The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-02-24
wire into the %gun-barrel and was I'm
paling one of the dynamite cartridges

wire into the gun-barrel and was I'M
paling one of the dynamite cartridges
on it's projecting end.
LII skyrocket," he c%huckled; then,
with quaint humor: "You stand by
with a match, Stannie, and let's see
whatalrs goin' to happen. When /
say the word, you stick your match to
the fuse"
Heavens! maybe l didn't enjoy a de-
lightful little spasm as / got q fash
light mental picture of that old man
fumbling around with a lighted cart
ridge at the muZZle of his gun, trying
to poke cartridge and ~gun-barret
through a hole in the door that couldn't
possibly have been over W. and a
half inches in diameter-and I'm the
dark, at that! What if he shouldn't be
able to find the hole in time? Or if he
should succeed in finding it and the
rifle bullet should jam on the wire?
Or any one of a dozen 'ifS" that might
fail TO rid us of the deadly thing be-
fore ii should go off and blow us to
kingdom come?
Ibu lltlc WIS ub lllile W IbSSto
about 1t, and the whang of another
high powered bullet on the iron roof
Over our heads speeded things up.
do your do" Daddy muttered and
| struck Il match, sheltered the tiny
flame In my followed hands until IL
got going good, and then, with n silent
prayer that Daddy might not miss the
IA1A t,,A ,In h1,pn - tI,z fnn H.nI nVAI
Of the powder string.
Coming all three together as IL
seemed to me, there were spittlngs like
those of an angry cat, Il puff of chok-
ing powder smoke, and the crack OF
the rifle. For just about three seconds
nothing further happened; but at the
fourth second or thereabouts-oh, boy!
The cabin was stoutly md solidly
built of logs, as l may have mentioned,
but in the flash of the rending eXplo-
sion we had Il glimpse Of doors and
windows caving inward and a section
of the Split-shingle roof leaping toward
the spacious armament on high.
"Now, durn ye," was Daddy Hiram's
morose comment. made with IN eye 10
a peep-hole, nov, durn ye, maybe
you'll let folks sleep %peaceable for a
little spell"
OF course, in the darkness, made
thicker by the cloud of dust the eXplo-
sion had kicked up, we couldn't tell
what had become Of the cabin gar
rison, or whether or no we'd killed oil
or any of it. But the immediate re-
suit was perfectly soul-satisfying.
There were no more roof lombard
ments, and after we had remained on
watch together for perhaps half an
hour, Daddy sent me to the blankets
ward played a low-down trick on me.
For, what with the previous nights
broken rest, and the more or lAss eX-
citing and %strenuou day, l slept like
a tired baby, and when l awoke the
sun was shining in at the two high
window holes ct something more than
an acute angle, and Daddy Hiram was
making coffee and frying bacon and
baking pan-bread over q chip fire
built on a piece Of boiler iron we had
turned down for hearth purposes the
previous evening.
The old angel took my reproach-
full abuse for his unselishness quite
| good-naturedly, as he did most things,
and made his report of the nights
doings. Up to midnight there had
been nothing stirring; but after that
there had been noises on the black.