Page:The Overland Monthly, Jan-June 1894.djvu/278



214

An Encounter with Chinese Smugglers.

[Feb.

him here ; Jake will stay with him. We will finish our job, and let him go ; he does n't know any of us ; anyway, if he does, what harm can he do ? He won't dare show himself on this side of the line again ! He can't hurt us on the other side ; we will be hundreds of miles away from there and this place. Let him alone !"

"That's what, Bill ; you sha'n't kill kill him ! " chorused the others.

"Oh, you fellers is getting mighty vir- tuous all of a sudden ! You will be get- ting religion next thing, and turn mis- sionaries ! You can 't bluff me off from gettin' even with that skunk ! " yelled Bill, in a rage.

The rest of the men still persisted in taking my part, so the avenger had to give in.

A new thought striking him, he re- quested in an imploring voice that they allow him to "thump the darned stuffin' out of the beggar." To this they all agreed, but insisted that he use nothing but the weapons nature had endowed him with, hands and feet,and had to stop when they gave the word.

The blood from the gash on my head was trickling down over my face ; I knew that I had a dangerous wound and could n't last long under the treatment that Bill would subject me to. I im- plored them to let me go, to keep him off, as he would surely finish me ; I begged them to untie my bonds, and at least give me a fighting chance for my life.

They laughed loudly, saying : " You 're a good one, neighbor ! Good for you, old boy ! "

" If we had time we 'd like to see the scrap ! Bill would come out as second best!"

" Not today, old fellow ! Bill's enti- tled to one round ! We 're agoin' to let him have it too ! "

" If you 'd 'a' done any shooting, or hurt any of us worse than you have, we 'd let Bill plant you now. But seein'

as how your body might get some on us into trouble some day, and you 're quite harmless as you be, our consciences will be clear. As it is, we are willin' to let you off with your hide full of bruises. You deserve it for givin' us so much trouble, and a delayin' of us so long. We 're no chickens, and ain't out on any sympathy racket. Bill is entitled to one good go at you. You 've got grit, neigh- bor. But we fellers reckon as how you won't come nosin' around our camp no more."

"Git inter him, Bill." Bill didn't need any second bidding. The men flocked around to see the fun. Even the Chinamen drew up, jabbering like a lot of monkeys. "Time," yelled one. " Hoi' on,". called another ; " give him some show for his white alley."

Several of them took hold of me, un- tied my feet, and shoved me into the middle of the mock ring. I tried to dodge past them, but they shoved me back. Some one called time, and then Bill stepped up to me, and slapped me viciously on each cheek, following that up with light and tantalizing blows on my face, neck, body, and ears. I kicked at him every time he came near me, but being still blindfolded, my chances for hitting him were very slim indeed ; "but this produced great mirth amongst the men ; they laughed boisterously at each effort on my part. Bill appeared to wish that the fun would last as long as pos- sible ; he carefully avoided any knock- down blows. I became utterly weary of the farce. Disgusted and desperate, I chaffed him ; called him a coward, brute, big baby; told him I had thrashed him twice, and could do it again if he was n't too big a coward to untie my hands.

During the next few seconds he hit me viciously ; the bandage over my eyes became loose ; I could see a leg close to my feet ; kicked at it viciously with the instinct of self-preservation, and my toe