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CHAPTER m Confession. If the linphlilve, fighting Bill Dale could hare beard across the Intervening miles the conversation that took place th hi* old home the next evening, lie ereold probably have followed Ben mttlefordk daughter by the next train tf he feed hrfd to hold It np at the point of an honest Mue gun In ordslr te get aboard It John K. Date m+V* Into the library W Mfffer MAitoef TKA *11? ov? Jiuc oh other. The younger woman Was ill,at ease; she was jlad that the lights were subdued and soft When the alienee had become heavy, she straightened In her chair and blurted oat falterlogly "IIill asked me to m-marry him, and I wouldn't do tt I?I thought maybe I ought to tell you." The Dales exchanged glances; thee they looked back at Elizabeth Littleford. Dale smiled a fatherly smile. Mrs. Dale's eyes narrowed. The old Stiffness rose within her and began to make stubborn war against her mors recently acquired common sense. "Have vou ouarwlodt" alio , "No." " 'Well," old Dale said bluntly, "what's wrong?" < "It lent his fault," Ellzatetb told >.theni. "I'm a savage," she wenf on desperately?"and he isn't my kind." I John K. Dale retired very, e#rly that night. When the sound of his footsteps had died away, his wife bent toward Elizabeth and said curiously: "Why did you call yourself a sayage?" Elizabeth told of her early life In the hills, of the feud between her peonVo Qn/l fho llnrolan<1(? 1 " r*? miv iuv/iciauuo auu vi uuw oho had hated the bloodshed. She told ef die coining or Major Bradley, of her burning thirst for education, of th? old trainman who had thrown her a newspaper each day, and of the coming of Bill Dale. MI was lonesome," she continued, "and nobody ever seemed to understand 'bow I felt That Is, until Bill Dale came. "After I met him, I couldn't set anything but him; he seemed to me like someehlA' Td had and lost . . "Then," said Mrs. pale, "why did /wu refuse to marry?" "Welt?yon ddn't know It all," Ellsabetb Interrupted her. "There was the Mllll>* a' that hMlhoii Adam Rail I want to 'tend the trial because I knew 9SSHA?i * nHO HROuflHBky! -in?n," aaid Mr?. Dais, "Why Did You Refuse to Marry?" I could clear your son If Mujor Bradley couldn't. You see, Mrs. Dale, I happened to know who did kill Adam Ball, and I meant to tell If It was necessary. "On the mornln' of the kllUn' Bill had started up the river by himself. It was dangerous for hlin to go off like that, on account o' them Ralls and Torreys. Hack In the Rig Pine country there Is a tall, thin man named Sam Heck. He's a big eater, an awful liar, and a worshiper of Bill Dale. Sam heard my father say It was dangerous, and he whispered: Til Jest sneak through the laurels and gyard Bill from nhlnd him.' I heard htm say It, Mrs. Dale. "So he went sneakln' along the foot o' the north end o' David Moreland'i mountain, with his rifle in his hand, to guard your Son. BUI didn't know h? was beln* followed, because fleck la ai crafty as a cat. I not nervous about Bill, so I want Into the lanrels and followed Sam Heck. When I overtook him, ho was stjndln' behind a clump o' sheep laurel bad lookln' toward the river. "I whispered, Whore's BlflT "He said, Be still, Babe I' And thee bo thumbed his ride's hammer bad without a AfcML "1 looked "toward the river and sea Bill Dale a-wp&la'. op the oeaneet bank, aud I saw BleCk Adam slip'bo bind a ffoa not br dgray. Bill saa Adam, and Bb WtAHPiMMBT tree and then Adam Ball Jumped up' froab Iwliili." te the knr tie wawi'i iiupjuurg vjuieue j^Bltdvaiioiif by by OoMfc^j^, bit Be put hl^ gun out by (Tie tree tap kill Bill as sooQ *s he showed hlmselt It was one o* his bid tricks." Elizabeth Llttlefdrd raised her head slowly and went on 111' a voice that was much shaken:' . ' ' 1 "I liad alwayk talked against klHln', and yet 1 stood there add begged 9?ja Beck to flnlsh him. The rest In no time. Ball was already a-lobkln' I along his sights.'