Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1912-03-06
The summit 81 tho 6Ill ! great 6ul1t
Ct red IRE leapsd suddenly high into

b
lats!" he cried wildly. ''Those devils
have fred the house."
With flercely throbbinx heart 1
gaxed down at the flames far below In
tho black valley.
NO" said with eager. relief. 1T 10
tho stable which Is ablaze. SEQ, the
light falls full upon the white side
OF the house. Thank Heaven. We are
not too late"
Az sat my horse there. gazing
down upon that scene Of black rapine,
unwilling to venture into its midst
until l could formulate some definite
plan Of action. fully 4 dozen wild
schemes thronged into my brain, only
to be cast aside. one after another. ~
thoroughly impracticable.
We shall have to make . dash for
1t. and trust In God" said Cation.
guessing at my dilemma.
NO." I answered firmly, 'thers
would be no possibility of success in
such a course. Those fellows are old
hands. and have pickets out See,
Cation. that 10 certainly q picket.tire
yonder where the road dips. Every
man Of us would be shot down before
We penetrated those guard lines and
attained the house. We have cot to
reach their inner line some way
through strategy. and even then must
risk being fred upon by our own peo-
pie before We get within cover"
Even ~ was speaking l evolved q
plan OF Acknowledgements it certainly
was. yet nothing better occurred to
me, and time was golden.
"Ebers." l said. didn't l see an ex-
ira Jacket strapped back of your sad.
dle?"
1T is no good" he protested 70
hemently. 1T vos for der rain come"
"All right: hand it over to the Lieu.
tenant here. Cation. throw that uni.
form coat of yours into the ditch and
don honest gray for once. Sands.
como here. Take your knife and cut
away every symbol Of rank on my
Jacket; tear it OF. any way you can"
In another moment these necessary
changes had been accomplished.
"Now." | ordered. pile your sabers
there with mine beside the road; then
hobhle your horses. all but tho mule;
l shall want him."
Does We 90 der rest Of der wy on
foot?" questioned the Sergeant, anx-
iously.
Certainly; and l desire. you to 70
member one important thing: let me
do the talking. but II any of you are
asked questions. we are deserters from
Hills corps. tired Of the war"
'Mein Gott!" muttered tho German,
disconsolately. Il hope it vos not long
OIL. Captain; I am no good on foot in
der dark. by Chiminy" =.
You had better manage to keep up
tonight. unless you are seeking to
commit suicide. Now. men, mark me
carefully! Load your carbines. Are
you all ready? Sergeant. see that each
man has his gun properly charged and
capped. You are to carry your arms
as thoroughly concealed as possible;
keep close to me always; obey my or
ders instantly, and to the letter. We
are but twenty men pitted against
over two hundred, remember, and
when we strike. it must be both quick
and hard"
mounted the mule. counted the
dim figures in the darkness. and then
J gave the order to march. AZ we
; moved slowly down the hill was
aware that Cation walked upon one
side Of me. while Buagay plodded
along upon the other; but my mind
was so filed with tho excitement of
our adventure and all that depended
upon its successful elimination, as
scarcely to realize anything other than
the part must personally play. GOOD
fortune and audacity alone could CON-
bine to win the game wo were now en-
gagged upon.
| A tall heavily bearod mountaineer
stood sQuarely in tho middle OF the
road to the north Of the pickst-nre.
cSdAo make out but little of him a.
the light shone. excepting that he
wore a high coonskin cap and bore q
long rife.
stop right thar" he called GU,
hoarsely, upon hearing us. Who are
you uns?"
| Az he challenged. q dozen Others
sprang up from about the fame and
guns In hand. came toward Us On Z
run.
I'VE uns are doggoned tired O sol
dierln'. an gtttin' nuthin' fer IT,"
said in the slow Southern drawl, an
wanter jine yer gang. pervidin' thar'a
any show fer It,"
How many are ye?" asked one Of
the newcomers. striding forward b.
tween US and the sentry.
"A right smart heap O. Z bunch: bin
4 pickin' O 'em up ever since We left
Charlotte" returned evasively
"They be dandies ter fight. an
reckon as how 70 kin use EN-. can't
ye?"
Maybe: who did ye want ter seer
wal. they sed as how a Teller
: named Lowrie wus q runnin' this yera
| gang, an II thet's Their way o it,
reckon es how ito Lowrie we're after
, Be you Lowrie?"
Nav"
The answer was so gruff and short
and the fellow hesitated so long in
adding anything to it, began to think
It was all of.
WAL" he consented to say at last
ungraciously. thar'e q blame pile o
ye kim in lately, an calculate We got
bout 'nough fer our business, but
reckon as how Red will use ye some
! Whar. ANYHOW Won ms kin come