Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1880-12-23
heavy. beard under the chin.


heavy. beard under the chin.
thought of the man whom th
postmaster had described to me
but | did not think seriously up
on it until ! started. Perhaps
had gone half a mile when ] no
ticed the mail bag. wasn't in it
right place under my feet. rs
"Hellor' says /, holding u
my horses a little, "Where's j
my mail?"
My passenger sat on the sea
behind me, and j turned toward
'tHere is a bag of some kim
that slipped back under. my feet
he said, giving it a kick, a
though he would shove it :, for
ward. is4tss 81. s q9.lo ,ryl.d
p just at that moment my hors
es numbered into a deep snow
drift and / was forced to get on
and tread down the snow in from
of them and lead them through
! it. 90 i ua 1908 d u a
This took me all of fifteel
minutes, and when l got up a
gain l placed the mail bag for
ward and got my feet upon it
AS I was doing this / saw tht
man taking something from BIZ
lap beneath the buffalo, and put
it ine his breast pocket. This
thought was a pistol. 1 caught
a CLEAN Of a barrel in the star
light, and / had time to reflect
as | know / could not be mista-
ken.
About this time / began to
think somewhat seriously. From
what / heard and saw / soon
made up my mind that the indi-
vidpal behind me not onlyuwah-
ted to rob me of my mail but
rob me Of my .life.i ] If Ire
sisted him he would shoot me,
and perhaps he meant topper
form the delicate operation at
any rate. While, Twas ponder
ing the horses plunged into an
other snowdrift, andIIewas fore
ed to get out and tread oown the
snow before them. Il asked my
passenger if he would not help
me, but he didn't feel very well,
and wouldn't try; so / worked
all alone, and was all of a quar-
ter of an hour getting my team
'A1S1sa wss', 'fSsElt3i g9tf Is8 Elbsl4iAl Elbss 4.isAlsb
again l began to feel for The
mail bag with my feet. | found
it where | had left it, but when
[ eudeayored to. Withdraw my
foot / discovered that it-had be-
come fasts1in4 something. ~
thought it was the bqffalUs and
tried to kick it clear, but the
more | kicked the more closely,
it held. l reached down my
hand, and after feelhigoa few
moments, / found that my foot
was in the. bag + ran my fin
gers over MIC 94dges of the
opening, and BECAME lassilredl
the stout leather5had been cut
with a knife, o.o,o anob dYou Ii
Here was e discovery Lbe-
gan to wish | had taken a little
more forethought before leay-
ing Danbury; but as / knew
making sHcho wishes was only
a waste of time, l Quickly gave
it up, and began to consider
what | had better do under cx-
listing circumstances. i wasn't
long in making llp my mind
Upon a few essential points.
First, the man behind NE was a
Within; second, he aad cut open
the. mail bag and robbed It of
some valuable matter-llle must
have known the money letters
by their size and shape3; third,
he meant to leave the stage on
the first opportdnity y;'and fourth
ly, he was prepared to shoot me
if | attemptedvto atrestsllim.
I resolved these lthin4slilt nay
mihtt sahd pretty seonStkbhght
ofsa course TO puEsne,,iiI knew
that to get my hands safely up
on the rascal / must take him
wholly unawarcs; = aud this, I
could not do while he was be-
hind me, for his eyes were upon
me all tho time, SO Ismustiresort
to stiategem. Only alittIe dis
tance ahead was IA house, Z and
an farmer named Longee
lived there, and directly before
it a huge snow bank stretched
across The road through which
tracks had been cleared with
shovels. { : Al~
AS we, approached Ahe3cot1
saw a light in the front room, as
l felt confident I should, for the
man generally sat'up until the
stage went by. / drove onsand
when nearly opposite the dwell
ing, stood up as L. frequently
did when approaching difficult
places. / saw the rsnowYbaGBlz
ahead, and could distinguish
the deep cut which had been
shpveled through it. II urged
NV horses to good Speed, and