The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-02-24

bu1t as a lean-to against that side Of
we were necessarily blind. The fourth
side, as l have said, faced an abrupt
cliff Of the mountain, n rocky wall
rising to maybe twice the height Of
the buildings and almost c%verhang-
ing them. At its summit this cliff
tapered off into u steep upward slope,
bare OF timber; hence we were COM
parntively ecure from attack in that
quarter.
AS to provisioning we were not 80
badly off. Daddy Hiram, well used In
his long experience as n p%rospcctor to
figuring upon the longevity of grub
stakes" estimated that, what with the
canned stuff. part Of a sack OF flour,
and another of cornmeal, we could live
for a week. though the cooking was
going TO be rather "inCOnvenient. For
n fire we should have to resort to the
forge in the blacksmith shop, and the
shop was nothing but an open-cracked
shed, as | have described it, entirely
indetensible If the raiders should ron
clude to rush 1t.
In the fulneSS of time the period Of
suspense came to an end, and we were
given audible proof that Fullerton had
finally made his dispositions MS an
army man would say. The announce
ment came in the form of o rifle bullet
ripping through the roof of the shaft
house as If the stout iron roofing had
been so much paper.
THE fun's n-beginnin'," 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
aced, when a 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 at a time,
and ut intervals Of Il minute or SO,
came from all three of the exposed
sides of the building, and the time
elapSing between the ripping crashes
ia ~ I''l dilt lllt 'itNh vi liIt guns
told us that the markSmcn were all
we'll beyond the range Of our Win
cheStcrS. ever if we could have seen
them-which we couldn't.
Fullerton had evidently given his
men orders to aim at the roof. for it
was only a stray bullet now and then
that came through the walls. After a
time the purpose of the bombardment
became obvious. Fullerton seemed to
have absorbed the idea that he could
break our nerve-wear us out. After
the first fusillade the shots came at
intervals of maybe five minutes; just
often enough to keep us on the strain !;
and l don't mind admitting that the
object was handsomely gained. can't
speak for Daddy Hiram or the dog,
but at the end Of the first hour / was
little better than a bunch Of raw
nerves.
AS ali days must, this wearisone
first day came to an end at last, and
with the coming az dusk the lombard
ment stopped-with our roof looking
ike q sieve.
But after darkness had settled down
we were made to feel in another way
how acutely helpless we we're. We
could see nothing, hear nothing.
Though we knew we were surrounded,
the silence and solitude were unbroken,
n the strain was greater than that
Of a pitched battle. If we were to get
any sleep at all, a night watch could
be maintained by only one Of us at n
time; and with our utmost vigilance
a surprise attack would be the easiest
thing in the world for Fullerton to pull
off.
There are no night noises in the high
attitudes, unless the wind happens to
be blowing; no frogs or tree-toads, no
insects; and the silence was fairly
deafening-and m~addening.
Not wishing to strike n match to de-
termine the exact end OF my watch
period, l stuck it out, meaning to give
Daddy good measure. SO | think il
must have been somewhere around ten
o'clock when the collie woke with n
start, jumped up, took the kinks out Of
his back with a little whining yawn,
and trotted to the door-the one open
ing toward the cabin across the dump
head. Screwing an eye to one OF Dad
dy's auger-bored loopholes, i tried to
fathom the outer darkness, which was
only a degree or so less Egyptian than
that Of the shaft-ho interior.
Though l could see nothing suspi-
cious 1t was very evident that the dog
could hear something. He had his nose
to the crack under the door and was
growing. / quoted him and listened
Something was going on, either inside
Of the cabin or back of it in the dead
silence l could distinguish a low muir
mur Of voices and, a moment later, a
sound like that which would be made
by the cautious opening Of one Of the
sliding windows. While i still had my
eye to the peep-hOle a Jet of flame
spurted from the dark bulk Of the cab.
in and mulfaupOU n buIIat fora