Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1888-10-11

NsAseA anu tct tuc DoN spring D1Gk.
This bow was arranged at height OF
i've feet from the door, and. after .
few experiments, I was satisfied that
IL would work ell right. From the
end Of the bow. a. il was bent back.
rslna string over the hen-house and pig
pen IN my chamber window. two hun
dred feet away. there fastened II 10
bell. and a ring Of the bell would mean
that the how had been sprung. The
hired man slept near by. and both OF
ne had firearms. My father. who
drove home each night. was quite taken
with the invention. and was to turn
out with Us at the alarm
Four nights passed without AN alarm.
On the fifth night il was dark and
rainy and felt 80 sure that some BODY
would come tina, did not und rs-s
Neither did the hired mar. We sat
rr1ding. when. at "a quarter 70 twelve.
tie b..ll suddenly rang and lifted us
Oh oar chairs, We seized our guns.
raa down and awoke father. lighted
the lantern. and in four or five min
u.f@ tsg three Of VI were nj the barn
] - stable door was wide open. and
GA the ground outside was the body
oi IMAM. lie had picked the locks
and entered. and he had struck the
Cnrl and sprung the sweep. II had
| esr-ht hi- throat. and h was a. dead
a "a herring. He was man Of about
/ = Las1
sixty dollars In his wallet From let-
tcr- found on him there was ho doubt
That he was one of the agents of an or
ganized gang. indeed. there We're two
Of them. The other -at in a buggy in
the read. and NJ W. came ont he drove
of. No one could identify the dead
waa, and. after an inquest. he was
I hrr'.-tl in a corner OF the village grave
yari.
4. The papers had good deal to say
aigut the adventure. and Of course
I gave. away my intention. The next
man who came would b.. informed. and
would take care To avoid H. must.
Therefore. have recourse to something
- 4,.. ] sent of to IT. Louis for a bear
trap. and ~ soon a. it arrived We
planted il in front Of the stable door.
y was a monster trap. intended to hold
any thing which got its foot between
thu Jaws, and we had to use levers to
h''Ir down the springs. Not one OF our
neishbor- nor one of the day workers
on tn, farm knew Of the arrival Of this
trap. but all knew that the hickory
I spring had been done away with in the
stable. We intended To believe tha.
the one lesson would keep the fellows
away for months To come. One day.
/ the horse-thief. man who had come
aloag aud hired Ia Us to dig n ditch To
drain pond made an excuse To visit
the horse barn. | was asleep nj the
time; bat the hired man reported that
/ hi actions were suspicious. He proba-
bly, wanted to see If any further pitt
falls had been prepared. and be was
doubtless gratified when he found the
way To the gay horses clear of danger.
One Of the jaws Of the trap when set
was toward ,le house fastened the
bell string 10 this. and whenever the
Jaws sprang the bell would sound an
alarm a. before The ditch digger
| slept in room on the other side OF the
house and we did not set the trap until
he was in bed On the third day after
his inspection OF the stables. he an
nouneed that he must go Ia the village in
the evening To make some purchases.
We set the trap ut nine o'clock and al
half-past ten the bell rang. We wer,
waiting for it and we were out in tive
or three minutes. The bear trap had
it, victim. and the victim was or
ditch digger. OF all the bowling
yelling. cursing ana praying you ever
heard mixed together this fellow
utterances took the cake. He wa.
caught by the right leg. and such wa,
the pain that he. was almost crazy. III,
had unlocked one of the big paddock.
on the door. ant had bunch of abou
fifty keys with Linn. The sudden sur
prise and the pain broke him in two
and even before we got him out Of tn,
/ trap he eonfesssri that he came to WORK
| for u with the sole idea of stealing tn,
/ gray horses. lie was sent to Jail. an,
I when his trial came on he went I,
! prison for three years. That was no
3 his full punishment, however. Hi
, leg was So injured in the trap that /
D had to be amputated to save his life.
t The papers gave nv bear-trap away
) "a a matter Of course. and must nov
3 look for some other defense Tn,
4 thieves would hereafter keep clear q
| the stable door. October had now
e come. and the long nights were the
I glory Of the horse-thief. There wa,
2 an underground stable to the hors,
e barn. and the doors of this were never
{ locked. a. We were not afraid o
2 our COWS being taken The only door,
. To the barn proper were a pair of bi.
/. doors and the stable door. Tn. biz
a doors were so we'll fastened on the in
side that no one could open them. Al
4 attempts had been made by the small
/ door. ] now figured that the mex
= concr would enter the stable below
, aut ascend Ia the horses abov.
: through one of the hay-boxes running
t down for the COWS. There was on,
empty stall. and this happened to con
; tain the largest aperture above. One,
; upstairs. the thief could lead tn,
2 horses from the stable to the mali
r hoOr. and then out OF the big doors
: One ascending by the hay-box woul,
] mas under a bauu. ont ~, H. -.