Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1879-01-08

aware of what intended, | had jump
ed on the horse and given him Ito,
which caused him to bound into th
middle of the road.
''Oh, plaze stop, an fer the love o
mercy don't be roonin' away from me-
pleaded the girl. starting up and dron
ping her bundle.
glanced back, but gave my hors
another blow, and seeing | was reall
off, my persuasive friend suddenl
charged her conduct. Quick as flasl
out came pistol, and whiZ went a bal
from it within two inches of my ear
But old Jed was already on gallop
( We went round bend in the leafy road
and that was the last l saw of tn,
Province girln that day. Officers wer,
sent after the would-be robber, but the,
didn't catch him.
The second winter after this my ia
ther put a stage ia large double sleigh
drawn by span of horses, on the mai
route. In place of riding old Jed, now
/ drove the stage and carried the mai
also. l had plenty of light freight anC
express matter, and was often full
of passengers. Ny route had been
I heightened. and extended beyond D.
to new place, which was called the
supply depot" One day in FEBRUARY
| had three passengers two choppers
going up to work, and a well-dressed
young man, who sat well muffied up,
for it was pretty cold day. stopped
at D. for the passengers to warm
themselves and to have dinner, and this
young man was so long eating his that
| had to go into the dining-rOom 10 hur-
~ him. He sat at the table with his
back 10 me eating as | went in, and |
saw his thumb as he held his fork The
nail was gone, and the scar Was of a
dull red color. l knew that thumb in
an instant, and was sure that this was
''Betsey Ellen" 1t made me nervous,
but | said, bTavely, "All abOard,' and
walked out.
| didn't know what To do. ''Betsey
Ellen, Was the only passenger from
D up to the lumber yard, too. He
had considerable TO say. He probably
knew me well enough that is, he knew
| was the boy he had fooled and tried
to rob of the mailbag. His name, he
told me this time), WAS Gleason. He
was professional ''scaler.' - on his way
up to scale or survey the winters cut
OF lumber at the landings" on the riv-
er He had his ''calipers' and other
instruments with him. | felt uncom-
Portable enough, but kept quiet, l am
sure never suffered SO much from fear
in all my life as l did in going up from
D. that afternoon. The whole of
the way had to sit with my back TO
''Betsey Ellen. and of course expec-
ted every moment he would give me "A
blow on the head and rob the stage.
He did not, however, but instead he
WAS very quiet passenger. That night
at the depot. - | found out that his
name was actually Gleason, and that
he was really their regular lumber sea-
Ter, and was hired as such. But | knew
it was ''Betsey Elem all the same;
his voice and the peculiar glance of his
dull dark eyes were only too well fixed
in my memory ever to be forgotten.
Next day at Il first told the
postmaster there, and We then got out
a warrant for the arrest of Gleason.
AAS "N.lN Oil lllC oldGC Will
me. Gleason was scaling two miles
above the depot, at one of the lumber
camps. The sheriff took two men and
went up to the camp that evening /
went with him to point him out Glea-
son was smoking his cigar by the big
camp-stOve when we went in. .'Well,
BetSey Ellen,' said | ''you rather
played it on me two years ago, but now
it's nv turn" and the sheriff collared
him. But he took 1t very coolly. He
sat quite still for moment; then he
began to laugh, and laughed SO violently
that it seemed as if he would never
stop.
The sheriff took him down to D
that night, and the next morning he
had his examination. To my surprise.
he laughingly admitted the whole charge
against him. With apparent frankness
he explained the reason of his being dis
guised as girl that day. He had been
stopping up at c., town ten miles
beyond D, and was owing bills
there, Being out of money, he had dis
guised himself and ran away. He sent
for two witnesses, and proved what he
said about his Indebtedness. His talk
ing and riding with me that day was
done purely for sport, he said, and when
L ran away from him, he fired off the
pistol just to frighten me little more.
The rascal told all this in such a hu-
WAY that it caused a coed deal
of laughter. The lumbermen were all
his friends. The case was dismissed
and Gleason actually discharged, after
| had fairly caught him, lie even had
the impudence to come and chat famil- |
laIly with me, and tell me he was sorry
he had scared me, In fact, his version !
Of the circumstances made me out any
thing but a hero, and | was heartily |
laughed at by the loafers and men 1 |
met. i couldn't stir for month with |
Dnt hearing something about "Betsey |
Ellen.''
They sang different tune, however,
about The 18th of March. The lnmber- |
firm who were doing business at the |
depot" and in that region were to pay |
)ff their choppers" on the 25th, and |
money had been sent them for that pur-
pose. 1t WAS in a chest in the large |
Jack-roo of the depot, where Briggs,
heir foreman always slept. During the
night of the 24th. the chest was robbed |
If every dollar it contained and the |
foreman murdered. the poor man was
found next morning dead from blows
lpon his head. Gleason had been there
he night before but was now missing. !
The amount stolen was between six and |
even thousand dollars. In the light of |
his tragedy the people began to think
hat my ''Betsey Ellen was no chicken
lfter all. Then commenced the hue
md cry after the murderer; bnt they
lid not catch him. nor could they so
much as get trace of him. He had |
made good his escape.
Time passed on, drove the stage for
hIee years longer; then, at the age of
wenty-one, went on to the new rail-
oad,-the n. a. & E. line,-where in
ime | became a conductor. Going
rom st. John to Bangor, my train pass
ID the station called Mattawamkeag at |
bout four O'Clock a. IN. Running down
rom kingman, took up tickets for
Iattawamkeag. The passengers were
'ften asleep. One morning l had to
yaken a man who was curled upon two