The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-09-14
LCOETINUED.l

With the first impact overhead the
men poured forth from their quarters
armed and bristling to be greeted by
q volley of gunshots, the thud Of bull
lets and the dwindling whine Of spent
lead They leaped from shelter to
find themselves grit with a ftful hoop
of fire, for the strangers" had spread
in the arc of a circle and now emptied
their rifles toward the center The
defenders, however, maintained sur
prising order considering the sudden
ness of their attack and ran to join
the sentries, whose positions could be
determined by the nearer flashes. The
voice of man in authority shouted
loud commands No demonstration
came from the outer voids, nothing
but the wicked streaks that stabbed
the darkness. Then suddenly behind
McNamara's men the night glared
luridly as though q great furnace door
had opened and then changed shut,
while with it came hoarse thudding
roar that silenced the rifle play They
saw the cook house disrupt itself and
disintegrate into a thousand flying
timbers and twisted sheets of tin
which scared upward and outward
over their heads and into the night.
AS the rocking hills ceased echoing
the sound of the vigilantes rifles re-
CURED like the cracking of dry sticks,
then everywhere about the defenders
the earth was dashed by falling debris
while the iron roof rang at the fusil-
lade
The blast had come at their very ell
bows, and they We're too daZed and
shaken by it to grasp its Significance.
Then, before they could realize what
it BODIED, the depths lit up again till
the raindrops were outlined. distinct
aud glistening like a gossamer veil Of
silver, while the office building to
their left was ripped and rended and
the adjoining walls leaped out into
sudden relief, their shattered windows
looking like ghosty, sightless eyes.
The curtain of darkness closed heavier
than velvet, and the men covered in
their tracks, shielding themselves be-
hind the nearest objects or behind
one another's bodies, waiting for the
sky TO vomit over them its rain of mis-
siles. Their backs were to the vigil
lantes now, their faces to the center.
Many had dropped their rifles. The
thunder Of hoofs and the scream of
terrified horses came from the sta
bles. The cry of a maddened beast is
weird and calculated to curdle the
blood at best, but with it arose a hui
man voice, shrieking from pain and
fear Of death
4. III
had hurtled out of the heavens and
struck some one down. The choking
hoarseness of the mans appeal told
the story, and those about him broke
into flight to escape what might fol-
low, to escape this danger they could
not see but which swooped out of the
blackness above and against which
there was no defense. They fled only
to witness another and greater light
behind them by which they saw them
selves running falling, groveling.
This time they were hurled from their
balance by conclusion which
dwarfed the two preceding ones. Some
few stood still, staring at the rolling
smoke bank as it was revealed by the
explosion, their eyes cleaning white,
while others buried their faces in their
followed arms as If to shut out the
helish glare, or to shield themselves
from a blow.
Out in the heart of the chaos rang
voice loud and clear:
Beware the next blast"
At the same instant the glrdle of
sharpshooters rose up shifting the air
with their cries and charged in like
madmen through the rain of detritus.
They fired as they came, but it was
unnecessary, for there was no longer
q fight. 1t was a rout The defenders,
feeling they had escaped destruction
only by a happy chance in leaving the
bunk house the instant they did, were
not minded to tarry here where the
heavens fell upon their heads. To
augment their CONSERVATION, the
horses had broken from their stalls
and were plunging through the con
fusion. Fear swept over the men,
blind, unreasoning. contagious and
they rushed out into the night, col
liding with their enemies, Overrunning
them in the panic to quit this spot
Some dashed of the bluff and fell
among the pits and sluices. Others
ran up the mountain side, and covered
in the brush like quail.
AS the STRANGERS assembled their
prisoners near the ruins. they heard
wounded men moaning in the dark
ness, so lit torches and searched out
the stricken ones. Glenister came run
ming through the smoke pail, revolver
in hand. crying:
HAS any one seen Mcnamara No
one had. and when they We're later as
sembled to take stock of their injuries
be was greeted by Dextry's gleeful an
nouncement:
That's the deuce of a fight. We
amt got so much as cold sore among
US"