Year: 1878

brothers named Booth returned with the
ultimatum: Surrender, or we'll roast
your woman and your babies in one
oven.'ie


"And kill you by the light of your
own ranch, as you did poor Drum
mond," said voice from around the
corner.


"They were both in line, and could
have winged the two Booths with one
ball." here interpolated Mr.. Gibbs,
while telling his story; "but I wanted
to see whether they were in earnest" "


They were in earnest. Mr.. Gibbs
heard them piling brush in the rear of
the house, where there was apparently
no window or loophole through which
he could fire. In the stiffness of the au-
tumn night he heard The scratch of the
match. There followed a cracking
sound as the flames spread over the dry
wood. Then there was a great roar,
and the fire leaped up to the roof of
the cabin, while the air within began to
grow hot, and binding smoke poured
through the crevices between the logs.


This was the work of six of the
vigilantes. The other five meanwhile
had taken posts behind trees and fences
in the front, ready to fire at Mr.. Gibbs
when his house grew too hot to hold
him. There they waited, each man with
his rifle leveled


Mr.. Gibbs all this time had not been


die. Long before the fire had spread
over the brush, he had torn the plug
from q long disused loophole, cut for
just such an emergency as this into the
rear wall. Telling his terrified children
to lie down on the floor, and ordering
his wife to load his. three rifles as fast as
he fred, Mr.. Gibbs began his desperate
fight. Through the loophole, himself
unseen, he could see the six vigiIantes
who had fired the brush, watching their
work few yards distant The light of
the burning brush threw their figures in
relief against the darkness that formed
the background. They saw nothing till
the barrel of Mr.. Gibbs's rifle cleaned
from the loophole. Alight puff of wind
drove the smoke away for an instant. A
flash followed from the cleaning barrel,
and bullet pierced the brain Of one of
the Booth brothers. There was another
flash, and the second Booth fell mortal
ly wounded Snatching the third rifle
from the nimble hands of his wife, who
had already reloaded the first, Mr.. Gibbs
again took aim.


The first shot had come upon the Wig
ilantes like lightning from clear sky.
Seeing no window in the rear of the
ranch, they had imagined themselves
perfectly safe. Panic stricken, the four
started to run. A ball brought down q
third victim. When the remaining three
got around the corner, they found they
had but exchanged the fire for the fry
ing-pan They had forgotten that on
the cabins side there was window
through which Mr.. Gibbs fired his fourth
shot, sending ball through the out
stretched musket arm of fourth man,
breaking the bone. t
"So!" said Mr.. Gibbs, criticising his
failure to score center. 81 must
keep COOL" Then he saw the five who
had been lying in wait for him start up
from their hiding place. A ball buried
itself in the log against which he was
leaning as he spoke. 1t was the first
gun of the enemy. Changing his aim,
Mr.. Gibbs composedly stopped till the
foremost of the five came within the
light of the fire, now blazing high above
the cabins roof. Then another vigilante
fell dead. Before the shot could be re-
turned, Mr.. Gibbs placed a ritle-bal in
the right shoulder of second of the ad-
vancing four.


The three that were left began to wa
yer. A seventh shot from Mr.. Gibbs,
Mrs. Gibbs having reloaded his first ri
file for the second time, brought down
its vigilante with ball in the hip, and
turned the wavering advance into de-
cided retreat. As they ran, Mr.. Gibbs
carried the war into Africa. One
against four, as, not counting the
wounded, the odds still existed, he sal
lied forth from the shelter of his burn
ing cabin, and fired q parting shot at
the retreating foe. For the first time he
missed. The ball glanced off from the
stock of the rifle which the rearmost
carried, and did no harm Thus, leav-
ing their dead and wounded behind
them, the enemy vanished in the dark
ness.
But Mr.. Gibbs knew that their disap-
pearance was not for long. BY the time
the cabin was burned, and he was shell
terless, he foresaw that every ranchman
within radius of a mile would be ir
the field against him, each of the four
he had killed having a host of friends.
Not waiting to form definite plan, he
hurried his wife over to the neighboring
ranch of his father-in-law, who had been
already awakened by the firing, but had
| not dared to interfere. A hasty farewell
to those he loved, and, with his home
now almost in ashes behind him, Mr.
Gibbs, mounting his horse. and placing
a single rifle on his shoulder, turned his
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