The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1857-04-30

diately got up and dresse myself. Wheni
reached the yard i found the cloads all passed
away, and the moon was shining brightly. The
hostler was easily aroused, and by two o'clock
i was ON the road. The mud was deep and I
could not travel very fast. a,e4e,Fy4 s8r rs
''Hcwever, on we went, and IN the course
of half an hour was clear Of the village
At a short distance ahead lay a large tract Of
forest, mostly great pines. The road lay di-
rectly through this wosd, and as near as L
could remember, the distance was twelve
miles. Yet the moon was in the east, and as
the road ran nearly west, thought should
have light enough. entered the woods and
had gone about half a mile when my wagon
wheels settled with bump and jerk into a
deep hole uttered an exclamation of as
tonishment; but this was not all. Iheard a n
other exclamation from another source. 80
"Wbat could It bep looked quickly around
but could see nothing. Yet I knew that the
sound was close to me. As the hind wheels
came up felt something besides the ielk of
the hole. Iheard something tumble from one
side to the other of my wagon, and could al
so feel the jar occasioned by the movement.
1t was simply a man in my cart IkLew this
on the instant. OF course felt puzzled. AT
first imagined some poor fellow had taken.
this method to obtain a ride; but soon gave
This up, for Knew that any decent man would
have asked me for ride. NV next idea was
that somebody had got in to sleep but this
passed away as quickly as Il came, for 10
man would have broken into my cart FOR that
purpose. And that thought, gentlemen open
ed my eyes. Whoever was in there had bro
'.My next thought was of the suspicious look
ing Individual 1 saw at the tavern. He had
heard me say that my load was all sold out.
and Of course he supposed had some money
with mc. IN this he was right, fos 4 had over
two thousand dollars. a thought he meant TO
leave the cart when he supposed had reached
a safe place, and then either creep over and
shoot me, or knock me down. All this pass
ed through my mind by the time had got
rod from the hole. ~. rst0es & -, -,
f'.in few moments my resolution was form
ed. My horse was now knee deep in The
mud. and I knew could slip of without
noise. So drew my pistol, and having twined
the reias about the whip-stock, carefully
slipped down in the mud, and as the cart pass
ed on | went behind il and examined the hasp
"The door Of the cart lets down, ard is fas-
tened by a, hasp, which slips over the staple,
and is then secured by paddock. The pad
lock was gone, and tie hasp was secured in
It's own place by a Bit Of pine, 50 that slight
force from within could break it. My wheel
w,ench hung in a. leather bucket osthe side
Of the cart, and quickly took it out apdslip-
ped it into the staple, eiiron handle just sill
ding down.
snow had him ;ainy cart was almost new,
made in . stout frame Of white oak, and made
on purpose Tor hardrsage. did NOT believe
any ordinary man could break out I 60. on
20 my cart as noiselessly as got of, and then
urged my herss o,i. still keepihp my pistol
handy. knew that at the distance OF half
mile further | should come 10 good hard
road, and so allowed my horse to pick his
own way through the mud. Abouttsa minutes
after this heard motion In the cart, follow
ed by = grinding noise. as though soms heavy
force were being applied TO the door u said
nothing, but the idea struck me that the villain
might judge where sat, and shoot up through
the top Of the cart at me, so sat down on the
foot board. g
"of course knew now that my unexpected
passenger was villain, for he must have Been
| awake ever since started. and nothing in the
world but absolute villainy would have caused
him to remain quiet SO long, and then start up
in this particular place. The thumping and
pushing grew louder, and pretty soon heard
human voice. a ~e ~
"Let me out Of this,' he cried, and he yell
ed pretty loud. . ta
"I lifted up my head so asto make him think
| was sitting in my usual place, and asked him
what he was doing there.
sIet me out, aud 1 win tell you,' he re-
Piled.
tss1'eIl me what ycusre In there FOR, said |.
"T got in here 70 sleep in your. rags, be
answered. ssro
How did you get in ?',I asked. 81 Z z G
So Let me out, or I'll shoot you through the
head, he said. 'S
t'Just at that moment my horses feet struck
| the hard road, and knew that the rest of the
route to Jackson would be good going. The
distance was twelve miles. | slipped back
| on the foot board and took the whip. la ff-
! teen minutes we cleared the wood, and away
we went at d keen Jump. The chap inside
kept calling to be let oat.
Finally he stopped, and in few minutes
came the report Of a pistol l-one-two-;hre
-four--one right after the other, and heard
the balls whiz over my head. IL 1 had beer,
on my seat, one OF those balls, il not two Of
them, won.d have gone through me. I pop
ped up my head again and gave a yell, and
then deep gsoaR, and tisn r said, 'Oh, God,
save me, Tina dead smanP Then Il made a
shutting noise as though | were falling a,
and finally settled m the foot board again.
now urged up the old mare BY giving her an
occasional poke with the butt Of Civ, whip
stock, aud she peeled in faster than ever.
s'sThs man called out to me twice more, pret.
ty soon after this, and AZ he got no reply, he
made some Tremendous, efforts to hreak the
1 door Open Ants m this failed him ne made