FOR FREEDOM'S SAKE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXII, Issue 31, 6 February 1900, Page 4

FOR FREEDOM'S SAKE

H Bt Abihdb Patbrbon, HfAuthor of."A Hanofi'Hh Word," "A Son of the ■M Plains* etc, eta H) L"For Freedom's Sake* smeared In serial (arm |Y in the Weekly Edition of Tim Tom, February. ■k June, 1886. J I j

CHAPTER V.— Continued, I - THE SALOON. B Thespeaker'a voice was now portent- ■ ously solemn. His friends, seeing that tie was in earnest, fell away right and V: left, so that no stray shot should reach W i them by mistake. Robert was now hound to the bar, and could not more \ jband or foot. The struggle had exhausted him, and he was faint and sick from the blow he had reqeived on the head, but his nerves held, and he clenched his teeth and hands, and Watched without flinching the slow, |> clumsy movements of his drunken executioner, k "Hand me the pistol, Billy, his L pistol—mine I mean, for it's sure to be B the one he ,stole from me. Is it ■ loaded ? My eyes ain't good to-night. Capped too ? All's right, thin. Now * you, you what's ye're name—aye, Abolitionist—now Abolitionist, 'fore I let go I hev some words to say. Don't ye speak. Yanks always like argyfyin'. . I ain't to be argyfied with. Listen, ye spalpeen, listen. Why am I going to trill you ? Is it 'cos you marked me? No—though I've killed scores for less. 'Cos you damaged Billy Bellinger's mouth and nigh screwed Sed Lameter's head off \ No, again. ' It's 'cos you are an Abolitionist. ' Cap'n HowleH tol' me so himself. Yis he did. 'Pat,' he says, 'that young rat from the North'—rat was what he - called ye—'that rat is an Abolitionist, and must be wiped out.' That's what he said—'wiped out.' 'Out of crea- . tion altogitber, Cap'n V sez I, for lam very particular on these points, 'or »ut of Kansas? Which? An' thin he puts his lips to my ear, and whispers, ' Out of creation, Pat, out of the world.' That was your sentence, Abolitionist. Now—stand and receive it. I'll count three." He paused; the drunken look left his face, and it hardened to iron. "One—two— three." He pulled the trigger, and a report, dull and smothered as such sounds are in a confined space, crashed out. A splinter of glass followed, but not a sound from Robert. When the smoke lifted it was seen that Laughlin had aimed too high, and hit the mirror behind the bar. Pat gave a drunken chuckle. , "Missed, did I, boys?" he said, raising his voice to drown a murmur of dissatisfaction. "Well, an' I meant to. Yes, I did. Dry up, all of ye. What? I aimed too high! Well, this time there shall be n« doubt. One—- , two—what's that noise ?" A loud knocking came at the door of the saloon. j "Never mind the blasted row," muttered the man called Ballinger, impatiently. " We'll let 'em in when we feel like it. If you ain't a coward, Pat, let daylight into him, or I will." The Irishman nearly went purple in the face with outraged dignity. " Coward, ye say, ye little Bill, ye •' little skewer, you. I'll pay ye presently for addressing your betters so. Wa'al, Abolitionist, your respite's up. Say your last prayer. Here goes!" He raised the pistol a second time, but as his finger touched the trigger, there was noise outside as if the building were coming down, the door flew open, and Pat Laughlin's bullet lodged itself in the ceiling. The next moment bis revolver was flying through one of the .plate-glas windows, and he received a blow on the side of the head which ' stretched him on his back unsensible. Over him, with a revolver in each hand and a cheerful smile on his face—albeit a look in his eyes that was not easy to meet—stood the short, sturdy figure of Mr. Isaac Shappett.

CHAPTER VI. THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK. Isaac looked slowly round him. " Gay work, boys, 'pon my word ! Brother Piggot, you owe me a debt that will want some paying if ever we reckon it up. Another minute and we'd have been a life-time too-late for him and for you.", Shappett looked over his shoulder, as he spoke, at a man who had followed him. It was the proprietor of the saloon, and the persun who had supp>rted Allen Elmore at the meeting tiieday befo-e. Mr. Piggott visibly winced at Ihis suggestive remark, but he tried to carry off the affair with a high hand and addressed his bar-keeper fiercely. " What d'ye mean by this, Joseph ? No dcubt it's one of Pat's practical jokes, i can sea it is. But if I leave you in charge, I expect order kept on my premises. Supposin' there'd been an accident, supposin'!" " Dry up—Biundy, Joe, or the man will die. Quick!" Shappett it:td spoken jipain. He had hurried to Robert, -ivhen Piegnt began, and found him unconscious and his hair a mass of clotted blood. A change came over Shappett. His smile vanished, his teeth were tightly pet and his voice was full of the quick vibration of a man in pain. (To be continued.)