Graham guardian., 1922-02-14
CHAPTER XIV.
Applied Hydraulics.

"rheyNe Skipped" | reported TO
Daddy. nS climbed down from the
earth sacks. land that shows US the
quality Of the humanity stun we lave
TO deal with Fullerton will never get
that bunch Ia rush MS in the open"
"Thal's something gained, anyway"
SHlG the old man; "and ever li'p hit
helps. Sut if they amt goin' to take
1t standin' up, we got to look out for
lnjin doin's; the snakc-in-thc- grass
kind, Charley Fullerton amt goin' to
quit noue SO easy"
Nevertheless, for an hour or more,
il looked rs if the jumpers had quit.
In due time the cooking fire in the lit
lie glade burned out, ana no one
came o. rekindle il. Around and about
the SOIern silence of the mountain
wilderness ringed us In, and II was
hard To realize that the siege had not
been andOned-thOughw we knew well
enough il hadn't.
We put in the time as best we could,
tinkcrlng up our dpfpnses and trying
TO provide for all the contingencies.
For one thing, Daddy found big
auger and used il Ia bore lOophOIeS at
various places through the wall, by
means Of which we could command the
approaches to the shaft-hOuse on two
Of the three exposed sides. Eastward
~, the blacksmith shop interviewed be-
tween us and the boiler shed--it was
built as a lean-tO against that side of
the Shaft-hOuSe-and In that direction
we were necessarily blind. The fourth
side, as have said, faced an abrupt
cliff Of the mountain, rocky wall
rising to maybe twice the height of
the buildings and almost Sverhang-
iHperpd off into steep upward slope,
bare of timber; hence we were COM
paratively secure from attack in that
quarter.
As to provisioning we were not so
badly OF. Daddy Hiram, well used In
his long experience aS n prOspector to
figuring upon the longevity of grub
fakes" estimated that, what with the
aimed Stnn. part of sack of flour,
nd NnotEcr of Cornmenl. we could live
n week, though the cooking was
'"ing tn he rather inconvenient. For
II fire we should have 10 resort to the
F0rge in the blacksmith shop, and the
f'"p WAS noihing but an Oppn-cracked
shed. as ] have described il, entirely
II the raiders should con-
rludc 70 rush 1t.
IN the inlncSS of time the period Of
suspense came to an end. and we were
given audible proof that Fullerton had
finally made his "disposiiions," ms IN
army man would say. The announce
mcnt came in the form of a rifle bullet
ripping through the roof of the shaft
house as If the stout iron roofing had
been \" much paper. ...
"Tle fun'S a-bcginnin'," said Daddy;
and the words were hardly out of his
mouth before another bullet came, this
time from the opposite direction, and
it, also. tore through the roof.
Got us surrounded" Daddy grim
accd, when Il third shot came from still
another point Of the compass; and
within the next fifteen minutes Butler
tons demonstration was made COM
plete. The shots, fired one ut a time,
and at intervals Of minute or so,
came from all three of the exposed
sides of the building, and the time
plap|inG between the ripping crashes
on the roof and the crack of the guns |
told us that the marksmen were all |
well beyond the range of our Win |
even if we could have seen |
them-which we couldn't.
Fullerton had evidently given his |
men orders to aim ut the roof for it |
was only a stray bullet pOW aud then
hat came through the walls. After q .
time the purpose of the bOnbardment |
became obvious. Fullerton seemed to :
have absorbed the idea that he could I
break our nerve-wear us out. After .
the first fusillale the shots came at
Of maybe five minutes; Just
nften tnough to Keep us on the strain; .
and I don't mind admitting that the
inject was handsomely gained. | can't .
speak for Daddy Hiram or the dog,
but at the end.Of the first hour was