Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1908-06-27

follow In their order. l had to stand In
the doorway and regulate the distance
between man and man. l hadn't been
there two seconds before dozen heads
came over the hill and a dozen rifles
cracked Luckily the colonel was just
round the corner. Down went the
heads again, but they'd bagged two Of
our fellows. shouted to more to come
out and at the same time ordered the
sergeant major to send 4 hle forward
to answer the fire. Up. came the heads
again, and they bagged three more.
Our fellows blAzed away in reply. but
they'd dropped too quickly. l don't
think we got one. st+ro4t. - .;.s
t"Well, we didn't mind so much about
keeping our exact distances after that,
and / wouldn't. swear that the whole
dfty of US faced the 6re. It was devil
ish .disconcerting. you know. but in a
few minutes thirty or five and thirty Of
US got round the side Of the barn some
how and for the moment out Of harms
way. We heard the fire going on still
in front, but only In a desultory way.
They weren't trying to rush us, and
don't think we had any idea Of rushing
them. For all we knew they might be
200 or they might be dozen. At any
rate. with the advantage Of position
they were enough to bottle our men up
In the barn for the moment at all
events"
This account makes what had hap
pened pretty plain. Half of Sophy's
force had been left to hold the enemy
or as many of them as possible in the
barn. They had dismounted and, we'll
covered by the hill. could make good
practice without much danger to them
selves. Iukovitch was In command of
this section of the little troop. Sophy,
Dunstanbury and Peter Vassip. also on
foot (the horses hoofs would have be-
trayed them), were stealing round, in
tent on getting between the barges and
any men whom Stafnitz tried to place
In position for their defense. After
leaving men for the containing party
and three to look after the horses this
detachment was no more than a dozen
strong. But they had started before
stafnjtzs men had got out Of the barn
and despite the smaller distance the
latter had to traverse could make a
good race Of it for the barges. They
had all kept together, too, while the
enemy struggled round to the rear Of
the barn in single file. And they had
one great, perhaps decisive, advantage.
Of whose existence Peter Vassip, their
guide, was we'll aware.
Forty yards beyond the farm a small
ditch ran down to the Krath. On the
side near the farm it had a high over
hanging bank, the other side being
nearly level with the adjoining mead.
ow. Thus It formed a natural trench
and led straight down to where the
first Of the barges lay. It would have
been open to an enfilade from the river,
but Stafnitz had only one sentry on
each barge, and these men were. occu-
pied In staring at their advancing COM
panions and calling out to know what
was the matter. AS for the bargees,
they had wisely declared neutrality,
deeming the matter no business OF
theirs. Shots were not within the
terms OF contract for transport. Stat
7nitz, not dreaming Of an attack. had
not reconnoitered his ground. But Lu-
'k0vitch knew every inch Of 1t Chad not
General Stenovics remembered ,that?,
and so did Peter Vassip. The surprise
Of Praslok was to be avenged.
Rastatx takes up the tale again. His
narrative has one or two touches vivid
with local color.
when got round to the rear Of the
barn found our fellows scattered
about on their bsllies. The colonel was
In fsout On his belly. with his head
Just raised from the ground. looking
about him. I*lay down. too. getting my
head behind q stone which chaneed to
be near the. looked about me, too,
when Il seemed safe. And It did seem
safe at nrst, FOR we could hear nothing.
and deuce a. man could We see. But It
wasn't very pleasant because we knew
that. sure enough. they must be pretty
near Us somewhere. Presently the colo
mel came crawling back to me. What
do you make Of 1t. RastatzY he whis-
pered. Before could answer we heard
a brisk exchange Of fire in front Of the
barn. I don't like It, said. 4 can't
see them, and I've notion they can
see me, colonel. and that's not the
feasantest way to Eight. is itr Cad,
you're right said he. But they won't
see me any the better for a cigarette
And then and there he lit one.
well. he'd just thrown away his
match when a young fellow-quite q
lad he was--a couple Of yards from 10
suddenly jumped from his belly on to
his knees and called out quite loud-it
seemed to me he'd got sort Of panic
quite loud he called out, 'sheepskins.
sheepskinsr I Jumped myself, and I
saw the colonel start. But, by Jove. It
was true! When you took sniff, you
could smell them. OF course l don't
mean what the better class wear. You
couldn't have smelled the tunic our
lamented prince wore nor the one the
witch decked herself ont in huf vo,