OCR Text |
Show The Man By the Roadside. n? WILL H flllil.EY. (Copyright. 11. by I'alty HH.rif Tub Ce A niu sultcrlug from half tlrnten gunshot wound lay dying ty e Kentucky Ken-tucky roailslde-e nmn rlrlrd and muni, and iiu whose Icau f'e waa the bronte o( nfty summer and many ' a IkkkI scam and war. j A ralilill poked lla noe Innulrlnicly J through Ilia buaties In lay there, j ! ,n(j i),en at a amldrn movement from j i the dylug man turned and aciitlli'd I awlrilv away. ) J Then a tl blue-bottle fly ran. bu- ' " ling around lhe holple man, MUer- j' Inn In hla own life-blood beside thn 4 rude mouiilnln trail, and af'or Ave ZS minutes nf blundering and humping, i " against hla battered feuturoa finally . aettlcd down on the ruw edgo of a I wound, JiiKt below the malted hair on I hla forehead and beg patiently drlll- j lug Into the aonaltlvo lloah. t The exquisite pain aeemed to revlo I the nun-tally wounded iuffeier and , awaken hla Inallnet of Belt preaorvu- 1 tlun. Ilia rlnht hand altm-d by hla j , aide, and then crept alowly-alowly but aurely up toward bla blood-atalued blood-atalued forehead. Inch by Inrh It advanced -Unit ' gnailed, r.lawllko band-unlll It aa j ou a level with the ileniou lly probing , Into hla wound; and then with a and- den movement he brou-hl It down, j criiKlilna: the llfu out of h,a tormentor. i , "lla, ha'. 1 gl yeh. did IT" he (chuckled hoarsely. "Wiuh I could reach out an' inaah ole t'y flrandy under my baud aume ea I did Ihet fly! 1 o'd die happy then. Yuus, I d be ; wlllln' to go lu hell If I c d aend Cy j tliar fuat-tha tnai'heroiia, niwurdly akunkl" The womided man rolled over and made mi elTort to rlae to a altllng pojl-' pojl-' tlon. but the attempt wa a failure. "Tho aneuklu- ole til v II baa got me j fixed fer gMd an' all tliU time. I'M be a dead man lnldo of two houra." ha went on. himklly. "Yiiaa. Til ba a dead man. an" olo Cy (I randy '11 bo I golu' round branglu' 'bout how ho wiped mu out. 1 him! f I had my hnrao au' waa able to ride I'd fol-j fol-j r blia up au' autllu maiiera with blm "Whlaky! Whl.ky!" ' yet, but I hain't got the atren'th left ', to do It I've got lend enough III me to kill an elephant, (lie t'y meant to nakt a aure thing of It. That bullet In mf bark alone wouht've flxed me. It Biuat're otruek the mui !e that worka my legs, I reckon, 'rut I liulu't had no uaa of 'm aeme It hit me. Uut my Bind la clear an' my rlnht arm la all right yet. an' an' I'd give the ret of ' my life, . h at It la. f r J'at one more j chance at the man who ahot me down n' flung me here U lit luuiiu hi die MUaadog!" l "Venn." he resumed after a pnune. "to die like a dog an' rot by the road-aide; road-aide; but by the Kternal, I'll get even with him yeh kin bet! lla will find that I uin more nf a aunke than a dog. A rattler run atrlke bark even when It la dyln', an' I'll live long enough to give ole Cy (Irnndy hla death-wound yet! Yaaa. I'll ilu It. If It takea a hundred yetire!" Another pauav longer than before, and then the man by the roadalde wont on In a honrae whlaper: I "I I'm peterln' out mighty fnat; my tren'tb la goln' but I've got J.-at el much grit ever. Ut I only bad "Allva Yet, an' an" authln' to brnen up my phyalnil powora Id" He atretrhed uut hla right hand and It e.ime Into coutaet with a amooth, oliloiig-alMied objeit lying ou the blood aoaked graaa by hla aide. With an eager eiy of Joy he clutched It and hugged It to hla hoaom. "Whlaky! whlaky! I'm good for an hour longer now!" he whlapered. eagerly, eager-ly, "It dropped from my pocket when 1 fell hero among I he hunhea nu' I thought I had loat It. Thank Oo.l. It will give me atren'th an' courugo fer the Job ahead of me!" Will clnapltig the flaak tn hla hreaat he fumbled with nei vout, eager Mngera at tho atopper until It rume out, and then preaalng the mouth of the flaak to hla dry llpa. he thlratlly gulped down the coutellta. 