The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-11-30
(Contfnued.)
 CHAPTER TX. Fhm Arhi@ra~aMn4 A

\ the old river town of St. Gene A vieve. The peaceful inhabitants,
 most of them of the old French strain,
 looked out in amazement at the jaded
 horses, the hard faced men. By this
 time the original half dozen riders
 had received endorsements at differ
 ent plantations, so that a band of
 perhaps thirty armed men had as-
 sembled. aat3s
 Brief inquiry at St. Genevieve inform
 ed them that the little steamer Helen
 Bell had passed the town front tEat
 day soon after noon. As she depended
 almost as much upon poles and lines
 for her upstream progress as upon
 her steam 1t was thought likely she
 would tie up for the night at some
 point not more than ten or twelve miles upstream. Dunwody. made lead CT of the party by unanimous consent
 therefore determined to ride across the river bed at its shortest distance in the attempt to intercept the steamer, rely ing upon chance to secure small boats near at hand should they be neces- sary. His men by this time were glad
 enough to dismount and take some sort Of refreshment i. It was dark when again they mount ed. and the old river road, full of washouts, stumps and roots, made go- ing slow after the moon had sunk
 They had. however, no great distance to ride. At a point ten miles up the river they came upon a small hu1dle Of Hshermen's huts. At one of these Dunwody knocked and the Frightened tenant, at first almost speechiess at the sight of so many armed men, stammeringly informed him that the steamer had passed late that evening and was, in his belief, tied up at little towhead island not more than half mile upstream.
 What boats have you got here?s' demanded Dunwody.
 "tNo boat at all. monsieur reioined the habitant stMaybe So four. five feesh boat. that's hall.
 Bring them outr' was the terse order.
 They dismounted and, leaving their horses tied in the wood at the road side. they went to the water edge and presently embarked. a half dozen men tn each Of as f1ahy long river skiffs of the type used by the fishermen in carrying out their nets. Danwody and Clayton were in the foremost boat, and each pulled an oar. At length, at Dun- wody's quiet signal. all the boats paused, the crews holding fast to the overhanging branches of the trees on the main shore of the river.
 ssShe's out there. just across wonder island he whispered. s"I think I can see her stack now. She must be tied up close. We can slip in on this side. make a landing and get aboard her be- fore she can stop us. if we're careful. Keep perfectly quiet. Follow us, boys. Let no one fire a shot until order it. Come on, Clayton"
 Inside the first fringe of the tan gled and heavy willows the mud lay deep i'm a long, half drained pool of water which stood in the middle of the willow covered flat. Into this, silently ns they could, they were obliged to plunge, wadhg across, sometimes waist deep. In spite of the noise thus made there WAS no challenge, and the little body of men, reforming into an irregular line, presently arrived at the outer edge of the willow fiat. Here. in efae light which hung above the river's Burface. they could see the bulk of the steamer looming almost in their faces. She had her landing blanks out. and here and there along the narrow sand bench a smoIdering ember or SO show S-A W x4<1G 4ALAAC AEcS Aau DS0A u4AO6. As q matter of fact, more than half of the men of the boat had preferred to sleep on shore Their muffied bodies, covered in their blankets, might even now be seen here and there.
 ssWho goes there?" came a military call from the boat. Halt. halt!'' came from the line of sleepers suddenly awakened. Tn an instant both par lies were under arms
 It spoke well for the temper of the men with Dunwody. that none of .f1em made any answer. Silently, like so many shadows, they dropped down to the ground
 What wRs that Kammerer? ?'' cried 1 n voice on the boat, calling down to some one on the shore.
 There are men here,' was the an- swer. Somebody's out there.''
 The night was now astir. Men half l clothed. but fully armed, now lined up | along the beach, along the gunwale of | the boat Apparently there were some 1 twenty or more Of them in all.
 itTtfFer pirates, likely said the lead | sr. who had now come down the gang | plank Fall in, men; fall inr' His l vofste rang sharp and clear, like that 1 If an officer.
 4%itA0 up d1OH3 tukS Deatu, anu get flown low!'' he comman nded. Hold 1 TOUT Are! Hold! What do you mean? l What are you coings"
 Some one had fired shot. At once he thiekef~w was filled with armed men. somn urKnown' member of the boat ,nrfy. standing on the deck behind the eader. had fired at a movement seen n the willows twenty yards away. Foung Desha fell back, shot through he body. His friends at first did not nov that any one had been srt, but Q He stdll under fire i'll suited their TLld temner- With common impulse !