- Bill Dale was nearly out In the open. I?1" she (altered, and then came a rush of words: 'T wouldn't marry him without' tellln' him, befctfuse It wouldn't be fair to him; and If I told him. he?he wouldn't have me. , me woman tie marries mustn't be a? a s-savage." ' She stopped and stared at Mrs. Dale almost defiantly. Her head was high, and heV bands were clasped In her lap so hard that they trembled. . "1 think yon have made a mountain out of a molehill, my dear," the older woman said gently. 'What you did was right, not wrong; any good woman would have done just what you did, Eliza both, 1 am sure." Elizabeth Llttleford faced Mrs. John K.. Drlo oquarely. There was a strange glow lu her eyes. "But I haven't told you everything," the murmured?"1 took Sam Heck's rifle from blm, and killed Adam Ball myself." CHAPTER XVII. Bill Dale Laugh*. Bill Dale sat thluklng of what b* had done there In the Big Pine country* From the stone-and-clay chimneys of the cabins of the Llttlefords on the other side of the river the howling wind snatched sprays of blue woodsmoke. The Morelands had gone to farms lying around Cartersvllle In the lowland, on each of which a fair-sized first payment bad been made, the borrowed capital was to remain borrowed for another year. The Morelands were already losing their outlandlshness and growing Into universal respect David Mnrelflnd'a dppAm warn at laat being realized. Then Dale frowned heavily, if oniy he could do as much for Babe's people 1 But he couldn't. The men of the Littlefords still worked the coal mine. They received almost twice the customary wuges. but even that wouldn't buy them farms and educate their children. Onder his eyes lay two unanswered letters from his parents. He found little pleasure In answering their letters, for be was still somewhat*, bitter toward tbem?toward his father because of his father'o ill treatment of' David Moreland and David Morelnnd's people; toward his mother because She had let him go hungry for mother-love as a baby, as a child, as a boy. and as a miin ; toward theru both because he " lmd been reared a do-nothing. The door opened suddenly, and By Heel* cauie stamping In with a gust of cold .air at his back. He carried in one hknd the mall satchel; In the other was his ever-present rifle. After throwing the satchel to the floor at Dale's feet, he turned to the glowing wood stove. 2 "I'm dang nigh friz, Bill," he chattered. "My gosh, I couldn't be no eolder*n what I era ft I'd ha'' dim' the nawth pole neck-ed. Say, Bill, wby'n't ye burn coal 'stld ?' wood? Igod, It's '' hotter." "Ooel Is worth money. Wood Isn't." Dale ran through the mall hastily. He threw aside a letter from the Alexantler Crnyfleld Coal corporation, which took the entire output of the mine at an extraordinary figure, and picked up a letter which bore the postmark of bla home city. It was from Babe Llttleford. Since he paid bo little attention to the letter* of bis parents, they had requested her to write to him?they wanted him to' come home for Christmas dinner. Wouldn't he come? He arose and paced the office floor for two or three minutes, then he.sat down at his desk and dashed off a let* ter that contained only two sentences. By Heck sat beside the stove and nr u toll lila <* rvrl wltK >Ii ah?K^#?iI 1 nuiv UIO gvu mill lAIVUftllU Ul CJJ. He understood, he believed. How any woman on earth could turn down a man like Rill Dale was-utterly beyond him. By Heck was a great deal like a 1 good-natured dog. . . . If Bill would only laugh, It would be * good for him. It had been so long alnca be had heard BUI laugh. By Heck de* elded that he would make BUI Dale laugh. "Old