'Ah! lhat'g the aluff! I feel mora like a man now," he mutttered thickly aa the laat drop went Ulckllng down bla throat. I llko whlaky with an edga to lt-authln' thet'll put new Ufa lu a corpae. I'm wuth a doaeii dead men I thla mlnet. au' I'll down ole Cy tlrandy yet or know the reaaon why. 1 nn kon he'll be aorry he didn't con-tle-cate that flaak of moonahlne when ha had the (.banco. Kt It warn't for that bullet bul-let In my buck I d feel 'bout ei chipper et ever. H-t 1 kill P"U a trigger with the beat of 'em yet. l.emme aeo; wlmr la my gnnT" (teaching down ho drew a heavy !-ahmiter !-ahmiter from hla hip ina-ket and awung It luto poaltlon for action. Ilia ateel-gruy ateel-gruy eyea gleulned wllh the baleful gllller ae-n In tho eyea of a wounded nuke or a wild beu-t ut hay. There wua a amlle on hla face-the crafty, vindictive amlle of a envugn lying In wait for bla prey or gloating over the Buffering of hit vl.-lliu tied, to int lortiire-atuke. A little brown bird alighted on a twig above hit head and begun cheerily Inglng, but with a wove of tho hund and au Impatient oath ha frightened It away. Theu a bmiurd wheeled latlly overhead, over-head, Bcauuing with hungry eye the earth below, und aa the wounded man looked P sd aw It he broke luto aardoulc laUKhter. "lla, ha. hit! Yeh .fii ole Cy Oran-dy Oran-dy out with bla gun an' yeh thought ba'4 lad aaaua grail far h aloug the road behind hlin. did yehT Well, yta got fiad'd tli't time. Yer dinner alul uulto ready f"r yeh yet, an' 'twon't M till ole t'y glta bn. k!" I He riil'ed hla revolver to a level wi ll 1,1. riuht ey" "'l l"lnld ate,,i , along lt alilnlng barrel. For f il I y minute he held It thu. and th'i ilroi-pid It to hla ablo with tha remark "Hand an' nerve ei a'eudy er f i the time hi ln', tin' now all I nak ot fir l.urd In HI" meiry an' goodneaa It tu mud Cy fltanily back here to git Mi ,li,rl an' tend hi in quick, before t!H t rie, ka nf thel wlilkky worka off an my nun Ih h glna to give out. (lot u . mi v It all now f'T the llnul clinch " A half hour pna'ed during trhhh tl;e wiiiimlcd man neither atlrred nor' n.oke I Ilia rvi were half cloa'd, but all lul were on Hie ill"lL Hmldeiily the Htlllin-Ba waa broken by the muind of a hoine'a hoofa clatterlnl ou Hie bard inoniituln roadway u:nl raiildly Hpproni hlng the apot where la; the wk.iudeii man. Instantly ho v. an nil attention. Ill turned hla fni o toward thn point fri'ia wl.lih the home waa evidently rumlni, and it ! I hla f.l' illtlea wrouclit up to t!it blllle-t ti'llelon were Htlillli.il U cntib til" allk'lll't Miillld. Ni-aifr and lienrer came tha ap-proinlilhg ap-proinlilhg footntepa, until Anally tiny hulled in- ir the apot where tlio mm and the piHtol lay waiting. "I thought an," gliM-fully whlaperisi the woiiudi d man to hlnmnlf. "li e i ll Cy tirnmly on hla way home, an' hi wauta to make aure I'm dead. Wail, bo ll llnd out I nl n't ea dend ei he'll wuah 1 waa when bo itlcka hla noat through theae bllahea." Hlowly, painfully ho ralaed hlma'!f on hla left elbow. 1 he etertlon tent the red life. blood gimlilng forth afreia fiom the gaping wound In hla baik. but be I led It not. Ilia whole mind waa Intent upon tho ntovementa of hit enemy. Hit right hnnd firmly groapel the at oi k of the henvy revolver, wilt hla ready forefinger grimly careaalng the trlgiter; hla llpa were preaaed lightly together; hla eyea gleumeil brighter, more bulefully than ever, and hla whole iittltude waa one ot Intense, llervoua expectancy. The waiting man heard the homo-man homo-man aprlng to the ground rlth a awag-gor awag-gor and an onlh. Then heavy fiaitatepa approached tht aHit where he lay, the buahea parted and a blouled. rough-bearded face with blooilHhot eyea appeured 111 tha open ing. "Hood find! alive yet, an' an' " For one horror tilled Inatunt tht blnodahot optica gun-d fnarlimted Into the liimlM-k like oi In behind the platol; then a ahot rung out, the owner of tha bloated face and bloodahot eyea pitched heavily forward acroat the body ot hla adversary, the waiting ateed rave a Blurt led snort and gut-loped gut-loped rlderleaa away-and two man I were left dying by the roudalde luatoud j of oue. 1 |