Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1907-11-07

voice OF man In authority shouted
loud commands No demonstration
came from the otter voids nothing
but the wicked streak that stabbed
the darkness Then satldeasy behind
McNamaras men the night glared
iuridly as though q great furnace doot
bad opened and then changed shut
while with II came 9 noarse tbuddine
roar that silenced the rife play They
saw the cook house disrupt Itself aud
disintegrate into Thousand flying
timbers and twisted sheets Of til
which scared upward and outward
over their heads and into the night
AS the rocking hills ceased eehoine
the sound OF the yigilantes rifles re
CURED ike the cracking Of dry sticks
then everywhere about the defenders
the earth was lashed By failing eebris
while the iron roof rang al the snsil
lade
The blast had come at their very ell
bows. aud they were TOO dazed and
shaken by 1t to grasp its Significance
Theu. before they could realize what
it BODIED. the depths lit up again till
the sslndrops were outlined distinct
and glistening like a gossamer veil of
silver. while the Office building to
their left was ripped aud rended aud
the adjoialng walls leaped out into
sudden relief, their shattered windows
looking like ghostly. sightless eyes.
The curtain of darkness closed heavier
than velvet, and the men covered 10
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-
siies. Their backs were to the vigil
lantes now their faces to the center
Many had dropped their rides. The
terrified horses came from the sta
bles. The cry Of maddened beast is
weird and calculated to curdle the
blood at best. but with 1t arose a hui
man voice, shrieking from pain and
fear OF death.
wrenched and doubled mass Of zinc
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 fight 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 fed only
to witness another and greater light
behind them by which they saw them
selves running. falling. groyeling.
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 II was revealed by the
explosion. their eyes cleaning white.
while others buried their faces In their
followed arms as If to shut out the
helash glare. or to shield themselves
from q blow.
Out In the heart Of the chaos rang
voice loud and clear.
Beware the next blast.'
At the same instant the girdle Of
sharpshooters rose up shifting the air
with their cries and charged IN like
madmen through the rain of detritus.
They fred as they came. but 1t was
unnecessary. for there was no longer
a fight. 1t was rout. The defenders,
feeling they had escaped destruction
only by 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 we're 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 off the bluff aud fell
among the pits and sluices. Others
ran up the mountain side and covered
In the brush like quail.
AS the Strangers assem- bied their
prisoners near the ruins, they heard
wounded men moaning in the dark
ness. so Lit torches and searched out
the stricken ones. GIenister came run
ming through the smoke pail, revolver
In hand. crying:
HAS any one seen Mcnamara" No
one had. and when they were later as
sembled to take stock Of their Injuries
he was greeted by Dextry's gleeful an
nouncement:
That's the deuce OF fight. We
AMT got so much as cold sore among
as"
I'VE have captured fourteen. an
other announced. "and there may be
more out yonder in the brush
Glenister noted with growing sur
prise that not one OF the pris-