Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1886-06-23
THE BENDERS.
A Peddler TIE Is the Story OF His Expert
ance with the Fiends-A Narrow Escape.

FROM Cne New 1OrK Gun.
81 have been pack-peddler for more
as he whitfield at his pipeto get it alight,
"and you may. suppose l have met
with some stirring adventures. Ihave
travelled g great deal in Missouri, Kan
sas, Nebraska, and Minnesota, and
for weeks and months | have been on
the alert, not only to preserve the con-
tents of my pack, but to defend my
life.
Only line of trade has been Yankee
notions, with jewelry added. | have
had with me at one time as much as
$4,000 worth of gold and silver
watches, earrings, fdger-rings, etc. |
have sat On g. log beside q highwayman
in Kansas, and sold $500 worth of
stock to three or four men, and have
disposed of $50 worth of ladies jewel
ry at pioneer cabin which had Meth
er floors nor partitions. On two diff
ferent occasions ate dinner st the
cabin of old Bender, the Kansas fend.
On the first occasion the old man was
away, and I saw only two women
about the place. Six months later,
when | called again, it was about IL
O'Clock in the forenoon. Then | saw
old Bender for the first time. | have
heard him described as g. pleasant
faced old man whom no one would
suspect, but | tell you the very first
look at him put me on my guard. For
the first time in year | felt that my
life was in danger. The same two
slatternly women were about the
house, and there was q 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 across the prairie
never knew. Bender's women pur-
chased about So worth of notions,
and the old man dickered with me for
an hour over gold watch. 1t seems
he had but q small stock of cash, but
he offered me personal property IN ex-
change. He had three or four silver
watches, all of which had been carried,
two or three revolvers, two bosom
pins made of Jumps 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
dinner.
months afterward, when the discov-
cry OF his crimes came out, thought
the matter over, and could remember
how nicely he had played me. With
out seeming to interrogate me for in
formation, he asked how long trip [
had made, what success | had met
with, who | was, where | lived, and
whom I knew in the locality. The old
murderer was figuring up the chances
OF my being missed in case he put en-
end to me. And be had a. curiosity to
know beforehand what the harvest
would be. While told you that I
did not like his looks, and that I had
q creepy feeling in his presence, [ had
no idea OF an attempt to murder by
daylight and in the manner he was
planning for. | had a trusty revolver,
and [ had the courage to defend my
self. Had | met him out on the prai-
RE, or had we been jogging along to-
gether on some lonely highway, I
should have been prepared TO pull my
pistol at his first movement.
Dinner was announced soon after
II o'clock. | took my pack with me
into the dining-room, where [ found
the table set for one. There were three
rooms in the house. The front-room
was a general sitting-room and Office
combined. Bender kept sort of
tavern, you know and travellers had
this front room. The nextroom back
was the dining-room and family room
combined. There was bedroom
leading off. On the walls of this fami-
ly room were a few old-fashioned
prints in old-fashioned frames, a. shelf
on which stood 8 clock, and a few
scant evidences of women's presence
The Darkroom was the kitchen. had
my eyes wide open when entered that
dining room, and the very first thing [
noticed was that the table was set
lengthwise of the room and that nv
chair and plate had been so placed
that my back would be toward the
kitchen door, which was not over five
or SIX feet away. Had it been at the
other end my back would have been
toward the office door. The first move
made was to turn the chair around
to the side and sit down. now faced
the bedroom door and had the other
doors to my right and left, while there
was no window behind me. The
younger woman was in the room, and
she looked at me In q queer, strange
way as | upset the arrangements she
had perfected. Bender did not look
into the room for two or three minutes,
and then retired without speaking
A minute later he passed around the
house and entered the kitchen by the
back door. While could not see him,
heard him and the woman whisper
ing together, and caught the words
as spoken by her: Il tell you he did it
himself
II could not catch word from him,
and directly he went ont and shAc9r1e
in with the rest of the eatables. Her
face was flushed and her manner very
nervous. She put on q plate of bread
and a platter of meat, and then went
out for the coffee. As she set the cup
and saucer on the board she partly
upset the cup and spilled half the con-
tents On the table. Excuse me, I'm
sorry she said, as l showed back to
keep the hot liquid from dripping on
my legs. Never mind, no harm DONE
7 rnyolia1 GO oorQlQCG 0f ms