MY FIRST AFFRAY WITH POACHERS. 2J 



that he caught father by the collar, and, 

 jamming his knuckles into his windpipe, tried 

 to strangle him. When I heard father gasping 

 for breath and well nigh choking, I yelled at 

 Dick to beat Cogdill off, but he only stood 

 stupidly by, muttering : " All we want is 

 civility." This so enraged me that I rushed 

 at Cogdill, and struck him with my sword as 

 hard as I could, repeated blows on his back, head 

 and face. Then, finding that this made but 

 little impression, I prodded his nether gar- 

 ments with the sword, which, fortunately, had 

 a fairly sharp point. Cogdill gave a loud 

 scream, and rolled off. Father called out to 

 old Dick, and he, at last, did something 

 holding the poacher down whilst father got up 

 and regained his breath. This Dick managed 

 easily enough, for he was a very strong and 

 powerful man ; and had he been blessed with 

 any amount of pluck, very few men could have 

 stood up before him for long. 



Father now took the loaded gun from me, 

 and, pointing it at Dell, said : "Now, Widdie, 

 you've threatened my life over and over again, 



