The Shasta courier., 1864-08-27

! Ile knew the country we'll Tor miles around
and the exact position and condition of every
settler. One man, living in q rather lonely
quarter, about FIVE miles distant, was a spec
ulator in horses and cattle, which he some
times bought up and drove to a distant mar
ket. lie had good deal of money, which it
was supposed he kept secre;ed in his dwell
ing. and to get possession of this money was.
of course, the object in view, The trouble
was that the man himself was a brave. deter
mined fellow, who always went well armed
and who had. besides his wife, two grown u
cons and daughter. which was a force too
great for any one individual ia encounter
About a mile from him lived a poor widow.
who had nothing worth stealing except her
clothes, which would be valuable for carving
out our plan. The plan was to rob the widow
first of her clothing, dress me up in them. and
have me seek lodging at the speculatoF'
house. Then in the night, when all the fam
lily should be asleep, | was to uubolt the door,
let in my confederate, and we were to attempt
the murder of the inmates-the robbery and
burning Of the house to follow and be the
concluding scene.
secretly shuddered at the atrocity of the
contemplated crime. but appeared to receive
| the disclosure with the business air of the
most hardened wretch, inGuiring as to the
| RFoDaDlN
obtain, and objected to nothing but the great
risk we should have to run, both before and
after the accomplishment of our purpose.
permitted my eager companion to gradually
quiet my fears. and at last consented to act
When everything had thus become settled
we struck off in TO the fields TO avoid being
seen, and Just Before dark came in sight of
the widows house. As my companion was
acquainted with the premises | insisted that
he should procure the female garments-but
solemnly warned him that if he harmed the
poor woman in the least. would have moth
ing further to do with him.
As good luck would have it, the widow was
not mt home, and my murderous friend man
aged 10 break in and get the necessary cloth
ing without doing further damage. The wild
ow being a large woman, had 10 trouble in
arranging the dress so as to pass in a dim
light as a tolerable respectable female; and
then having agreed on the story was TO tell
how | would manage matters, and the signal
that would assure my accompiice of all being
right we went forward together, till we came
in sight of the house to be robbed, when |
made my nearest way to the road. and con-
tinued on alone, reaching the dwelling about
an hour after dark. and Just as the family
were about concluding their evening meal
my villainous companion to believe, | Ger
tainly never could have gone forward with
such confident boldness: but feeling nv con.
science all right, and knowing was acting
from a good motive, | kept up wonderful as
surance. feeling curious to see how well
could play my part, and to what extent |
could carry the deception.
asked for lodging for the night, and some
thing to eat, and was kindly and Hospitality
received. The first thing that sent the blush
of shame and confusion to my checks, was
the coming forward of a young lady, about
eighteen, beautiful as an houri, and in a
sweet, gentle tone, asking me if had walked
far, if | was much fatigued Offering to take
my hood, telling me l should soon be refresh
ed with a hot cup of tea This was a little
too much for my equanimity. l could have
got along with all the rest, without being es-
pecially disturbed but | was then Young
unmarried man. and, though not particularly
susceptible to female attractions in general
| thought | had never looked upon so lovely
and interesting creature before. l STAN
mered out some Ineligible replies, kept my
hood well drawn over my face, and asked to
be permitted to have a few minutes private
conversation with the master OF the house.
OF course this request caused considerable
sN- ~ W ets idiitctt--itiit eio SUoI us
we were alone together, told him in few
words who and what | was, the strange ad-
venture | had met WITH and disclosing in
full the plot ofmy road acquaintance to mur-
der and rob him. He turned pale at the re-
! cltai, aud seemed much astonished, but beg
| ged me not to mention the design to his wife
and daughter. He then called his two sons
strong, determined fellows-rec0unted the
plot to them, and arranged to have everything
80 forward as fthe scheme was being carried
as its vile author designed.
1t took some shrewd management to keep
me to my part without letting females into the
secret; but it was effected and before mid
night | cautiously opened the door and looked
! out. There was my man. ready and waiting.
. Is all right2" he whispered.
Yes, come in"
As he crossed the threshold, the father and
sons sprung upon him. But the fellow was
strong and desperate, and perhaps had some
| slight suspicious of the truth. With wild
| yell be cleared their united grasps at bound,
leaving large portion Of his rags in their
hands The next moment the whole four of
US were in chase of the william, as he ran
across the road to gain the cover Of a wood
about twenty rods distant.
:. Fire y shouted the father; shoot down
the scoundrell''
We were all armed and prepared, and at
the word. four reyolvers began to crack be-
hind him. But he seemed 10 lead a charmed
life and still he ran on, keeping short dis
tance. ahead Of us. Once I fancied | saw him
stagger: but he gained the woods and disap-
peared and we reluctantly and with deep cha
grin gave up the chase.
When we returned to the house, the wife
and daughter were both terribly alarmed.
Of course. an explanation ensued-the host
being disappointed of making the capture as
he intended without exciting their fears
There was no more sleep in that house that
night.
! The next morning we went out TO the wood
and discovered q trail of blood. We efollowed
on for half a mile and found the ruffan "
| ing dead, face downward, his hands firmly
| clinched upon some bushes. One Of the sons
| recognized him as suspected murderer who
had a couple of years before left that part of
the country. He was buried with little GER
emony. 1 was warmly thanked for the part
| had PLAYED to save the family but from
no other did the words sound SO sweet as
from the lips of the beautiful daughter.
The family pressed me to stay with them
awhile, and l stayed long enough to iese my