Argosy, Vol. 1 (1882) — page 29: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

20 pelled to abandon, when I rose to my feet, and with a backward leap stood at bay in the corner of the cabin. And so suddenly that the action of the two seemed simultaneous, Tom Auckland backed away with his own gun ready for instant service, whether it should be to shoot me or the glower- ing neighbor in the corner. He had re- gained enough command of his wound- ed arm to do this. The wife glanced affrightedly from one to the other, and then rising to her feet without a word, stepped quickly to the fireplace, where, as she turned about, she not only had a good view of the scene, but was not likely to be hit by the flying bullets. Young Jake Auckland was in such a rage that only one thing could avert a fatal collision between him and me, and fortunately that intervention came at the right moment. “ Jake!” thundered his father, : down your gun! ”’ ‘ T will as soon as I shoot that devil in the corner.” But he would have had a hard time in doing this, for Zach Peters had his Winchester in hand and was ready for him, while it 1s hardly necessary to say that 1 was in a white heat of anger, and my threat was not an idle one. Evidently the elder Auckland brooked no interference with his au- thority, and the disobedience of his son incensed him beyond bearing. With a muttered imprecation, he strode across the room with the intention of chastis- ing the youth, who, knowing what was coming, sullenly lowered his gun and became as meek as a lamb. “ All right, dad, but I don’t under- stand it.” “Wal, you will understand it mighty quick, if you don’t doas I tell you. We uns and Zach Peters are as much at outs as ever, but it happens jest now that he b’longs to this chap and not to us.” Jake turned and looked curiously at me. ‘ put THE ARGOSY. “ And who’s he?” “A friend of mine; he kept Zach from shooting me a while ago.” “ That’s so,” came in solemn but hearty tones from the corner. The Auckland scion looked at me, then in his father’s face, and then across at his enemy in the far corner of the room. His freckled countenance ex- panded into a broad grin which re- vealed his big, yellow teeth. “ Wal, Pll be hanged if I understand this infarnal bus’ness.”’ The mother, seeing there would be no shooting, silently resumed her seat at the table and continued sewing. All at once, her maternal solicitude asserted itself. ‘“ Jake, have you had supper? ” ‘“ Yas—I stopped at Budd Snyder’s; me and him hev been hunting.” * What did you git?” ‘ Nothing; we laid behind a blind all the afternoon, but none of the Howard gang came within range, and, when it was dark, we give it up.” A “blind ” is simply an arrangement of leaves and limbs to serve as an am- bush. During the trial of some of those concerned in the feuds, it came out that a man sometimes lay behind one of these blinds, day after day, for more than a week, waiting for his victim to appear in the highway in front of his hiding place. “Bad Tom Smith,” employed by Fulton French, testified that he was: paid a dollar per day, and he confessed to killing six men, though eight deaths were charged to his account. Most of this deadly work was done from bce.uind blinds. Tom was so successful that he started into killing on his own account, his victim being a physician while ly- ing asleep in bed. It was a great mis- take of Tom’s, for he was hanged for the one crime, though French secured his acquittal of the other five, to which he confessed. “Set down! set down!” said Auck- land heartily, waving us to chairs, as he helped himself to 020; 0 Lets DQaks eco