boyr "Welir "Do ye want me to tell ye a funny 1 tale?" drawled Hedk. He barely heard the answer: "I guess I don't mind, By." 1 Heck's sympathy made him gulp. 1 But he swallowed the lump that came > op In his throat and began bravely: 1 "One time the' whs a felfer named - Smith. Odd name. BUI fly' Smith, they culled htm, 'cause It wi? raid 'at he could easy shoot a * hosnfly often a floss's ear and never * break hide on the animtle. He was a hellion, too. One time Hoesfly, he was a-tryln' to git app'lnted the chairman i o' some sort o* politics dole's, and on t that same day he was a-drtnktn* sort o' toTable heavy. They agreed to t make him the temp'rary chairman, hut I Hoesfly, he didn't want that So he hops right up la the middle o' the meetr In*, and he hellers ont and aays: , " 'Feller SKI sens,' he ssya, '1 want I to be the permanent chairman I 1 ain't r a-gotn* te act In the cnp-adty of a w darned temp'rary chairman; 1 abeo. rt?n-iutely ain't T "lot M^ete^from on? ba^of v - v> ^Ur' iT r ^ GENUINE BullDurham Sjg. TOBACCO (fzr^.,^g' back anA aaya amart-Uke: -S?t Uowd .thar, H*A*r,' aaya Eb?'yaa're drank. Hiui you uont Know the difference atween temp'rary and penh&nentr "Well, they knowed Eb had It acomln' to him right then, and they listened fo* it. Hossfly, he addresses the whole meetln', and this here Is what 'Hossfly says: | " 'Feller citizens,' says he, 'Eb Wright thar Hows I don't know the difference atween temp'rary and permanent. I'll prove to you that I do know the difference. Eb Wright says I'm I drunk. .1 am. That's temp'rary. Eb Wright Is a ppke-nosed Idjlt That's permanent 1'" Heck finished with a lazy laugh: "Haw. haw, bawl Hee-haw, hee-hawI" "That story," Dale said wearily, "has been told on dozens of politicians. It has become a part of the history sf hub sinie." "Well, my gosh I" moaned By Beck. He thought deeply for a moment, decided that Bill Dale wouldn't laugh at the story of Tom Jones' pig?which had drank all of a gallon-pall of buttermilk and then gone to sleep In the aelf-same pall?and went en: "Here's one, by Jake, 'at ain't been told on dozens o' politics men. And every word of It Is the solemn, dyln' death-bed truth, too. "One time 1 was out In the mountains a-hunttn\ a-goln' along slow and a-lookln' fo' a squirrel, when all of a suddent I heura a skeery noise right ahead o' me In the laurels?Z-m-h i Z-z-z-z-zt ' Jest like that. I stops. I -atops de-e-ad still. I looks keen. Thar was a den o' rattlers, and the very least one was as big around as my left hind lalgl Then I hears a tumble growl right ahlnd o' me. I looks keen. Thar stands a big old she-bear with her teeth a-showln't and two crosaeyed cubs I Thep I bears a whine at my left. 1 looks keen. Thar stands a she-panther as big as a toesa, with her eyes Jest a-blazln'I Then I hears a splttln' sound out to my right I looks keen. Thar was seven full-grown wildcats, and all of 'em had been bit. by a maddawgl Some fix to be InT Yeuh; some flxl "Well, 1 thinks to myself. Ef I shoots the rattlers, I thlhks to myself, the bear and the panther and the wlldcatavtl git me. And ef I shoots the bear, the ^ pantjier and tfce wildcats and the rattlers'fl git me. And ef I shoots the panther, the wildcats and the rattlers and the bear^l git me. And ef 1 shoots the wildcats, the rat* tiers and the bear and the pauther'll git me- And ef 1 don't shoot none of 'em, they'll all git me 1 Some ongodly fix wasn't it, BUI? Now, how do ye reckon I got out of It?" Bill Bale only jwnlled. "1 can't Imagine, By," he said. "I caln't imagine, neither," grinned Heck. "But anyhow, I'm alive today. Well, now that ye're In a good humor one time more, I'll tell ye some news. I bated to ruffle ^e up like a yaller goose a-ttyin' back'ards whilst ye was So cussed, danged blue. BUI, old boy, It