The Adair County news., 1922-01-17

E11ee1 the ShafthouSe could scarcely De
&zENed air.
~Dynamlte-that's what they fetched
1z1 that wagon gHrgled the old man
sszf zssy Side, and could have shouted
-EAr Coy at the mere sound Of his voice. ,
ss58ESs it was an assurance that he
izxn3R't been killed outright.
~E,s only question of a little time,
-zsuzs, Daddy" 1 prophesied. "What
IVA said yesterday-that Fullerton
-~S@H1d try to get possession without
asheEroyiBg the -prOperty-nO longer
FfsGEds good He has evidently decided
Frzsxf we've got to be Ousted, even at
-sfe expense of building a new shaft
stvSEse and installing new machinery.
'TEsgE has he changed his mind, when
RSse znows that he could starve us out
-Msa few days7"
been thInkin' about that, right
Tl5fHedly, Stannfe. Shouldn't wonder
ri -zamethinis in the wind-somethin
- 3on't know about"
~yaen there's another thing" l put
In. Surprising just for the sake Of
szxunent, that our first guess was
zzN6H- that he did take jeanne to
angels three days ago and that they
were married there. You know your
- Szaghter, Daddy, and L know her, a
lzBt5s. Nobody but an idiot would sup
q sese that she'd live with Fullerton as
Enss wife .for a single minute if he
ITzxKes himself your murderer"
= IL snre does look that-away to
IzSazD up a tree" admitted the stout
ss-5ld glghter.
I'm hanging on to the little hope
like a dog to a root, Daddy" l con-
7zF1s<sed IF can only keep on believ
ing that they're not married, l can put
INC a better fight, or be snuffed outfit
H E4ave to be-with a good few less
fE1tArt-burnings."
ES1t at this the old man, who. no
sz~zser ago than the yesterday, had
seemed to lean definitely toward the
ErsssszAsrriage hypothesis, suddenly
r hanged front.
Don't you 90 to bankin' on any,
sEfarag like that. Stannie, son." he said
IN n ctoRe of deep Encouragement.
"-Srrariey Bullerton's a liar, from the
ME- where they make liars for
EISzfI. and faint gOin' to be no trick
ID: sS4zsss Tor him TO make Jeanne, and a
: EsE- 30 .eflier folks blieye that we
T5sswed ourselves up with our own
sSfSszamite. No, sir; don't you go to
aaaskin'o on that
EEzzsh you do believe that jeanne
-~exI~With Bullerton?"
Looks like there amt nothing else
Ee6 - believe" he asserted dOlefully.
>S9Izkz at it for yourself, son: she's
shceez gone three whole days If she
tEhzSF gone with him-and the good
zLAz&f only knows where else she could
hzEE< gone-don't you reckon she'd We
s&sse=z hack here long afore this? No,
.<SHExxie; we been lettin' the wish II
~SSzzSS nm away with the had to be-
zE5zzn we just got to grit our teeth,
azgH and tough it out the best we can. y
ni1sing This waiting interval, which
sNzWs5 like hours and was probably
szMSlz "A few minutes, We were mOmen-
-Lz<z1S expecting another crash. 1t did
MT esome; but In due course of time
vsB S1eard "a stir ,Outside and then
-zafSsts. and one of the voices, which
xzz asot BullertOns said: I'll bet
,Efszs "a tridge smoked 'em out good an
vzEzAsss. eap'n Gimme tn ak, Tom, till
-Srxs Ssa1I;st open the door an have 9
ss9enz7t at lem"
A1sI at that moment a submerginG
WAITE of depression surged over me
.asusf showed me down so deep that
zzARAzl possibly if Fullerton had called
szauE .san6 demanded our surrender
,Ex1sgzad have been tempted to tell hin
xfkm 4 was not so much Of q hog al
;fsa1Sso knew when | had enough. Blu
=sfxesbi6i man squeezed in beside me un
cxSsT- sEhezarched boiler plate was mad
OF oetIer5 fiber he WAS game to thu
Eszzx hair in his beard. With a wild
EnsIzzn yell he hmched his Wincheste
Enfss position and fired once, twice
fsIHfeoe, at the door, as rapidly as h
.s1zszd pump the relOading lever.
a spattering fusillade was the repl
ia E1is, but the aim was bad and tn
sa8hz result was to set the air of on
xrzson fortress to buzzing as if
zzzrIn of angry bees had been turne
Easse .on us. After this, the raider
zzs31kdrew, so we judged at all events
yStne silence of the dark hour befOr
-zz:zybreak shut down upon us agar
md once more we had space in whic
"a gather our minds" as Daddy pu
~
, e may 'be dastardly confession 0
-~1&aknetss to admit it, but l am free t
-4y that the prolonged struggle wa
zzd1ally undermining my nerve.
81IIerten had made up his mind t
EF1te off the loss of the mine building
sR1 machinery, it was battle lost fo
zE 1t could be only a question of
ale time, and enough daylight to eI
= ~ Ifhe SbOmbers TO throw straigh
x1z<n we should be buried In the wrec
81 fhe shafthOuse and hOist-and will
>-zzt ,Ehe privilege of dying in gOo'
zsSd-fashioned, stand-up fight
H5l of this | hastily pointed out