John Fitzgerald (12 page)

   
Aunt Bertha clasped her hands tightly in
her lap. "Do you think he will try to keep that horrible threat he made in
court?" she asked breathlessly.

   
Papa knocked the ashes off his cigar into
an ashtray. "It is quite possible," he said. "You can only hang
a man once for murder, no matter how many people he kills. Roberts and his gang
killed two prison guards in making their escape. However, I do believe Mark
will have the situation well in hand if they do come here seeking
revenge."

"Just what
precautions is Mark taking?" Mamma asked.

   
Papa told us Uncle Mark was putting up
wanted posters for the six men all over town. This would enable anybody who
hadn't seen the gang at the trial to recognize them. Uncle Mark had also sworn
in twenty deputies.

   
"Mark seems to think," Papa
continued, "that if they are going to strike, they will do it at night.
Roberts and his gang will realize that every man in town will be wearing a gun
during the daytime."

"Just how
would they strike at night?" Mamma asked.

   
"Mark has a theory and it seems like a
good one," Papa said. "He believes the gang will sneak into town
after midnight when the saloons and other businesses are closed. There are six
of them. Mark believes two will go after Judge Potter, two after District
Attorney Vickers, and the other two after me to make good Roberts' threat. Mark
wanted to put the three of us in a room at the
Sheepmen's
Hotel where it would be easier to guard us. But we all refused to do it."

   
"Why?" Mamma asked. "It sounds
like a very sensible thing to do."

   
"Because we had ample time to study
the character of Cal Roberts during the trial," Papa said. "He is a
very vain and vindictive man. His vanity will force him to try to carry out his
threat. If he finds we are beyond his reach, he is vindictive enough to seek
revenge upon our families. He would not hesitate to kill women and
children." Papa paused for a moment. "But even if none of this were
true, we are not the type of men who would let scum like Roberts drive us from
our homes."

"Then Mark
will protect our homes," Mamma said.

   
"He will place armed deputies on the
back porch and the front porch of all three homes," Papa said. "There
will also be an armed deputy across the street from each home. These deputies
will be on duty from darkness to dawn. Mark and five deputies will sleep days
and be on duty at the Marshal's office at night. There will also be armed
deputies patrolling the streets both day and night. I agree with Mark that
Roberts would be stupid to attempt anything during the daytime and that the
gang will strike at night."

   
Frankie, who had been sitting on the floor
with me, got up and walked over to Mamma. "I don't want the bad mans to
hurt my new papa," he cried.

   
Mamma was so worried she didn't bother to
correct his grammar as she picked him up and hugged him. "Don't you worry
about it, dear," she said. "Your uncle Mark will take care that the
bad men don't hurt anybody."

   
Frankie and I went to bed after Papa said
the outlaws couldn't possibly reach
Adenville
that
night. Frankie knelt to pray.

   
"Please God," he prayed,
"don't let the bad mans hurt my mamma and papa and brother and Aunt
Bertha. If the bad mans must hurt somebody, let it be me. Amen."

   
I held Frankie in my arms that night until
he fell asleep. I couldn't help but be moved at his love and goodness.

   
The next morning after breakfast I watched
Papa strap on his holster with his revolver before leaving for the Advocate
office. I thought for sure there wouldn't be any school until the outlaws were
captured. But I was as wrong as a fish who decides he can live out of water.

   
Adenville
was an
armed camp for the next two days and nights. Three deputies were guarding our
house from the time it got dark until daylight. Ken Smith was on our front
porch with a shotgun and pistol. Don Huddle was on our back porch, also armed
with a shotgun and pistol. And Ben Daniels was across the street from our house
armed with a rifle and pistol. But nothing happened until the third night.

   
Uncle Mark was right about the gang
striking at night. But he was wrong about how they would do it. They didn't
sneak into town. All six of them rode into town about two o'clock in the
morning. They rode at a gallop right down Main Street shooting out windows in
the Marshal's office and places of business. They exchanged shots with deputies
on patrol, but nobody was hit. It is almost impossible to hit a man hunched
over in the saddle on a galloping horse. And it is also almost impossible for the
man on the horse to hit anything while riding at a gallop.

   
The gang stopped when they reached the end
of Main Street on the east side of town. They got off their horses and took
cover by the livery stable and blacksmith shop. They had Main Street on the
east side covered this way. A gun battle began to rage between the deputies and
outlaws.

   
The deputies guarding the three homes heard
the shooting. They believed the outlaws were cornered, so they left their
posts. Uncle Mark and the five deputies came out of his office right after the
shooting started. They mounted their horses and rode down to the other side of
the railroad tracks. The outlaws were shooting blindly down the street.
Deputies were shooting back from behind empty beer kegs, a water trough, and
from doorways of buildings.

   
Then Uncle Mark saw the deputies who were
supposed to be guarding the three homes come running down Main Street. That was
when Uncle Mark proved he was a very smart law officer. He figured this
shooting was just a diversion to draw the deputies away from the three homes.
He guessed that Cal Roberts had left part of his gang at the end of Main
Street, while he and the rest of his gang were circling around the outskirts of
town and going back to the west side. Uncle Mark had a terrible decision to
make in a second. But he knew as a lawman his first duty was to protect Judge
Potter. He ordered two deputies named Johnson and Stevens to follow him. They
rode at a gallop to the Judge's house.

