I seen the feller from the telephone exchange run down the street a little ways as the first rush hit the square, and fire his pistol twice. Then he turned and made fur an alleyway, but as he turned they let him have it. He throwed up his arms and made one long stagger, right acrost the bar of light that streamed out of the windows, and he fell into the shadder, out of sight, jest like a scorched moth drops dead into the dark-ness from a torch.
Out of the middle of that bunch of riders come a big voice, yelling numbers, instead of men's names.
Then different crowds lit out in all directions--some on foot, while others held their hosses--fur they seemed to have a plan laid ahead.
And then things began to happen. They hap-pened so quick and with such a whirl it was all unreal to me--shots and shouts, and windows breaking as they blazed away at the store fronts all around the square--and orders and cuss-words ringing out between the noise of shooting--and those electric lights shining on them as they tossed and trampled, and showing up masked faces here and there--and pounding hoofs, and hosses scream-like humans with excitement--and spurts of flame squirted sudden out of the ring of darkness round about the open place--and a bull-dog shut up in a store somewheres howling himself hoarse--and white puffs of powder smoke like ghosts that went a-drifting by the lights--it was all unreal to me, as if I had a fever and was dreaming it.
That square was like a great big stage in front of me, and I laid in the darkness on my lumber pile and watched things like a show--not much scared because it WAS so derned unreal.
From way down along the railroad track they come a sort of blunted roar, like blasting big stumps out--and then another and another. Purty soon, down that way, a slim flame licked up the side of a big building there, and crooked its tongue over the top. Then a second big building right beside it ketched afire, and they both showed up in their own light, big and angry and handsome, and the light showed up the men in front of 'em, too--guarding 'em, I guess, fur fear the town would get its nerve and make a fight to put 'em out. They begun to light the whole town up as light as day, and paint a red patch onto the sky, that must of been noticed fur miles around. It was a mighty purty sight to see 'em burn. The smoke was rolling high, too, and the sparks flying and other things in danger of ketching, and after while a lick of smoke come drifting up my way. I smelt her.
It was tobacco burning in them warehouses.
But that town had some fight in her, in spite of being took unexpected that-a-way. It wasn't no coward town. The light from the burning buildings made all the shadders around about seem all the darker. And every once in a while, after the surprise of the first rush, they would come thin little streaks of fire out of the darkness somewheres, and the sound of shots. And then a gang of riders would gallop in that direction shooting up all crea-tion. But by the time the warehouses was all lit up so that you could see they was no hope of putting them out the shooting from the darkness had jest about stopped.
It looked like them big tobacco warehouses was the main object of the raid. Fur when they was burning past all chancet of saving, with walls and floors a-tumbling and crashing down and sending up great gouts of fresh flame as they fell, the leader sings out an order, and all that is not on their hosses jumps on, and they rides away from the blaze.
They come across the square--not galloping now, but taking it easy, laughing and talking and cussing and joking each other--and passed right by my lumber pile agin and down the street they had come. You bet I laid low on them boards while they was going by, and flattened myself out till I felt like a shingle.
As I hearn their hoof-sounds getting farther off, I lifts up my head agin. But they wasn't all gone, either. Three that must of been up to some pertic'ler deviltry of their own come galloping acrost the square to ketch up with the main bunch.
Two was quite a bit ahead of the third one, and he yelled to them to wait. But they only laughed and rode harder.
And then fur some fool reason that last feller pulled up his hoss and stopped. He stopped in the road right in front of me, and wheeled his hoss acrost the road and stood up in his stirrups and took a long look at that blaze. You'd 'a' said he had done it all himself and was mighty proud of it, the way he raised his head and looked back at that town. He was so near that I hearn him draw in a slow, deep breath. He stood still fur most a minute like that, black agin the red sky, and then he turned his hoss's head and jabbed him with his stirrup edge.
Jest as the hoss started they come a shot from somewheres behind me. I s'pose they was some one hid in the lumber piles, where the street crossed the railway, besides myself. The hoss jumped forward at the shot, and the feller swayed sideways and dropped his gun and lost his stirrups and come down heavy on the ground. His hoss galloped off.
I heard the noise of some one running off through the dark, and stumbling agin the lumber. It was the feller who had fired the shot running away.
I suppose he thought the rest of them riders would come back, when they heard that shot, and hunt him down.
I thought they might myself. But I laid there, and jest waited. If they come, I didn't want to be found running. But they didn't come. The two last ones had caught up with the main gang, I guess, fur purty soon I hearn them all crossing that plank bridge agin, and knowed they was gone.
At first I guessed the feller on the ground must be dead. But he wasn't, fur purty soon I hearn him groan. He had mebby been stunned by his fall, and was coming to enough to feel his pain.
I didn't feel like he orter be left there. So Iclumb down and went over to him. He was lying on one side all kind of huddled up. There had been a mask on his face, like the rest of them, with some hair onto the bottom of it to look like a beard.