ain't but five days ontel Christmas. A lot o' them Nawth Ca'llner Turners from Turner's Laurel Is a-visltln' their kinfolk8, the Balls, and they'll every dadslatted one of 'em git drunk en otKUA l??k^l.? il-i- ? "M? iw ii?uuuu ng&vr iu unnsruiAii and?they'll shore think o' Black Adam. The Morelands ain't with ye no more, BUI, rlckollect; only the Lit* tlefords la here now." Bill Dale rose and stood there star* Ing at By Heck with eyes so bright that they sparkled. "If they came down on as looking for trouble, I'd be a sort of clan chief, wouldn't I?" he asked. Without waiting for an answer: "I wouldn't mind ? >1 * - ' u?i. j auuw, i vis K<n a lener nere. By, that I want you ta put aboard the next southbound train that passes the Halfway switch. You've got about an hour; can you make It?" "Ef the world was made in six days, by Ood, It shorely looks like By Heck could make six miles in a hour, deo't It?" -The tall hillman left the Moreland Ooalfcompany's office with the letter In one hand, bis rifle In the other, and tears of Joy In his eyes. For Bill Dale had laughed, actually laughed. By B*?h gut the let^r oa the train. The train cafrled It t? Bill Dale's home city,* and the postman carried It to the stately mansion of Old Coal Kins John K. Dale, and black Isham, the servant, carried It to Miss Elizabeth Llttleford. Miss Elizabeth Llttleford was sitting alone on an Iron settee among bushes of Iliac and cape Jessamine: the weath* er had made another of Ita remarkably sudden changes, and the day was sun# ny and pleasant. She was about ts tear open the envelope when the tall, straight figure of Jimmy Fayne appeared before her. He had on tiding clothes, and there was a rawhide quirt In his hand. "You scared me, Jimmy I" laughed ?s?vs Elizabeth, a trifle nervously. "1 didn't know you were anywhere around lH "Beg pardon," Jkpmy smiled, "lfay I alt down beside yea*" "Yed." He sat down beside her and began thoughtfully te flick the toe of one of his shining boots with the tip of his quirt She knew what be bad come to aay, before he said it: auMftt>w lnftktfi* DlMtflBfily |bu her|*yw-Hwoo't 70a marry me and make me happy forever afterwardd" She tamed the letter over In her lap to order- that Payne might not aee. accidentally Of otherwise, the address. "Jimmy," she Anally said,. "I'd like to have a little more time to think about It. Things like tWa mightn't to be decided In a hurry." "You'va already hart months' <vr were they years?or ages? Why ?'.o ! you keep putting me off like this. M abethl" v "As 1 told you, Jimmy, 1 don't--" He Interrupted almost. sharply: "I know TTM1 don't Inva ma Rn* learn to?after you're seen bow much 1 shell adore you." He made a move as though to take her into bis arms, and' ahe shrank from him; he had done that same thing, and she bad done that same thing, dozens of times before. ... With unseeing eyes HllsaMtb- watched L Mrs. DaJe step from her motor at the 1 porte-cochere and go Into the house. Jimmy Payne, too, saw Mrs. Dale. I but he was wholly unaffected by the sight of her; Mrs.Dale,'somehow, did not object to his seeing th# girl quite as much as she had once.'objected. "Jimmy," aftgg ft law nee had pasmC tmvrtm iMk .y fc afraid 1 ain't the right MpO Tor IQU. . . . If yon knew, for Stfft Itof I Once took a rifle (in and |ftN g Qjhn With It, wogjd y?Ai?woall you stln -want me 7" mryne laughed as though at'a good Joke. 1 . "You, kill a man? Why, I couldn't believe It But If you had killed a man,' or a dozen men, It?It could hardly make any difference to me. "If you did do It, you did It because there was nothing else to do; I'm sure of that. We won't mention It again. If you're willing. I neither crlticlze'ffpr attempt to understand your hill co^fts. Marry me, won't you, Elizabeth?