The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-08-03
THE BENDERS,
A PEDDLER'S ADVENTURE IN KANSAS

81 a been a pack pcddlcr for more
than twenty years." said the old man, rs
he whitfield away at his pipe to get it
alight, land you may suppose 1 have met
with some stirring adventures. l havo
travelled a great deal in Missouri, Kan
sas, Nebraska, and Minnesota, and for
weeks and months I 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 jcwclry added. 1 have had with
me at one time rs much as So, 600 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.
"On w different occasions 1 ate din
ncr at the cabin of old Bender, the Kan
sas ficnd. On the first occasion the old
man was away, and I saw only two wo-
men about the place. Six months later,
when I called again, it was about II
o'clock in the forenoon. Then saw old
Bender for the first time. I have heard
him described as a plcasant-faced old
man whom no one would suspect, but 1
tell you the very first look at him put
ne 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 n young
man whom I took to be old Bendor's
son. This young man disappeared soon
after I arrived, but whether he hid in
the house or rode off across the prairie I
never knew. Bender's purchased
about 81 worth of notions, and the old
man dickered with me for an hour over
a gold watch. It seems he had but a
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 rcvolvcrs,
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 din
ner.
months afterward, when the discov-
cries of his crimes came out, I 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 a trip I had
made, what success I had met with, who
I was, where I lived, and whom I knew
in that locality, The old murderer was
figuring up the chances of my being
missed in case he put an end to me, and
he had a curiosity to know beforehand
what the harvest would be. While 1
told you that I 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 manner
he was planning for. Ihad a trusty re-
volver and I had the courage to defend
myself. Had 1 met him out on the
prairie, or had we been jogging together
along some lonely highway, I should
have been prepared to pull my pistol at
his first movement.
"Dinner was announced soon after 10
o'clock. took my pack with me into
the dining room, where I found the Ia
BILE set for one. There were three rooms
in the house. The front room was a
general sitting Vol and Office COM
bined. Bender kept a sort of tavern,
you know, and travellers had this front
room. The next room back was the din
ing room and family room combined.
There was a bedroom leading off. On
the walls of this family room were a few
ol~d-fashioned prints in old-fashioned
frames, q shelf on which stood a clock,
and a few scant evidences of women's
presence. The back room was the
kitchen.
Ihad my eyes wide open when I en-