The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1880-07-02
NOT A MINUTE TOO SOON.

RnvIntu
Arkansas for a nnmher @ ~ of years and
we had some of the hardest kind of
characters In oeoj with Horse th;pves
renecadcs. ontlaws and hioh wavmen
roamed over the Stats and when thev
struck into INV county we tried tn make
It hot for them. had n number nf
IDENTITIES. who were bound 70 enforce
the law at any cost. and when we
wanted help there were score of citi-
zens who could bo had Mt n moment's
warning.
/ hadn't served ont nv first term be-
fore our county had tho name of hc;nc
one of the safest and most orderly conn,
ties in the State. Desperadoes at
length passed us bv. and there were
weeks at time when not even an arrest
was made, = -
/ was TAILOR. of course. The county
being poor. we had a vret he'd apoIoov
for a Jail; in fact, any man who did not
choose to remain could easily work his
way out of it. 1t was for this reason
that very few of the known desperadoes
found their wav into the iail. When
run down thew Wouid he taken into The
woods and lett there. and no one ever
heard of them again
One day. while / was serving on nv
last six months. an outlaw called
Bloody Tom" murdered a farmer
within a mile of town. robbed the body.
and then took to q swamp and sent me
word bys a negro that / couldn't raise
men Enough in - county to t,e.e him.
I summoned a posse. surrounded the
swamps and within -four hours after
the murder the outlaw was hanged to a
limb. He made n hard fioht' killing
two men and woundinrn n third. and the
affair stirred nm a GOOD Ideal al excite
ment. "Bloody Tom" had brother.
who went by the name of "Red Jnck y
lie was a wicked. cruel cruel rascal n M on y whose %
head there were q dozen county rewards.
and he lived mostly in the swamps and
forest. People said that he would be
revenoed ON me for the death of TON,
and I was nd dv;sed n M Iook ont for him
When thew said "look ontn in those
davs IL m cant business and fos a whole
month / kent both ewes wat.h;nc for
lack. One Sav when / was ont Of town
he rode into the village shot two mon
tried to set fire to the iail md rode ont
arain. no one daring To follow him. He
even hitched his horse at the tavern and
took a drink of whisky. while the ar
citement was preatest. and he left word
with the landlord that he might he er.
pected back within the next month
Upon returning home I secured the
country for miles around with a force
of men. but Jack had made good h;s
escane I think the rewarda fa.s h;a can-
ture' dead or alive footed m fifteen
hundred dollars He was optiaw.d
and his death weuld he n nnbiic bless
inc. We therefore nlanned In effect IL
There were four roada leading irto
town, and for the next three weeks two
men were stationed in the bushes along
each road. prepared to shoot Jack no
sight. N
The fellow did not apnear Hem;gbt
have received warning. or he MIGHT mt
have been ready: nj anv rate. the
watching all went for nothing and after
the fourth week it was the general idea
that he had fed from that part of the
State, and 1 began to relax my vigilance
and to grow careless.
About this time Young white bow.
some twelve wears of age. wandered into
the village. His name was Daniel
Smith, but everybody called him Dan.
lie worked at odd Jobs for n few days.
l then emploved him to assist in keen
ing the iail in order. take care of NV
horses. and render other useftII aid. He
was very sedate lad. having little TO
say TO any one, and the most that ever
got out OF him, in relation 10 his family
history, was that he was an orphan and
had lived in Vicksburg all his life. He
was prompt and obedient, and when mot
engaged at his work WAS sure 10
shoulder my shotgun and take a turn
In the woods. He never came back
without some sort Of game, and finally
he became a fixture In the family.
/ think II was three months after
"a Red Jacks nraid ON the VILLAGE that
one morning received a letter asking nv
presence at Thernbush, a village six
miles away. But when / told Dan To sad
die my horse II was discovered that the
horse had jumped the fence and taken to
the woods. Dan shouldered the gun
and went out to search, while / got
ready for the journey.
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