The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-02-16
(Continued.l
HE LAST STAND.


 G%OUN after 5 o'clock man in the i WA topmost window of the tower
 called down that the forces in
 the hills were moving in a con- pact body toward the ridges below the southern gates
 One hundred picked men were to be left inside he castle gates with Vos Engo, prepared to meet any flank move ment that might be attempted. Three | hundred mounted men were selected to make the dash down Castle avenue straight into the camp of the sharp shooters. It was the purpose of the house guards to wage a fierce and noisy conflict off the avenue and then retire to the castle as abruptly as they left i it, to be ready for MarlanX should he decide to make final desperate effort to seize their stronghold.
 The dash of the 300 through the gates and down the avenue was the most spectacular experience in TruXton's life. He was up with QuinnoX and General Braze, galloping well in front 1 of the yelling troops. These mounted carbineers, riding as BedOuins, swept 1 like thunder down the street, whirled i into the broad, open arena beyond the dukes palace and were upon the sur. 1 prised rufians before they. were fully awake to the situation.
 They came tumbling out of barns and sheds. clutching their rifles in nerveless hands, aghast in the face of absolute destruction. The enemy, craven at the l oY,tcot tbrouy douun their. cr11pS and frio6 i to escape through the alleys and side streets at the end of the common. Fir 1 ing all the time, the attacking force rode them down as if they were so many dogs.
 1 After ten or fifteen minutes of this 1 desultory carnage it was reported that a large force of men were entering the avenue from Regengetz circus. Quin- | nox sent his chargers toward this great horde of foot soldiers, but they did not falter as he had expected On they swept, 2,OOo or 5000 of them. At their head rode five or six officers. The fore 1 most was Count MarlanX.
 i Quinnox saw now that the Iron | Count was determined to storm the gates and gave the command to re- l treat Waving their rifles and shout l ing defiance over their shoulders, the | dragoons drew up, wheeled and gal l loped toward the gates.
 1 Scarcely were the massive portals closed and the great steel bars drop 1 ped into place by the men who attend l ed them wien q low, dull explosion 1 shook the earth as if by volcanic force. Then came the crashing of timbers, l the cracking of masonry, the whirring | of thousand missiles through the 1 air. Before the very eyes of the 1 stunned, bewildered defenders, dis mounting near the parade ground, the huge gates and pillars fell to the | ground.
 i The gates had been dynamited. Then it was that Truxton King re- membered Marlanx's sappers had been quietly at work for days drilling from the cOI 1mon to the gates. It was strange coincidence that Marlanx should have chosen this day for his eliminating assault on the castle. The skirmish at daybreak had hurried his arrangements no doubt, but none the less were his plans complete ~The ex- plOsives had been laid during the night. The fuses reached to the mouth of the tunnel across the common. As he swept up the avenue at the head of l his command, hawk faced and with glittering eyes, he snarled the com mand that put fire to the fuses. 1 A moment later his vanguard stream ed through the aperture and faced the deadly fire from the driveway.
 At last they began to advance across the. grassy meadow. When one man fell under the fire of the guardsmen another rushed into his place. Three l times the indomitable Graustarkians drove them back and as often did Mar lanx drag them up again, exalted by the example he set.
 Cad, he is a soldier!'' cried Trux- ton. Hello. There's my friend Bru- tus. He's no coward either Here's try for you, Brutus.''
 He dropped to his knee and took de- | liberate aim at the frenzied henchman. The discovery that there were three bullets in Brutus' breast when he was picked up long afterward did not af- feet the young mans contention that
  | his was the one that had found the l heart.
 | The fall of Brutus urged the Iron Count to greater fury. His horse had been shot from under him. He was on his feet, calling to his men to fo- low him as he moved toward the stub born row of green and red. Bullets hissed about his ears, but he gave no heed to them.
 The commander of the guard gave l the command to fall back slowly to- | ward the castle.
 Firing at every step, they crossed | the parade ground and then made a | quick dash for the shelter of the long 1 balconies. MarlanX, down in the pa rade ground, was fairly pushing his men into the jaws of death. 1 Truxton Kings chance to pay his l debt to Vos Engo came after one of | the fiercest. most determined charges. | The young count had been fighting l desperately for some time. His weak | ness seemed to have disappeared As | the foe fell back in the face of des- | perate resistance Vos Engo sprang | down the steps and rushed after them, l calling others to join him in the att | tempt to complete the rout. Near the