The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-10-13

l
 Nov z-State Election.
 across the slough, maybe it will help | to float us across. l am not going | to stay here.'
 1 Might do.'' said the sheriff, squ1nt- l ing at the log, Eff the wood ain't rot l ten. Better let me try fo it. know
 what to step on in these swamps an | what not to-
 l He left the semb1ance of the track | and reached the first hummock, 5eap- | ing to a second and a third, wading | cautiously between that and the l fourth, working toward the stranded | nber left there on some flood of | the main river. He got to within 1 twenty feet of it, and called back to them that it appeared sound, when there came a sharp crack from the | woods across the slough. a stfngtng l bite of exploded powder-gas coming down-wind to them as they saw miniature geyser of mud spurt up in | front of the sheriff's face, and that | worthy rapidly writhe back behind his hummock.
 CHAPTER TX. Yellow Jasmine. Next morning both Cairns and Blatchley were flat on their stomachs in the muddy trail and seeking cover. Four shots had come in rapid suc- cession, the first had gone through Cairns hat. he second had creased BIach1ey's shoulder, going through coat and shirt and burning the flesh beneath. The next had vicious1y whipk ed the s1ush between them as they emulated snakes and wriggled on their bellies back of a hummock. That shooting is too good to be pleasant said Blatch1ey prone in the wamp on a carpet of grass that was altogether insufficient to hold his ! weight, so that he had to spread l eagle himself to stop from sinking into the ooze. "Got anything solid l under you, Cairns? If so, give me a hand or a foot, I'm going through to China"
 Presently they were both spraw1ing
 among the low scrub growth on a | hummock, careful to be on the lee side of the shooting.
 Hardin, or his henchman, Humpy?" asked Blatchley.
 Hard to say. Probably the Squat, as the sheriff calls him. He said the hunchback was vindictive, and the man back of that rifle can certainly shoot. He might not have meant 70 more than warn the sheriff, but he aimed at us to kill, and if we hadn't dropped on the first shot we'd have
 
 firmly believe"
 Pheasant prospect" said Blatchley "Wonder if he niched the sheriff?' "Im going to find out" saIo Cairns He's the only one of us who's got 1 a gun, and if he won't use it, I will. I'm not going to be held up by | helf-crazed, misshapen negro. Hardin ] may be backing him in this, and if I +, oP4 I,o | the way we'v come, they may figure | they've got to fet rid of us Coming?' ?'' Suppose I've got to- grumbled | Blatchley, but he followed Cairns in | the direction of the sheriff and the | log the latter had been after. It was l ticklish work. They had to crouch 1 when they 1eaped between the hum m ocks, for fear of exposing them selves, and it made the take-off hard. Once Blatchley fell back, crotch-deep in mud, and Cairns barely held his | own balance when he shot out an arm and hand to the rescue. Once Cairns 1niscalcu1ated the levels and, for the second time. a bullet punctur- ed his soft hat. a second whining after it, for double warning. and men ace.
 They wrigg1ed around finally 10 where the sheriff lay, pouring out, Just dOOot GL "144SPOAs SoNAi e. Sll CdIIi of cursing that they narveied at the
 mans invention. His face, the droop- ing mustache included, was bIobbed with mud. He stopped swearing. +I was afraid he'd get you" he said.
 tfThe dirty, murderin' black runt.
 Thinks he's got us cornered. And he can shoot the eyeld offen a swamp
 rabbit at a hundred yards with that
 rife of his'n. Look at my face! Filled
 my eyes chock full O muck or I'd
 have got him. An I'll get him yet"
 He picked up his pistol, and they
 saw he had been cleaning it. .tGot that choked with mud. too,-
 he said. -'I slid back in some of a
 hurry, knowin' how the black cuss
 can shoot And thet ain't the worst
 of it. I suah got to git out of his
 swamp now or I'll die of fever. Look
 a thetl" He exhibited his flask
 empty"
 Get extra tfirsty?" asked Blatch-
 ley.
 'tNo, suh, the cork came out. got
 hitched on a swamp root somehow,
 an first thing I know I'm app1yin'
 good whisky like a lotion. External
 Also involuntary An as a proven
 tive agin' ager thet way 1t aIn-t wo'th
 q damn"
 Gro Be Concluded Tomorrow.) Copyright 1922. Thompson Feature Service.)