Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-07-04

hoWOfCl SdIcluiiy plduueQ, IS IlGre
comes a time when chance must take
its turn.
He made his way inside the black
smith shop and fumbled for a match.
Just as he was about to strike it he
heard the swish of oiled clothes pass
Ing, and waited for some time Then,
igniting his punk and hiding 1t under
his coat, he opened the door to listen.
The wind had died down now and the
rain sang unsteady upon the metal
roofs.
He ran swiftly from house to house,
and, when he had done, at the apices
OF the triangle he had traced three
glowing Goals were suffering.
The final bolt was launched at last.
He stepped dcwI into the ditch and
drew his As, while to his tautened
senses 1t seemed that the very hills
leaned forth in breathless pause, that
the rain had ceased, and the whole
night hushed its thousand voices. He
found his lower jaw set so stifly that
the muscles ached. Levelling his
weapon at the caves Of the unk-house,
he pulled trigger rapidly-the bang.
bang, six times repeated. sounding dull
and dead beneath the blankets of mist
that overhung. A shout sounded be-
hind him. and then the shrek of a
Winchester ball close over his head.
He turned in time to see another shot
stream out of the darkness, where q
sentry was firing at the flash of his
gun, then bent himself double and
plunged down the ditch.
With the first impact overhead the
men poured forth from their quarters
armed and bristling, to be greeted by
volley of gunshots, the thud of bull
let's, and the dwindling whine of spent
lead. They leaped from shelter to find
themselves grit with a fitful hoop Of
fire. for the strangers" had spread
in the arc of circle and now emptied
their rifles towards the centre The
defenders, however, maintained sur
prising order considering the sudden
ness Of their attack, and ran to ioin
the sentries, whose positions could he
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 great furnace-doo
had opened and then changed shut,
while with 1t came hparse thudding
roar that silenced the rifle play. They
saw the cook-house disrupt itself and
dtsintegrate into a thousand flying
timbers and twisted sheets of tin
which. SCARED upwards and outward
over their heads and into the night.
AS the rocking hills ceased echoing,
the sound OF the Vigilantes' rife re-
Cured like the cracking of dry sticks.
then everywhere about the defenders
the earth was dashed by failing debris
while the Iron roofs rang at the fusil.
lade.
The blast had come at their very
elbows, and they were too dazed and
shaken by it to grasp it's significance.
Then, before they could realize what
It BODIED, the depths lit up till the rain,
drops were outlined Gi'stinct and glis-
tening like a gossamer veil of silver,
while the office building to their left
was ripped and rended and the adjoin-
ing walls leaped out into sudden re-
lief, their shatted windows looking
like ghostly. sightless eyes. The cur
tains. of darkness closed heavier than
velvet, and the men covered in their
tracks, shielding themselves behind
the nearest objects or behind one an
others bodies, waiting for the sky to
CONT over them Its rain of missiles.
Their backs were to the Vigi.antes
pcw. their face to the centre. Many
had dropped their rifles The thunder
OF htofs and the scream Of terrified
llo"ses carve from the stables. rhe
cry of q maddel.ad beast is weird ard
calculated to curils the blood at best,
but with 1t arose human voice,
shr,cking from pain ana fear Of death.
4 Erenched and doubled lass of ziuc
had hurtled out Of tie heavens aud
struck some one low. Tie choking
hpaiseness of the Elah'.; appeal told
the story, and those about him broke
into fight to escape what might follow
to escape this danae- tlty could DOT
see but which swoGped cut of tie
Thickness above and against which
there was no defenca They fed only
to witness another aad greater ligns
behind them by when they saw them
selves running, failing. grove,l;i,g.
This time they were hurled from their
balance by conclusion which dwarf
ed 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 hellish glare, or to shield them.
selves from a blow.
Out in the heart of the chaos rang
voice loud and clear:
Beware the next blast!"
At the same instant the girdle of
sharp-shooters 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
a fight. 1t was a rout The defenders,
feeling that they had escaped destruc-
ton 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 fro mtheir stalls
and were plunging through the con-
fusion. Fear swept over the men
blind, unreasoning, contagious and
they rushed out into the night, collid-
ing with their enemies, overrunning
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