** "If I did," asket^ Ben LlttlefonTs aaugnter, "would yoo belp tuy people back In the hills?" "Educate 'em? Yes! Every blessed one of 'em." "Freely?" "Yeal" Once more Elizabeth LIttleford tried to decide. Fayne's eyes grew more and more hopeful as he watched ber Hps. He became Impatient. "Tell me," be begged. The girl took up the letter she had Just received from Bill Dale.. "As soon as I read this," she murmured, "I'l tell you, Jimmy. If you don't mind, please look the other way for a minute." - '? wi? ivio vu vue enu 01 in? envelope, drew out the single sheet and unfolded It. Her eyes narrowed; her face flushed, and then became just a little pale. Her underllp quivered ?as she folded the sheet and put It back into the envelope, "I can't marry you, Jimmy," she told him. Without another word she arose and left hira. She hastened to the house, hastened upstairs, and went to her room. Hfllf An hnni- 1 olor Um y ? ? >??v* MAO* i/aic IUUUU her lying face downward on her bed, and beside her lay a crumpled sheet of paper. Mrs. Dale picked up the sheet, straightened it out, and read this. In the bold handwriting ef her son: "Believe'me, I am very appreciative of your Invitation. But I am having Christmas with your mother, here in my own country." CHAPTER XVIII. The Last Fight. It was early in the morn lag, and Blli Dale had Just sent for Ben Littleford. The Mllman hurried to the of Montr haok without question if HUNT'S GUARANTBKD SKIN DtSBASU RHMKDIKS 5M (Hunt's Salve and Soap),fail in f IfT "pj'f the treatment ofltch, Kftema.^fjTr JI Rlngworm,Tetterorotheritch- f U / / I ing akin diseases. Try thie * ? ? treatment at our risk. D. H. LANEY, Dmggiet . R. L. McMANUS Dentist Cheraw, S. C. Beginning June 1st, 1921, I will practice at Chesterfield Mondays and on Wednesday eveninga; at Pageland Tuesday, at Mt. Croghan, Wednesday morning of each week. At Cheraw Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I Tired ? tfj "I was weak and run-down," WA M relates Mrs. Eula Burnett, of 4 A Dalton, Qa. "I was thin and 9| just felt tired, all the time. B B I dldnt rest welL I wasn't U fA erer hunary. 1 knew, by w M this, I nesded a tonic, and A ^ as there la none better than? El tnannmS a uftnvuif H The Weman's Tonic I B . t I began using Cartful," vfi 3 eontiouee Mrs. domett m R "After my drat bottle, 1 slept U WA better and ate better. I took N ? four bottles. Now I'm well, m Steel Just On* eat and sleep, R my skin Is clear and I hare m gained and sore feel that 0 Oardol Is the best tonle erer U ? male." JS WA Thousands of other women H I here fou^t Oardul Just as Burn* did. It eho** fl ' S uw B iBSB "ii 'ip i hi g=aa?gg'i ii ! flee, for ho beUeewt he knew what wu in the air. Ho hod already foot to frork at tho mine, and hla thick beard, bis face and his hands were black with thS dost of coal. "Sit down, Ben," said the general manager. "We're going to bold a council of war." Llttleford took a chair and crossed his legs. "Is It the Ball outfit?" he drawled. "Yes," answered the younger man, and, forthwith he told the other of the news that By Heck had brought Mm a few days before; he had not given , the! matter reollv wHrnio tioni until that morning. "Now," he finished, "i want to know whether you think there's any danger?" LJttleford tugged at his blackened beard and frowned. "Bill," he said soberly, "do you rickollect what John Moreland told you oncet about them Balls? He told ye ''at you wasn't safe, and 'at he wakn't safe, ontel they was dead and burled, didn't he? I believe he did. By Heck says the's a whole big passel o' thein Nawth Oa'llner Turners; he's shore them and the Balls'U outnumber us more'n two to one. Yes, the's danger, Bill, and 'specially to you. They think It was you killed Adam, and they don't think the law handed 'em a square deal at the trial." Then listen to this plan," said