The Adair County news., 1922-01-24
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Copyright By Charles scribnerS Sons

If there had been a dozen of the
bombs raining down / don't believe
the threat of them would have kept
us from bursting out of our dOdge-hole
to go and see what had happened In
the mine shaft But before we could
determine anything more than that
the mouth of the shaft was complete
Iy hidden under a mass of wreckage
and that the mysterious Niagara roar,
dwindled somewhat, but yet holloway
audible. was still going on under the
concealing mass of broken timbers
and sheet-irOn, there was masterful
interruption. Shots, yells, shOutings
and hot curses told US that. a fierce
battle of some kind was staging itself
Just outside of our wrecked fortress;
whereupon Daddy Hiram began paw
ing his way to the door, yelling like a
man suddenly gone dotty.
'That there's old Ike Beasley-
dad-blame his old hide!" he chittered.
'aThere amt nary mother man in the
Timanyonis at can cuss like that.
He's come with a posse, and they're
layin' out Charley BullertOn's crOwd!"
There was a fine little tableau
, spreading itself out for us when we
had clambered over the wreckage and
had withdrawn the wooden bar and
. flung the door wide. Daddy Hiram
had called the turn and named the
trump. The large, desperadoish-lOok-
ing man who had once interviewed me
at Angels, and a little later had
paused in his combing Of the noun
tains in search of me to usurp my
place at the Twomblys' breakfast ia
IA. this bewhiskered giant, with q
yoodish bunch Of follOwers-hard-
boiled to a man, they looked to be
had surrounded a fair half of the
would-be Jumpers" and were hand
cutting them with a celebrity that was
truly admirable. And Beasley, him
self, square-jawed and peremptory,
was showing Fullerton up against the
side of the shaft-hOuse, swapping the
irons upon his wrists and counseling
him, with choice epithetS intermin-
gled, to save up his troubles and tell
them to the judge.
As we emerged from our wrecked
fortress, other members of the posse
were scattering to round up the out
lying bOmb-tbrOwerS, who had appar
emily taken to the tall timber in
panic-Stricken effort to escape. Down
on the bench below there were horses
and hOrse-holders; and among the
horses one whose bOyish-loOking rider
was just slipping from the saddle.
While / was wondering vaguely why
the Angels town marshal had let
mere boy come along on such battle
errand, the boyish figure ran up the
road and darted in among us to fling
itself into Daddy Hiram's arms, CUR
Cling and half crying and begging to
be told if he was hurt.
1 didn't know at the time how much
or how little the big marshal knew of
the various and mUddled inducements
which were climaXing right there in
the early morning sunshine on the old
Cinnabar dump head; but l do know
that he quickly turned his captures
over to some of his deputies and had
them promptly hustled down stage
and off scene. While this was going
on / was merely waiting for my cue,
and I got it, or thought l got it when
the boy who wasn't a boy slipped
from Daddy'S arms and faced me.
I'm not hurt, either" l ventured
to say, hoping that the brain storm
had subsidized sufficiently to make me
visible. Welcome home, Miss TwOm-
bly--or should l say Mrs. Bullerton?'
The look she gave me was just plain
deadly; you wouldn't think that VIC
Then she drew a folded paper from
somewhere inside of her clothes and
held it out to me.
'There is the deed to your mine
Mr.. Broughton," she said nippingly
and with a fairly tragical emphasis on
the courtesy title. you wouldn't
take the trouble to 20 to Copah and
get it recorded. so 1 thought I'd better
do it. hope you'll pardon me for be
ing so forward and meddlesome."
II was tic SupCI VI ihO Cil
tire Arabian-Nights business, and be
cause my feelings would no longer be
denied their rightful fling, l sat down
on the shaft-hOuse doorstep and
shouted and laughed like a fool. But
after all, it was Mr.. Isaac Beasley
deputy sheriff and marshal of Angels
who put the weather-vane, so t.
speak, upon the fantastic structure.
81 been lookin' round for you ;
right smart while" he told me gruffly
when you get plum over your laugl
and feel that you're needin' a LITTLE
sashay over the hills FIR exercise, yo'
can come along with me and go to jai
fr stealin' that railroad car"
CHAPTER XVIII.