American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1912-11-14
Copyright, n G. McCIurg & Co. Ia,I.

<|I S(A6Ak @ q luI
! cannot describe now how we made
but we did. / only know Tom and
held the rear, sweeping circles Of
cath with our whirling g~un-barrels.
bling back step by step as we fought
t last l felt the bottom stairs with
ny foot, and heard a voice shout:
Come up, sir! Well hold EN- now!"
Then was above the heads of the
bob, gripping the rail, and sobbing for
breath. There followed a moments
Fait, an instant Of hesitancy. l began
Q see and feel once more. Below us
ne hall was damned with men. 40
3losely pressed together as to be al.
nost helpless. Blood streamed from a
put In my forehead, nearly binding
ne. but / wiped it away, and took one
glance at their angry upturned faces
Ind gained a glimpse Of my own men
There were but six of us, and n of
these lay helpless propped against the
wall. Tom and l stood alone. his face
sDlackened by powder, his shirt riDned
into rags; the other three were above
ipistols in hand.
4 "Are they l~oaded?" I gasped.
YES, sir"
"Stand ready then, but look ont for
above; there was a guard up there
TIC
He turned his race slIgntrg.
Move back a step or two more;
we've got to hold them"
All right, sir"
felt weak from loss of blood, my
mead Keeling, and had to hold to the
srali. Below us, growing like wild
1~oeasts, but seemingly ~leaderless, the
mob crushed forward to the foot Of
Pie stairs. Suddenly I saw Grant, and
|the sight Of him gave me new life.
"You black-faced hound" 1 called
'nown angrily. You've kept yourself
safe so far. Now come on"
lie snarled some answer, what. |
know not. There was an empty pistol
In my belt, and | flung it at him with
all the force OF my arm. He lodged,
the weapon striking the man behind.
With a howl of rage the fellows leaped
US, bearing Grant on the crest
the wave. The pistols of the Ora
goons cracked; three fell, blocking the
stairs with their bodies. We had room
in which to swing our iron bars,
and We battered them like demons. I
lost sight of Grant, the red drip OF
blood over my eyes making all before
a mist. l only knew enough to
strike. Yet fight as we would there
was no holding them. We were forced
to give way. Guns began to spit fire.
| saw the wounded Dragon dragged
under the feet of the mob;
hands gripped my legs, and l kicked
the faces in my effort to tear loose.
Tom reeled against the wall, his arm
shattered by a blow, and one of the
men above came tumbling over me,
Shot dead. The fall of him cleared
stairs an instant; then the rail
broke, and sever. toppled over with
t. | stumbled back almost to the top,
sweeping the hair and blood out of
pay eyes. What-what was the mat
ter? They were running, those fellows
down there-struggling, fighting
among themselves to get away. Oaths,
yells, cries of sudden fear, made a per-
fect babel. / could not understand.
could not grasp the meaning of the
sudden panic. Who were those men
surging in through the front door.
out through the library? Then
| voice roared out:
"Bedad, they're Fagin's he%ll-hounds,
'yes-ter hell wild emil
Where had l heard the voice before?
sank down, o weak to stand, my
head hanging over the edge of the
stairs. Some hand drew me back, but
had no strength left. Only l could
hink-and the truth came to me.
militia! Camden militia! BY
the gods, Farrell was there! 1t
vas the voice of the Irish minute man
hear the night We captured Della
ans raiders. Then l closed my eyes,,
nd forgot.