The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1883-06-08
CONCLUDED FROM MONDAY
A Munster Story.

yards of him, with look at his gun he
turned and fed. He was a very Hercules
in figure and strength. / do not think there
was point in which was physically his
match except heetness of foot; and to this he
trusted, If he clniclsed me he conld strap-
gle me; but running away as he was, he
Avonld find it difficult to escape me. He
commenced his RIM at great speed, and,
when we had gone about mile, was evil
IDENTITY alarmed to find that was gaining on
him gradually. He put on more speed; but
when he looked again, there | was, pistol
in hand, and still holding him within
short distance. He now relaxed his speed,
allowing me to get closer TO him, and, sud
denly wheeling round, he fell on one knee
and leveed his gun at me. | raised my pis-
toll, but before could fire down came his
hammer on the nipple. The cap flashed,
but no shot came. Springing to his feet, he
flung the gun from him with an oath. Away
he went again, and, being relieved from the
weight of the gun and nerved probably by
the fact that he was running for dear life |
soon found that he was slipping away from
me. Was all my eXertion TO go for naught?
Now that had my hand on his shoulder, was
he to elude me like shadow? l threw off
my coat and vest as | ran, undid my tie and
parted with that also, and the feeling of
GOODNESS and freedom that followed made
me almost as fresh as when / started. 1t
was now question of running between us.
Each bent with logged determination to do
his work. Do what could, | felt that |
was not able to lessen the distance between
us by an inch. Suddenly he bent FROM his
course to the right. There was fence be-
fore him about four feet in height. Over
it he went at bound. What was bis oh
ject now? 1t lay there before me, at the end
of the neat field. 1t was house we'll sur
rounded by trees aud hedgerows. He must
certainly mean to throw me off his track
here. ! strained every nerve to close with
him; but be held his own, and clearing
wall before us, disappeared from my sight.
rushed up, cleared the wall, and found
myself to the shoulder in field of wheat.
There was no trace Of him looked on
all sides and listened, but colld hear moth
ing save my own rapid breathing. Thera
was fence to my right, and got on top of
1t. At the other side was garden about
half an acre in extent.
How l longed for the speedy arrival of my
menl After all my exertion was now re-
duced almost to impotenee-the only thing
left for me to do being to watch, so that this
man could not leave any place within my
view without my seeing him.
There was a woman gathering vegetables
In the garden. She worked as if nothing
had attracted her attention. She moved
along quietly, plueking away, with her head
bent as she approached the spot where
stood. was startled to hear her say in a
kissing voice, but with every syllable clearly
cut:
sDon't look at me, but attend well to
what say. He is under the stand support
ing the beehives at the other end of the gar
den.''
Had an angel come and spoken l could not
have been more astounded. The thought of
ael-inO old from fhic MO, had nf an
my mind After speaking she continued
moving about and away, picking up here and
there such things as best suited her.
Presently my men came up bringing their
prisoner in triumph, but they were some
what disappointed when told them they
had drawn blank. He turned out to be a
laboring man on a poaching expedition. One
of my men posted where / stood, with in.
structions to watch carefully around. The
others took with me into the garden, hav-
ing regulated the search so that the hives
should be in my own line.
passed down at a little distance from
them, and a glance showed me that the wo-
man spoke the truth. l would capture him
and single-handed-at all risks. His head
was toward me as passed down: returning,
his feet were toward me; and, with plunge,
l sent stand, beehives and bees crashing
tumbing and buzzing all around, and seized
him by the throat. We tugged and strained
for the mastery, the bees swarming about,
and, with the utmost impartiality and fury,
singing us all over. l called TO him to sur
render and eveled my pistol at him. With
the strength OF giant he wrenched it from
me and flung himself over me. My hands
were free. and before he could avail himself
fully of the advantage he had gained hit
him from the shoulder straight on the
throat. His grasp relaxed. We closed again,
and in the tussle the pistol went off, the bull
let hitting me on the lobe Of the ear. The
whole force now rushed up, and my prisoner
was made harmless by the effective appica
ton of pair of handouts. Before the peo-
pie in the locality left their homes for mass
on that Sunday morning l had him safely
lodged within the walls of the county Jail.
''How can l thank you for such an enter
tanning narrative?' I said. "You deserved
all the success you had. But that gun of
his; why, if that had not missed fire, his
capture might have been left for some one
else to effect"
sob, l am glad you mentioned that" he
said. II was certainly fortunate there.
When the gun was examined it was found
that in his haste and fright he had put in
the shot before the powder. The shot was
very large, and, had the gun been properly
loaded, a pellet or two under my vest would
have reduced my chances greatly"
''During this time" inquired, "what
was being done about the second brother?''
''Nothing, except that close watch was
kept ON all the outlets from the district.
was allowed to operate without let or him
drance. II was By me also the second man
was captured, though the information by
which he was tracked down came through
another constable
Perhaps you would kindly continue the
account of these remarkakaDe occurrences.
Passing as we are over the ground OH which
they happened, they have for me now an al
most fascinating interest"
''Well,' resumed my companion, II shall
continue, though Unjust mention things which
even at this distance Of time, continue to
cause me intense pain. During the week af-
ter the arrest of the elder Condor, some in
formation received through another consta-
bic was placed in my hands, with directions
that | should use it In the endeaYor to Sc
cure the younger brother.
ION the Monday morning week after the
first arrest, just before the dawn, might be
seen with my four assistants, surveying a
field of wheat ripe for the sickle. The cut
ting down of the corn had commenced on
the Saturday evening previous. A long
straight strip, from fence to fence, bad been
cut down, and calculated that eight men
we're engaged in cutting this much Our in
formation was that young Condor was en-
gagged in this work. | assigned each Of my
men his station, and, having measured off
the space where the last Of the eight reapers
should fall in, laid myself down in fur
row some yards further into the field.
VERY soon after daybreak we could hear
the reapers coming along, whistIing, singing.
and joking. With their hooks over their
shoulders they entered the field. / saw
there were only seven of them. Without
delay they commenced to work, one falling
In after the other, until the seventh man
was in his place; then the leader stopped,
ane they all stood up. Just at this critical
moment scraggy looking cur dog they had
with them came shifting and smelling around
me. l was in an agony, lest the beast
would bark, but lay so still that he passed
on. The leading man made a few remarks
In Irish, which did not catch. Then there
was silence, and they surveyed the country
all round. A kind Of conference succeeded.
In which each conveyed his impressions by a
single word an interjection, or nod. At
length the leader intimated that there was
no danger. One of the men gave peculiar
whistle, and, within the space of two min
utes, there bounded on the fence near me
the younger Condor. Without delay the
work commenced again, Condor falling into
theeighth place. When he had passed me
little drew up on my knees, moved across
ridge, and with spring alighted on bis
back, my arms around his neck. The rush
almost sent him on his face. but with a