Smyrna times., 1888-01-18

Every effort to capture Rube Ia,
+ hitherto proven abOrtive; he either outra1
MS pursuers, or threw them off his tract
, ana thus escaped them. Twice he haC
turned upon his pursuers, surprised anC
dispersed them. These feats of artful dar
ing excited no little ambition and deter
mlnatIon among the people, especially il
the breasts Of young bloods, MANY of whom
Ionged to be the boosted captor of tbi,
shrewd bold rObber.
He was usually attended, it seems. by =
greater or less number of followers. ac
cording as the prospective harvest was
great or small. At the time of which we
write there had been quite number OF
horses stolen, besides one or two stores
robbed OF considerable sum of money
AS usual, on the disclosure of such events.
eIeaG eXcltement and confusion prevailed;
anu before TINS cooled down to a rational
oasis, ana party fifty equipped and sent
in pursuit, the bold Rube with his IN
gotten gains, was many miles away. RIM
ming, as he ever did, for the patbless
mountain region, where it was next To
impossible to capture him, because Of the
dlthculty of tracking him fast enough to
| Overtakc him.
AS THIS sagaciOus robber chief had been
so unsuccessfully pursued heretofore. the
Ieadlng men OF the country, forming them
serves INTO what they termed a committee
OF SAFETY, made q selection of eight of the
most resolute and trustworthy Young men
Offering them a considerable reward in
money to keep up the pursuit till thew can
tured or killed Black Rube. and q cold
watch to him who actually did the deed
The party so selected was to be intrustad
TO the leadership Of one Capt. Brudee. n
man who had won great credit as n scout
IN the Union army during the war IT. is
hardly necessary to add that every one SO
selected readily accepted the offer and i'm
medlately reported ready for service. AS
mad served much under Capt. Brudee
anu was Wen known to him, was also
prevailed on TO join this enterprise.
EVery step was taken to insure success.
Uhe party was well mounted, armed and
otherWlse equipped for long and effectual
pursuit; in fact our watchword vvos
BLACK Rube must come But nc AZ
Yankee said when he tackled the skunk
that though he was ''much the biGoest The
advantage was with the skunk by n doocaI
long odds;'' so in this case. victory or
rather the prize, was won by those. and in
way least expected.
10 facilitate the tracking of the thieves
and travelling through a painless country
an indian and Chinaman, both consid-
ered trustworthy and expert woodsmen
were attached to our party. The Indian
however, was only half breed and little
known other than he was a great stroller
and hunter. AS their names were unfo-
mlllar to us, and Outlandish ANYWAY and
as the first named was rather dark tbe
other very yellow, we humorouslv STYLED
them our black and tan pointers. and so
called the one 'Black' and the other
"Tan." p''ieI
These men were dressed in Indian eos !
tune and armed with old and rather
dlapldated guns and hunting knives. So |
tnat II seen by the robbers would not |
llKely be mistrusted, but taken for what |
they seemed TO be, Indian hunters. TINS |
serving IN some sort as spies or decoys.
AT length all fairly in readiness for a |
START we SET out on the pursuit, and, for |
greater secrecy, IN the wee small hours of |
the night. We soon reached the mountain
region where the robbers had entered
mere Ine guards d1smounted and struck
OUT TO hunt the trail; this they soon found
but after following it for a few miles tbev
found the robbers had dispersed WIDELY
over the country, which rendered tracking
them almost impossible Then thew re.
turned and reported their discovery. Cant
Brudee told them then to seek the passes
through which the robbers must naee
where they would likely again find
the trail. This was done; and
this method was followed mn. Int
1t was discouragingly tardy. Our adj
vance was also still further impeded nv
the Jealousy and contention of the puides
They differed and disputed so much as to
the situation of the country. the masses
Instances, proper ways to them. and In,
deed, about almost everything. and the
party depending so much upon them ee-
peelally in trailing, that it began to force
Itself upon our minds that Black Rube,s
capture was very likely to be still further
''-0-
The pursuit dragged on. The guides
had fallen much in the estimation of the
party, and Capt. Brudee threatened Ia
send them back, for he considered that
-hey had retarded rather than accelerated
-he pursuit.
The guides were now out and they had
1eeh gone all day, and their return was
mpatiently awaited. Late in the evening
hey came hurrying in from differenf
points, both with great excitennent de-
;laring that they had been fired upon nv
he robbers. F0-- -
"Cap'n, me shot," said Black. Mounting
o his shoulder, which was very bloody
Shoulder broke, think; me shoot. too.
zill dog thief, think"
Blank your blinkers, Z" angrily retorted
8rudee; ''your business was not to fobt
,ut snow us the enemy And what big
hing have you dOneY' turning To Tan
Me see robbee, too, captee. He shoot.
lpee, hit rockee very close, piece slammed I
ne III face; me shoot plenty ouick. an, !
obDee fall, vely dead" ,
Vely dead, the thunder" retorted I
apt Brudee, derisively. i'You and Z
'lack' mere, are 'vely' big dOnkeys with
ut anything that goes into the makeup I
clever donkeys. Don't you see that I
on have been shooting at each otberp
'ow' gentlemen, / am done with your
srVcesi take up your baggage and re-
urn. Go Immediately, you shall not re-
lain another hour''
AS it was late and beginning To min
Dmc OF the men begged that they might /
sIlaln TIL morning, but the captain was I
) and persisted in driving them /
~ duck went OH with seeming indif- [
renee, lot, though we little dreamed Of ,
! IL was what he wanted; but Tan went ,
4 calling on joss to visit sundrv had 4
lings on us. -
as it was very rainy, for the greater /
DHiort OF ourselves and horses, we took I
our quarters in a small cave that was !
ear, and secured our horses little 7
irther on beneath rocky cliff where we l
'usted, as the night was bad, they would I
OF be molested. !
an, IN the meantime, though very mad. }
~ not think Of leaving us but had only \
one a nttle ways and prepared TO pass '
10 night on a height from whence he had 4
view OF our lodgings. But as the con- {
hued rain rendered his lodging I'M t
leasant, he left it and sought shelter b
mere we had secured our horses v
ere ne lay down to rest but was too
et and mad to sleep, though the soft,
sr.n night was very inducing. He had
y iSln here long before he heard the [
ead as OF number Of men softly APP 4
foachlng. At first he thought it was h
me OF our party coming ont to see about h
ie horses, but heSwas soon undeceived, .
u they approached very near him, and q
ieir leader turned, and SAID In subdued r
me: '-~'-
mere men, are the horses; take them
our quarters, then hasten back, VIC
lusI attack the men; / win remain to
atch till your return. y 4
Nay, Capt. Rube, " protested the men a
ie1 us be satisfied with the horses. leav.
" the men undisturbed y