New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1878-05-08

time and Immediately rose and dressed
myself. When ! reached the yard found
the clouds all passed away and the moon
Tas shining brightly. The hostler was
.sily aroused and by tvs o'clock was
On the, road. The mud was deep, and
my horse could not travel very fast. How
.,ver, on we went, and in the course Of
half an hour L was clear of the village.
It a short distance ahead lay large
tract Of forest, mostly Of great pine. The
load lay directly through this wood, and
as near as / can remember the distance
Vas twelve miles. Yet the moon was in
the east and the road ran nearly west, so
Il hcpght should have light enough.
6 ] bsd entered this wood and gone
.fcut half mile when my wagon wheels
ssttled with a jump and jerk into deep
hole. uttered an exclamation of aston
isment, but that was not all. heard
another exclamation from some source.
What could it be? I looked quietly
around but could see nothing, yet I
knew the sound that I heard was very
close to me. AS the hind wheels came
up, / felt something besides the jerk from
the hole. I heard something tumble
from one side to the other of my wagon,
and could also leel the jar occasioned by
the movement. It was simply a man in
my cart l knew this on the instant
OF course j felt puzzled. At first inn
agined that somebody had taken this
method to obtain 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
my cart for that purpose. And that
thought, gentlemen, opened my eyes.
Whoever was there had broken in. My
next thought was of the suspicious indi-
vidual had seen at the tavern. He heard
me say that my load was all sold out, and
of course he supposed had money 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 passed through my mind by the time
! had got rod from the hole.
SIN few moments my horse was knee
deep in the mud, and I knew could slip
off without noise. So I drew my pistol
and having twined the reins about the
whipstock, carefully slipped down in the
mud, and as the cart passed on I went
behind and examined the hasp. This door
of the cart lets down, and is
fastened by a hasp, which slips over the
staple and is then secured by paddock.
The paddock was gone, and the hasp was
secured in its own place by q bit Of pine,
so that a slight force from within could
break it. Ny wheel wrench stood in a
leather pocket on the side of the cart, and
quickly took it out and slipped it into
the staple, the iron handle just sliding
down.
g Now had him. Ny cart was all
most new, made of stout frame Of white
oak and made on purpose for hard usage.
did not believe any ordinary mortal
could break out. I got on to my cart as
noiselessly as got off, and then urged
my horse on, still keeping my pistol
handy. I knew should come to hard
road, and so allowed my horse to pick
his own way through the mud.
About ten minutes after this heard
motion in the cart, followed BY grind
ing noise, as though some heavy force
was being applied to the door. said
nothing, but the idea struck me that the
william might Judge where sat, and
shoot up through the top of the cart at
me; SO sat down on the footboard.
"Of course knew my unexpected
passenger was a villin, for he must have
been awake ever since I started, and
nothing in the world but absolute vii
lainy would have caused him to remain
quiet SO long, and then start up in this
particular place. The humping and
pushing grew louder, and pretty soon I
heard a human voice.
"' Let me out Of this!" he yelled pref
ty loud. -
81 lifted my head 50 as to make him
think I Yves in my usual place, and then
asked him what he was doing there.
"sL Let me get out and I will tell you,'
he replied.
Tell me what you are in there for
81 got in here to sleep on the rags
he answered.
- How did you get inS' asked.
"S Let me out or Ill shoot you through
the head!"
"Just at that moment my horses feet
STRUCK tAt uaiu IOdu, anu knew CnaC
the rest of the route to jackson would be
good going, the distance of twelve miles.
slipped back on the footboard and took
the whip. In fifteen minutes we cleared
the wood, and away we went at a keen
Jump. The chap inside kept yelling to
be let out.
aFinally he stopped, and in few mo-
ments came the report Of q pistol, one
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