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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1888)
582 THE WEST SHORE. Bgined them after him; bat as he could see nothing of them, ho merely stopped occasionally to admire the wonderful beauty of the acene and to rest a little. It must have ken the night air that gave him palpita tion, for his heart throbbed violently, and his breath ing seemed hard. There was no light, however, at the widow's, and all was as quiet within as death itself. Thero had beou some attempt made at digging a well, it appeared, a short distance from the house, but after having i cached a depth of eight or ten feet, it must have been abandoned, for there were no signs of re cent digging, although the rope and windlass and the square box in which the dirt was brought up from be low were still there. The moon shone through one of tho windows of the shanty, on the floor within, but the light wm so dazzling that he could distinguish noth ing a few feet away. Tho door stood partly open; but that might have blown open by the strong wind of tho day before, or some one may have broken it open to plunder. There was certainly no one there, for after listening for nearly a quarter of an hour he had yet to hear tho slightest sound within. Ilis joy waa so great at this apparent discovery, that he could scarcely contain himself. He strode up boldly to the door and looked in, and in tho next instant there was a Budden flanh and a loud report of a revolver, and Jonathan lay all in a heap in the widow's doorway, shot through tho shoulder. In the next instant, a woman in her night clothes dashed out of the door, over his prostrato body, screaming for help at the top of her voice, and rushing over the prairio with the peed of an infuriated demon. As soon as ho could comprehend anything at all, ho realized that his neck would stretch for it this time if ho was discovered. He located his wound, and felt truly thankful that ho had mado as narrow an escape as ho evidently did, although his arm was useless and pained him severely with tho least motion of his Ixxly. Ho realized that flight was necessary immedi ately, if ho valued his life at all. Already the dogs for milea around, it appeared to him, were aroused to their utmost, and it would not bo long before the en tiro community would bo on tho search for him. Thero would lw no uso to explain that ho only came there to ascertain if tho houso had been abandoned or not However truo it might be, it would not suf fice; it did not look reasonable. Highly indignant and excited men would only hoot at this, and hoist him op bo much the higher for his impudence in of fering such a foolish ajwlogy. It would not do to go home, for that would bo among tho first places they would look for him. It would not do to attempt to escape across tho country on foot at that moment, for dozens would bo scouring tho prairie in all directions on horseback in leas than half an hour. His condi- tion was not only alarming, but pitiful in the extreme, The great drops of cold sweat rolled down his and stood over his entire body, and he shook as though afflicted with the shaking palsy. How he couldes cape the inevitable doom now hanging over his head a doom that would certainly be visited upon himia less time than he dared to think of, if he did not make his escape immediately he could not fathom His brain seemed paralyzed; he could not think, but wandered aimlessly around in the dark, hoping some, thing would turn up in his favor. In this manner he stumbled up to within a couple of yards of the well, and then the idea took possession of him that he would btake his only chance upon it It was so near the scene of his hapless encounter, he reasoned, that they would be likely to overlook it They would search for him farther on at his home or on the prairie. The idea that he had concealed himself on the premises would never enter their brains, he thought It was the best that he could do, anyway, in the time that he would yet have to dispose of him self at all, and come of it what would, it was his only chance. The box was in the bottom of the well, tilted to one side, and the rope had been left out its fall length. He would not have to disturb anything, so there would be no clue to suggest itself in this manner. First seeing that there were no traces of his previous intra sion, he carefully avoided any on this, b epping only where there were tufts of grass, and then grasping the rope with one hand, he let himself down as gently as possibly without a break in the earth anywhere. The box was left precisely in the position it was, and he crept under it, face upward. It was a hazardous fit, but there was no alternative this or nothing. He lay some minutes in this way, wondering what hii fate would be, cursiog one moment and praying the neit, when he heard the dull, heavy thud of horsV feet, as though afar off. Before long they greatly in creased, from all sides, and the noise was like the rumbling of an earthquake, but continuous. Pres ently he heard voices a great jargon of voices-bnt could distinguish nothing that was said. Iq f was so nearly paralyzed with fear, that it was doubt ful whether he was conscious at alL D''g wriie sniffing to the well several times, probably in th chase of the scent, but as quickly departed, er'dent! without giving a clue. Once the light of a lantern flashed down, but only momentarily, and it was goW also. He lay perfectly still, however, for more tbs an hour afterward it seemed a&es to hitn-andtica. after listening for some time after, and hearing t sound whatever, he concluded that the time hadco come for him to get away from there, and th quickly as possible, and make the most of thetij-1