Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-09-09
~ .@Se0sZCe riaht By poubledex Peae 3

;sht by poobledey Peae 3 CO,
MES, at sunrise in the mornin'."
Although he had well known what
the sentence would be, Dale went sud
denly ashen. THen he took firm
grin on himself and began to reason.
He could not hope, he decided, that
the Morelands and the Llttlefords
would find him before the sun rose
They would miss him, Of course. apd
they would suspect foul play and look
for him; but finding him In that wild
erness-lt was impossible. 1t became
plain to him that he would have tc
save himself II he were saved. He
believed his best chance lay In bis
proving that he was anything but
coward; the worst mountaineer, h;
knew. admired q brave man.
So he turned slightly toward the
self-appointed Judge and asked calm
ly:'
"Is there anything really game
about you?"
"Shore, by gonnles" quickly. I'm
all game. I'm the feller at showed
wildcats how to fight. What about
itT
"Tll see II you're all game" Dale
said, and he smiled when he spoke
"Tll make yon this propositions, IT
fight any ten of you, two at time
with FIVE minutes Pest between fights
II | whip them all l go free, and Il
don't whip them all hang .mmed:
ateis. All parties TO be barehanded
no guns and NJ knives. Are you tha
gamer
Ordinarily, II would have been 3
thing we'll niGh impossible to do, much
as Dale knew of the pugilistic art,
greet as was his strength and endur-
ance. But now most Of those about
Dale we're drunk and therefore weak
ened. and he believed he had chance
If old Ball accepted.
But Judge Ball didn't accept. Doubt
less he remembered bis son Adams
nSHI WIFI Dale.
"The' CANT be no fightin' In COTE"
he said. You sh'll hang by the neck
ontel dead, at sunrise In the mornln'."
There was a humble Of approval
from the others. Doubtless they, too,
remembered that the young mar whom
they held captive had once whipped
Black Adam Ball. the mountaineer
Goliath, with his bare hands. They
did not have the one good trait that
Dale had hoped they possessed; while
they must have admired him for his
courage, Il y were afraid to fight him
without weapons. Dale recalled The
fact that the Balls were not originally
hiIlfolk, but lowlanhers who had taken
to the mountains in order TO avoid
being forced to fight during the Civil
war, people without a principle.
The Cherokee Torreys, OF course, were
even worse.
kitty, kitty, .kittyw Walt Turner
called tauntingly again. "He walked
into the trap like pore little kitty"
A plowline of half-inch cotton rope
was produced, and the condemned
man was securely bound, standing or
his feet and facing outward, to the
big walnut. Desperate as was his
case, Dale couldn't help being a trile
amused at that part Of It. 1t was
so very melodramatlc.' AND yet, IL
was so grimly real, and his hopes
, seemed so thin. :.
The Morelands and the Littlefords
would eventually learn the truth and
make the Balls and Torreys pay a
dear price, no doubt, but that-that
wouldn't give him back his llfel
The men were divided into two
watches. The first was to remain
awake and on guard until midnight,
and the other was to go on duty from
midnight until dawn. The second
watch, with which was the factions
leader, had a nightcap Of the vitriolic
whisky, flung itself sprawling on the
ground and straightway went to sleep.
The first watch sat. around the
cracking brushwood fire and played
cards for chews OF tobacco, cartridges
and pocket knives, sang strange and
outlandish songs and drank more
whisky. One very drunk Torrey gam
bled away all his tobacco, all his cart
ridges, his knife, his rifle and his belt
his coat and his hat, his boots and his
shirt-and offered to bet his trousers
and his ears on the turn Of single
card! 1t was funny, and it was dis.
gusting, too. 1t was all the work OF
whisky. which Bill Dale had always
hated because it made men fools, made
them mouth their secrets and made
them commit murder. :.
After some two hours Of these worse
than bacchanalian orgies the first
watch, heavy with drink, stopped play
ing cards and singing outlandish
songs, forgot all orders and began to
nod. Then 1t was that Dale thought
Of the man who had been his faithful