he parson. But John's eye was on one lone
man much nearer by, who came riding leisurely among the trees of the
square, looking about as if in search of some one. He had a long,
old-fashioned rifle.

"Wait, Enos, there's your brother. Stand still."

John levelled his rifle just in time. "Halt! Drop that gun! Drop it to
the ground or I'll drop you!" The rifle fell to the earth. "Now get
away! Move!" The horseman wheeled and hurried off under cover of the
tree-trunks.

"Gentlemen!" cried Parson Tombs, "there'll be murder yonder!" He ran
forward.

"Brother Tombs," cried Garnet, walking majestically after him, "for
Heaven's sake, stop! you can't prevent anything that way." But the old
man ran on.

Champion, with a curse at himself for having only a knife and a
derringer, flew up a stair and into the _Courier_ office.

"Lend me something to shoot with, Jeff-Jack, the Yahoos are after John
March."

Ravenel handed from a desk-drawer, that stood open close to his hand, a
six-shooter. Champion ran down-stairs. Ravenel stepped, smiling, to a
window.

March had turned his back and was putting up the sign, pressing the
nails into their former places with his thumb. Men all about were
peeping from windows and doors. Champion ran to the nearest tree in the
square and from behind it peered here and there to catch sight of the
dismounted horseman, who was stealing back to his gun.

"Keep me well covered, you lean devil," growled John to Enos, "or I'll
shoot you without warning!" Working left-handed, he dropped the
thumb-tack. With a curse between his teeth he stooped and picked it up,
but could not press it firmly into place. He leaned his rifle against
the door-post, drew the revolver and used its butt as a hammer. Champion
saw an elbow bend back from behind a tree. The mountaineer's brother had
recovered his gun and was aiming it. The captain fired and hit the tree.
March whirled upon Enos with the revolver in his face, the drunkard
flinched violently when not to have flinched would have saved both
lives, and from the tree-trunk that Champion had struck a rifle puffed
and cracked. March heard the spat of a bullet, and with a sudden horrid
widening of the eyes Enos fell into his bosom.

"Great God! Enos, your brother didn't mean to----"

The only reply was a fixing of the eyes, and Enos slid through his arms
and sank to the pavement dead.

Champion had tripped on a root and got a cruel fall, losing his weapon
in a drif