The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1921-12-23

built as a lean-to against that side of
the shaft-house1 In that direction
we were necg nd. The fourth
side. as | aaced an abrupt
cliff OF tn in. a rocky wall
rising to ,wice the height of
the builf nd almost o%verhang-
ing them. Its summit this cliff
tapered OFF alto a steep upward slope,
bare of timber; hence we were COM
paratively secure from attack in that
quarter.
AS TO provisioning we were not so
badly off. Daddy Hiram, we'll used in
his long experience as a prospector to
figuring upon the longevity Of "grub-
stakes" estimated that, what with the
canned stuff, part of a sack of flour,
and another of cornmeal, we could live
for a week, though the cooking was
going to be rather inconyenient. For
a fire we should have to resort to the
forge in the blacksmith shop, and the
shop was nothing but an open-cracked
shed, as / have described ii, entirely
indefensible II the raiders should con-
clude to rush IL.
In the fulness of time the period Of
suspense came to an end, and we were
given audible proof that Fullerton had
finally made his dispositions" as an
army nan would say. The
ment came In the form of a rifle bullet
ripping through the roof OF the shaft
house as If the stout iron roofing had
been so much paper.
"The fun's a-beginnin'," said Daddy;
and the words were hardly out Of his
mouth before another bullet came, this
time from the opposite direction, and
it, also, tore through the roof.
"Got us surrounded" Daddy grim
aced, when a third shot came from still
another point of the compass; and
within the next fifteen minutes Butler
tons demonstration was made com
plete. The shots, fired one at a time,
and at intervals Of a minute or so,
came from all three of the exposed
sides of the building, and the time
elapsing between the ripping crashes
on the roof and the crack Of the gun
told us that the marksmen were all
well beyond the range Of our Win
ch~esters. eve If we could have seer
tLem-which we couldn't.
Fullerton hGd evidently given his
men orders to aim at the roof, for 1t
was only a stray bullet now and her
that came through the walls. After a
time the purpose of the bombardment
became obvious. Fullerton seemed to
have absorbed the idea that he could
break our nerve-wear us out. After
the first fusillade the shots came at
intervals of maybe five minutes; Just
often enough to keep us on the strain;
and 1 don't mind admitting that the
object was handsomely gained. / can't
speak for Daddy Hiram or the dog,
but at the end of the first hour l was
little better than a bunch of raw
nerves.
AS all days must, this wearisome
first day came to an end at last, and
with the coming of dusk the lombard
ment stopped-with our roof looking
like a sieve.
But after darkness had settled down
we were made to feel In another way
how a~cutely helpless we were. We
could see nothing, hear nothing.
Though we knew we were surrounded,
the silence and solitude were unbroken,
and the strain was greater than that
of q pitched battle. If we were to get
any sleep at all, a night watch could
be maintained by only one of us at a
time; and with our utmost vigilance
a surprise attack would be the easiest
thing in the world for Fullerton to pull
of.
There are no night noises in the high
attitudes, unless the wind happens to
be blowing; no frogs or tree-toads, no
and the silence was fairly
deafening-and maddening.
Not wishing to strike a match to de-
the exact end of my watch
I stuck it out, meaning to give
Daddy good measure. So / think 1t
must have been somewhere around ten
when the collie woke with a
start, jumped up, took the kinks out of
lis back with a little whining yawn,
trotted to the door-the one open
Tx OMulu llC N1Dln utlOSS lnt uuiuU
head. Screwing an eye to one Of Dad
iy's a%uger-bored loopholes, / tried to
'athom the outer darkness, which was
)nly a degree or so less Egyptian than
hat Of the shaft-house interior.
Though 1 could see nothing suspi-
ious it vas very evident that the dog
hear something. He had his nose
o the crack under the door and was
rowling. 1 quoted him and listened
something was going on, either inside
# the cabin or back of it in the dead
Hence l could distinguish a low MUIR
nur of voices and, a moment later, a
ound like that which would be made
y the cautious opening of one of the
liding windows. While l still had my
to the p%eep-hole a jet of flame
from the dark bulk of the cab
and simultaneously a bullet tore
through the shaft-house roof. The
had captured our outworks.
The report and the bullet clatter