The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1913-02-13

had occurred, yet shouting flerCcly
poured Fagin's wolves, seeking trou
BILE. They were wild, rough.looklnp
lot, addressed, and dirty even In that
dim light. For an instant, congested
within the limits Of the hallway, both
sides paused. staring at each other In
mutual surprise and hesitation. Then
heard Jones below Of command, and
Grants nasal voice profanely ordering
them to come on. with us there re.
NAMED no choice; We must fight It
out where We were, regardless OF mum.
bcrs.
Fire! you damned fouls-firc!"
reared Jones. and there was n crash,
Ing Of guns, the dense smoke swirling
between Us. a Dragon at my right
went spraw!ine; another behind gave
vent to u yCll as he plunged head Arst
| down the basement stairs. There was
the sound Of splintcring wood Of
breaking glass. ! felt the blood IN my
Veins leap to the fever of IT,
We were upon the fellows with a
rush, firing in their very faces, and
iCaping madly at them There was
little room between the walls, barely
space for a half.dozen to fght in.
shoulder to shoulder but those be.
hind. eager to strike also, pressed up
so recklessly that we hurled them
back. To me It was all confusion, UP.
roar, deadly fighting. ! could think
OF nothing to right or left, only of the
struggling devils In my frort. 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, maiIg.
nant. glarcd at me. ! leaped straight
at them, striking fiercely. Once | saw
Grant, and aimed blow at him. Then
he was gone, swallowed In the ruck.
our mad onrush swept them back,
helpless. demoralized | 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 20
no further. Blocked, unable to retreat,
wedged helplessly against the far end
of the hall they turned like cornered
rats. could see nothing OF Jones,
but | heard him, raging like q flend
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 handful,
you can chew EN- up. IL you win! Push
en- back, there! Push EN- back"
With n yell OF rage, those crushed
against the wnll 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. It was hand to
hand, neither side having time 20 re-
load their weapons The smoke rose,
permitting n view Of the shan bles.
There was a tangle of arms, tumble
of faces. Thy were maddened beasts.
desperate, revengeful. Hands clurched
at us, gun butts were thrust into OUR
faces, the crush too dense to permit
of their being swung overhead Ny
Dragons had their sabres out and
stood TO II like men, the steel blades
dripping ms they tasted blood But
killing one only brought :. new man to
the front. One does not see so much
as feel in such tumble. Yet | knew
We were worsted, outnumbered. They
came at us like batterlng ram. |
saw the sergeant shot through the
forehead; | saw Eric go down beneath
a crushing stroke, and roll under my
feet. ] stepped on bodies, fighting for
my own life as I never fought before.
Somewhere had grlpped n gun out OF
dead fingers and swung It sayngely.
smashing the stock Mt the first blow.
but retaining the twisted iron. The
intensity Of excitement seemed to
clear my brain. began to distinguish
voices, to notice faces, heard Grant
yell safely in the rear; heard Jones
roar, ITO hell with EN-! To hell with
'em!" Out Of the murk OF struggling
figures made out his black beard.
the CLEAN Of yellow fangs, and lcaped
toward him, striking men down until !
! was able to swing at his head. He |
went over like stricken OK under a |
butchers ak, knocking aside two men
as he fell. II gave me chance TO |
spring out of the melee.
ITO the stairs, men! The stairs."
cried. 1--WE can hold them thcre!"
cannot describe now how we made |
1t, but we did. only know Tom and
! held the rear. sweeping circles of
death with our whirling gun.bnrrels.
falling back step by step as we fought.
At last ! felt the bottom stairs with
my foot, and heard a voice shout:
Come up, sir! Wen hold EN- now!"
Then | was above the heads OF the
mob, gripping the rail, and sobbing for
breath. There followed a moments
wait. an instant OF hesitancy. began
10 see and feel once more. Below us
he hall was damned with men. go
closely pressed together as to be nj.
most helpless. Blood streamed from n
tut In my forehead. nearly binding
ne. but wiped II away. and took one