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Rh man without hesitation, and forcing him aside, compelled him to keep away from the door by blows and kicks delivered with surprising rapidity.

The man had, at the last moment, taken the key from the lock and thrown it in the far corner of the room. Not waiting to recover this, Matt began to hammer at the door, and gathering himself together, threw his whole weight against it.

As has been said, the door was a rickety one, and it went down with a crash, tumbling the young auctioneer upon his face just outside the cottage.

"Hullo! what on earth does this mean?" cried a voice close by, and Andy rushed up, a look of blank astonishment plainly depicted upon his face.

"Those negroes!" gasped Matt, struggling to rise from amid the wreckage of the door. "Come on, don't wait, for they are three to two, and they are just drunk enough to be as ugly as sin!"

He caught Andy by the arm, and before the latter could ask for a further explanation, hurried him up the hill toward the wagon.

The negroes came out of the cottage and made after them, but only for a short distance. Then they came to a sudden halt, and after a brief consultation, hurried back to the cottage.

"What do you suppose they went back for—pistols and razors?" questioned Andy, as they reached