The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1922-03-09

I seemed like hours and was probably
only a few minutes, we were moInen
tarily expecting another crash. 1t did
not come; but in due course of time
We heard a stir outside and then
voices, and one Of the voices, which
was not Bullerton's said: "TH bet
that cartridge smoked 'em out good an
plenty, cap'n. Gimme tn ak, Tom, till
we bust open the door an have a
squint at EN-"
Just at that moment. a submerging
wave Of depression surged over me
and, showed me down SO deep that /
think possibly II Fullerton had called
out and demanded our surrender I
should have been tempted to tell him
that I was not so much of q hog as
not to know when l had enough. But
the old mar squeezed in beside me I'M
der the arched boiler plate was made
of better fiber; he vas game to the
last hair in his beard. With a wild
Indian yell, he hunched his Winchester
into position and fired once, twice,
thrice, at the door, as rapidly as he
could pump the reloading lever.
A scattering fusillade was the reply
to this, but the aim was bad and the
only result was to set the air of u
prison fortress to buzzing as if 81
swarm of angry bees had been turned
loose on us. After this, the raiders
withdrew, so we judged at all events,
tho ciInron nf thu Io,-I- hnr~ hnfnrn
daybreak shut down upon US again,
and once more we had space in which
to gather our minds" as Daddy put
1t.
It may be a dastardly confession of
weakness to admit it, but | am free to
say that the prolonged struggle was
gradually undermining my nerve. If
Fullerton had made up his mind to
write off the loss Of the mine buildings
and machinery, it was a battle lost for
US. 1t could be only a question of a
little time, and enough daylight to en-
able the bombers to throw straight,
until we should be buried in the wreck
of the shafthouse and hoist-and with
out the privilege of dying in a good,
old-fashiOned, stand-up fight.
All of this I hastily pointed out to
Daddy Hiram, adding that, for Jeanie's
sake, If for~ no better reason, he ought
to take his chance of staying upon
earth. As long as l live I shall
always have a high respect for the
wrath of a mild-mannered man. The
old p~rospector was fairly Berserk,
mad, foaming at the mouth, and short
Of dragging him out by main strength
there was no way of making him let
60.
"No, sir; I done promised your
gran'paw at I'd stand by for him, and
he paid me money for dom it. When
them hellions get this here mine,
they're goin' to dig a hole somewheres
and bury me afterward," was all l
could get out of him.
We were not given very much more
time for discussion, or for anything
else. The first faint grazing dawn was
coming, and with the partial tighten
ing of the inner gloom, we craned our
necks-like a double-headed turtle
peering out of it's shetland got a
glimpse of the damage done by the in
itial t~hunderbolt. We saw it without
any trouble: a great hole torn in the
sheetiron roof directly over the hoist
and shaft mouth. Knowing the use
and effect of explosives pretty well,
Daddy said that the bomb had gone off
prematurely; had exploded before it
had fairly lighted upon the roof.
"If it hadn't-if it had been layin'
on the roof when it went OLIVE
wouldn't be lookin' up at that hole