Mountain advocate. (Barbourville, Ky.) 1904-1935, 1915-11-05
Slowly Three Of the New Arrivals
Hitched Their Way Forward.

yards of the house when the shots
came from their rear. The other three
were off at the side, ready to bring
up the horses as close as might prove
safe when the moment came for flight
But they. too. found themselves cut
off. Had the man who fired on the
one who was about to fire waited Ohe
minute longer there would have been
more deaths than the single one. His
colleagues would then have been, like
himself, covering their respective vic
tims--yiCtims who confidently thought
themselves eXecutiOners. But as II
was. they had not quite yet worked
themselves into positions untram-
meled by intervening rock and timber.
The man who fired first knew this
for he had not heard the perfectly i'm.
itated quayer Of "sCNtCh-Owls' which
was to signify a common readiness.
But as he had eyed his crouching vic.
tim across his ritle.sights he had also
been able to look beyond him. and had
seen the figure OF Cal Douglas pause
At the lighted window. lie knew that
10 wait ! moment would be 10 wait too
long So the others had q fire blindly
through the black underground at
speeding sha6ows-and they missed
The fleeing murder squad melted
back into the black timber. and some
OF them. signaling with the call OF
frog and owl. came together in tenn
porary safety. They dared not 20 to
their own horses. since they might be
discovered in the effort The road
that led into the McBriar country
would be watched. II they were To
carry away unpunctured skins they
must fee the other way-intO the lia-
vey territory and astride stolen liayey
horses. Ii was every man for himself,
and they had not paused to count
noses. They hurricdly swung them
selves into saddles ut the remote end
of the line of hitched mounts and gal
Hoped pell,mell down the road toward
the cabin of Fletch McNash.
When the theft Of the horses was
discovered Ansc IIavcy sent pursuing
parties to ride the roads in both direc-
lions.
1t had seemed TO Uayey wiser to
withhold his warning from XII save
those whom he Ly,ted - uae. To al
the rest the arIaii had come without
notice. and the hue AMI cry which Iol
lowed the rlne shoIs w.- genuine Ia
its excitement
But IN very lew moments the
pandem0nium Tell away ANA sullrn-
ness supplanted the shouting. tn"
were stealthily seeIing escape and
many others were stalking them. lay
silent in the moonlight
A hundred yards beyond the win.
dow small and mquisitNe knot Of
men gathered around igure that
had hunched forward, sprdwl ling ON -
cooked rifle. Someone turned the fig
ure up and Strengthened its limbs so
that they should not stii1cn in such
grotesque attitude. The face, with
the yellow lantcrn-light shining down
on il, was the face OF "A boy OF twenty,
Its thin lips were set in grim smile
Of satisfaction. for death had over
taken him without a suspicion of It's
coming.
Perhaps, had a photograph of his
retina been taken, il would have dis,
closed the portrait of Cal Douglas
pausing at the open window.
Hits little Nash Watt" exclaimed
a surprised voice using the diminu,
tive which In the mountains takes the
place of junior and stays with a man
well on in life. The victim who had
bssn designated 10 sysnse the death