Weekly Calaveras chronicle., 1866-09-22

and had the appearance OF gentleman,
save that his face bore those hard, cruel
marks which an observing man cannot
mistake for anything but the index of a
villainous disposition.
When l went to my chamber I asked
the landlord who that man was, des-
cribing the individual He said that
be did not know him. He had come
there that afternoon, and intended to
leave the next day. The host asked
me why 1 wished to know, and l simply
told him that the mans countenance
was familiar, and.I merely wished to
know if | was ever acquainted with
him.
was resolved not to let the landlord
in the secret, but to hurry on to Jack
son, and there to give information to
the sheriff, who perhaps might reach
the inn before the villain left, for 1 had
no doubt as to his idendity. %
had an alarm watch, and having
set it to give the alarm at one o'clock,
| went to sleep. | was alarmed at the
proper time, and Immediately dressed
myself. When | reached the yard
found the clouds all passed away and
the moon was shining brightly. The
hostler was easily aroused, and by two
o'clock l was on the road The mud
was deep and my horse could not travel
very fast. However, on we went, aud
in the course of half an hour l was
clear of the village At short dis
tance ahead lay large forest, mostly
of great pines. The road lay directly
through these woods, and, as near as .
can remember, the distance was twelve
miles. Yet the moon was in the east,
and as the road ran nearly west 1 tho't
| should have light enough.
L had entered this wood and gone
about half mile, when my wagon
wheel settled with hump and jerk
into deep hole. l uttered an excla-
nation of astonishment, but this was
not all. | heard another exclamation
from the same source. What could it
mean? looked quietly around, but
could see nothing; yet | knew that the
sound heard was very close to me. As
the hind wheels came up | felt some
thing tumble from one side to another
OF my wagon, and could also feel the
jar occasioned by the movement. 1t
was simply a man in my cart. l knew
this on the instant. OF course l felt
puzzled. At first l imagined that some
one had taken this method to obtain a
ride. My next idea was that somebody
had got in to sleep there; but this
passed away as soon as it came, for no
man would have broken into nv cart
for that purpose. And that thought,
gentlemen, opened my eyes. Whoever
was there had broken in. My next
thought was of the suspicious individu-
al had seen at the tavern. He heard
me say that my load was sold out, and
of course he supposed had some mon
ey with me. In this he was right, for
| had over two thousand dollars.
thought he meant to leave the cart
when he supposed had reached safe
place, and then creep over and shoot
me, or knock me down. All this pass
ed through my mind by the time L had
got rod from the hole.
10 few moments my resolution was
formed. My horse was knee deep in
the mud, and knew | could slip off
without noise. So I drew my pistol,
and having twined the reins about the
whip-stock, carefully slipped down in
the mud, and as the cart passed on went
behind and examined the hasp. The
other door of the cart let's down, and it
is fastened by hasp which slips over
the staple and is then secured by pad
lock. The paddock was gone and the
hasp was secured in its own place by a
bit of pine, SO that a slight force from
within would break it. My wheel
wrench stood In leather bucket on the
side Of the cart, and I quickly took it
out and slipped it into the staple. the
iron handle just sliding down.
/ Now l had him. MY cart was al
most new, made of stout frame of
white oak, and made on purpose for
hard usage. 1 did not believe an or
dinary man could break out. got on
my cart as uoiselessly as got off, and
then urged my horse on, still keeping
my pistol handy knew at the dis
tance of half a mile further l should
come to hard road and so | allowed
my horse to pick his own way through
the mud. r-
About ten minutes after this l heard
a motion in the cart, followed by a
grinding noise as though some heavy
force was being applied to the door. l
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 I sat down on the front
board.
OF course 1 knew that my uuexpect-
ed 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 re-
main quiet so long, and then start up in
this particular place. The humping
aud pushing grew louder, and pretty
soon 1 heard human voice. i.
"Let me out Of this!" he yelled
pretty loud. -s. ss4sssg ~
| lifted my head SO as to make him
think I was in my usual place, and
then asked him what be was doing in
there. r .-..--. e5 =;
aLet me get out and 1 win tell you, :"