The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1886-11-13


"My next thoughts were of Mr.. Dick
Hardhead He had heard me say that my
load was all sold out and, of course, he
supposed that had some money with me-
And in this he was right, for | had over
$4,000. / also thought that he meant to
leave the cart when he supposed | had
reached safe place, and then either creep
over and shoot me or knock me down, or
perhaps slip out and ask for ride, or some
thing of that sort All this passed through
my mind by the time 1 had got a rod from
the hole.
'Now never make it point to brag of
myself, but yet have seen a great deal OF
the world and l am pretty cool and clear
headed under difficulty. In very few
moments my resolution was formed. My
horse was now knee deep in the mud, and
l knew could slip off without any noise.
So drew my revolver never travel in
that country without tit is a six-barrel
one and sure fire. drew this, and having
twined the reins about the whipstock |
carefully slipped down into the mud, and
as the cart passed on I went behind it and
exhamined the hasp The door of the cart
lets down and is fastened by hasp which
slips over staple and is then secured by a
paddock. The paddock was gone and the
hasp p4pas-2a2=cd in It's place BY bit of
pine stick, so that slight push from within
could break it. My wheel wrench hung in
a leather bucket on the side of the cart, and
1 quickly took it out and slipped it into the
staple, the iron handle just sliding down.
"Now l had him. My cart was almost
new, with stout frame of white oak, and
made on purpose for hard usage, heavy
loads and service I did not believe that
any ordinary man could break out. l got
on to my cart as noiselessly as l got of,
and then urged my horse on, still keeping
my pistol handy. | knew that at the dis
tance of half mile further l should come
to good hard road, and 1 allowed my horse
TO pick his own way through this mud It
was about ten minutes after this that
heard motion in the cart, followed by
grinding noise, as though some heavy force
were being applied to the door. This con-
tinued some moments and then came heavy
thump, as though the sole of boot were
|
the idea struck me that the villain might
try to judge about where sat, and shoot
up through the top of the cart at me, so I
sat down on the footboard.
"0f course, knew now that my unex-
pected passenger was a villain, for he must
have been awake ever since l started, and
nothing else in the world but absolute vii
lainy would have caused him to remain
quiet so long in this particular place. The
humping and pushing grew louder and
louder, and pretty soon heard human
voice:
" Let me out of this, he cried, and he
yelled pretty loud.
Il lifted my head up, so as to make him
think that was sitting in my usual place,
and then asked him what he was doing in
there
" Let me out and I'll tell ye,' he replied.
Tell me what you're in there for L
said.
4 got in here to sleep on your rags
he answered.
How'd ye get in {? asked
Let me get out or I'll shoot yc through
the head, he yelled.
"Just at that moment my horses feet
struck the hard road, and l knew that the
rest of the route to jackson would be good
going. The distance would be twelve miles.
slipped back upon the footboard and took
| the whip. l had the same horse then I've
got nova tall, stout, powerful bay mare,
and you may believe there's some 60 in her.
At any rate, she struck gate then that even
astonished me. She had had good mess
of oats, the night air was cool, and she felt
like going. In fifteen minutes we cleared
the woods, and away we went at a great
pace, The chap inside kept yelling to be
let out, and threatening to shoot if
didn't let him out. Finally he stopped, and
in few minutes came the reports of a pis-
tol-one, two, three, four, one right after
the other-and l heard the balls whiz over
my head. If l had been on my seat, one
of those balls, if not two of them, must
have gone through me. popped up my
head again and gave a yell, and then a
deep groan, and then 1 said ''Oh, save
me I'm dead MANI Then 1 made
a shuf1ing noise as though l were falling
off, and finally settled down again on the
footboard. now urged up the old mare
by giving her an occasional poke with the
butt of the whip, and she went along faster
than ever,
The man called out to me twice more
pretty soon after this, and as he got no re-
ply he made some tremendous endeavors
to break the door open, and as this failed
him he made several attempts upon
the top. But l had no fears of his doing
anything there, for the top of my cart is
framed in with dovetails and each sleeper
bolted to the posts with an iron bolt.
had it made so that 1 could carry heavy
loads there. By and by, after all else had
failed, the scamp commenced to holler
''whoa" to the horse, and kept it up until
he became hoarse, All this time L kept
perfectly quiet, holding the reins firmly
and poking the beast with the whip.
"She wasn't an hour going that dozen
miles, not bit of it I hadn't much fear,
perhaps I might tell the truth and say that
I had none, for had good pistol, and
more than that, my passenger was safe, yet
I did feel glad when | came to the old
-four barrel factory that stands at the edge
of jackson village, and in ten minutes more
l hauled up in front of the tavern and
found couple of men cleaning down some
stage horses.
"'Well, old fellow, says l, as | got down
and went around to the back of the wagon,
you've had a good ride, haven't YEP
"'Who are you?' he cried, and his
voice trembled little, too, as he asked the
question.
az am the man you tried to shoot 1
told him.
asWhere am II Let me out he yelled.
"'Look here, said l, we've come to
safe stopping place, and mind ye I've got
a revolver ready for ye the moment ye
show yourself. Now lay quiet.
"By this time the two hostlers had come
to see what was the matter, and | explained
it all to them. After this 1 got one of
them to run and find the sheriff, and tell
him what I believed I'd got for him. The
first streaks of daylight were now just
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