The Worthington advance., 1882-02-09
the team behind which I was riding that

VIC would pass tho stage before, reaching
| New hraunfels, and ,,as wash SIRE my
German friend was an honest fellow +
made q confident Of him and told, him OF
| my dilemma, I had id my possession
some very vaiueb'e jewelly, and there were
+ 3wo men in the. stage ahead ,,who had
! planned to rob me- He naturally lEAskel how
that could be done, whom there were over a
! dozen passengers besides, who were
doubtless armed, while was able TO do
Something i'll my own defensc. l',t, y,
derstanding with the JAMES boys, who
will stop the stage somewhere .,a}ong the
road.' .t ..'., ,.. -;
The diokens!"I 'exclai,nea, ."aro" tho
\ saw them ride. through Now Braunf4ls
last week and we; shall ncet- them some
where along the ttoat;." :, n III y III
This was rather aisuulie!ire information.
but ! could only make tae best. Of ,it.,.1I
drew from my yalise. al, oldicoat and DIM
nged lat which 7 't!o,ined! In) tho hat was
some ftowsy yellow hair which, I"baggaa'
about my forehead andr' ears, % that. nv
German f,iond broke out: laug ching at nv
changed Rppearancr. ~ L.. ...:.,.
"Now," said I. let rae hold tho, resinis
.and you can keep tho team going. II am
iv'ns !ss a'tfn'!Gn !4 VI! w be a'tractea e
Tho accommodating fellow complied at
once and striking tho spirited horses u
sharp blow We ratified Qti over the country
at lively gait. ! was considerably dis
turbed for could feel no assurance that
the not over brilliant strategslil Of mine
had thrown my dreaded acquaintance of
the scent. At the first stopping place.
whore tho conveyance changed horses: we
were less than an hour behind, so wa !ex.
pected to gain sight 'tf IL within q short
time. -..,,: -"
And sure enough We did. Only few
miles away we saw the stnge standing still
on the top of a hll,i as il the driver was
giving his horses q rest after the heavy pull,
There were eighteen passengers, as we
learned. SO that the four animals had ON
unusually heavy load. So wo pushed
steadily up the long incline unit! within a
hundred feet Of tho motion!oss stage, when
my German friend exclaimed:
Great thunder! That's Jesse Janes!"
IEero was ono medium. sized maj sitting
on small Texan pony, with his Winches
ter ,itie cooked and pointed toward the
stage. On the other side WIS another lob
Der, standing close 10 the vehicle with
cooked revolver i'll each hand. whi!o a third
was experimenting the spoliaticn OF the
passengers, WHO were passing over watches,
p"rses and ya>uatles with tho alacrty al
ways displayed on such occasions.
l was SO startled that drew out TO hurry
by when Jesse james called to me with
1riehttul oath to stop where l was and wait
I'LL t.'e plc.i.c WAS over. It i; needless 10
say complied Sid was IN absorbed spec
't;s:or OF the robbery. The pa ssengsrs ioked
end laughed and tr.cd to hi,Io their possess
ions IN all sorts Of places. The james
hoys lndulgat! i'll few coarso oatis, but Of
j.. faloi no violence and were not veIv exact
ing IN their demands. The!' took the gold
watches, diamond rings and suca money as
was passed ont tothsm, but no passenger
WAS entirely cleaned oat.
When they were through it Was nlain to
me they "ero disappointed, and they gall
loped awh7, firing their pistols over their
heads, quickly vanishing in tho mezdn:t
lush. We passed the stage and arrived at
New Hraunfels on hour ahead. There /
donned my usual clothing, compelled my
German Trend to accept gra!uity rad
waited fo1 tho stage.
1t was rare enjoyment TO me- when the
latter drove mp and entered to study the
expression Q! the two III c1I who had shccowed
niu AL The way from St. Louis au,; ,,,;:
doubtless arranged the robbery for the pur-
pose of maxim, sz,re OF the :t|;;tn1outs l
carried With 11o. They never heard, and
unless they como across this SKETCH they
viii! never know how it was that the man
who carried this concentrated wealth and
whor t!ley left i'll il Austin On the lUih Of
May, 1876 stood on the porcl. Of New
Braunfels, on the afternoon Of the same
cry, when lie Stage drove upand jouraeyud
"'A:u tham to fan Antonio. where the prop
cry was safely p::,c liz tho hands OF the
owner asld by him presented to his tlauglltor
that same evening.