Dale. Til keep By Heck up the river watching for them. He will have three sticks of dynamite tied together and capped and fitted with a fuse. II i he sees them coming this way In anything like a force, he will fire off the dynamite as a signal to us. Our men will gather here In the upstairs of this building, and bar the doora?" "Oh, Bill," moaned the old fighter, "you shorely don't think we'd ever lei 'em git to- the doors 1" "I hope they don't, certainly," smiled Dale. "Where are your rifles, Bill?" "At the mine," said Llttleford. "Yt see, Bill, we've been a-lookln' fo trouble." Dale went on: "At By Heck's slg nal, I'll get on my horse and ride tt theiidowlaiids for the Morelands. I car get them a lot quicker than I can gel competent help from the law. Whal do you think of It?" "It's a good plan, 1 reckon,' growled Ben Llttleford, "only 1 don'i cotton very easy to the Idee o' ui a-mnnin' rrom tne mine to this her< bulldln*. I never did like to run fron any man wo'th a durn, BUI." "But that wouldn't be cowardly,' Dale pretested. "It would be purelj a strategic move, and It would sav. ' lives for us. For, when the Balls ant : their kinsmen come, you'll have to de | liver me Into their hands or you'l! i have to fight like the very that'i I sure; and, according to By Heck's tig 1 ures, they outnumber you mora thai two to one.** "All right," Llttleford replied, wltl a shrug of his huge shoulders. "What ever you say, that same we'll do." So By Heck was sent for, and short ly afterward he sneaked Into the lau rels and went off toward the settle ment of the Balls. In the ssook of hli arm he carried his rifle, and to aide hli shirt he carried three pieces of dyna mite aU ready for the match?and h< chose every step with great care foi fear of Jarring the explosive too much He had not been gone an hour whei Bill Dale httrd a dull, smothered roai from somosfeere to the northward Dale sprang up from his desk, ran t< his ready and waiting horse, mountei and rode like s streak toward th< lowland. Dale arrived at John Moreland's blj white farmhouse a littie before th< Tl - ... _ i ?f webster's ii I New InternationalI : DICTIONARIES ere in use by busily ness men, engineers, bankers, : : judges, architects, physicians, : : farmers, teachers, librarians, cler- : gym en, by successful men and ; ; Women the world over. Are You Equipped to WinJ : The New International provides : the means to success. It is an all: knowing teacher, a universal ques: tion answerer. ; If you seek efficiency and ad; vancement why not make daily j use of this vast fund of inform ation? E 400,000 Vocabulary Term*. 2700 Pages. 6000 Illustrations. Colored Plates. I 30,000 Geographical Subjects. 13,000 ; Biographical Entries. J. ARTHUR KNIGHT Attorney-at-Law Office in Courthouse Chesterfield, S. C. Dental Surgeons TROTTI & PARK, Chesterfield, S. C. Office on second floor in Ros Building. * I There ts more Catarrh In this aectlo of the country than all other disease put together, and for years It was sup poeed to be Incurable. Doctors prescribe local remedies, and by constantly failin to cure with local treatment, pronounce It Incurable. Catarrh Is a local dlseosi greatly Influenced by constitutional cor ditlons and therefore requires oonstltt tlonal treatment. Hall's Catarrh Med olne, manufactured by P. J. Cheney < , Co., Toledo, Ohio, Is a constitution! remedy, tp taken Internally and act tftra fee Blood on the Mucous Surfaci 'of the System. One Hundred Dollars r< ward ts eBered for any case that Hall' Catarrh Mediae falls to cure. Send f< I circulars and testimonials. t V. J. CHENEY * CO.. Toledo. Ohio. I ^ ^ i, ' ii " ' ? - i'- 1 ' middle of the day, and halloed lustily | ?