Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-03-02

| II 30 I SnOOt1n n MSoDe Srl.c yer
house m furnicher," said D'ri. "'T
amt decent or t amt nice. We d
better mex tracks an put mild or
tow twixt us n here fore we hev any
trouble. IT amt a-goin t be no Sun
day school. Eff they can. they re a
goin' & TEX us dead or live. Ell they
ever TUX us we would mt be wuth
shucks, nuther on us, efter court-mar-
tial."
81 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-
ouer We have general. a count, mil
lionaire, a marquis. lawyer, an astron-
omer, o. SCOTT and" she added. pat
ting me on the shoulder. "le brave
capitaine! have four guns and three
pistols. and Msieur Bell has arms also.
We shall conquer. We shall make
them bite the dust"
"Guns. did yc say? Jcrushy Jane!
Lee IS hev EN-" said D'ri.
"What did he call me? Mon Dieu
Jerushy Jane! 1t is not L. said the
baroness.
Again I explained the difficulty.
"Ain't very prorer-spoie. said D'ri,
! nrClOgotically. Jest wan { say ct
them air guns or likely { come handy
here most any minute. Give lis guns,
n we II sock il to en-.
I'VE shall sock If to them. we shall
indeed" said she, hurrying out of the
room. 1--WE shall mako them to ruiz
for their lives"
They were all in the dining room
the men of the party--save the gem
Gral. Who could not be awakened. Guns
and pistols were loaded. made a
novel plan If defense that was unani-
mously approved. | posted watch
q. every window. A little after dawn
the baroness from behind a curtain,
saw a squad of horsemen coming
through the grove
'lci! they have come" said she. in
. loud whisper There are not four;
there are many
took my detail of six men above
stairs. Each had a 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
60 cool in my life If | had been wiser,
possibly | should have felt it the more
The horsenen 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 stealthiy, prodding tho
big drab cones on every side. Hornets
and wasps, a great swarm Of them,
sprang thick rs seeds from the hand
OF g. sower. 1t was my part to unhouse
a COLONY OF the long. white-faced hOr-
nets. Gcaded by the ruin of their
nests, they saw tho holding heads be-
low them, ard darted at man and
horse like a flight OF arrows. They
rut thei: hot spurs into flank and face
and neck. saw them strike and fall;
they do hit hard, those big-winged
Vespae. 1t was terrible, the swift
charge Of that winged battalion of the
air. l heard hows of pain below me,
and the thunder of rushing feet The
horses were rearing and plunging, the
men striking with their hats.
l heard D'ri shouting and laughing
at his window.
"Givc 'em he'll, va little blue
devils!' he yelled and there was all
evidence thai they understood him.
Then again. every man Of us opened
his window and fired 4 vollcy at the
scurrying mass
One horse, rearing and leaping on his
hind legs, came down across the back
Of another, ana the two fell heavily in
a rolling, convulsive heap. One, as if
blinded, burned 2 tree, going over on
his withers, all fours flashing in the
air. Some tore off in the thickets,
as unmanageabe as the wild horse.
More than half threw their riders.
Not man OF them pulled trigger;
they were busy enough, God knows.
Not one of them could have hit the sky
with any certainty. never saw such
torrent OF hOrsehair and red caps.
''Whut! Been on the back a one o.
EN- hosses?" said D'ri. telling Of it q
long time after. - ruther o. been
ehet up n barrel with a lot o. cats
n rolled down hill. Good deal better
fer my health. an d "a lukcd moro
like human beir' when | come out.
ITEM felers-they did nj LUX fit t
'sociate with nuthin' or nobody when
We led EN- up t the house--nut one
ON EN-"
Only one Britisher was brought down
by our bullets, and h. had been the
mark of Dri; with Fin a rifle was
never IA plaything. Five others lay
writhing i'll the grass, bereft OF horse,
deserted by their comrades. The
smudges were ready. and the nets.
D'ri and | put On the latter and ran
out. placing n smudge row on every
side Of the Herrtaee. The winged
fighters were quickly driven away. Or
the helpless enemy one had staggered
on in the brush; the Others lay groan-
ing. their faces lumpy and one-sided.
big sergeant had nose Of the look
and diameter OF u goose-egg one car
ried a cheek as large and protuberant
as the 3owl of porkers head; and one
had ears that stuck out like a puffed
bladder. They were helpless. We dis
armed and brought them in, doing all
we could for their comfort with blue