Wichita eagle., 1888-09-21

lto cutcT prise, dllu So at SuHTlSe, VI NC
discovered two small squads of horselnen
bearing down or the stage from opposite di-
rections.
There are six of Them" he said, land we
are nine men, with only one woman. Are
we to fight, gentlemen, or shall we sur
renderl'
"Mexicans never surrender" cried one Of
them. ''We will fight to the last drop Of
blood
Eyes, always" answered the other eight.
81 shall be killed. oh, shall be killed."
shrieked the frightened woman
1--WE shall defend you, senora," they de-
clared The horsemen drew near ALI were
masked and armed One party passed the
coach, wheeled and instantly returned.
Meanwhile Yorke sprang from the stage,
which had stopped, and calling to his fellow
passengers to join him, fired his rife at the
nearest of the gang and killed him. He then
began discharging his revolver as they closed
in on hirn, and looking ABOUT for his COM
panions, discovered them all in their seats,
paliid spectators of his reclllessress. In an
other instant pistol ball struck him down.
Evidently the ladrones had only contempt
for the Mexican passengers, for they rode di-
recily forward to the fallen American, whose
body they mercilessly hacked to pieces with
their sabers for warning to all who resist
ed their robberies.
The entire treasure of Wood & Co. was
taken from the person of Yorke and his va
lise; and the passengers, the lady not ex-
cepted, were robbed of every article they
possessed, even to their outer clothing.
When the ladrones left their captain opened
an embroidered jacket, revealing the form OF
a woman, and cried out with sheer, You
are men, Adiosl"
When the stage, returning, entered the
patio of the Hotel Iturbide with the body Of
Mr. Yorke, it was met by Wood, to whom
the lady passenger declared that his partner
had been killed by an Englishman of the
band whose lower face was ruddy, narrow
and thin, ending in little shadowy beard;
that be had reached into the coach and shot
Norke in the back, through the open door
way of the opposite side, as he was firing
rapidly at the gang, and that as he with
drew his head his beard dropped from his
chin and she had secured it.
At 10 o'clock that morning he went to the
English bank with the woman, and presented
{; check for payment. AS the teller laid down
the money he saw the little wad of beard on
the counter, picked it up, and, looking at it
curiouslY, said: What is this!' At the same
moment, Mr.. Wood discovered that his COM
panion trembled violently and was becoming
alarmingly pale, and lost no time in leaving
the bank.
The woman was sure of the identity of the
man. and would listen to no possibility of her
mistake AS for Mr.. Edgar Wood, he was
COMPOUNDED, but he did the customary thing,
and set an English detective on the track of
Mr.. Carlos Watfils, the teller of the English
bank of Mexico.
The next payment went to the line in
charge of a paymaster and mounted guard,
of whom the chief was one of the most sue
cessful ladrones of Mexico; he gave safe con-
duct to the treasure for which he was well
paid.
Two months passed. No outward sign in
dicated any depravity on the part of Mr..
Watfls. He lived modestly, and seemed
retiring, rather studious man. His sole dissi-
patton was his horseback ride each morning
and night.
The time had come for another payment to
the men Of the contractor, and again Wood
determined to go in person with the money,
and by stage. This time he selected a day
when a fair complement of Mexican men,
L
Cruz, would travel and went accompanied
also by two Americans, armed with rifles and
revOlvers.
The English detective, with companion,
both well armed. rode out in the same drec-
ton n half hour after the stage left. The
road had not been so infested of late but the
Americans understood the danger to which
they were exposed in the transportation of
4, I,oi,
inglv. Mr.. Wood and one companion occi1-
pied the front seas OF the coach, locking to
the rear; the third man OF the party sat with
the driver, being a crack shot with Win
chester ride
When they stopped for coffee, at S o'clock,
no one had appeared to modest the stage, or
create suspicion. As they left the little inn
the detective appeared in sight, but the stage
made no delay and the party were again on
their way.
Suddenly the inside passengers detected the
effort Of the driver to stop his cumbrous
team, and heard the voice of the American
by his side shout to him, IF you stop, I'll kill
you; drive on and drive hard Then rifle
shot. and another shout as he passed down
his rifle and called for fresh one, which be
received at once.
Mr.. Wood and his companions, looking
from the coach, saw they were pursued by
eight horsemen, who were not now within 200
wards at the rear. Leaning from the coach
window he cried out to the driver, "If those
fellows catch Us YOU are a dead mani" The
threat told wonderfully on the speed of the
team.
Meanwhile the band approached, and the
three Americans fired together throwing the
ladroneS into confusion and forcing a halt;
but they rallied at once, and six horsemen of
the eight were drawing near when the
drivers companion by another shot brought
q man TO the ground. At this moment the
detective and his guard appeared III the rear
Of the band, and Mr. Wood ordered the
driver to slow down The robbers discov-
cred the trick, for, turning, they saw the
reinforcement il their rear, and lost no time
leaving the road and making off across the
valley toward the mountains.
The stage met no further adventure and
Mr.. Wood was able TO return TO Mexico in a
week. The afternoon of his arrival he ac-
cO,npanied the English Bank manager and
the detective to The hospital at Guadalupe,
and found there, to the surprise of the man
ager. the teller, Mr.. Carlos WatfilS, suffering
from a shattered leg.
If Watlils were tried in Mexico, it is by no
means certain that conviction could be
secured under those laws. 1t was, indeed, a
chance if the Americans might not be made
to suffer for killing men VINO had not attacked
them In this view of the case, Mr.. Watfils
was sent across the water with the English
officer, and having been convicted in London
of the crime OF counterfeiting, was sentenced
10 twenty years penal servitude.-The Ar
gonaut.