The Opelousas courier., 1886-08-14
THE BENDERS.
A rEDpLER's .ADvENruRE m KANsA,

A PEDDLER2S ADVENTURE IN KANSAS.
81 have been a pack peddler for more
than twenty years." said tie old man, as
he whitfield away at his pipe to get it
alight, etand you may suppose Ihaye met
with some stirring adventures. l have
travelled a great deal in Missouri, Kan
sas, Nebraska, and Minnesota, and for
weeks aud months / have been on the
alert, not only to preserve the contents
Of my pack, but to defend my life. MY
line Of trade has been Yankee notions,
with jewelry added. have had with
nfe9 at one time as much as So, 900 worth
of gold and silver watches, ear rings,
finger rings, &c. have sat on a log
beside a highway in Kansas and sold
$500 worth of stock to three or four
men, and I have disposed of $50 worth
of ladies' jewelry at a pioneer cabin
which had neither floors nor partitions.
sfOn two different occasions I ate din
ner at the cabin of old Bender, the Kan
sas fend. On the first occasion the old
man was away, and | saw only two wo-
men about the place. six months later,
when / called again, it was about II
o'clock in the forenoon. Then Isaw old
Bender for the first time. have heard
him described as a pleasant-faced old
man whom no one would suspect, but I
tell You the very first look at him put
me on my guard. For the first time in a
year I felt that my life was in danger.
The same two slatternly women were
about the house, and there Was a young
man whom / took to be old Bender's
son. This young man disappeared soon
after ] arrived, but whether he hid in
the house or rode off across the prairie I
never knew. Bender's women purchased
about So worth of notions, and the old
man dickered with me for an hour over
a gold watch. It seems he had but q
small stock Of cash, but he offered me
personal property in exchange. He had
three or four silver watches, all of which
had been carried, two or three revolvers,
two bosom pins, made of humps of pure
gold, and three or four pairs of valuable
cuff buttons. We had nearly effected
an exchange when he suddenly decided
TO leave the matter open until after din
ner.
Months a~fterward, when the discoV-
cries of his crimes came OUT, ! thought
the matter over, and could remember
just how nicely he played me. Without
seeming to interrogate me for informa-
ton, he asked how long q trip I had
made, what success ! had met with, who
/ was, whereI lived, and whom 7 knew
III that locality. The old murderer was
figuring up the chances Of my beng
missed in case be put an end to me, and
he had d curiosity to know beforehand
what the harvest would be. While I
told you that / did not like his looks,
and that ! had q creeping feeling in his
presence, I had no idea Of an attempt to
murder by daylight and in the amer
he was planning for. had i trusty re-
volver and had the courage to defend
myself. Had Imet him out on the
prairie, or had we been Jogging together
along sone lonely highway, I should
have been prepared to pull mr. pistol at
his first movement.
Dinner was announced 0 d after 10
o'clock. took my pack with me into
the dining room, where I found the ta-
Bic set for one. There were three rooms
ii tie house. The front room was a
general sitting room and Office COM
bined. Bender kept d sort Of tavern,
YOU know, and travellers had this front
room. The next room back was the dim
ing room and family room combined.
There was 3 bedroom leading of. On
the walls Of this family room were q few
oldfashioned prints In o~ld-fashioned
frames, q shelf on which stood d clock,
and d few scant evidences Of Wonen's
presence. The back room was The
kitchen.
aIIaad nv eyes wide open when I en-
tered that dining room, and tie very
arst thing ] noticed vas that the table
va set lengthwise IF the DON and that
~ ehai ana plate had been u placed
that BY back would be toward the
Kitchen door, which Wa not over iive "
six feet way. Had i been u The other
sud lily back would hare been toward
khe ofice door. The 6rst move I made
was totlarn the chair aroana 10 The side
and ait down. 4 now faced tho bedroom
door aid had the other doors 10 my
haak and lea Whars there was no vim
Ssasw behind Dse HE Vca8aae. w3lxExn