Judge Potter and
his wife had been awakened by the sound of gunfire. They got out of bed, put on
their robes, and went into the parlor. Judge Potter called to the deputy who
was supposed to be guarding the front porch. He received no answer. Then he
went to the back porch and discovered that deputy also gone. He armed himself
with a rifle and sat in the parlor with his wife. He was watching out the front
window when he saw two men ride up and dismount in front of his house. They
kept their heads down and it was too dark for the Judge to recognize them. They
walked to the front porch. The two men were Cal Roberts and Jack Austin.

   
"Are you all right, Judge?"
Austin called through the front door. "Mark
Trainor
sent us to check on you. The gang is bottled up on the east side of town."

   
Judge Potter didn't recognize the voice but
assumed my uncle had sent two deputies after discovering the others had left
the Judge's home unprotected. He opened the door. Austin grabbed the rifle away
from him and used the butt of it to knock Mrs. Potter unconscious.

   
"Get the rope," Cal Roberts said,
holding a pistol against the Judge's head. "We don't want any
shootin
' to attract attention."

   
Austin ran to his horse and came back with
a rope. The outlaws had planned carefully. The rope had a hangman's noose on
the end of it. He put the noose around Judge Potter's neck and tightened it.

   
"
Goin
' to
hang you, Judge," Roberts said, "just like you would like to hang me.
Goin
' to
hang you on that tree in front of your house.
Then I'll get them other
two and hang them too."

   
Uncle Mark saw the two horses in front of
the Judge's house and he and his deputies dismounted a block away.

   
Then all three of them ran toward the
house. The outlaws were about to hang Judge Potter when Uncle Mark got within
revolver range. He shouted for the outlaws to surrender. Austin ran for his
horse. Uncle Mark shot and killed him.

   
Using the Judge as a shield, Cal Roberts
fired three shots. One bullet hit Deputy Johnson, who fell to the ground. Uncle
Mark and Deputy Stevens were afraid to shoot back for fear of hitting the
Judge. Then Roberts threw the Judge to the ground and fired a shot at him
before running for the corner of the house. Uncle Mark and Deputy Stevens
opened fire. Uncle Mark said later he believed one of their bullets had hit the
outlaw.

   
My uncle had told me one time that any
outlaw who belonged to a gang of bandits was a coward at heart. He said the
only outlaws with real courage were the ones who worked alone. Cal Roberts
proved my uncle to be right that night. He must have become panic-stricken
after Austin was killed. If he'd had real courage and used his head, he would
have put his pistol to Judge Potter's head and threatened to kill him if Uncle
Mark didn't let him escape. My uncle admitted he would have done just that to
save the Judge's life. But Cal Roberts, facing danger all by himself, ran
instead.

   
Uncle Mark and Deputy Stevens ran around
the house after Roberts. They searched the backyard and alley without finding
the outlaw. Cal Roberts had escaped on foot. Uncle Mark ordered Deputy Stevens
to get the wounded Judge and deputy into the house and send for Dr.
LeRoy
. Then he mounted his horse. Once again he was faced
with a terrible decision. Cal Roberts alone might be a coward but he still
might be vain enough to try to kill the District Attorney or my father. Uncle
Mark rode to the home of the District Attorney because he knew that was where
his sworn duty as a lawman belonged first.

   
When the shooting first started, it woke
Frankie and me. I knew what it was all about right away. We put on our robes
and ran downstairs. The noise of gunfire had awakened Papa, Mamma, and Aunt
Bertha, who were in the parlor with robes thrown over their nightgowns.

   
"It sounds as if they are making a
fight of it on the east side of town," Papa said. "As a journalist I
should be there."

   
Papa went into his bedroom and I'll bet he
never got dressed so quickly in his life.

"I'll check
with Ken and Don before I leave," he said.

   
When Papa went to the front porch and then
the back porch and discovered both deputies missing, he went to the gun rack
and got a double-barreled twelve-gauge shotgun. He put shells in it and handed
it to Mamma.

   
"Ken and Don must have heard the
shooting on the east side and gone there," Papa said. "But we can't
afford to take any chances. You take the front porch,
Tena
,
and shoot any man coming into the front yard who doesn't identify himself. I'll
get the rifle and take the back porch. Bertha, you take the boys and go down
into the cellar. And keep quiet no matter what you hear up here. Let us move
quickly now."

   
I started to protest that I was big enough
to use a rifle but didn't get a chance. Aunt Bertha grabbed Frankie and me by
the hands and ran with us into the dark, cold cellar.

   
I could hear the sound of pistol shots,
rifle shots, and shotguns but none near enough to be Papa or Mamma shooting. It
seemed like we were in the cellar a long time before I heard Brownie barking.
It was an alarm bark.

   
"There is somebody out in back,"
I told Aunt Bertha. "I must warn Papa."

   
I knew she'd try to stop me so I ducked
around her and ran up to the kitchen. I opened the back door.

   
"There is somebody out there,
Papa," I called to him. "Brownie wouldn't bark that way if there
wasn't."

   
"You get back in the cellar and stay
there," he ordered me. "It is just the noise of the shooting that is
making your dog bark."

   
Papa could be right. On the Fourth of July
when the kids were setting off firecrackers, all the dogs in town barked like
crazy. When I returned to the cellar, Frankie found my hand in the darkness and
held it tight.

   
"Are the bad mans going to kill Mamma
and Papa?" he asked and it sounded as if he was crying.

   
"Heck, no," I said. "If Cal
Roberts or any of his gang
come
around here they will
get their heads shot off. Mamma can handle a gun as well as any man and Papa is
a crack shot."

   
We remained in the cellar for about half an
hour before we heard doors opening and footsteps upstairs. Then Mamma called to
us that we could come up.