.
To deceive them I made my passes
wildly was not holding my own, so
il looked, but the truth was I was but
awaiting my opportunity.
It came when the Mexican made a
vicious thrust at my throat. 1 stepped
back quickly, avoiding the blow. and
before he could recover himself l struck
| the knife out of his hand and followed
this quickly with a high chest thrust.
He staggered. took a step backward,
and fell heavily on the floor.
Before those in the room could re-
cover from their surprise at the sudden
ending of the affair I drew my re-
voIvers. They had proven cumbersome
| enough during the fight, but now 1 had
/ the opportunity TO make good use of
| them.
Throw up your hands!' I cried.
] The order was obeyed Probably more
| from the suddenness with which 1t had
/ been given than from fear. They were
all before me, huddled together, a
cowed looking set of fellows, and be-
] tween US. stretched upon the floor, was
the man I had run the knife into, APP
| parently dead. the knife undrawn-
Now" 7 said, still covering them
with my leveled revolvers, IF you VIII
| oblige me by not making 1t necessary
that I shoot the whole rascally lot of
YOU. I will get out Of here and leave
YOU TO take care of your man
/ They did not offer any resistance, nor
did they make any reply. I stood aside
/ a little from the door toward which
had backed. and told the boy, who had
remained there all the while. gazing at
the scene with wide-open eyes. to UNLOCK
! the door.
| He looked at me, then at the proprie-
! tor; trembling as if he expected 10 &c
Immediately killed.
Unlock the doOr!' I demanded Sec
ond time.
The boy suddenly came to his senses
but with a strange expression Of awe
on his face, and moved sidewise to the
door. his eyes fixed on me. He turned
the key. threw open the door. and ther
| darted back into the center OF the room
I took the key from the lock and put
il on the outside, taking care to keel
my eyes on the men in the room all tht
while.
As l backed out Of the doorway. re-
Taxing my gaze for a moment. there
was a slight movement among them
/ one of the men cOughed and another
dropped his hands They were like wild
I animals in a cage. I could hold them
under my subsection only as long as
had my eyes fastened upon them. But
In an instant I had brought the door Il
and turned the key.
As I had expected. there was a rusf
at the door, but they found it locked
Then there were cries and curses.
did not wait They would be after me
| the whole lot of them, bat I had gained
| L few seconds start.