The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1910-05-22

A horseman rode over hill to the south of
the cabin and looked searchingly below him,
noting the pile of wood and the tracks of the
wagon. He dismounted and began to recon-
hotter, for he had not avoided the trails and
towns to slip up at his journeys end. Snow
was in the air and he knew that in two days
the range would be covered deep enough to
check all but necessary riding. 1t would
deter any puncher of the O-BarO from riding
to the hills out of mere curiosity. The smoke
from the chimney looked good after his long
ride, for it meant a fire, and he was cold. He
did not know who might be inside the cabin,
but he would find out quickly enough. As he
watched he saw woman pass by a window
and he walked quickly down the hill When
he turned the corner of the house so as to get
to the kitchen, he saw that the rear door was
open, and that the woman was trying to drag
an empty water-barrel through it.
"All alone?" he asked, pleasantly, thumb
ing the hammer of his Winchester and peering
past her into the house.
She started and exclaimed and the barrel,
rolling down the slope, got in his way. As he
cleared it the door slammed shut and he
heard the heavy bar drop into its socket. He
threw himself against the thick planks in vain
and beat upon them with the butt of his rifle
in a burst of rage. Another thud reached his
ears and he cursed himself for not having run
to the other door instead of losing time over
one barred beyond all hope of entrance by a
rife butt.
"Open this door," he shouted savagely.
"I'll bust it to splinters in minute, d'y hear!
Open it! amt in no joking frame of mind,
even if you are!"
ing the barrier and espied heavy chopping-
log not far away. Laughing savagely he ran
to it and managed to drag it to the kitchen.
After great effort he got it from the ground
and on his shoulder, and staggering forward
under it, rammed it against the door. The
impact doomed out sullenly, then again and
again, echoing from hill to hill in the crisp air.
"Pll show her!" he gritted.
The battering-ram was so heavy and I'm
wieldy that he could not use it handily
enough to get quick results, and the door,
made of two thicknesseS of two-inch oak
planks and barred top and bottom, was bar
rier to be reckoned with. But it was giving,
slowly, but giving Split from top to bottom
and held together by the diagonally placed
second layer of planks and by the thick oak
bars, it was beginning to weaken and each
booming echo among the hills marked his
progress.
Wafles, riding down the pass half a mile
behind his men, suddenly paused and listened
intently. A dull, booming came to his ears.
What was it? A held-gun fired miles away
might sound like that, but there were no field
guns on that range, he told himself. Dyna-
mite? No-he knew the sound of that; any
how, who. would use dynamite in the hills ?
Thought occurs quickly and he was galloping
back along the trail as the echo died out.
Something. was wrong at the cabin and no
amount of conjecture would tell him what it
was-he must see for himself. Another
crash, louder than the first, came to his ears
and was followed by others. A cow-pony can
cover much ground in few minutes when it
tries, and his " clay-bank" was trying.
As he turned the bend and the cabin came
into view he saw a figure staggering under a
large log, and another crash awoke the
echoes.
what tn hi" he cried, drawing rein
suddenly. His hand raised and cloud Of
smoke flashed past the clay-bank's head, and
then the animal plunged through it, for the
range was too great for Colt Again hi:
hand raised and cloud OF smoke enveloped
the horses head, and then the animal went
down suddenly, pinning its rider under it
lM2ENA SS-