Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1886-08-27
A POLITE ROAD AGENT.

OuiSluC VI tnO lOuSHS WIN Iul6u Tic
new towns of the West up to five years
ago. there was distinctive class of men
by whom it was almost a pleasure to be
'held up" They were, as rule, men of
quiet demcanor, never given to brawls,
seldom seen drunk, and ever ready to
champion the cause of the oppressed. 1t
is doubtful ii one of this class has sur
viv the onward march of civilization,
while as for the other classes-the des-
dis who tmbushed their victims, and
the camp and saloon brawlers-the
Sheriffs have hunted them out and awed
them into good behavior.
Captain Long, an army officer, was
staging it between Julesburg and Chey-
enne before the railroad connected the
two. The through passengers umbered
seven, being five mcl and two ladies, the
latter being the wives of two of the pas
sengers. He was the only military man
abo I'd. The two marr.ed mtn were
Fasteners, who were going to Chey-
enne to set up in mercantile bust
ness. One of the others was an
artist and correspondent for a New York
illustrated paper, and the fl tn was a
stockman. Il was but natural that they
should soon strike up speaking ac-
quaintance, and the natural result OF this
was a general conversation about stage
robbers. These chaps were pretty nu-
merous at that time, and the chances
held up before the end of the Journey.
People who regald themselves in peril
often bee me communicative. The e
had not been travelling half day before
it was known that the two mercantile
men had about $3.50 in grcenbacks
and all but 500 was concealed on the
persons OF their wives. The artist had
$3.50 in the lining of his hat and $50 in
his wallet. The stockman had 500 in
his wallet and his boot-leys ahmed full
of greenbacks. Long had $50 in his
pocket and not dollar elsewhere. The
fact of his being an army oficer will sat
isfy all inquiries as to why he didn't
have more. The next thing was to ex-
pect the stage to be stopped, and to plan
what they woald do. They had all read
and heard of sucn affairs, but no one had
been through the MILL The five men
each Lad trusty revolver, and it was
hardly to be expected that they should
permit thems lives to be robbed by one or
two men. 1t was arranged that in case
the stage was stopped the la lies should
sink down out of harms way and give
the men chance to show their mett,e
AS matter of course they depended on
the driver to help them out as he could
1t was about half an hour before sun
down, and they were skirting the cotton
woods along the north fork of the upper
Platte, when the driver suddenly pulled
up. They looked out to see what ha1
happened, and man opened the right
hand door Of the coach and looked in on
them. He was about thirty years of age,
light hlir, blue eyes, sandy beard, and
regular features. Indeed, he was good
looking man. His dress was half hunter,
half gentleman, and he looked clean and
tasty. He had a cooked revolver in his
right hand, and his left held the door
open.
"One-three-fve he count
ed. "Ladies and gentlemen, am ex-
tremely sorry to put you to any trouble,
but shall have to request you to alight.
That is, the gentlemen will please step
out, while the ladies can remain in the
coach
They had planned how they were to
open fire and riddle the fellow with bull
lets. Here he was and not one of the
men made move. Why2 Well, it
seemed as if those blue eyes kept close
watch of every mans hand The Cap
tain relates that his first thought was to
ip his hand down to his revolver, but
the instant his arm moved the fellow
seemed to cover him, saying;
Gentlemen, / hope l shall not be
obliged to shoot any of you. Please
come out. -
It's no use to say they were q set of
towards, for such was far from being the
case. They were packed in the coach
ike sardines, no one prepared to shoot,
and it takes time to draw revolver and
make ready. 1t is probable that if any
of them had attempted it, there would
have been a tragedy. The Captain was
on the front seat, and he hoped that as
/ he rose up to leave the coach he might
draw his weapon unobserved, but the
agent had been there be ore. The artist
was the first one down, and his revolver
was taken as he reached the ground, and
he was ordered to ''stand over there. y
Each one was disarmel the same way,
and the pistols of all were flung under
/ the coach. While no one could say the
driver stood in with the agent, he GER
tainly acted contemptible part. He
had stopped the coach at a gesture, and
now sat on his seat with face entirely y
free from anxiety He was armed with
two re divers, and he could have easily