The Chesterfield advertiser. [volume] (Chesterfield C.H., S.C.) 1884-1978, 1922-03-16

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the results wondered If Fullerton
hadn't shrewdlY-. calculated upon wash
Ing our comin!ssary out Of existence
when he planned his overgrown lawn
sprinkler. But maybe that was giving
him credit for more ingenuity .han- he
really had. ~ - -.
| Through what remained of. The after
noon the rifle fring continued, coming
sometlrcs from one angle and some.
r times from another, but. always: can.
nily n ON a safe distance afld~ aIWkry
under cover of the surrounding forest.
Daddy Hiram, grimly: optimistic; lex.
tracted'a swallow or so Of encourage.
ment out Of the persistent pot-shoot-
Ing
Dunno as you've ever noticed 1t,
Stannie, but. II you'll only let hog
alone long enough he'll shove hi,aseIf
under the hob-wire fence far enough.
to get caught" he said. Charley Bul-
lerton. now; he's plum forgot. that.
"fropin's less n five miles: away. and
that sound Carries mighty long dis
tances In these mountains In clear
weather."
."What difference does. that make9'
| asked. :. 4,
"It may make a heap O. difference.
Looks TO: me like s6mebody: :.Budds
Fuller, r Jim, Haggerty, flie section.
boss, r some Of EN- down yondor ID
begin a-wonderin', after a spell, what
! In, tarnation ALI this here btastin, and
rife-poppin' up on old Clnnaba1*-is q
n n I'M NJ a,1 n
"Do you think the racket will carry
that far?" 80.
'':It sure will. One night afore 'Tro-.
pia had gone as dead as she: is now, a
bunch O. cowpunch's got into an Orgy
ment at Blue-nose Bill's place and we
heard the crackin' and poppin' up
hcre-Jaanie and me--1ike twas just
over .yonder In Greaser gulch."
,"Well?" said I, 'lf' your nephew or,
any Of the others hear It, what then y.
AS I asked the question one of .the.
low-afmed Shots tore through the side
OF the building, struck the Iron frame
Of the hoist: flatte9sd Itself and
dropied Into t6e pId mans lap. Pick
'ing ZAP, the hot. bit. Of lead to @dah1ie,
It from hand TO hand he Went on much:
as If. picking up bullets that kefe. fired
at him hard been hfs daily recreation:
Curiosity killed the+ cat, :tstanine,
son, You let some one OF the folks
down yohdar In 'Tropia say, BY gOl-
/ ]. wonder what all that shootiD's, ferT
and the next thing you know, some
body'l.be mOggin' up here to find out"
Along about dusk some member of
the besiegipg party tried.to make q re-
cOhhaissance, Ihapnehed bookkeeping
the lookout on the Cabin sida of. our
fortress and saw nfan~dOdging among
the pines back or the house. .When /
reported to Daddy he took snap shot
at the place ! pointed out to him and
there was a wild yell and stir in the
young pines as though hog were gal
foping through them.
Just to let 'em1 know that we're
still alive and kickiT,r said the old
man, with another Of. his quavery
chuckles. II reckon, maybe that's
what they was amin to find ont"
Possibly 1t was. At all events, the
rifle 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 1t all In ALL; 1t 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-de-well; young chap
with enough inheritance money to Keep
! him ip ties and shoes and shirts and
to buy gas for his carEthough- that
last asked for good bit on the rising
cost of gasolihe-and. not enough to
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. plentyof them to repeat
the saying to my face-that 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 stun Of any
sort; that ! was due to go on dOIling
myself UP and playing skittles to the
end of the chapter-which would prob
| alhy stnge itseIfIn an asylum for the
feeble-minded. Also, again, at that
same time, Which was six weeks-or
six thousand yearsy-ago, was en-
gagged to Iisette: with mighty little
bsprospect of fsapryiHg: ,lier, ts; be sufe,
but with no thought 81 smarfrSlhg any
!, pody eise..- J. .s-.1G -. s.'s c''f;I ~
I FrAnd noAR---.-, .--.,.SI looked around af
the shadowy walls of the grim ofd Gin.
nabnr shaft-house, looming darkly and
still dripping, tick, tack, from their
early-afternoon mud bath; felt my !sog.
gy clothes; stared across at Daddy
Hiram sitting backed up against the
hoist with his legs jackkhifed and his
| hands locked over his knees; It was a
grotesque pipe-dream; there WIS no
Other rs;he for 1t. broke out in a
/ laugh that was below.
"SpIit 1t up Stannic." urged the old
man dryly. 81 allow you ain't goin'