The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1882-05-12
i vi SENATOR VEST.
The Missouri Statesman Experience with
the james 1ad Younger Boys.
Minneapolis Tribune.

United Stalts Senator George G. Vsst was
entertaining . little er"ap in Washington,
ohe evening, v ith his rs'm,uisc~ne-s "f his
law practice In Missouri. when TIN. con,ersa-
i,on ,i,ifi-d sronui tnll- James boys. Sonle
one asked The senator if he had ever met tile
han.iii., aud l,- replied thai hr had ouce, aud
under circnms, ancvs cshulsted TO, impress
il,-mselv.s upp,, his menury. Charging his
hearers no, 10 rep-a the story, which i,junc-
tion one If the group, ls,pulsr young con
gresham fiom Missunri,) failed 10 bear In
miud,t iEe senator related his experience
s,me what ~ fo hws.EaT aEats 5@
OLD J,e Shelby, tile confederate general.
who al the rlase of the var did not surrel,
der, but niaicl~i hts men to Mexico and If.
frfrd Ills srfvirrs 10 Msximiiiiar,, Is an old
friend IT miii-, and b. had been urging me
& = long time Ia come down 10 his sple. dni
place in Lafayette c.'riity and spend few
days, hutnin, aud fishing. Il MAS sl,nrtl,, .
few days prhsps, after the Gxd's Hill rob,
o-iy, on the lrpn Mnuntai iailruad, that
completely worn out by rlose attention /"
business W the Spdalix Cours, l determined
to i,in down To he farm aud rest fol few
days. took tn. night train oil the Lexing
ton brailrh of the Missouri Pacific. and got
off NJ the litil- aiion near the Shelby place,
called Page City. II was y beautiful moon
light uighf, ami as the Imuse was only little
over mile distant. l shonid-rrd my double
,arrried sh'a gun, ahi,l, had taken alon-
f"r some sport, aud trudged over the whit.
tai,e leading tu tile Homestead. The old
home vas surrounded by some tall forest
trees, and had just emerged from their
shadow Into the moonlight, twenty steps
f,oln the inin-. when clear, ringing voic,
,ried ont /: :. Hall = and at ,l,+ same instant,
| saw shinnie 10 the mnhIish, y polished
rifle barrel prutruding fom partially -vsissa
sinlow. nnuitiy-ly felt that The IsAa .
he otL-r ehd of The rifle had bead iiswl
III me, and halted. 1 became ! statue. Ny
al"d SEEMED 10 chill. In . moment, l.
seemed hours To me, heard old Joe's volc.
ring out who ar. you?"
..G.g-geo,gr Vest, cnmr dawn 20 see you,'
replied, my lips trembling IN spite of me.
.Wsi, \ minute" Was the reply" - .@a
I waited five minutes. and there was raj .
ling of haIs and chains and the fruit ,,s"i
ot,-ned Cautiously. aud | Was hid.ien TO ls,
iuan ~, gun sad appr'aci,.o | did 50 unit
came close io he dU,r, when Shrlby's
v"ics said: 1T :ssll right. b. Us, will voaci
for him. then entered aud locked a,ut,,
me-. The cozy Ii si,ilig roein had bee,
nnv-rl-d inlo 5fpliress. The Windows
acre baIiirxded securely, xnd ff,ri,itaIe ws>
moved up against the donr, whileOna q tsbi.
i, the ceh,rr II the r'om lay = collection VI
re,olvets and repeating rifles tha, would hs,,
rxcited the admiration of . pirate. Their
were live iiirir I'm the r.iun whom ldid ~"
know. They sat ABOUND and did not ,alk
The gentlemen also wore their small arms
sfThese are some friends Of mine," said Shell
by, and / was not introduced further. i'm
mediately knew the visitors were the James
boys and theth Younger brothers. Shei-
by and ir rdulged in conversation for some
time, which the others showed no disposition
to enter, and at last i was shown to bed,
where I tossed until daylight in troubled
sleep. When came down to breakfast the
curtains were drawn and old Joe 81. in an
easy chair calmly smoking his pipe and play
ing with couple of youngsters. The trav-
cling arsenals Of the night had Departed so
quietly as not to break my light sleep
hours before. Shelby did not refer to the
visitors of the night before, nor did I. ] did
not know, however, whether they would re-
turn that right, so pleaded pressure Of
business and limited my stay to one day
Aud thai is the only time met the Missouri
bandits. That was nearly nine years AT,
hen the gang qtar-rrd themselves ON il,-,,
Z lends In Missouri on the strength Of H..
mr'mrits u the war, still fIrsl, IN iii mind.
"f tlnse v ho lived ON the border.