The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1885-03-06

was thiss The robbers came infe-tln
dep At ogalalla about an hour bef6rl
train tinllL and bound and gagged< thA
l0peratOrs After they trhim 6xed
they sat aroupd and waited When tho
train drew mp the4 left him, and he Inn.
mediate get himself in position
where IL could use the key . little.
The boys who saw him say it's rnys.
terry how he ever did it. His legs were
tied twice, and his arms were pinioned
behind him, so that it was almost i'm.
possible to move, even the fingers. The
tive letters until / had heard tire mes,
! sage ten or twelve times, shows how
faint the stroke was. It was the queer.
est experience of my life.
A third man said he had seen a good
deal of service on the border, and had
had good many adventures, only one
of which ever impressed him much.
Down at Grenada, on the Santa Fe
Road, when it was first opened, he had
had a circus all one night with a party
| OF robbers. The country was then a
very dangerous one, and the manage
ment. was in continual fear of despera-
does.
II was in the office in the evening"
he said, "getting ready to close up.
when four or five hard men came in.
They didn't say much at first, but
seemed to be looking the ground over.
We were always on the lookout for that
kind of chaps, and as the machine was
ticking l pretended that somebody was
asking me question. / laughed. a lit
| tie, and settling the key, broke in with:
.Everybody-Don't stop the express at
Granada tonight, whether signalled or
not. Robbers here They eyed me
sharply. but said nothing. The
sounder kept up a merry
Click and L leaned back in the
chair. They fooled around for half an
hour, and then one Of them asked me
what time the train was due. Eleven
five, said. We'll, we want it, one of
them replied. / told him that would
signal it. About 1880 got out the red
lantern and lighted it. Just as 1 got it
fixed two Of them jumped up with re-
voivers m their hands and said they
would save me the trouble. While one
of them covered me with q pistol the
others tied me, fiat on my back to
settee. Icouldn't move head or foot.
After they got me there l began to
think what sort of q scrape had got
myself in. The train would come
presently, and 60 flying by, and then
those cut-throats would murder me
Just for the fun of it. / had thought
the thing all over when heard sharp
whistle and a roar, The men ran out
on the platform with masks on and re-
yolvers in hand. One Of them had the
lantern, which he swung vigorously.
In going out on the platform they had
left the door open, SO that l could see
things pretty well. l began to hope
that the train would stop, for I knew
it contained men enough to do up that
crowd If not taken too much by sur
prise. The, roar came nearer and |
nearer, until at last I knew BY the
sound that they were not going to stop.
With the whistle blowing at full blast |
and the dust flying insclOudst she swept |
BY ike. streak of lightning. TWAS all |
up with me, thought. The robbers |
dropped the lantern and began to |
swear. Then I could hear them talk
ing. and pretty soon / made up my
mind that the train had stopped down |
the road way, and that they were !
it. Before long they took to |
their heels, mounted their horses, and |
were gone. When the trainmen came
up to the depot, all armed with Win
chesters, / was the only occupant.
They released me, and / told them
what had happened. Acouple of them
stayed there with me, and the train
went on. II any express ever came
any nearer being rubbed without going
through the mill than that one did, I'd
like to know. it. 3Is.ss -
All agreed that ii was close call,
but the fourth speaker said he had a
better story than any Of them. There
were no robbers III Il. ~ was one Of
the first men who worked key in yir-
ginia City, as you may know. One
night . man came in picked up blank,
wrote on it, and, handing it to me,
asked what the charge, was. 1 read
the message as follows: Killed Tom
Today. VIII kill Jim tomorrow 1t
vas addressed to. somebody in Philadel-
Dhia- 1 collected toll and looked the
message over, but / did not place much
significance upon the wording OF the
and after = while forgot all
lb0ut it. We used to get some awful
queer messages. About one wear later
] nicely-dressed stranger came in, and
handing the Philadelphia copy of that
lispatch. asked me Il it had been sent
rom there, and Il / could tell him
vtHs11nu 4S~.>~ n 1