The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1921-12-30

went with Bullerton?"
Looks like there amt nothing els
left to believe" he asserted dolefulIy
Look at 1t for yourself, son: she'
been gone three whole days. II sh,
hadn't gone with hlm-and the goot
Lord only knows where else she coult
have gone-don't you reckon she'd v,
been back here long afore this? No
Stannie; we been lettin' the wish II
was run away with the had to be-
reckon we just got to grit u teeth
son, and tough 1t out the best we cam
During this waiting interval, which
seemed like hours and was probably
only a few minutes, we were momen-
tarily expecting another crash. 1t did
we heard q stir outside and then
voices, and one of the voices. which
was not Bullerton's said: "Tll bet
that cartridge smoked 'em out good an
plenty, cap'n. Gimme tn ak, Tom, till
we bust open the door an have a
squlnt at EN-"
Just at that moment a submerging
wave of depression surged over me
and showed me down SO deep that /
think possibly If Fullerton had called
out and demanded our surrender 1
should have been tempted to tell him
that l was not so much of a hog as
not to know when l had enough. But
the old man squeezed in beside me I'M
der the arched boiler plate was made
of better fiber; he was game to the
last hair In his beard. With a Wild
Indian yell, he hunched his Winchester
into position and fired once, twice,
thrice, at the door, as rapidly as he
could pump the reloading lever.
A scattering fusillade was the reply
to this, but the aim was bad and the
only result was to set the air of our
prison fortress to buzzlng as If q
swarm of angry bees had been turned
loose on us. After this, the raiders
withdrew, so we judged at all events,
the silence of the dark hour before
daybreak shut down upon us again,
and once more we had space In which
to "gather our minds" as Daddy put
Ii.
1t may be a d~astardly confession of
weakness to admit 1t, but / am free to
say that the prolonged struggle was
gradually undermining my nerve. If
Fullerton had made up his mind to
write off the loss of the mine buildings
and machinery, it was a battle lost for
1t could be only a question of a
little time, and enough daylight to en-
able the bombers to throw straight,
until we should be buried In the wreck
Of the shafthouse and hoist-and with
the privilege of dying In a good,
Dld-fashioned, stand-up fight.
All of this l hastily pointed out to
Daddy Hiram, adding that, for Jeanie's
sake, If for no be~tter~reason, he ought
% take his chance of staying upon
earth. AS long as / live / shall
have a high respect for the
Of a mild-mannered man. The
I'D prospector was fairly Berserk,
mad, foaming at the mouth. and short
# dragging him out by main strength
here was no way of making him let
70.
mo, sir; / done promised your
ran'paw at I'd stand by for him, and
e paid me money for dom II. When
hem hellions get this here mine,
goin' to dig a hole somewheres
nd bury me afterward," was all /
ould get out Of him.
We were not given very much more
me for discussion, or for anything
lse. The first faint grazing dawn was
Dming, and with the partial tighten
lg of the inner gloom, we craned our
a double-headed turtle
eering out of Its shetland got a
Iimpse of the damage done by the in
ial thunderbolt. We saw II without
ny trouble: a great hole torn In the
i~eetiron roof directly over the hoist
I'd shaft mouth. Knowing the use
nd effect of explosives pretty well, I
addy said hat the bomb had gone eff (
'ematurely had exploded before 1t
I'd fairly lighted upon the roof.
"If 1t hadn't-if II had been layin'
the roof when 1t went olive
be lookin' up at that hole
ght now, Stannie, my son.. We'd be
oggin' up the golden stair and avon I
rim how much farther II was to the \
ew Jerusalem, and what kind o. !
rps they was goin' to give us when Z
; got there. We sure would"
didn't keep our heads out very
ng. While we were staring up at
e hole and Mt the patch of sky be- &
nd 1t, a small dark object with a e
loke-blue comets tail trailing be- I
nd II crossed our line Of sight. and
: ducked and held our breath-or at .
ist, l held mine. The crash came 4
most Immediately. and 1t was fol- =
we'd In swift succession by n second
d a third. Luckily. none of the
rec hit the shaft-house, nor. indeed.
very near to II; and this uncer-
Inty OF aim told us where the attack
is coming from. The bomb throw r,
; we're posted somewhere on the
'ep slope of the mountain above US; hf
2 slope which l have described as fiji
inning UP from the brink of the hf
rupt cliff overlooking the mine tr