Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1906-08-17

man at Signal Hill saw the arms of the
semaphore at the settlement make three
motions thus:
The semaphore was furnished with
three revolving arms, fixed one above
the other. The upper one denoted units,
and had six motions, indicating one to
six. The middle one denoted tens, ten
to sixty. The lower one marked hum
dreds, from one hundred to six hundred.
The lower and upper arms whirled
out. That meant three hundred and six.
A ball ran up to the top Of the post.
That meant one thousand.
Number 1905, or, being interpreted,
prisoners AbscOnded."
There's a bolt" said Jones, the sig
mailman.
The semaphore signaled again
Number 1411."
with armsv' Jones said, translating
as he read. Come here Harry! here's
a go"
But Harry did not reply, and, looking
down, the Waterman saw a dark figure
suddenly fill the doorway. The boasted
semaphore had failed this time, at all
events. The "bolters" had arrived as
soon as the signal!
The man sprang at his carbine, but the
intruder had already possessed himself
OF it. ITS no use making fuss,
Jones! There are eight Of us. Oblige
me by attending to your signals"
Jones knew the voice 1t was that Of
John Rex. REPLY, can't your" said
Rex, cOolly. Captain Burgess is In a
hurry. The arms of the semaphore at
the settlement were, in fact, gesticulat-
ing with comical vehemence.
Jones took the strings in his hands,
and, with his signal book open before
them, was about to acknowledge the
message, when Rex stopped him. Send
this message" he said mot seen! Sig
nal sent to Eaglehawkw
Jones paused irresolutely. He was
himself convict, and dreaded the inev-
liable cat that he knew would follow
this false message. IF they finds me
out he said. Rex cooked the car
bine with so decided a meaning in his
black eyes that Jones banished his hest.
tation at once and began to signal Gag
erly' There came up clinking of metal
and a murmur from below. whats
keeping yer, Dandy?"
"All right Get those irons off and
then Wen talk, boys. I'm putting salt
on old Burgess tail" The rough lest
was received with roar. and Jones.
looking mOmentarily down from his win
dow on the staging, saw, in the waning
hght, group of men freeing themselves
from their irons with a hammer taken
from the guard house; while two. al
READY freed, were casting buckets Of
water on the beacon woodplle. The SEN
try was lying bound at a little dis
| lance.
Now" said the leader of this sur
prise party, signal to Woody Island "
Jones perforce obeyed "Say, An es-
cape at the mines! Watch One-tree
Point! Send on to Eaglehawkv Quick.
now" ~D''A'
Jones, cOmprehending the force Of
this maneuver, which would have the
effect of distracting attention from the
Neck, executed the order with grin,
You're a knowing one, Dandy Jack, -
said he.
John Rex acknowledged the compli-
ment by unlocking the carbine. "Hold
out your hands! Jenny Vetch! Come
up. and tie our friend Jones. Gabbett.
have you got the axesP' There's only
one" said Gabbett. 'aThen hiring That
and any tucker you can lay your hands
on Have you tied him2 On we 90.
then" And in the space of five min
utes from the time when unsuspectinR
Harry had been silently clutched BY two
forms, who rushed upon him out of the
shadow of the huts, the Signal Hill sta
ton was deserted.
AT the settlement Burgess was foam
ing. Nine men to seize the Long Bay
boat, and get half an hours start of the
alarm signal was an unprecedented
achievement! What could Warder
Troke have been about? .Warder Troke.
however, found eight hours afterward
disarmed, gagged and bound in the
scrub, had been guilty of no negligence.
How could he tell, that at a certain
signal from Dandy Jack, the nine men
he had taken to Stewards BAY would
rush" him; and, before he could dra W
a pistol, truss him like a chicken? The
worst of the gang, Rufus Dawes. had
volunteered for the hated duties of ollie
driving, and Troke had felt himself Sc
cure. How could he possibly guess that
there was plot in which Rufus Dawes
OF all men, had refused to join?
Constables, mounted and on foot
were dispatched to scour the bush round
the settlement. Burgess, confident, from
the reply of the Signal Hill soma phore
that the alarm had been given at Eagle,
hawk isthmus, promised himself the re.
capture of the gang before many hours,
and giving orders to keep the communal.
cations going, retired to dinner. His
convict servant had barely removed the
soup when the result of John Rex's
ingenuity became manifest. The sem
aphore at Signal Hill had stopped work
ing.