White Cloud Kansas chief. [volume] (White Cloud, Kan.) 1857-1872, 1858-02-25

appearance Of a gentleman, safe that his face
bore those hard, cruel marks which an observing
man cannot mistake for anything but the index
of villainous disposition.
"When 1 went to my chamber, 1 asked the
landlord who that man was, describing the sus-
piciOus individual He said he did not. know
him. He had come there that afternoon, and
intended to leave next day. The host ask ed
why | wished to know, and simply told him
that the mans cOuntenance was familiar, and
merely wished to know if was ever acquainted
with him. l resolved not to let the landlord.
into the secret, but to hurry on to Jackson, and
there give information to the Sheriff, and per-
haps he might reach the inn before the villain
left; for had no doubt as to his identity.
"a had an alarm watch, and having set it to
give the alarm at one O'Clock, went to sleep.
was aroused at the proper time, and immedi-
ately gotup and dressed myself. When reach
ed the yard found the clouds all passed away
and the moon was shining brightly. The hos
tier was easily reused, and by two o'clock was
on the road. The mud was deep, and my horse
could not travel very fast-yet it struck me that
the beast made more work than there was any
need of, for the. cart was nearly empty. -.
" However, on we went, and in the course of
half an hour was clear of the village. At
short distance ahead lay large track of forest,
mostly of great pines. The road led directly
through the wood, and as near as can remen-
Der, the distance was twelve miles. Yet the
moon was in the East, and as the road ran near
" West, should have light enough. had
entered the woods, and had gone about half
mile when my wagon wheels settled with
bump and jerk into a deep hole. Il uttered an
exclamation Of astOnishment, but that was not
all. heard another exclamation from another
source II f-gG e.5.stf --ry..rd
"What coulditbe1 Hooked quickly around
bit could see nothing Yeti knew that the
sound that heard was very close to me. As
the hind wheels came up. felt something be-
sides the ERIK of the wheels. heard something
tumble from one side 70 the other of my wagon,
and could also feel the jar occasiOned by the
movement. 1t was simply a MANN my CART
knew this on the instant OF course felt
puzzled. At first imagined some poor fellow
had taken this method of obtaining ride; but
l soon gave this up, for knew that any decent
man would have asked me for ride. My next
idea was that somebody had gone in to sleep;
but this passed away as quickly as it came, for
no man would have broken into my cart for that
purpose. And that thought, gentlemen, opened
nv eyes Whoever was in there, had broken
in.
any next thoughts were of Mr.. Dick Hard
head. He had heard me say that my load was
all sold out, and of course he supposed had
some money with me. In this he was right, for
| I had over two thousand dollars. also 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 passed through my mind by the time
had got rod from the hole.
Now never make it point to brag of my
self, but have seen great deal of the world,
and am pretty cool and clear headed under
difficulty. In a very few moments my resolu-
ton was formed. Ny horse was knee deep in
the mud, and knew could slip off without
noise. So drew my revelver-I never travel
in that country without one-I drew this, and
having twined the reins about the whip stoek, !
carefully slipped down in the mud, and as the
cart passed on went behind it and examined
the hasp.
! "The door of the cart lets down, and is fas-
tened by hasp, which slips over a staple and is
/ - Tho nadlnck ra
gone, and the hasp was secured in its place by a
bit of pine, so that slight force from within
could break it. Ny wheel wrench hung in lea
them bucket on the side of the cart, and quick
" took it out and slipped it into the staple, the
iron handle just sliding down.
"Now had him. Ny cart was almost new,
made in a stout frame of white oak, and made
on purpose for hard usage. did not believe an
ordinary man could break out. I got on to my
cart as noiselessly as got of, and then urged
nv horse on, still keeping nv pistol handy.
knew that at the distance of half mile further
should come to good hard road, and so al.
lowed nv horse to pick his own way through the
mud. About ten minutes after this heard a
motion in the cart, followed by grinding noise
. as though some heavy force was being applied
to the door. said nothing, but the idea struck
me that the villain might judge where | sat
and shoot me through the top Of the cart, so
sat down on the top of the foot-bOard.
aof course knew now that my unexpected
Messenger was a villain, for he must have been
awake ever since started, and nothing in the
world bu, absolute vIllainy would have caused
him to remain quiet so long, and then start W
in this particular place. The humping and poun'
ding Prev louder and louder, and pretty soon
heard human voice:
".Let me out of thisr he cried, and he yell
! ed pretty loud. no s9Is
al lifted up my bead, so as to make him think
was sitting in my usual place, and then asked
| him what he was doing in there. -.lI;s-..is
"Let me out, and will tel yOu.' he re
Piled.
"TeII me what you are in there fOrl" said /
{ al got here to sleep on your rags he an
I swered: 500.
/ 4'Let me out, or III shoot you through the
: head he yelled. -r.f.- /,
s. "Just at that moment my horses feet struck
: the hard road, and / knew that the rest Of the
E route to Jackson would be good going. The dis
lance vas twelve miles slipt back on the foot
board and took the whip. l had the same horse
/ then I've got now-a tall, stout, powerful bay
]