News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1888-02-23
"Ah, senior, now you fatter me; ac-

exchange. Your trousers, too, will fit
me nicely, and your boots, even little
large, will be better than these. Have
the goodness to be seated on my old
coat, and we will assist you in removing
them; we are experienced valetss
To have observed the face of Mr.. Ed
| gar Wood now. yctt would have thought
he was engaged in frolic. He used to
say, in telling this story, that he felt all
through the performance as if he were
being joked by friend.
''And now," continued the ladrOne,
''we will trouble you, Senior Wood, to
pass out your valise, if you will be SO
obligiug,"
Mr., Wood hesitated for the first time,
and looked around, but there was no
mercy; the muzzles of three pieces
| looked into his eyes, while he replied:
every well, gentlemen, if you insist.
He handed out the heavy valise, which
was taken aside by the Mexicans, while
the English-looking thief kept guard at
the stage door. When the precious
cargo was removed to a short distance
from its owner, the sentinel muttered to
him in English: ''If you give me 81, 900,
unseen, from your belt, you can have
the rest; otherwise, I'll fix every dollar
you've got"
Mr.. Wood felt sure he had somewhere
seen the face, of which the mouth and
chin were exposed, but if he suspected
the truth, he kept it to himself, and
quietly handed over the money to the
man.
In q few minutes the nearly empty
valise was returned, and the party bade
the traveller adieu, and wished him O
safe Journey. In his disagreeable fix he
could only ride till he met the return
stage and go with it to the capital, I'M
der the shelter of a shawl lent him by
sympathetic lady among the passengers,
with whom, at noon; he entered the
patio, from which he had SO exultingly
sailed in the early morning. The idle
pOpulace, as usu1l, rushed in with the
stage, and witnessed the discontinue of
the American, as he darted across the
pavement to the nearest entrance of the
hotel and made his way to his room.
When Mr.. Wood emerged therefrom,
he made his way to the English bank, to
deposit the papers saved in his belt, and
there encountered the second surprise of
the day. The teller who received and
credited him with the amount was the
counterpart of the English robber of the
morning; but he had no beard, nor
could Wood recall that he had ever seen
him adorned with that symptom of
manhood. It was impossible that he
should be ladrone-his position in the
bank, his easy, self-possessed manner,
not hrazen. but natural and innocent.
No, it was d mistake.
The next day, there being several
a1,nY fC 10 ctn fA
Cruz, Mr.. Henry Yorke, of Wood & Co.,
ing stage. He went well armed, and
had the name of being fighting man.
But as yet no crowd of Mexican passen-
from its enterprise, and so, at sunrise,
YOrke discovered two small squads of
horsemen bearing down on the stage
from opposite directions.
There are six of them," he said,
"and we are nine men, with only one
woman. Are we to fight, gentlemen, or
shall we surrender
"Mexicans never surrender cried
one of them. "'We will fight to the last
drop of blood"
Eyes, always" answered the other
eight.
~ shall be killed; oh, I shall be
killed." shrieked the frightened wo-
man.
1--WE shall defend you, senora," they
declared. The horsemen drew near.
All were masked and armed. One party
passed the coach, wheeled, and instant
ly returned. Meanwhile YOrke sprang
from the stage, which had stopped, and,
calling to his fellow passengers to join
l. l., ~ I,o Of l,n
gang and killed him. He then began
discharging his revolver as they closed
in on him, and looking about for his
companions, discovered them all in their
seats, pallid spectators of his reckless
ness. In another instant pistol ball
struck him down.
Evidently the ladrone had only con-
tempt for the Mexican passengers, for
they rode directly forward to the fallen
American, whose body they mercilessly
hacked to pieces with their sabers, for
warning to all who resisted their rob
berries.
The entire treasure of Wood & Co. was
taken from the person of Yorke and his
valise; and the passengers, the lady not
excepted, were robbed of every article
they possessed, even to their outer cloth
ing. When the ladrones left, their cap
tain opened an embroidered jacket, re-
vealing the form of woman, and cried
out with a sneer; "You are men.
Adiosl"
When the stage, returning, entered
the patio of the Hotel Iturbide with the
body OF Mr.. Yorkc, 1t was met by Mr..
Wood, to whom the lady declared that
his partner had been killed by an Eng
lishman of the band, whose lower face
was ruCdy and thin, ending in a little
shadowy beard; that he had reached into
the coach and shot Yorke<ins the back,
through the open doorway of sthe oppo-
site side, rs he was firing rapidly at the
gang, and that as he withdrew his beard
dropped from his chin aaaaahe had Sc
cured it.
At 10 o'clock that morning he went to
the English bank with the woman and
presented q check for payment. AS the
teller laid down the money he saw the
little wad of beard on tlINs counter,
picked it up, and, looking att curious
Iy, said: "What is this!" At the same
moment Mr.. Wood discovered that his
companion trembled violently and was
becoming alarmin8ly pale, and lost no
time in leaving the bank.
The woman was sure of the identity
of the man, and would listen to no pos
sibility of her mistake. As for Mr.. Ed
gar Wood, he was confounded, but did
the customary thing, and set an English
detective upon the track of Mr.. Carlos
Watfils, the teller of the English Bank
of Mexico.
The next payment went to the line IN
charge of n paymaster and a mounted
guard, of whom the chief was one OF
the most successful ladronos of Mexico;
he gave safe conduct to the treasure, for
which he was we'll paid.
Two months passed. No outward
sign indicated any depravity on the part
of Mr.. Watfils. He lived modestly, and
seemed a retiring, rather studious man.
His sole dissipation was his horseback
ride each morning and night.
The time had come for another pay
mcnt to the men of the contractor, and
again Wood determined to go in person
with the money, and by stage. Ihls
time he selected day when a fair COM
plement of Mexican men, having com
mercial relations with Vera Cruz, would
travel, and went accompanied also by
two Americans, armed with rifles and
revolvers.
The English detective, with com
paniOn, both we'll armed, rode out in the
same direction half hour after the stage
left. The road had not been 50 infested
of late, but the Americans understood