The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-03-10

u W ptlACN', hC dSStl ltu uolclullN.
Lock at it for yourself, son: she's
been gone three whole days. II she
hadn't gone with him-and the good
Lord only knows where else she could
have gOnc-don't you reckon she'd We
been back here long afore this? No,
Stannie; we been Iettin' the wish II
was run away with the had to be- |
reckon we just got TO grit our teeth,
son, and tough it out the best we can"
During his waiting interval, which
seemed like hours and was probably
only Il few minutes, we were
tarily expecting another crash. 1t did
not come; but in due course Of time
we heard q stir outside and then
voices, and II of the voices, which
was o Bullerton'S said: "Tll 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 8 Submerging
wave Of depression suyged over me
and showed me down so deep that l
lillllh IoSSibIy ~ bulltl ltIl lldu tulItu
out and ~dcIGanded our surrender l
should have been tempted to tell him
that | was not so much Of a hog as
not to know when : had enough. But
the old man squeezed in beside me I'M
der the arched boiler plate was made
Of better fiber; he was 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 our
prison fortress to buzZing as If a
swarm Of angry bees had been turned
loose on Us. After this, the raiders
withdrew, so we judged at all events.
the silence Of the dark hour before
daybreak shut down upon us again,
and once more we had space in which
to gather our minds" as Daddy put
it.
1t may be q 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 q battle lost for
us. 1t could be only q 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 shafthoTse and hoist-and with
out the privilege Of dying in a good,
old-fashioned, stand-up fight.
All of this l hastily pointed cut 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 / shall
always have a high respect for the
wrath Of a m~ild-mannered man. The
old prospector was fairly Berserk,
mad, fOaming at the mouth, and short
of dragging him ont by main strength
there was no way of making him Isl
! go.
mo, sir; | 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 /
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 1t without
any trouble: q 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
right now, Stannie, my son.. We'd be
mOggin' up the golden stair and avon
derin' how much farther it was to the
New Jerusalem, and what kind o.
harps they was goin' to give us when
we got there. We sure would"
We didn't keep our heads out very
long. While we were staring up at
the hole and at the patch of sky be-
You'd 1t, a small dark object with a
slnOke-blue comets tail trailing be-
hind it crossed line Of sight, and
we ducked and held our breath-Or at
least, l held mine. The crash came
almost Immediately, and it was fol-
lowed in swift succession by a second
and n third. Luckily, none Of the
three hit the shaft-hOuse, nor, indeed,
fell very near to 1t and this uncer-
tainty of aim told us where the attack
vas coming from. The bomb throw
ers were posted somewhere on the
steep slope Of the mountain above us
the slope which l have described as