The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1920-09-04

in his place. But my idea is To pul
one off on him, an start Tie minute
It gets dark enough SO them lads cam
see what's @oir' on out we're.
Wen fight our way thron@h?'
Not fight, my son; wen make
it so softly that not . Son-of-a-gun viii
! ever know how it happened. When
they wake up we'll be twenty miles out
| in the desert an still gOin'. Thar,S a
big log clnSing ter the upper end o
| tn rock. I saw it when | fust come
| over; an bout an hour ago | crept
back through thar gully an took a
good look. \ shove will send it tloatin'.
An with a good pair o legs to steer
with. thar amt nuthin' to stop it this
side the curve, an l don't calculate
| any o. the rifle brigade will be down as
fur as that. 1t sounds blame good ter
me. jim; what dye Say?'
Westcott's hand went out, and the
fingers of the two men claSped silent
| ly. There was no need for more
| speech; they understood each other.
The night closed down swiftly, as it
does in the West, the purple of the
hills becoming black as though by
some magic. There was a heavy
cloud hanging in the Western sky. con-
Stantly sweeping higher in pledge of
dark night. The banks Of the stream
became 0hscnred. and finally vanished
altogether; While the water ceased to
&llmmcr and turned to an inky black
ness. Lights twinkled in the distant
Shacks, and the front of the Red Dog
burst into illumination. Brennan
chucklcd, and pointed his finger at
the glare
Lacy amt fergettin the profit in
Ill this" he whispered hoarSely. 1.-THE
boys are goin' ter be dry, an he'll sell
en- all they want-wouldn't mind if
had some myself Is it dark enough.
mate?"
The sooner the better"
That's my ticket Come on then,
hut don't make a sound them lads are
more liable to hear than they are to
see Us. Let me 60 first"
The log WAS at the other end of the
little island. but there was consider
able rift in the rock surface. not deep.
but Of sufficient width to permit the
passage Of Il body The jagged stone
made the way rough N the dark, and
WestcoJt found himself at the upper
extremity. gashed and bruised by the
contact.
Brennan lowered himself into the
water. assisted in the downward climb
by some low, tough bushes whose ten
drills chung tenacious'y 10 the smooth /
rock. Wcstcott followed silently. and /
found footing in about three feet Of |
water, whore it swirled around the /
base of the island. Brennan put his |
lips close TO his companions ear.
Got yer cartridges tied up? That's
al right; hand EN- over. You hang
On to the outside, an I'll push off. If
yer have ter paddle ter keep in the
current, don't let Yer hands er feet
come to the surface-understand
Certainly"
"All right then: are you all set?
Holy smoke, this is going to be some
,acht ride"
The log did not even CRATE as it lOos-
med its slight hold on the rock, and
,egan the voyage downstream The
current was swift enough to bear
and its burden free from the island,
although it moved slowly and noise
esSly on it's way. The two men deep
Y submerged on either side, with heads
eld rigid against the wet bark, were
ndistinguishable. Out from the deep
r shadow, Brennan gently controlled
he unwieldy affair, and keeping it as
early as possible to tie center by the ,
useless movement of a hand under
'ater. No alarm greeted its progress,
nd at last, confident that they were al
eady safely below the extent of the
uard line, the two men, clinging to its
et sides, ventured to kick out quietly,
nj thus hasten its progress. 1t came
shore at the extreme end of the curve,
nd, after a moment of intent listen :
e, the voyagers crept up the sand.
nd lin whispers discussed the next eff
Drt of their escape. The belts were
nStrapped from about the log reload
with cartridges, and buckled around ,
tipping waists, before they clambered
up the low bank. The road
as just beyond, but between them
I'd it arose the almost shapeless form
small house, mere darker
adoW in the gloom Of the night.
"Where are we?" questioned West
tt. u
"Just back of old Beecher's shack, E,
e's trucking down Benson way. but is 9,
lble to have some grub stored inside. !,
was countin' on this for our COM h.
ssary department. Come on. Jim. :,
ne is money just now" e,
The door was unlocked, and in less =
an ten minutes they emerged once =,
)re into the open bearing their spols -.
Wescott, slab of bacon and a small "a
wing pan; Brennan a paper sack of ~
with couple of specimens ~
canned goods. He had also resur. 80
'ted gunny sack somewhere. in
ilch the things were carefully
appel, and made secure for trans. -.
rtatiOn. CIV
DIDN'T feel no terbacco, did yer r;e
n! the marshal questioned sole. So