Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1904-07-25

like telling Us as much as you can
about it,
He answered in a low. rather indis-
tinct voice very deliberately. pausing
before almost every word 1t was
easy work for the sleepy stenographer.
Il understand. / don't want to go
off my head again before | finish. If
it were only for myself l should tell
you nothing. because if / am TO leave
l should like it better if no one were
punished. But that's a bad communi-
ty over there. They are everlastingly
worrying our people. They've always
been a bother to us, and it's time it
was stopped for good. l don't believe
very much in punishment. but you
can't do a great deal of reforming with |
| the Crossroaders unless you catch them |
young before they're weaned. They |
wean them on whisky, you know. l
realize you needn't have sworn me for |
me to tell you this
Horner and Smith had started at the |
mention of the Crossroads, but they |
subdued their calculations. while Mr..
Barrett looked as if he had known it,
of course. The room was still, save
scribings of the stylographic pen.
81 left Judge Briscoe's and went west
on the pike to big tree. 1t rained,
and stepped under the tree for shell
ter There was a man on the other
side of the fence-Bob Skillet. He
was carrying his gown and hood
suppose it was that-on his arm. Then
| saw two others little farther east
in the middle of the road. | think
they had followed me from the Brls-
Goes or near there. They had their
foolish regalia on, as ale the others
had There was plenty of lightning
to see. The two in the road were SIM
ply standing there in the rain looking
at me through the eyeholes in their
masks | knew there were others
plenty-but l thought they were COM
ing from behind me-the west.
81 wanted to get home-the court
house yard was good enough for me-
so started east toward town. | pass
ed the two gentlemen, and one fell
down as went by him, but the other
. fired a shot as signal, and l got his
hood off his face for it. l stopped
long enough. and it was Force john
son. | know him we'll. Then l ran,
, and they followed. A little ahead of
me l saw six or eight of them spread
across the road. l knew I'd have a
- time getting through, so 1 jumped the
, fence to cut across the fields. l lit in
a swarm of them. 1t had rained them
n just where 1 jumped. l set my back
10 to the fence, but one of the fellows In
the road leaned over and smashed my
- head in, rather-with the butt of a
- gun. I believe I came out from the
- fence. and they made a little circle
around me. No one said anything.
~ saw they had ropes and saplings, and
M | didn't want that exactly, so went
q in to them. | got good many masks
- off before it was over, and l can swear
- to quite a number besides those | told
o+ you
- He named the men slowly and care
- fully. Then he went on: II think the!
~ gave up the notion of whipping. w
~. all got into a bunch. and they couldn'
~, get clear to shoot without hitting som
of their own. and there was a lot O
~ gouging and kicking. One fellow neal
-, ~ got my left eye, and | tried to tea
~ him apart, and he scrshmed goo
- deal. Once or twice l thought l Nigh
! get away, but somebody hammered ~
Ia over the head and face again, and [ &c
- dizzy, and then they all jumped ava
from me suddenly, and Bob Skille
-o stepped up and-and shot me. ID
-, waited for a furry of lightning, and
,,n was slow tumbling down. Some OIL
80, else fired a shotgun, think, cant
49,. sure, about the same time from ii
49, side. / tried to get up, but L couldn
41l and then they got together for a Co
tno sultation The man had hurt-l didn
recognize him-came and looked at N
'en' He was nursing himself all over al
SUI groaned, and l laughed, think; at al
zone 80 W s+omnod his he
H. into nv hand, and after little OF tn
~, quit feeling.
Inc I'm not quite clear about what ha
a' pened afterward. They went away
tne not far. think. There's an old shed,
lllNe cattle shelter, near there, and l thil
- the storm drove them under it to Wa
for slack 1t seemed a long tin
Sometimes | was conscious, sOmetlm
r. wasn't I thought l might
n drowned, but 1 suppose the rain W
n good for me. Then 1 remember being
Az motion, being dragged and carried
VI long way. They carried me up stee
MI short slope and set me down near
4 top knew that was the railroad e.
bankment, and thought they meant
lay me across the track, but it did
Nj occur to them-they are not famll
Ill with melodrama-and long time al
Nj that l felt and heard a great bangi
III and rafting under me and all abb
al me, and it came to me that they b
III disposed of me by hosting me into
VI empty freight car. The odd part OF
} was that the car wasn't empty,
II +horo were two men already in it, 6