The Penn's Grove record., 1884-08-02
a Professional Robber.

A professional robber in California
tells the following story in relation to
one Of his many exploits:
II came upon a stage once that had
a woman in ia big boned, red faced
woman. The other inmates showed
tight, and 1t took a shot or two from
my party to keep them quiet. We had
got just about all there was to be had,
and had ordered the driver to go ahead,
when the woman threw herself out of
the vehicle, yelling, I'm one of you.'
No you DON'T says 1. why notP'
says she. Because says l, 4 don't
know you, and maybe you amt what
you seem.' She then went on to tell
me all about herself, and in half an
hour she made me believe that she was
a born robber, who had been wishing
all her life for a chance to go into the
highway business. L rather liked her
style, and in a day or two L had come
to the conclusion that she might be
made useful in overhauling stages.
She and [ were alone on the road one
day, my two partners having fallen be-
hind us a little, when she got to chatting
me about shooting at a mark. She
said she could shoot better than | could.
Just for fun l pinned a piece of paper
on a tree and let her take one of my
pistols. She fired at the mark, but
/ didn't hit ~ Than I Era6 anA 7 mis-
sed. Then l loaded her pistol again,
and handed it to her, and was just
going to load mine, when she says,
Look here She was pointing the
weapon at me. Says I, Don't do that;
it might go off, Il know it, says she,
and maybe l will want it to go off.
Stop loading that pistol, o this one will
go off, and l know it, L thought she
was fooling for a while, but when she
gave me the order to march l knew I'd
been nabbed. That there woman run
me into Frisco, and l did three years
time on her account.
1--we been caughta good many times,
but | never was really ashamed of my
self except the last time. l got into
bad company, and l ought to have been
lynched right on the spot. l had just
got out and had heard a good deal
about the fellows who are stopping
coaches now without any guns or any,
thing of that kind. l found one Of
them, and told him he was a chump.
Then he said it was cowardly to use
firearms when moral suasiOn would do
Just as well. He claimed that he
could put on a look that would brighten
the passengers more than Il dozen rifle
shots. 1 had never thought of it in
that light before, and, not wishing him
to think me a coward, | accepted his
challenge to go up in the mountains
near the Oregon line for an experiment.
We had pistols, but we agreed that we
we're not to load them. l was a little
nervous, but he seemed so confident
that | begun to feel that perhaps stage
robbing had been improved along with
many other things. We stoppeda coach,
and the driver smiled and kept still,
Just as my friend said they always did.
| was to keep HIM covered with my
empty pistol while the other fellow
ordered the passengers out and stood
them up in a row preparatory to going
through them. My friend had got pref
ty well down the line, and l was admit
ting to myself that the sience had
certainly made some process since my
day, when one of the victims hauled
off quick and knocked my partner
down, jumped on him, took his empty
revolver away from him, and began
swapping it at his ears. 1t didn't go off,
of course, but in a minute the others
were on him holding him fast, and the
man with the revolver leyelled 1t at me
with the order throw up your handsl'
| had always been used to loaded pistols
in my day, and, while l was painfully
conscious that mine was empty, | for
got for a moment that the other
was also, and up went my hands. Just
then the idiocy of the thing popped into
my head but 1t was too late. They
were on top of me i'll a minute, and
they soon had US both tied up with
hitching straps and ropes. Now, that
was a nice pickle for a '49er to be in,
Want it-hunting coaches with empty
guns and then being captured with one
of them? l wouldn't have blamed the
nudge much if he'd made it 40 years
instead of 90"
WILLOWS.