Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1928-11-08


80 long. But without giving him time
for a word she stepped out into the
night. It was not till then that he
imagined he heard In the darkness
something like a suppressed sob.
WITH Christie on the way to safety
and Lefever's men at his call, Sell
wood started Barbanet back to Star
buck
But Barbanet had only disappeared
when Selwood heard a woman's
scream. Christie had but just crossed
the other threshold-it was her voice.
he sprang out Of the open back
door and ran around to the front. In
the street. lighted by the gray CLEAN
Of daybreak, he saw little group
Of struggling figures. To his left, out
Of the wide-open doors of Bartoe's
place, Starbuck's men were crowding.
What Selwood feared had happened:
door guard. freeing himself, had
given the alarm. As they ran out they
were met with the gun-fire Of Le-
fever's men, and In what seemed no
more than q second the two parties
were at grips with clubs and guns.
Before Selwood could dash across
the sidewalk, the group in the street
was surrounded by crowd Of yelling
men. In the thick Of 1t Selwood made
out Pardaloe, whirling about like a
bear and furiously shaking of man
who chung to his back, second man.
gun In hand, jumped around the two,
evidently trying to shoot the mule
boss without hitting his assailanti
Christie, screaming, her father, and
Bull Page urging her away, stood by,
wringing her hands. And at that mo-
ment an active man, dashing out Of
Bartoe's and brandishing a revolver,
ran between Christie and her protec-
tors and caught her up with his free
arm.
Had the confusion been less, had
the uncertain light been less certain,
Selwood would have been at no loss
to recognize this man; the commonest
instinct in the nature of men would
have declared Starbuck to him In the
man assailing Christie. He did not
realize that smoke was now rising
about Bartoe's place, that Pardaloe
had made good his threat to burn It,
and that the men running out Of the
door were crying 'Firew He had
eyes for no one but Starbuck and
heard nothing but Christie's angry,
rebellious cries as she struggled to
free herself. And he ran toward her
with an answering cry.
Starbuck saw him leap into the
street; and, still holding the frantic
girl, he brought down his gun like
q fash on Selwood
It was a reckless, useless shot.
With Christie fighting him with her
puny fists, the bullet few wide. Not
deigning to reply, not even drawing
his own gun, but maddened to fury,
Selwood dashed forward; before
Starbuck could pull up and cover the
second time, the gambler was on him.
Bull Page had caught Christie by
the wrist and was dragging her away.
She screamed at Bull and resisted
him. She tried to get back to where
she knew a deadly moment had come
between the man she hated and the
man she loved; but she could not.
Pardaloe, like beleaguered giant,
had shaken of his enemies, recovered
his shotgun, and above the suffering
crack Of revolvers, its roar sounded
on Christie's ears. Then, clubbing
the gun and shouting imprecations at
his enemies, the mule boss swept an
open space between them and the
two men who, locked In a death strug-
gle, rolled in the middle Of the street.
Despite a terrific blow across the
head from the fat Of Selwood's re-
volver, Starbuck's weight and bulk
had borne the gambler to the ground;
and Starbuck, to avoid fatal dex-
terity with the same revolver, had
clinched with him.
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