Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-12-02

over; there might be food left behind
even if the people have gone"
! We must have been half an hour in
! covering the distance. The cabin stood
well up above the stream, within tie
shade Of the great oak, and we were
confirmed, long before we reached it,
in our former judgment that it was
uninhabited. No sign of life was viSi.
BILE about the place; it had the ap-
pearance of deSertion, no smoke even
curling from out the chimney. A faint
trail, evidently little used, led down
( toward the creek, and we followed this
as it wound around the base of the
big tree. Then it was that tine truth
dawned suddenly upon us-there tc
our right lay a dead mule, harnesscd
for work, but with throat cut; while
directly in front of the cabin door was
a dog, an ugly, massive brute, his
mouth open, prone on his back, with
stiffened legs pointing to the sky.
dropped my rein, and strobe forward.
"Wait where you are" called back
'There Have been savages here; Let
me SEQ FIRST what has happened In
ride".
The dog had been shot. stricken bl
two bullets, and I was obliged to drag
his huge body to one side before l
could press my way IN Though the
door. The open doorway and window
afforded ample light, and a single
glance was sufficient to reveal most
of the story. The table had been
smashed as by the blow Of an Ak, anu
pewter dishes were everywhere. The
bed in one corner had been stripped of
it's coverlets, many Of them slashed
by a knife, and the straw tick had
been ripped open in dozen places.
Goals from the fireplace lay wide
spread, some of them having eaten
deeply into the hard wood before they
ceased smoldering.
saw all this, yet my eyes rested
upon something else. A man lay, bent
double across an overturned bench, in
q posture which hid his face from
view. His body was there alone, al
though child's shoe lay on the
floor. and woman's linsey dress
dangled from hook against the wall.
L crept forward, my heart pounding
madly, until l could gain sight OF his
face. He was q big fellow, not more
than thirty, with sandy hair and beard,
and a pugnacious jaw, his coarse
hickory shirt slashed into ribbons, a
bullet wound in the center Of his fore
head, and one arm broken by vicious
blow. His calloused hands yet gripped
the haft of an Ak, just as he had died
fighting.
Tins voice spoke from the door
way.
"Iniuns, I reckon?"
ayes, they have been here; the man
Is dead. But there must have been
others, a woman and child also-see
that shoe on the floor, and the dress
hanging over there. The poor devil
fought hard" 81,
"bo you think it best to stop here"
"Why not? 'Tain't likely them
devils will be back agin. Thar sure
must be somethin fer us ter eat in the
place, an the Lord kno's we can't 60
on as we are Them gurls be mighty
nigh ready ter drop, an two o the
hosSes has plum Civ out. I'm fer set
tim down fer few hours enyhow-
say till it gifts middllng dark" .
Undoubtedly this was the sensible
view. We would be in far less danger
remaining there under cover than in
any attempt to continue our journey
by daylight. Together we carried the
body out, and deposited it in thicket
behind the cabin, awaiting burial; and
then dragged the dead dog also out Of
sight. The disorder within was easily
rCmcdied, and, after this had been at
tended to, the girls were permitted to
enter. ElOiSe sank back on the bench,
her head supported against the wall,
the laSheS of her half-cloSed eyes
showing dark against the whiteness
Of her cheeks. She looked SO pitifully
tired, the very heart chOked in my
throat.
The rest of us found q small stock
of provisions, and Elsie, with Tim to
aid her, built a fire and prepared
breakfast. A half-filled bottle of
whisky discovered in the cupboard,
helped to revive all of us slightly, and
gave Asa sufficient courage to seek
outside for a spring. Tim, compara-
lively unwearied himself, and restless,
located a trapdoor in the floor, rather
ingeniouSly concealed, which disclosed
the existence Of small cellar below.
Candle in hand he explored this, re-
turning with two guns, together with
O quantity of powder and ball, and in
formation that there remained half
keg of the explosive hidden below.
Must q bin aimin' ter blow up
stumps, l reckon" he commented, ex-
hibiting q sample. "COarseSt / ever
saw; cudn't hardly use thet in no gun,
but it's powder alright"
TO remove the debris out Of our way,
l was gathering up the straw tick and
slit blankets, and piled them all to-
gether back on the bed. Clinging 10
nno of rho bIonEo+c pourht and held