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Show TCLLIVBR I SSrS j. 5 (Co-vr' vt. : - ty Jo-I C-.an.r f rr : - j J 5 1 1 . M W-U- . , With Lis ai"';- team, He was still comp,j.;nl-? of the way h bad been taken In by the town fellers wtxa had told him that the station was a &t- ton warehouse. ; Gabriel recognized the voice and rari toward It, Jumped into the wagon, ukJ crawled under the cover. Now he- row here" cried the countryman, you , kin rob me of my money, an make m fool out'n me about your cotton ware- houses, but be Jigged ef I'll let you tax my wagon an' team. X dunner what you're up to, but you'll have to git Ufa my wag-gin." With that he stripped the cover from the top, and. Jo! thai was no one there! . . , ; He turned to the astonished crowc? with open mouth, Wher la the nation did he gor he cried. -Thers was? no ' answer to this, for the spectators, were) as much astonished as Mr. Sander r-ro-y f essed to be. The man who had cr under the wagon-cover had diaapr- d. There was a tremendous uprv - la the station, and in a. abort time a. ad of soldiers had. forced .thernse. s though, the crowd, and as they kbJ their apoearanoe, Mr. Sanders gave ths word to old Beck, sayta as he moved . off, "Ef you gents wlU. excuse me. m mosey along, an' the next time X have a crap of cotton to sell. 111 w&ggln it la some place or other wher w'arhouses ain't depots, an' -wher Jugglers don't jump on you an' make tA'r disappearance disappear-ance In broad daylight. As he spoke, 'his team moved slowly off. and the soldiers who were In pur- ' suit of Gabriel had no Idea that It was worth their while td give It more, than a passing ' glance. It was providential that Capt. Falconer, who was to have conveyed the prisoners ' to Atlanta, should have been confined to his bed with an attack of malarial fever when the order for their removal came. The Captain would surely, have recognised the countryman as Mr. Sanders, and the probability Is that Gabriel would have been recaptured, though. Capt. Buck San ford, who was sitting In an upper window of the hotel, with his Winchester Winches-ter across his lap, says not. .. ; Mr. Sanders drove his team around to the warehouse of Tardeman A Stark, where he was met by CoL Tom Varde- man, who, besides being' a cotton factor, 'was one of the political leaders of th day, and as popular a man as there was in the State. "l heard a terrible fusillade hi tha die rection-of the depot.' he said to MrJ Sanders, as the latter drove Up . "J hope nobody's hurt." "Well, they ain't much damage done I reckon. Gus Tidweil an MaJ. Perdue took a notion to play a game of tag wi" pistols. They're doin It Jest for fun, X reckon. They want to show you cdtyi fellers that all the pubno spenit an . terprise ain't knocked out'n the- omxz chaps. . . - i ,, . , "Well, they're almost certain to", ' to the lock-up, remarked CoL Tom Vardeman. To . Be Continued Tomorrow. . CHAPTER XXXI. Continued. Mr. TIdwell of Shady Dale, who was also gmon; those who were apparently anxious to take the train for Atlanta, ceased his restless walking, and stood leaning against one of the brick ptllars supporting the rear end -of-the structure. struc-ture. MaJ. Tomlln Perdue, on the other hand, leaned confidently on the counter of the little restaurant. The Major was acquainted with the man at the cour. ter, and he informed him confidentially I that he was simply waiting a fair op- portunlty to put a few lead plugs Into the carcass of the person at the far end of the station, who was no other than 1 Mr. Tidweil. -' 1" "Is that so!" asked the clerk breathlessly. breath-lessly. "Well, I don't mind telling you that he has been having some of the same kind of talk about you, and you d better keep your eye on him. Slowly the Savannah train backed in, and slowly and carelessly MaJ. Perdue, sauntered along1 the raised floor. They had decided that the prisoners would most likely be In the second-class coach, and they purposed to make that coach the scene of their sham duel. The two men were the length of the car apart when the Savannah train came to a standstill. "Perdue! they tell roe that you have been hunting for me all over the city." said Mr. Tidweil. He was a trained speaker, and his voice had great carrying- power. The firemen or both trains heard it distinctly, caught the note of passion In It and looked curiously out of their cabs. "Yes, I've been hunting you, and now that I've found you you'll not get away until you apologize to me for the language lan-guage you have used about me," cried ! MaJ. Perdue. He was not as loud a talker as Mr. Tidweil. but his voice penetrated to every Pftrt of the building. build-ing. ... ' a "What Tve said .I'll stand to.- de- ! clared Mr. Tidweil.. "and if you think I have been tryint? to keep out of your way, you will find out differently, you blustering blackguard!" , , "Are you ready, you cowardly hel-lian?" hel-lian?" cried the Major, apparently in a "As ready as you will ever be replied re-plied Tidweil hotly. He was the better actor of the two. . And then Just as tfie prisoners were coming out of the coach as soon as Gabriel, Ga-briel, lean and haggard, had 'fhedthe floor of the station. MaJ. Perdu whipped out his pistol and a shot rang-out, rang-out, and It was immediately reproduced from the further end of the car by Mr. TldwelL and then the shooting Dcame a regular fusillade. There was a wild scattering on the part of the crowd, a scuffling, scurrying panic, and in tn midst of it ail Gabriel ducked his head, and made a rush with the rest. He had been handcuffed, but his wrist -was nearly as large as his hand, and he found no difficulty in freeing hlmseit from the Irons, as soon as he started out of the car, and when he ducked his heaa and ran, he had nothing to impede his movements. ' , " Running half-bent. Gabriel was afrKj the crowd which he saw all about him, pushing- and shoving, and apparently-making1 apparently-making1 frantic efforts to escape, would give him some trouble. But strangely enough, this struggling crowd seemed to help him along. He saw men all around ' him with uniforms on, and wearing . queerly shaped hate. They wmA a mrtMV bafnre hfm and closed tn behind him. He heard a sharp cry, "Prisoner escaped!' and he heard the energetic commands of' the officer In. charge, but still the crowd opened a way In front of him. and closed up behind be-hind him. This pathway led Gabriel away from the main entrance, and con-ducted con-ducted him te the side, where there was an opening between the pillars. Not twenty feet away was the countryman |