Hstburp Xeveson 5 '3 



Old Shekarry's " deadly rifle had already accounted for 

 four of the enemy, but they still swooped on, and what 

 followed I will let the hero himself describe : 



" We breathed our horses until the clattering of hoofs 

 behind us again intimated the near approach of the 

 enemy, and again bullets whistled around us. My rifle 

 killed when their smooth-bored carbines were useless, so 

 I turned in the saddle and with another right and left 

 brought down a couple of the leading horses, which, 

 however, scarcely checked the rush, for they evidently 

 thought that we must now fall into their hands. I 

 therefore exchanged my unloaded rifle for the six- 

 shooter carried by Fritz, and prepared to execute my 

 former manoeuvre, by pretending to be wounded, and, 

 pulling up my horse I flung myself at full length on the 

 ground, which caused a yell of intense satisfaction to 

 burst from a knot of the leading pursuers. Their 

 triumph, however, was of short duration, for as they 

 rushed up to immolate me, I raised myself on my elbow, 

 and coolly gave them the contents of my six barrels at 

 bout-portant, which emptied as many saddles, and turned 

 their shrieks of rage into cries of despair. With a 

 derisive shout of scorn, and a peculiar if not graceful 

 action, intimating contempt, I jumped on my horse, and 

 in a few moments was again cantering alongside of 

 my friend." 



That was not bad work for a man armed with the six- 

 shooter of those days, which, as anyone who has handled 

 it will admit, was a cumbrous and untrustworthy 

 weapon! In this little affair "the Old Shekarry " 

 killed twelve Russians "to his own gun," besides 



VOL. II. 12 