< at the gate. John Moraland and bis tl two sons hurried out In response to n I the call. Dale waved aside all greet* d< Ings and Inquiries after his health, I and told that which he had come to : | tell. The elder Moreland turned quick* . **i ly to his two stalwart sons? | |? "Guns and bosses, hoys I It'll be ot our last tight, and le's b? at it and T I make it a good fight." i si l.ess than five minutes later the three erstwhile mountaineers rode out at the barnyard gate with full belts of i c I I i ' "Quni and Hosses, Boys!" cartridges around their waists and with repeating rifles across the pom- 1 , mels of their saddles, and joined . , Dale. The four hastened to the homes , ; of the other Morelunds; and not long t afterward the old cl" i, In full . I strength, rode toward the big, dimt blue hills with BUI Dale acting as Its ( t leader. It was to be the clan's last , , fight, and a fight for a good cause, s and every man of It was eager for , the fray. ... | B1U Dale bore himself proudly, and 1 he rode like a man born to the sadj die. He found a queer Joy?a Joy ' j that brightened his steel-grey eyes , and flushed his sunburned cheeks, a . Joy that he didn't even attempt to I understand?in the thought: ( , "For this one day I am a clan chief *, . I am leading my own people against i a foe. In my cv/^ country"" | And bo overwhelmingly did the Idea i take hold of him that he wished, even thpn. fnr fha wnooio. ? ?--? _? w.v tv|fvuivi uuu nnuiitu him at his office back In the heart of - the mountains. Once his conscience - asked him a question?and he an awered It with another question. Was l he doing that which was right? Might i not the Llttlefords all be killed by - those drunken cutthroats while he ? was waiting for the arrival of a coinr pany of militia from a city miles dis? tant? i Anyway, tne militia would fight. Ills r clan wottfd do no more than that. Lie . satisfied Ms conscience quickly. > When they had reached the lower 1 end of the cleared valley, there came a to them the sounds of slow firing, the firing of sniper*. Each man kicked 1 f fits horse's flunks And rnd? t'natnr 3 When they came in sight of the he- I . sieged building, they saw puffs of powder-smoke rising lastly from the upper windows and from the mountain side above and to the right. Again they kicked the flanks of their horses and rode faster. At John Moreland's old cabin they dismounted hastily and' turned their horses Into the drab meadow. NVIth Dale still leading, they hurried on foot to the river's nearest bank and went rapidly, under cover of the thickly- j standing sycamores, to a point within I seventy jjirus or rne omce and ?uj>- ' THIS COUPON/ ADMITS TO THE STRAND TH r\/rM Q V CLIN Cut out this coupon, rake up t to the show. In this way you can s< cost you 50 cents. Notice?One person alone not must be man and lady. Clip this ci I Wamble Hill National I Is authorized to take and file Land Bank of Columbia. Rate of interest 6 per cent. Loans The Federal Land Bank will loa _ per cent, on insurable improverm tiling your application with Wa Association is the first step take Federal Land Bank of Columbii ? The bank will complete all loam make the money available. ~ The bank desires to meet the net n application will insure you to gei a The Wamble Hill National Farr * business in the entire county, an b. services if loan is made, other wi; i- cost. Bring your land deed for in a tion. * u la B. J. Douglass >r Wamble Hill N . Office in Rear of Bank o " v?. Ik . fr Ilea building. Than thajr mada a dash cross the opan space, and Ban Uteford, with one arm bound up In a Ml-stalnad blua bandana, opened the oor for them. "Who else Is hurtr* panted Dale. "Little Tom," answered Llttleford, ind Saul. Little Tom, he got a built onder the shoulder. Saul, ha got ne In might' nigh the same place, hey've riddled the Whole t'other de o' the house to splinters. They're -callln' fa' you." "They'll