Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1909-02-12

~ NM hind the cedars
,%u three shots. fred
in a volley. hum
N'"eOo.me J9n'p'u "P med about him.
Then it was very
still. with the Sabbath stiffness OF
early morning in the bills, and be
heard family the mechanical click and
snap of the rifles of Chauvenet's party
rs they expelled their exploded car
'tridges and reflled their magazines.
They're not so bad-bad luck to
them!' he muttered. "Tll be ripe for
the little brown men after l get through
with this" and Claiborne laughed a
little and watched Armitage's slow ad-
vance out into the open.
The trio behind the barricade had
not yet seen the man they had crossed
the sea to kill, as the line of his ap
proach closely paralleled the long ir-
regular wall with its fringe of cedars.
but they knew from Claiborne's signal
that he was there. The men had pick
eted their horses back of the little fort,
and Claiborne commended their good
generalship and wondered what sort
of beings they were to risk so much
upon so wild an adventure.
Armitage rode out farther into the
opening, and Claiborne, with his eyes
on the barricade, saw a man lean for
ward through the cedars in an effort to
take aim at the horseman. Claiborne
drew up his own rifle and blazed away.
Bits of stone spurted into the air be-
low the targets elbow, and the man
dropped back u of sight without fir
ing.
1--WE never beer the same since that
fever" growled Claiborne and snapped
out the shell sp%itefully and watched
for another chance.
Being directly in front of the barri-
cade he was in a position to cover Ar
mitage'S advance, and Oscar mean
while had taken his cue from Armitage
and ridden slowly into the field from
the left. The men behind the cedars
fred now from within the Enclosure at
both men without exposing themselves,
but their shots flew wild, and the two
horsemen rod up to Claiborne, who
had emptied his rifle into the cedars
and was reloading.
"They are all together again, are
they?' asked Armitage, pausing a few
yards from Claiborne's rock, his eyes
upon the barricade.
The gentleman with the curly hair
i drove him in. He is a poor shot
yes?"
Oscar tightened his belt and waited
for orders. while Armitage and Clai-
borne conferred in quick pointed SEN
fences.
"Shall we risk a rush or starve them
out: I'd like to try hunger on them.
said Ar1nitage.
They'll all sneak off over the bridge
tonight if We pen them VI. If they all
go at once they'll break it down, and
Wen lose our quarry. But you want
to capture them-alive?'
~ certainly do?' Armitage replied
and turned to laugh at Oscar, who had
fired at the barricade from the back of
his horse, which was resenting the in
dignity by trying to throw his rider,
The enemy now concentrated a sharp
fire upon Armitage. whose horse snort
ed and paved the ground as the balls
cut the air and earth.
"For Gods sake get off that horse,
Armitage!" bawled out Claiborne, ris-
ing upon the rock. There's no use in
wasting yourself that way"
"My arm aches, and I've got to do
something. Let's try storming them,
just for fun. It's a cavalry stunt. Clai-
borne, and you can play being the artil-
lery that's supporting our advance.
Fall away there, Oscar, about forty
yards, and We'll race for 1t to the wall
and over. That barricade isn't as stiff
as it looks from this side. | know all
about 1t There are great chunks out
of it that can't be seen from this side
THANK me for that, Armitage. ]
tumbled down a good many yards Of
1t when / played up here as a kid.
Get off that horse, l tell you! You've
got a hole in you now, Get down.
"You make me tired, Claiborne. This
beautiful row will all be over in a few
minutes. | never intended to waste
much time on those fellows when |
got them where | wanted them"
His left arm hung quite limp at his
side, and his face was very white. He
had dropped his rifle in the road at the
momen the ball struck his shoulder,
but he still carried his revolver. He
nodded to Oscar, and they both gal
loped forward over the open ground.
making straight for the cedar covert.
Claiborne was instantly up and
away between the two riders. Their
bold advance evidently surprised the
trio beyond the barricade, who shouted
hurried commands to one another as
they distributed themselves along the