Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1912-02-15

opening, an inert, limp weight, that
bore the two soldiers beside me to the
moor beneath his body. With wide
sweep OF my gun struck him, shat
tering the stock into fragments, and
swung back to meet the others ~
hot barrel falling to right and left like
fail. They were through and on
me! Wild as any sea-rover of the
north fought, crazed with blood, un-
conscious of injury, animated solely
by desire to strike and slay! Back l
mad to go; back-I trod on dead
bodies, on wounded shrieking in pain,
yet no man who came within sweep of
that iron bar lived. 1 loved to hear
the thud Of it, and l fronted those
glaring eyes, my blood afire, my arms
like STEEL Through the red mist be-
held Cation for an instant as twenty
brutal hands upilfted and then hurled
him into the ruck beneath their feet.
Whether fought alone knew not,
cared not Then some one pressed
next to me, facing as did, welding a
sword like mailman. We had our
backs against the piano, our Shout
ders touched; before us that mob
swayed, checked for the moment, held
fast by sudden overpowering dread.
l glanced aside. My companion was
Brennan, hatless, his deep-set eyes
afiame, his coat torn off, his shirt
ripped open to the waist, his bare
breast red with blood
No shootin', damn vel" shouted a
voice, hoarsely. mo shootin'; l want
that Reb alive!"
Through the swirling smoke l rec
ognized the malicious face of Red
Lowrie as he pushed his way to the
front. To me it was like personal
challenge to combat.
Rush them!" l muttered into Bren-
mans ear. "Hurl them back bit, and
dodge under into the next room"
| never waited to ascertain If he
heard me. With one fierce spring /
struck their stunned line, and my
iron bar swept a clear space as it
crashed remorselessly into them. The
next instant Lowrie and | were seem
ingly alone and fronting each other.
A wild cat enraged by pain looks as
he did when he leaped to meet me.
Hate, deadly, relentless, glared in his
eyes, and with yell of eXultation he
swung up his long rifle and struck
savagely at my head with the stock.
caught it partially on my barrel,
breaking it's full force, and even as it
descended upon my shoulder, jabbed
the muzzle hard into his leering face.
With snarl Of pain he dropped his
gun and grappled with me. but as
his fingers closed about my throat,
something swirled down through the
maze, and the maddened brute stag
gered back, his arms uplifted, his red
beard cloven in twain.
'Now for it, Wayne!" shouted Bren-
nan. Back with you'll"
With dive went under the piano.
l heard the sliding doors shut behind
US, and almost with the sound was
again upon my feet.
ITO the stairs!" painted. "Bren-
nan, take the women to the stairs /;
those fellows are not in the hallway
yet, and we can hold them there a
WHILE"
In our terrible need for haste, and
amid the thick, swirling smoke fill
ing that inner room almost to suffo-
cation, grasped the woman CHANGING
to be nearest me, without knowing
at that moment who she was. AL
ready the rifle-butts were splintering
the light wood behind us into slaves,
and hastily dragged my dazed com.
panion forward. The others were in
advance, and we s.oped our way like
blind persons out into the hall. BY
rare good fortune it was yet unoc-
cupied, and as we took the few hur-
ried steps toward the foot of the
stairs found my arm was encircling
Celia Minor. The depth of, despair
within her dark eyes and the speech
less anguish of her white face, swept
for an instant the fierce rage Of battle
from my brain.
At that moment the mob, discover
ing our direction Of escape, jammed
both doorways and surged forth howl
ing into the hall.
"Up!" I cried, forcing her forward.
up with you; quick!"
l paused scant second to pluck a
saber from beside a dead soldier on
the floor, and then with a spring up
the intervening steps, faced about at
Brennans side on the first landing.
1--WE ought to leave our mark on
those incarnate devils here" he said
grimly, wiping his red blade on the
carpet.
Unless they reach the second story
from without, and take us in the
rear" / answered, Eve ought to hold
back the whole cowardly crew, so
long as they refuse to fire."
1t was a scene to abide long with a
mana horrible nightmare, never to
be forgotten. Above us, protected
somewhat by the abrupt curve of the
wide staircase, crouched the women.
Two were sobbing, their heads buried