St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1884-07-26


At first he expressed much surprise, but
when he came to recognize me ne
ceased his railing and protested q will
ingness to go with us where we pleased.
We carried him to Booneton, and while
the officers were taking him into the
tavern [ took good care that his horse
was safely housed in the stable The
fellow gave his name as Mark Sackett,
and swore that he knew nothing of any !
robbers or anything of that kind, and
touching the affair of the horse, he de-
clared that that was something which |
he could not explain. He said that he
saw me when [ was carried into the
woods, and as the horse had left with
him began to revive he had mounted
and followed me. Beyond this we could
get nothing from him.
But had an idea of my own. / be-
lieved that if there was q haunt OF rob-
bers anywhere in the wood, the pris-
oner's horse would take us there, and
when l gave my opinion to the officers,
they jumped at the conclusion. 1t was
now only an hour past noon, and in
less than an hour we had twenty men,
well mounted and well armed, ready to
/ L
saddled and bridled, and took my
seat upon his back, and he behaved
well as he started off. In fact, he
seemed to like the company OF
the other horses, and to be proud Of
leading them. When we reached the
wood | gave him the rein, and he turned
off Just where he had turned with me
before; but he did not dash away this
time as he had done on that former
occasion. Being in the society of steady
horses seemed to sober him down, and
he led the way as Well-disposed pic.
neer should.
On by the very path I had been be-
fore-across the brook where l had
made my leap-and then away through
the dark, deep wood beyond. BY and
by we came to another stream, upon
the opposite side of which arose a high
perpendicular bluff, and it appeared to
/ us that there could not possibly be any
passage that way. But the black horse
! pushed into the stream, and when he
reached the other side he walked down
a few rods in the shallow water, and
then turning to the Fright he entered
narrow pass which had been before In
visible.
A little wav through this curious pas
sage, and we came into deep, circular
basin or hollow, walled in upon all sides
by an almost perpendicular bank, and
here, sitting beneath some small trees,
we found six men They started up
when they saw us, but as our pistols
were quickly out they did not offer re-
sistance. One of them, however, made
; dash toward point in the wall dl-
rectly behind my two companions, but
he was quickly stopped, and as my eyes
followed the course he had taken dis
covered an open place in the face of the
bluff like the mouth of cavern.
need not tell how we overcame the
villains, nor need l transcribe the thous-
and and one wicked things they said.
Suffice it for me to tell that we secured
! them, and that we then examined the
opening in the bank which had dis
covered. 1t proved, as / had suspect
ed. to be the mouth of large cavern,
, within which we found plenty of arms
and ammunition, and also many yalua-
{ bles which had been taken from muir
dered travellers. The whole thing had
! happened very fortunately for us. Had
the robbers been in the cave when we
entered the basin, or had they been in
[ possession of their firearms, we might
, have had some hot work, for they were
7 desperate characters but we fairly
) caught them mapping,
: And one thing more !; I discovered
my two bank robbers in the party.
We returned to Booneton, and after
the rascals had been lodged in ALL the
one whom we had captured upon the
: road, and with whom I had changed
8 horses, turned States evidence, and his
| story was Just about what | had eX-
5 pected. He said that the gang had
been together for several years, operat,
, ating in different parts of the county.
t The horse had been trained by one Of
] their number, who had been an old
circus performer, and had been taught,
when sent away from home without any
! breakfast, to dash off with the victim
! as he had done with me. This was
done to avoid any bloody scene near the
: highway But the victim was not al
ways taken to their cavernous retreat
2 When prize was expected some OF the
! gang stationed themselves along in the
: WOOD between inc Two sGIeahlS' Lof'uJ
; to stop the horse and dispatch the en-
! trapped traveller, but was assured
| that, if had been taken across the frs
3 brook, I should have met my death very
9 quickly afterwards. They had no &C
4 complete at the inn. When traveller
a was spotted either at Clayville o.
: Booneton, one of their number was sen
9 to look out for said travellers horse
! who, by careful management, had littl'
2 difficulty in administering sickeninG
! dose to the animal.
The rascals were tried, condemned
: and executed, and / retained possession
!, Of the trained horse. but did not keel