Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1859-06-11

and became both alert and cautious in his
MOVEMENTS. Arranging his pistols SO that
they could be easily withdrawn from the
holsters, he urged his horse to quicker
pace as soon as be entered the gloomy ave-
nue. Of the narrow gorge. -:
He had gone about mile when he saw,
some fifty yards ahead Of him. a large boul-
der or earthly ridge, shooting nearly across
the avenue, road bed, between its edge and
the steep side of the gorge. 1t was stop
favorable for an attack by surprise, and Mr..
Stogdon surmised at once that if one was
meditated upon BIN it would be made at
that point. Checking tie pace of his horse,
therefore, he rode. slowly forward and en-.
tered the narrowpass. He had scarcely
reached the middle Of the defle, which was
about twenty yards in leugth, when two
men rushed from behind the further side Of
the boulder into the road. and stood with
| leveled guns, only few yards distant from
Mr.. Stogdon. His horse, frightened ct the
sudden appearance of the men, whose black
ened faces and shaggy clothes made them
look hideous enough to startle both rider
and steed, SHE'D and refused to 20 for
| ward
The robbers advanced &nd demanded the
purse aud valuables Of tie traveller, pro
missing to spare his life if he would surren-
der them without noise or resistance
Without making any reply, Mr.. Stogdon
quickly drew forth pistol from the holster !.
A derisiye smile passed over the faces Of
his assallants at sight Of the weapon. 1t
was leveled and fired at the nearest robber,
who fell dead upon the spot: The other,
startled at the report and terrified at the
fall Of mis- companion, instead Of firing his
gun, dropped it'apd fed in the direction
from which he hae come.
Before Mr.. Stogdon could draw and pre-
sent his other pistol the robber had turned
the eerner Of Che boulder and was. out of
sight. Urging his horse forward with
some difficulty -br the dead body Of the
robber lay in the ,oad' and the animal could
scarcely be made to pass the discovered a
lateral gorge entering, from behind the
boulder, the one along which the highway
ran Hoping to oYertake the escaped rob
her, he entered this gorge and rode some
distance along its rocky bottom. The scene
was wild and dreary, presenting whatever
is grand ndlinpressiye in mountain sol
itude. The deep basin Of the gorge, COW
cred with rodz and tangled underground,
and shaded almost to gloom by the dense,
cverhan ging brest, seemed fit retreat for
marauding bands. It requires no common
nerve to penetrate alone into its recesses in
IN pursuit ola robber. But the blood of
| fba trov bor Va IA
the risk he vas rHnrfng.
As he could neither see nor hear anything
to direct him in the pursuit, Mr.. Stogdon
Echecked his horse, and remained motionless
for short time, sheltered, by the acciden-
tai screen of low bushy tree, from obser-
walton in the direction the gorge reeeded
from the road. The song Of the mountain
birds and the low murmur of tiny waterfalls
were the only sounds he heard. The rob-
Der had vanished like shadow, and neither
eye nor ear could tell the direction be had
gone. t'i n
Having made up his mind "a abandon
the pursuit, Mr.. Stogdon was ia the act
of turning his horses head toward the road,
when he caught, through the branches Of
the tree ID front Of him, the glimpse Of a
man running rapidly up the side Of the goa
ge, some distance further up the -deGle'-
AS pursuit on horseback up the steep aocli-
witty was impossible, he remained in his po-
sition, and watched as well as he could, the
movements of the retreating figure, which
he had no doubt was that Of the fugitive rob-
Dor.
Climbing from crag to crag the robber
stopped at length in front Of two ledge
Of rock which projected from the noun
tain few feet apart, thus making an
entrance or pass-way into the side Of the
deile. He looked earnestly for moment
lin the direction he had come, and then en-
tering between the ROCKS disappeared from
the sight Of the traveller.
Convinced that he had discovered the den
Of the robbers, Mr. Stogdon at once decided
to return to the blacksmith's shop at the
base of the mountain, and give information
to the neighborhood. Making a careful
ocular exploration Of the surrounding scene
ry, and fixing in his mind as many objects
as he could, which might serve to Identify
the spot where the robber had disappeared,
he turned his horses head, and soon reach
ed the narrow pass in the main road. The
body Of the dead robber lay as it fell, with
the blood puddled around it, Forcing his
horse with difficulty to pass it, he rode with
q rapid pace, and soon reached the shop,
where he found several Of the neighboring
planters and the smith still busy with specu-
lation upon the mysterious developments
which the latter had Witnessed in the NOR
ming.
Mr. stogdon related to his eager and
wondering listeners his adventure in the
mountain, the death of one robber, and the
probable discovery Of the place Of retreat Of
perhaps many more. In few hours the
news spread through the neighborhood, and
brought together q company Of forty or fifty
men at the shop, It was decided without
dissenting voice, to ascend the mountain
and storm the den Of robbers Guns axes,
dogs and conveyances we're soon provided,
and the line of march speedily commenced
The cavalcade, moving, with7celerity and
IN silence, soon reached the spot where the
dead robber still lay. The black coating
being wiped from the face, ebody was re-
cognized at once as that Of the landlord of
the hotel at which Mr., Stogdon had staid
the night before The suspicious of the
neighborhood, long eEteltaineds ascto his
character, were now completely confirmed.
H. ,u,a IL, ofto l.~l GIL