The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1921-12-19

FiIe results ! wondered If Builerr0E
hadn't sElrewdIy calculated upon wash
ing our coTnmissary out OF existenc'
when he planned his oyergrown lawn
sprinkler. But maybe that was givin;
him credit for more ingenuity than b,
really had
Through what remained Of the after
noon the rifle firing continued, coming
sometimes from one angle and some
times from another. but always can
nily from q safe distance and always
Hnder cover Of the surrounding forest.
Daddy Hiram grlmly optimistic. *
tracfed a swallow or so of encourage
ment out of the persistent pot-shoot-
ing.
Dunno as you've ever noticed it.
Sfannie. but If you'H only let hog
alone long enough he'll shove himself
under the bob-wire fence far enough
TO get caught. he said Charley Bull
lerfon. now: he's plum forgot that
'Tropia's less u five miles away and
that sound carries mighty long dis
tances in these mountains in clear
weather.
"What difference does that maker
] asked.
1T may make a heap o. difference.
L, Is 10 me like somebody Buddy
Fuller. r Jim Haggerty. the section
boss. r some of EN- down yonder q
begin a-wonderin'. after spell. what
in farnation all this here blastin and
rifie-poppin up on I'D Cinnabar is a
p'intin' at and come and see
do you think the racket will carry
that far?"
aIt sure will One night afore 'Tro-
pia had gone as dead as she is now a
bunch o cowpunch's cot into an argy-
ment at Blue-nose Bits place and we
heard the erackin and poppin' up
here-Jeanie and me-like it was just
over yonder IN Greaser gulch.'
"Well?" said |, IF your nephew or
any Of the others hear it. what them"
AS | asked the question one Of the
l0w-afmed shots tore through the side
Of the building, struck the iron frame
of the hoist, fiattened itself and
dropped into the old mans lap. Pick
ing up the hot BIT of lead to dandle
it from hand to hand he went on much
as If picking up bullets that were fired
at him had been his daily recreation.
Curiosity killed the cat. Stanine,
son. You LET some one o. the folks
down yonder In 'Tropia say, by gol-
/ wonder what all that shootin's for?'
ard the next thing you know, some
bodyIl be moggin' up here TO find out "
Along about dusk some member of
the besieging party tried to make re-
connaissance happened to be keeping
the lookout on the cabin side of our
fortress and saw man lodging among
the pines back of the house When
reported to Daddy he took a snap shot
at the place ! pointed out TO him and
there was a wild yell and a stir in the
young pines as though hog were gal
Looping through them.
Just to let EN- know that were
still alive and kickin'," said the old
man, with another of his quavery
chuckles. 4 reckon maybe that's
what they was amin to find out"
Possibly 1t was. At all events, the
rife fire stopped with the coming of
darkness, and as We faced our second
night of defense we had plenty of time
to sit around and think and speculate
upon what the outcome was going to
be-
Taking it all in all, it was the fan
tastic humor of the thing that hit me
hardest. Six short weeks earlier peo-
pie at home had been calling me all
the hard names that fall to the lot OF
the idle ne'er-do-well; d young chap
with enough Inheritance money TO keep
him in ties and shoes and shirts and
to buy gas for his car-though thai
last asked for a good bit en- the rising
cost of gasoline and not enough tC
make life, or anything connected there
with, very much worth while.
Also these same people were saying
behind my back, of course, but there
were always naenty of them to repeat
the Saying TO my face-Jhat / was
good stock gone to seed, would never
amount to a hill of beans in anything
that asked for initiative or resource
fulness, or primitive rough stuff of an!
sort; that / was due TO go on dollinl
myself up and playing skittles to tbs
end of the chapter-which would prob
abby stage itself in an asylum for tn,
feeble-minded. Also, again. at tina
same time, which was six weeks o
six thousand years-ago, was en-
gagged to Iisette: with mighty littl,