The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1912-12-14

| the rear door, confused as 10 "no'
had occurred. yet shouting herceiy'
| poured Fagin's- wolves. seeking trou-
Bile. They were a wild. rough-look1ng
lot. addressed. and dirty even In that
dim light. For an instant. congested
within the limits OF the hallway, poth
sides paused, staring at each other IN
mutual surprise and hesitation. Then
l heard Jones' below Of command, ana
Grants nasal voice profanely ordering
them to come on. With us there re-
mained no choice; We must fight II
out where We were, regardless OF num-
| bers.
Fire! you damned fools-fre!"
roared Jones, and there was a crash
ing of guns. the dense smoke sw1ri1ng
| between us. A Dragon at my right
went sprawling; another behind gave
| vent to a yell as he plunged head first
down the basement stairs. There was
the sound of splintering wood. OF
breaking glass. l felt the blood in my
veins leap to the fever of 1t.
We were upon the fellows with
rush. firing in their very faces. and
leaping madly at them. There was
little room between the walls. barely
/ space for a half-dozen to fight In.
! shoulder to shoulder, but those be-
hind, eager to strike also, pressed up
so recklessly that we hurled them
back. To me 1t was all confusion. up
roar. deadly fighting. + could think
of nothing to right or left. only of the
struggling devils in my front. Faces,
forms. came and vanished in the swirl
OF smoke. brown gun-barrels whirled
before me, flashes OF fire burned my
eyes. strange features, bearded. malig-
nant. glared at me. l leaped straight
at them striking f1ercely. Once ! saw
Grant. and aimed blow at him. Then
| he was gone, swallowed In the ruck.
Our mad onrush swept them back,
helpless. demoralized. l stumbled over
/ bodies. slipped in pools of blood, yet
kept my feet. Every muscle ached;
was cut and pounded. yet drove into
the mass. shouting to those behind;
Come on, lads! Come on! We're
driving them!"
A yard. two yards, three-beyond
the door where the men had escaped
we won our way. Then they could go
| no further. Blocked, unable to retreat
wedged helplessly against the far end
of the hall they turned like cornered
rats. l could see nothing Of JONES'
but heard him. raging like a fiend
| Now, you ours. now!" he stormed
| You cowardly scum-perhaps you'll
! fight when you can't run! What are
you afraid of? There's only a handful.
| you can chew EN- up, il you will! Push
EN- back, there! Push 'em back"
With yell OF rage. those crushed
against the wall hurtled forward. driv
ing the others; men were lifted and
hurled at US; others gripped at our
feet; by sheer force of numbers they
swept us backward. 1t was hand to
hand, neither side having time to re-
load their weapons. The smoke rose.
permitting a view of the shambles.
There was tangle Of arms, a tumble
Of faces. They were maddened beasts,
desperate. revengeful Hands clutched
J at us. gun butts were thrust into our
| faces, the crush too dense to permit
Of their being swung overhead My
Dragons had their sabres out, and
stood to 1t like men, the steel blades
| dripping as they tasted blood. But
killing one only brought new man to
| the front. One does not see SO much
as feel In such q tumble. Yet | knew
we were worsted, outnumbered. They
came at us like a battering ram
| saw the sergeant shot through the
forehead; l saw Eric go down beneath
crushing stroke. and roll under my
feet. l stepped on bodies, fighting for
my own life as l never fought before
Somewhere had gripped a gun out of
| dead fingers and swung 1t savagely
smashing the stock at the first blow
but retaining the twisted iron. The
intensity of excitement seemed to
clear my brain. began to distinguish
voices. to notice faces. l heard Grant
| yell safely in the rear; l heard Jones
roar, ITO hell with EN-! To hell with
'em!" Out of the murk of struggling
figures ! made out his black beard,
the gleam of yellow fangs, and leaped
toward him. striking men down until
l was able to swing at his head He
went over like a stricken OK under a
butchers AK. knocking aside two men
as he fell. 1t gave me chance to
spring out of the melee.
| ITO the stairs. men! The stairs!"
l cried. we can hold them there!"
cannot describe now how we made
1t, but we did. | only know Tom and
l held the rear, sweeping circles of
death with our whirling barrels
falling back step by step as we fought
At last l felt the bottom stairs with
my foot. and heard a voice shout:
Come up. sir! Well hold 'em now."
| Then l was above the heads of the
mob. gripping the rail. and sobbing for
breath. There followed a moments
wait. an instant OF hesitancy. began
to see and feel once more. Below US
the hall was jammed with men, so
closely pressed together as to be al
most helpless. Blood streamed from a