The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1930-10-31

where Lu0 DlOW 16lls IL LHGy COuIu uOC
find Fitch they might strike at the
men who they thought were protecting
him.. Any adherent Of Yves Steel
mans would do, given a reasonable
excuse. He could not understand the
psychology Of such people. There was
Bob Quantrell, for instance. He had
been friendly with Smith, eresford.
He had protected them both. But Gar
rett knew that new he would not lift
a hand to save them If Sanderson or
the others moved to strike.
Quantrell spoke. ''I'm going up to
that bunch of timber an comb it.
Three-four Of you fellows come along
with me. Well take care of these
gents when we get back"
Three men followed Quantrell to the
horses. The four mounted and rode
toward the grove.
O'Hara caught the eye Of his partner
and the two edged back toward the
cabin. Very soon the riders would
make discovery, one which might
have disastrous reaction in pre-
cipitating trouble.
".We've nothing against any of you,"
O'Hara explained. 1--WE have started
here as peaceable ranchers. If we can
we want to be friendly with our neigh
bors. There's room for all of us, a
wide range, plenty Of grass"
From the timber above shot rang
out, followed by puff Of smoke.
dad gum it, they've got him." the
Texas Kid cried, and he started up
the hill on foot.
Three men followed him. The others
stayed to watch the partners. Among
those who remained was Shep San
derson.
Garrett flung glance toward the
battle ground and saw that the at
tackers were drawing closer to their
prey. He heard voices in parley. The
shots ceased.
A shout came down to them. Hes
give up"
Men emerged from the timber. The
one who moved in the center Of the
little group, the prisoner, walked with
a limp. Evidently he had been
wounded.
SandersOn chose that moment, be-
fore his companions above could reach
him to object. for his revenge. He
fired from the hip. O'Hara felt the
shock of the bullet. 1t had struck his
cartridge belt at the buckle and
glanced off, though he did not know
until later that he was not severely
wounded.
What followed came so rapidly that
there was no orderly sequence to it in
O'Hara's mind. He could hear the
roar Of guns, his own among them. A
flash of flame scared his shoulder His
companion staggered, leaned against
the door jamb, and cried, "I'm hit"
He moved through lanes of fire. Fig
ures doomed up in the smoke and van
ished. Some one pushed close against
him, striking with knife. He pressed
the revolver against yielding flesh and
pulled the trigger. The man gave way
with groan that was half scream.
O'Hara's revolver was empty. He
was in the doorway now, astride the
PROSTATE body Of his partner, though
how he had got there he did not
know. Out Of the fog of smoke face
doomed. He flung the empty weapon
at it, stopped, and snatched up the
six-shooter Of his friend. There was
no conscious volition on his part. The
AS began to roar.
One moment the day was filled with
the fury of battle. The next the
sound of it had died away. O'Hara' s
enemies were falling back, driven into
retreat by the steadiness Of his fire.
Once more his revolver hammer
clicked on an empty chamber. Garrett
dropped the weapon, stopped, and
picked up his partner. He carried him
into the house and laid him on bed,
then swiftly set about putting the
cabin into state Of defense. Bolting
the back door, he barricaded it with
trunk. He drew the window cur.
tains. Another trunk he pushed into
the front doorway, then dragged q
mattress there and propped 1t up In
front of the trunk as a protection
against bullets.
All this had taken him scarcely a
score Of seconds. From a rack he
i! drew rifles, repeating Winchester for
one, and two of Smith Beresford's
hunting guns brought with him from
England.
From behind the trunk and mattress
| O'Hara took in the situation. Two
men were wounded seriously. He
could see them lying on the ground
where their companions had dragged
them. Most Of the others were gath.
cred in group near the horses. San
derson, waving bandanna meant fol-
a flag of truce, had stepped a few
yards forward from the rest.
Garrett felt. as he had more thar
once in the past weeks, that odd lift
of the spirit that came with danger
He was wounded in two places. HI:
companion lay helpless on the bed. A
| dozen desperate men, all heavily