Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-03-02

He was an honest bit of man"
He went out and | went to the eel
lar. | raised poor Josef i'll my arms
and bore him into the passage and
thence toward the door of the house.
just inside | laid him down. remem-
bering that | must find spades for our
task. At this instant Sapt came up.
The horses are all right. There's
the own brother to the one that brought
you here. But you may save yourself
that job
I'll not 30 before he's buried"
''Yes. you WILL
Not L. Colonel Sapt. not for all Ruri-
tania"
You fool.'' said he. Come here
He drew me to the door. The moon
was sinking. but about 800 yards away,
coming along the road from Zcnda, l.
made out party of men. There were
seven or eight of them. -Four were on
horseback. ana the rest We're walking.
and SAW that they carried long imple-
ments, which ! guessed to be spades
ana mattocks on their shoulders
They'll save you the trouble" said
Sapt. Come along"
He was right. The approaching par
ty mI.St beyond doubt be Duke Mi
chaels men, come to remove the
traces Of their evil work. | heSitated
no longer. but an irresistible desire
| seized me. Pointing to the corpse of
poor little Josef. said To Sapt:
Colonel, we ought to strike a blow
for him
You'd like to give him some com
pany, ell: But it's too risky work.
your majesty
Il must have a slap at en- said |.
Sapt wavered.
We'll" said he. its not business,
| you know: but you've been Il good hoy
and if we come to grief why. hang
me, it'll save us il lot of thinking!
| I'll show Won how to touch them"
He cautiously closed the open chink
of the door. Then we retreated through
| the house and made our way to the
back entrance. Here our horses We're
| standing. \ carriage drive swept all
around the lodge.
Revolver ready" asked Sapt.
NO; steel for me- said |.
Cad. you're thirsty tonight" chuc-
kled Sapt. so be it,.
We mounted drawing our swords.
and waited silently for Il minute or
two. Then we heard the tramp of
men on the drive the other side of the
house. They came to Il stand and one
cried:
Now. then. fetch him out"'
Now" whispered Sapt.
Driving the spurs into our horses
we rushed at Il gallop round the house
and in Il moment we We're among the
rutiians. Sapt told me afterward that
he killed IL man. and | believe him
but | saw no more of him. With GU
| split the head of 4 fellow on 1
| brown horse. and he fell to the ground
Then | found myself opposite bis
| man. and | was half conscious OF an
other TO my right. 1t was too warn
to stay. and with Il simultaneous &C
ton | drove my spurs into my hors,
again and my sword full into the bis
mans breast. His bullet whiZZed pas
my earl could almost swear il touch
| ed ii. | wrcnched at the sword. but j
would not come. and | dropped it ant
galloped after Sapt. whom l now saw
about twenty yards ahead. | wave,
my hand in farewell and dropped it
second later with yell. for bulle
had grazed my finger and | felt th
blood. Old Sapt turned round in tn
saddle. Some one fired again. bu
they had no rifles. and we We're out o
range. Sapt fell 10 laughing.
That's one to me and two to you
with decent luck" said he. 'Littl
Josef will have company
AYE. they'll he parti carree," sal
l. My blood was up, and ! rejOiced t
have killed them.
Well pleasant nights work to til
rest said he. Il wonder if they NJ
ticcd YOU
The big fellow did As struck hill
: l heard him cry. The king"
Good. good, oh. We'll give Blac
; Michael some work before we've done,
pauSing an instant. we made Il ban(
r age for my wounded finger. which wa
t | bleeding freely and ached severely, til
:. bone being much bruised. Then w
| | rode OH. asking of our good horses a
= that was in them. The excitement c
:. the fight and of our great resolve die
e away. and we rode in gloomy silence
Day broke clear and cold. We found
farmer just up and made him give u
: SuStenance for ourselves and OF
4 horses. |. feigning Il toothache. mu
e fed my face closely. Then ahea
J.. again till Strelsau lay before us.
e was s o'clock or nearing .. and III
i gates were all open. as they Away
We're save when the dukes caprice {
intrigues shut them. We rode in b
the same way as we had come out I'll
9 evening before, all four of us-the me
and the horses-wearied and jade,
4 The streets We're even quieter tina
j when we had gone-every one wa
> 4<>t>ee~e~~e~eeeess~H~>~>