Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1909-04-30
.,s "a Elal N tIip leaasF Aodded dH.


proval t,,a
so squarely. his eyes were so pleasant
and friendly, his whole person Dle"'n
ed such straight up honesty anu iieSn
ness that shame arose In the old man.
and he had hard shift to keep us
glance from wavering. Without Tore
thought he answered impulsively:
Hes desperate and he's dangerous
I sold him As just now lie was
about to tell him where the man wore
It ard to add a word concerning MS
dexterity with the gun when the very
fearless deliberation of the youth de-
tered him. On second Thought Oaie
Welded to an impulse to wait ana see
how Meade Burrel would act under
fire. If the soldier emerged scathiess
1t would give him line on bis charac,
ter. II he did uot-well, that would
be even better
The crowd was coming back TO the
steamer, which had discharged her
few bundles Of freight, and there was
no one inside the log post as they en-
tered except Doret and the stranger,
who had deposited his baggage at the
rear and was talking with the French
man at the bar. at sight OF the lieu
tenant he became silent and turned
carelessly. although with distrustful
stare Burrell wasted no time.
Are YOU going to locate here| he
began.
Eyes"
81 notice you go skeleton rugged"
the soldier continued, indicating the
mans baggage. Pretty small outfit
for a miner. isn't itF
"It's plenty for me-"
"Have you enough money to buy
your seasons grub?'
81 guess that's my business"
"My orders are to see that all new
Corners either have an outfit or are
able to buy one" said Burrell Those
that are not equipped properly are to
be sent down river to st. MichaeFs.
where there is plenty of everything
and whprc they will be taken care Of
by the government. Mr. Gale has only
sufficient provisions to winter the men
already in this district"
81 can take care of myself" said the
man angrly. whether I'm broke or
not. and don't want any Of your in.
| 10 oh
at Poleon Dorct. but the Frenchman's
face was like wood. and his hand still
held the neck of the whisky bottle he
had set out for the stranger.
"Come." said the 'hcer peremptori'
ly, 81 have heard all about you. and
you are not the kind OF citizen we
want here. but if you have enough
money for an outfit | can't send you
away. If yOu haven't
'I'm broke" said the man. but al
the note in his voice POlP0n Dorets
muscles frightened. and Burrn!l. who
also read sinister message In the
tone, slid his heavy service revolver
from its holster beneath his coat
Give me your gun. he said "PiI
unload 1t and give il back 70 you a.
the gangplank.'
"A!l right; you've got the upper
hand" said the man through lips that
had gone white. Drawing bis weapon
from beneath his vest, he presented II
Ito the officer. butt foremost, hammer
underneath The cylinder reposed nat
urally in the palm Of his hand, and the
I'D Of his forefnger was thrust
trough the trigger guard.
Burrell lowered the barrel CT his re-
tolver and put out his LEFT hand for
the others weapon. Suddenly the
mans wrist jcrked. the soldier saw II
blue flicker of sunlight on the steel a.
It whirled, saw the arm Of Poleon Do
ret fling itself across the bar with the
speed Of striking serpent, heard a
smash of breaking glass, felt the shock
of a conclusion and the spatter OF
some LIQUID in his face. Then he saw
the mans revolver on the floor half
way across the room, saw fragments
Of glass with it and saw the fellow
step backward, snatching at the fin
gers of his right hand. A smell OF
powder smoke and rank whisky was in
the air.
There are times when mans hand
will act more swiftly than his tongue.
Napoleon Doret had seen the manner
of the strangers surrender OF his gun
and, realizing what it meant, had act