The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1911-05-26

SIal leu INTO the woods on the
lollowlng morning, it was grimIv
strapped around his hip, and his beit
was hlled with cartridges. And this
was not the last day when the pm
sagged against his thigh, as he trav.
ersed his little domain, patiently wai+.
ing Tor the appearance Of "A. Bur.
rows"
When the time came, It was almost
as a surprise. 1t was one bright
forenoon when the air was redoIeDt
with the fragrance of bloom. and the
dew lay heavily in the hollows Of the
tangled blackberry and rhododendron
bushes, that the storm burst Sandy
had grown somewhat older in these
Gays OF waiting. His quick ear caught
the unusual sound of voices, and, by
the tree where the first location no
t1ce had been posted, he waited.
Through the woods, with axes
cleaning across the packs on their
backs, with rifles in hand and steady
tread, came four woodsmen.
"Hello!" they said, in the wav of
greeting to the tall, grim man who
! barred their way.
Sandy wasted no time In civilities
"Lookin' for this?" he queried, point
ing at the white claim notice which
started at them unwinkingly
Eff that's the Burrows location, we
shore are came the reply from the
man who was evidently the leader of
| the party.
We'll, that's it, and ye kin save yer
eyesight," said Sandy grimly. But
it amt goin' to do ye no good, be-
cause owns this claim. and l reckon
I'm goin' to keep on ownin' it."
THE hell you are! We been sent
up here to put cabin on it, and
reckon we're goin' to keep on and do
it," came the retort. "Ef there's any
dispute about it, it's up to you to go
to the cote and fix it. We're goin' to
build, and, what's more, we hev
bumped into you squatters a heap O.
times afore this"
The arrivals had slipped off their
packs and were clustered around their
leader. Sandy had held his temper
WELL but now Miss Trouble" was
here. He dashed out with his knotted
right fist, caught the foreman a ham
merlike blow on the chin, and doubled
him up in the air.
A whirlwind couldn't have worked
faster. The four struck at him, and
kicked him, and endeavored to bring
i'm To ha IL Fol
being overpowered, and worked his
hand to the butt of his revolver. Ii
spoke with one quick snap. and the
snarl was untangled.
One man seized a useless shoulder.
through which the bullet had torn its
way, and the others sprang for their
weapons. Sandy tried to wing one of
them, and found that his remaining
cartridges were defective.
This wouldn't do He must take to
cover and put in fresh ones. He
jumped, with long leaps. toward one
of the barriers of fallen trees, and
sought shelter. AS he dropped down
behind his logs, two rife bullets sang
dangerously past his head and went
"fiick-flicking" through the tree tops.
Sandy stood behind a log, with
feverish energy threw out the cart
ridges which had failed him in his
need, and inserted fresh ones from
his belt. Then he cIambered along
to a point where he could catch a
sight of his battlefield, and took a
survey. Not a target was in sight
He worked his way back, cut stick
and showed his hat upward to the top
of the log, trying to draw his enc
mics fire. 1t was effective, and the
old hat went sailing to the ground
behind him. He rushed to a point
of observation, and took another look
but nowhere was an enemy in sight
Not even a rifle barrel protruded from
behind any of the forest giants, who
calmly furnished shelter.
Sandy recovered the hat. and from
a new point of vantage tried his Tuse
II failed to attract attention. Plainly
his opponents were enemies OF no
mean caliber An old trick could be
played upon them once, but that was
all He must either retreat or use
new tactics. The first was untenable,
because he never had run yit," and
the second meant a reconnoiter
Sandy made his way around the thick
ct, and by the aid of another fallen
log gained an angle, from which he
peered. An elbow was in sight. He
would practise on that.
"Whang" went his pistol, and the
elbow lurched violently, and smoth
cred oaths told that the shot had been
we'll aimed. Sandy smiled. The JOY
Of battle was on him. He felt th@'
exultation which comes from deadly
strife. He wanted to yell. 1t would
have helped him, he felt sure. he
caught sight of head, and fired, but
evidently missed. That bothered him
a little. Misses were not in his line
Once more he emptied his ptsto
and carefully inspected each load as
he placed it in its chamber Too
had" he unused, ito lose that las,
.h.tt FaIIers that sell no-accounl