Licking Valley courier., 1922-01-19

"s"~A essU SSAeAAHb VI 't0Gk kkic DoINDofu.
ment stoDpsd--with eur reef locking
IKE q sieve.
But after darkness had settled down
We were made to feel in another way
now acutely helpless We were. we
could see nothing, hear nothing,
Though We knew We were surrounded,
the silence and solitude were unbroken,
and the strain was greater than that
Of pitched battle. II we were to get
any sleep at all, a night watch could
he maintained by emily one Of us at q
time; and with our utmost vigilance
. surprise attack would bs the easiest
thing In the world fer Bullerton to puli
Oh.
There are no night noises in the high
attitudes. unless the wind happens t.
be blowing; no frogs or trss-toads, No
insects: and the silence was fairly
deafcning--and maddening.s So
Not wishing to strike match to DE-
tarmine the exact end Of my watch
psfiod. ] stuck Il ont. meaning to give
Daddy good measure. 10, think il
must have been somewhere around ten
o'clock when the collie woke with 4.
start, jumped up, took the kinks out Of
his back with little whining yawn,
apd trotted to the door-the one open
ing toward theeahin across the dump
bead. Screwing AZ eve to enc Of Dad
dys auger-bored lesphsles, l tried to
fathom the outer darkness, which was
only degree or 60 less Egyptian than
that Of the shaft.house interior. II
Though l could see nothing ,suspl-
ciors 1t was very evident that the dog
could hear something. He had his nose
to the crack under the door and was
growing. quieted him and listened
Something was going ON, either inside
Of the cabin or back Of It; In the dead
silence l coAld distinguish low mur-
mr Of voices and. moment later, .
sound Ike that which would be made
by the cautious opening Of one of the
siding windows. While stin had my
eys 10 the psep-hole Jet Il name
sparted from the dark bulk Of the cab.
Ia. and sinuitaneously 4 bullet tore
through the shaft-heuse rSof. Tn.
raiders had captured eur outworks.
The report and TIA bullet elattsr
arofsed Daddy difah, and when ]
turned he was 1t my elbow.
Done crope up en- VI, have they,
senY ~ said IN his usual unruffied
manner. Thea: Maybe this u Just =
sort o false notion over here. s'pos.
you try and get q squint at things over
on the blacksmith-shep side, Stannie."
l stumbled across to the other door,
taking the collie with me. could see
nothing In that direction; less than
nothing. since the lean-to shop build
ing cut on what little light the stars
gave. But the black darkness didn't
hamper Barney's ears or his nose and
his eagenoss 70 sst back to tho real
battle front was Q good proof that
there was as yet nothing stirring on
our side OF things. "
Cropping my way back to Daddy I
found that he had one Of the WInches.
ters and seemed to be trying to at a
ramrod to the barrel. When n finally
made out what he was doing found
that he had thrust q piece Of heavy
wire into the gun-barrel and was i'm
paling one Of the dynamite cartridges
on It, projecting end. y
"Ap skyracket." he ehaekiAd thsn,
with suaint hsnsE: "Ysa staad By
With . match. Stannie, an6 let's see
what-ail's soin' to happen. When l
say the word, yeu stick your match to
the fuse."
Heavens maybe didn't enjoy a do
lightful little spasm as I got q fash
light mental picture Of that old man
fumblins around with Q. lighted cart
ridge at the muszis Of his gun, trying
to poke cartridge and gunrbarrel
through 4 hole in the door that couldn't
possibly have been over two and q
half inches In diAmeter-and In the
dark. at thatl What II be shouldb't be
able to fnd the hole In timer Or Il he
should succeed In finding It and the
rine bullet should jam on the yirei
Or ~ one Of dozen "ifs" that might
fail 4 fid NJ Of the deadly thing be-
fore 4 shouid 60 Oh and blow us to
Kingdom comei
tThe next instalment Of this Do
Iishtful and absorbing story. '.rhe
Girl, a Horse and . Dog" VIII appear
N the next issue Of the Courier. II
-FOUR ase not already q subscriber ee.
'our nme on our Iiss and set the wAsl.
IteEy.)