The Washington herald., 1913-10-19

the creek cut, heard this endless bab
Bile. Teams drove by on their way L
the quarry. Women were crying. Th'
local from Eariviile brought fou
correspondents of Midwest papers
who were being bounded for follow
stories. The affair had already beei
flashed nationwide Last nights bat
tie was in all the Chicago papers whicl
got early editions to the river town
at daylight. 1t was a sensation-tm
story Of a one-armed outlaw, crazef
with religious brooding, driven to des
peration by his wrong OF the law, for
tifying his cabin and defying the com
n1unityt to take him. Five men deat
and eight wounded; the shanty nd
died again and again, but the defender
unhurt, and refusing all parley, all de
mands to surrender. The news sho
through the staid and sober MIDLAND
counties like a drama from the ancient
and lawless West; it wrested stten-
ton even from the momentous cleo
ton.
Curran listened to Michigans Devil.
dered recital, and to the fragments Of
talk. The throng grew. Some said
two companies of militia were COM
ing; that the hastily summoned county
deputies were hopelessly inefficient
scared, "blufted' out by Lindstrom':
merciless shooting and the number OF
the dead.
Nobody wants to tackle him. said
breathless clerk from the Huh
Clothing Store. Some of the boys
thought they could sneak around in
the timber and get shot at him
close, and he wounded three of them
before they could lift fngerP
And they could hear a woman
crying in the house. Aid boy-musi
be that little Dane kid, Peter" .
Old Michigan was fearsomely lis
tening. IF she comes" he breathed,
TO save Peter and the babyi'
They will! Young Mr.. Van Hart
said they will. He give 'em a chance
to surrender-he's give 'em three
chances to surrender-and John won't
hear of it. And Mr.. Harlan said not
an hour ago there'd be one more
chance! Then he'll charge that place
if fifty men are killed. The law, Mr.,
Wiley-he says it'll be upheld at all
costs, no difference who is hurtr'
Harlan" muttered Wiley, IL
wish | could see him. Beg him-ah,
welll' he stared at the depot crowd.
He was thinking of that dogged and
invincible quality he had seen grow in
Harlan He knew. He had felt its
power-under all else lay this Viking
ruthlessness. Yes, if it lay with Har-
of peace with him was the law vindi-
Gated.
But it was curious, in all the tur-
moil, that no one noticed him-the
obsession of the tragedy must have OBJ
scured even the sensation of his down
fall. He tried to buy a paper, but
none was to be had. Through all the
complaints and recriminations, denun-
ciation of the county officers for not
doing something, he became aware of
this amazement that no one Questioned
him. He met Mowry, the undertaken,
in his long black coat and string tic,
and Mowry had no thought except a
grievance of his own. The Widow
Steger had passed, and-just his luck
in the hospital at Burlington,
where her son-in-law had embalmed
her. And there Mowry had been buy
ing groceries of Dickinson for nine
years in expectation of getting the
widow.
"Dog-gone it, Wiley, this is sore
head townl It's irritatin' when folks
won't patronize home industries. I'm
going out to Californy, where Hen
and Ben are bottlin' mineral water.
They say there is greater openin' for
an undertaken in their town-if they
ever get their mineral water to sellin."
But nothing about Currans with
drawaI From this riddle his tired
brain revolved to Aurelie's coming.
How should he meet her-what word
say of his downfall? His soul was
CRYING to her out of the dawn of
peace the night had given him. He
had accepted, he had renounced-but
he feared his self-control when she
would look in his eyes with her pretty
fondness, her laughing trust. His lit
tie girl, and his heart was big with
the new fatherhood! And with it all
came the old mutter to his dry lips
"She must not know-she must not
know! That, too, dear God, / can ac-
ceptr
There was another excited rumor.
The crowd swayed and buzzed-an-
other deputy was wounded out at the
quarry. And the officers were fighting
the unmanageable spectators, helpless,
without leadership. Van Hart had
knocked a man down when he found
him selling whisky to his posse. He
had ordered four more jailed for dis
obedience in crossing the dead-line.
He was battling for order, for law
and he was not even yet in Office. But
he old dry-bones of county oficialdom
we're helpless. They had begged the
Judge to send his son out to the siege.
Above all this gossip Curran saw
Janet Vance's serene face. She was
in a touring car which Arne drove to
the depot. Wiley stared at the legend
on its side: "Curran for Congress
Vote Todayil" The Vances did not
see him until he placed his hand on
the car, his eyes fixed on the banner.
"Janetl" His voice died. Take this
of Don't you know?'
Her face lit with JOY. wiley But
this is terrible. The community never,
passed such a night. And never such
a day. Arne is swearing mad-there
isn't voter at the booth in your pre-
cinct-the towns emptied itself out
there"
He followed her gesture to the hills.
4 didn't mean that, Janeti / mean
well, didn't you see the News last
light?"