The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1909-07-15
CHAPTER xvL-continued.
By r. l. Pattee

W ~.
Quick, men. Catch 'em before they
q run" Angry yells from the pack
greeted the cry. "A dozen voices took
It up.
Don't give the old woman time to
warn 'em."
Jim Farthing's the man. Dang
|himl"
Hes the murderer
"Hang the acknowledging him be-
fore he has time to kill somebody else.
Lynch himl"
1.-THE whole damn bunch of 'em."
A few mad spirits can make a mob
Of any multitude, and a mob is q
piece Of hell.
Shoot emf"
Hang 'em!"
Lynch 'em!"
Here. get the ropes; somebody get
some halters."
"Cut the o . off'n that rig"
Come N we'll learn the hell
The mob frenzy had seized the
crowd In full grip. In a yelling. ours
ing, boiling mass they swung out or
the barn and up the trail toward the
Gap. cruel As wolves on a scent
as hot to destroy. The sheriff pleaded
and argued and threatened, but he
might as well have argued with the
freed waters of a dam.
what is it?" What's the matter?
Where're you going?" demanded Mrs.
Farthing helplessly, standing by the
gate and wringing her hands In grow
ing terror. A hideous yell. mingled
with Insults and curses, was the re-
aoh, don't be hasty! oh, please
don't, gentlemen! There's some mis-
take. Oh, my God, don't do 1t! Oh
sheriff, stop 'em. Don't let 'em do 1t.
My God, stop, men; don't do it" But
they swept by her like wolves. Who'll
ly beside herself now with terror, she
bounded after them, begsing and de-
manding, laying her hands on the
shoulder of his man and that In wild
entreaty. But they pressed on, heed
less or her anguish.
Tom Farthing, standing on a freshly
felied tree, heard the roar coming up
the Gap and paused to listen.
Whats that, Jim?"
Sounds like a crowd" They both
listened intently. Their father a left
them an hour before for the Wild
Meadows to examine some trees to
What's a crowd coming up here
fov?"
.'Say, faint Fourth of July Is it?"
"Why, no; today's only the second.
Suddenly a woman darted out of
h bushes and made straight for Tom.
why, Iona"
Quick. Tom. Run" h painted.
They're after you-you and Jim.
They've got ropes. They'll hang you
both. Come-quick."
but we haven't done anything. Why
should we rum"
THAT don't make any difference.
Quick. They won't listen to anything.
Hear that? oh, comet"
IL we run, IL will be confesslng we
done something" 4
IF you don't you'll be hung II two
minutes oh, Tom"
A hideous yell arose below them.
They had caught sight OF the boys
through the rhododendron and had
broken into a mad rush like a pack
OF hounds at the sight of their victim.
Quick. Tom" she gasped. For my
salSe. Tom" Her panic was contagious.
He looked into her eyes an instant and
turned with her. Jim still wavered,
but a fresh yell from behind sent him
after Tom and Iona. Then the wild
panic OF the animal that turns its back
came over them-that mad, unde-
inabie fear that grips the heart as
with iron and sends the fugitive on
and on till he drops in his tracks. They
ran for their lives, spurred on by the
yeIls that came up from behind.
The mob had again caught sight
of them and 1t was straining every
A1OLN0 III hldu puIbuiLt TIC younger and
more active in the lead. They crashed
through the rhododendron snarl like a
stampede of cattle, tripping and pitch
Ing headIong, bruising themselves or
the rocks, n tearing clothes and
hands and faces in their pursuit. The
fugttives had cleared the brush line
n were in plain sight now among
the rocks half way up the ridge. The
sheriff, forgetting his duty to restrain
the mob. in the excitement OF the
chase drew his revolver and fired.
Halt" he cried. "Stop In the name
OF the law" but they f1eeted on.
a 'em dead or alive" he roared,
emptying his revolver in mad fusil-
lade.
There were three figures. as there
should have been. but one, as he stood
for an instantly sharply cut against
the sky line, seemed to look queer.
It was as If he were a woman, but
they We're too excited to speculate. 1t
was Allen Farthing and his boys. No
dreamed of anything else. At tho
top they caught sight again of the
trio almost down to the tree line.
Suddenly, just as M three came
20 the turning point, where, to reach
the Gap, they must turn sharply to
the right, the pursuers saw them come
10 q full halt. It was as IL they were
weighing the chances between the Gap
Till III IodO " IAO pkhB. TOT u Single
instant they lowered In indecision, then
they turned sharply to the right.
Gould the mob have known 1t, that
pause n that sudden decision marked
the crisis in the life OF Iona Heller,
and b turning point In the valleys
history.
We've got 'em," yelled the sheriff
Here, six or eight OF you cut across
TO the pike and head 'em off," They
were indeed gaining on their prey
When the foremost runner reached
the scrub oaks at the border of Poppy
Miiler's farm they caught what seemed
like glimpses of a single fieeting fig
ure almost in the entrance of the run
They redoubled their yells and flew
down the rocks.
The fugitives had disappeared.
They ran quickly to the mouth O.
the Run; no one had gone through
They spread out in a large circle anC
surrounded the whole area Of Poppy
Miller's farm. 1t was evident that the