get all they want of ?m ale growled. H?i turned and ran un the r mirh talrway, and Ben Littleton! and the lorelands followed close upon his eels. At the front and aide windows, ehrlnd anything they had been able o find that would stop a ballet, knelt <lttlefords with rifles In their hauds, atlently watching for a human target o uppear on the mountainside above, laul and Little Tom lay In a corner, there they were fairly safe from hance bullets. Hayes had bound up heir wounds as well as be could with he material at hand. They were oth white and helpless and suffering, ut still fall of the old Ltttleford Ighting spirit. Dale seized his Winchester and ielt of cartridges from the hands of he man who had brought them to dm, and turned to the others. A bulet crashed through the wall and itruck the floor at his foot; be paid to attention to It. "Listen to me, boys." Dale was tuckllng his cartridge-belt with rapid, ifnnHo ? uii^ci o. n uui wuere uiey are tiding, the Balls and Turners can tardly see the lower story of this tullding. We'll go downstairs, open he front door, and run to the edge >f the laurels at the foot of the oaounaln. Then we'll turn to the right, nake a wide detour, and get above he Ball outfit; we'll be fighting downilll Instead of uphill. Get tne? Axe rou all ready?" To a man, they were ready. They reached the thick underrroartK n?lfKAu* VU KUUVUl UC1IIK BCT7U UJ U1C BU?my. While the Balls and Turners Ired more or less aimlessly at the julldlng, drank white whisky and called drunkenly for the surrender to them of Bill Dale, Bill Dale and his men were making their way steadily in a wide half-circle up the side of David Moreland's mountain. Half an hour after they had left the office building, Dale had stationed his men, deployed as a line of skirmishers, behind sheltering trees some two hundred feet above the Balls and their kinsmen. John Moreland, Ben Llttleford and BUI Qale were not far apart. "It's a shame to do It," aald Dale. "I swear, we can't shoot men in the back like this 1" John Moreland, twiuted his mouth Into a queer smile of contempt, and so did Ben Llttleford. They knew, far better than their leader, the ways of that people without a principle. The Balls and Turners wouldn't hesitate to shoot them In the back I "Well," John Moreland replied, end It was almost a sneer, "ye might go down thar and give 'em some candy, and kiss 'em, and ax 'em won't they please surrender 1" Dale leaned around his tree, a great gnarled chestnut, and called boldly: "You've got a chance to surrender now?and you'd certainly better take It quick!" One of those below yelled surprlsedly: "Who're yob?" Then they all whipped to the other side of their sheltering timber. The answer came at once: "I'm BUI Dale, and I'm peeved 1 You're at the mercy of the finest hili ciau that ever looked along rifle barrels; will you surrender, or fight It out?" "You said It?we'll fight It out!" cried a burly cousin of Black Adam Ball, deceased. "You're on 1" ornu'loH Will nolo flipping his rifle out beside the tree. **Glve 'eiu h?1, boys!" He was unused to this sort of thing, and he was incautious. He showed a (Continued on Last Page) 666 cures Biliousness. 40 \ND 10 CENTS 5 TWO EATRE SATURDAY ING en cents; pot your lady and come ie a show for 10 cents that would admitted on this proposition. It oupon and bring with you. Farm Loan Association applications with the Federal made on improved farm lands, in 50 per cent, on land and 20 mts. mble Hill National Farm Loan n to secure a loan through the is as fast as it can sell bonds to ids of the farmer, and an early t your loan quicker. n Association is entitled to do id it charges 1 per cent for its se all is refunded except actual spection when making applicai, Sec. Treas. . P. L. A. f Chesterfield Building ,