Hungry Horse news., 1948-04-07
CHAPTER XXXvI

es The raiders under Ellison reacne
= Packers Fork safely and found tt
wagons waiting for them. After
> hot meal they bedded down for tn
: night.
!. When morning daWned one of Sur
day Browns men who had bee
scouting in advance of the other
came back at gallop to report tina
= he had been fred on by men hiding
behind large piles of baled hay on ;
hilltop which commanded the road
There were, he guessed, forty
or fifty men behind the rampant
of bales. The leaders quickly decid.
ed to leave the road and took to the
foothills in a detour to a ranch
known as the Wagonwheel Gap.
Collins swung from his horse and
stepped to the porch. Bluntly he
stated the situation. Hell has broke
loose in Georgia, boys. The whole
damn country is headed this way for
the war. That means we're in for
a fight. We don't want to be caught
in the open, and this spot is made
to order for u.s."
The ranch was excellently situat-
ed for defense. On all sides of it
were low, rolling hills with little
large brush except in few gullies.
Plenty of water for the horses could
be got from Bear Creek, which ran
close to both the stable and the
house. An adjoining corral had a
large haystack near the barn, in
case the supply in the loft gave out.
The arrival of large body of set
Tiers interrupted these preparations.
Bill Herriott was in command. He
stationed his men along a ridge to
he north of the house, and they be-
gan to pour down scattering fire
hat drove the ditch-diggers and the
imber workers to cover. AS word
pread that the cattle barons and
heir Texans had been trapped, re-
poured in to join the
ttackers.
Clouds scudded across the sky and
bscured the moon so that nightfall
rought darkness. The ditch-diggers
'ent to work again, protected by
of logs built between them
nd their enemies along the bluff.
he firing did not die down entirely,
1T it became intermittent and spo-
ldic.
The leaders of the party held a \
Inference in the living-room of the
inch house. They did not deceive
emselves about the ultimate out
,me Of the battle. In time the set
,rs would overpower them by sheer
unless help came to them
om outside. That help could come
ly from government troops.
Collins Lit a cigar as he Iounged
an easy chair. He laughed sar-
nically. 1--WE fixed it all up so
.e to have the soldiers looking st;
other way when we pulled off our de
d that I don't reckon it will be "S
~ to attract their attention now rio
,e as not the Great White Father in
1T hear us when we holler." =
1llison paced the floor anxiously. po
more than anybody else had got vii
m into this trap, and he was wor- me
about the outcome To the 9th. an
he read telegram he had writ wit
1t was directed to the Cover boy
and it asked him to urge the the
sident to order troops from Fort I
field to the Wagonwheel Gan rec
ch at once. or
volunteer called for to get it to bru
yenne. 1t was decided that the Bu]
st place from which to send the The
was Jim Creek. The station but
1t there was friendly to the big dra
lie interests and would not hold he
he message bur
dozen men volunteered to try the
IN the enemy lines and get the eva
sram through. A young Texan A
ed Hal Yancey was chosen. He hin
not married, and he had once trol
Sed on the Two Star Ranch and
v the country fairly well. More
;, he was seasoned man, game
determined. >,
IL get the message through if =.
H." he promised. , nc,
You'll have to hoof it unless you 80
pick up horse somewhere, 80,
'addin said. Take care Of your 49,
boy. Until you are through t.1,
lines you'll have to lie low when 49,,
moon comes out from behind the 49,.
alw
ancey followed the stream, NOV. but
through the water carefully in ask
r not to make a misstep on q nor;
'ery rock that would cause him &c
tumble and make a splash. The IN 20
X was lined with willows after ,,r;r
had passed out of the cotton ill,
! grove in which the ranch build. hro,
were situated. The Texan left the
creek and crept toward the log p
which separated him from the b,,t
ny. 80
. Cdu
waited until dark cloud swept wan
ront OF the moon, then clam ther
d over the fence and moved for r
through the brush. do
voice hailed him. Hello. fel. askt
Where you been?" H
e messenger knew he had been race
aiken by one Of the other party won
a friend. Drld
s,;,rad d fello
ova ~, -. :. ~ a, ios ience friel
ed. Nothing doing there. The NJ
are too close to crawl through" he :
[mpi cO,I1d of told ,,o, A..