The Red Cloud chief., 1889-06-07

committed BY professional cracksmen.
Who left their tools behind but NO clue.
I WAS 1t this time at Bowling Green.
| Kentucky, after . oounterfeiter. ] got
. false clue. which led mo down to
Franklip, and when I started 70 return
I took IN accommodation train. II
was at night and there was but one
coach on the train. and that Contained
only i've passengers beside myself.
Three Of these zero natives. sure
enough, while the other two talked
about . coal mine in Tennessee. and
seemed to own land in that State. !
gave them little attention. being three
seats in the rear. and was talking with
the conductor on general matters.
when the two men suddenly became in
terested in something o Of them held
in his hand. Their heads were tn
gether, and they were evidently deeply
interested. when the report Of q pistol
was heard. followed by = cry Of agony
and . yell of alarm. The object OF
their curiosity was . derringer. and 1t
had accidentally beeL discharged. the
bullet entering the leg of one Of the
men just above tho knee. In his pain
and fright the wounded man sprang
up. and turned Hercely ON the other
with the exclamation:
Curse you, but you did that on
purpose! You wanted all the swag to
yourself"
The conductor and 4 were beside
them in d minute. The wounded man
fell back on the sent. and he evidently
regretted the break he had made q
few seconds before, for he said. as ve
came up:
tom. old fellow. l had my own
finger on the trigger. and pulled it of.
You are not q bit to blame"
but what about the .swag" ! de-
manded. rs I stood over them.
He meant our coal mine" replied
the one called Tom.
''Yes; we r partners In . coal
NINE" added the wounded man.
%. that's it. Well let's see what
can be done for your"
1t was a bad wOund-s0 bad that /
knew his leg would have TO come Oh.
the big bullet had shattered the
bone, and l suggested to the conductor
that he make - fast time as he dared
to Bowling Green, where medical at
tendance could be had. To my sur
prise the men asked to be put OF Mt
some highway crossing. nea . farm
house. saying that . country doctor
could manage the - well enough.
and that the quietness Of the country
would be best for the patient. This
satisfied me that they we're suspicious
and l assumed the author
ity to remove the one and handcuff
him to a seat Mt the rear Of the coach, |
and to search both. The one had a re-
vOlver and the other the derringer.
and before l was through searching l
brought to light all the stolen bonds
and jewelry. 1t was sheer luck again.
Four Of Our men we're out on their
rail. but on false scents. They were
supposed to have gone East. while l
them up in the South. The
fellow who was shot not only lost his
but his life. The other was returned
% Chicago. and he received . long SON.
'ence for his crime. There WAS . great
1eal of newspaper talk about my
but I didn't deserve y
word Of praise. The case simply came
o me. The ripe fruit dropped into my
hands. Things fall that way to q lucky
no matter what business he il en-
gagged in.
One Of the bits Of luck which fell to
ne several years ago. and which was
much talked about At the time, came
Ibout in a very singular way. I had
,een sent down to Augusta. Ark. to
a man who had been arrested
here. and was supposed to be arObber
wanted in Chicago. He did not prove
be the man We hoped he was. and /
vas making ready to return when q
'esident Of the town. who was an old
acquaintance OF mine. put forward
speculation. He had just purchased
! saw mill . few miles down White
liver. and he believed there was big
money to be made in buying . large
ract OF timber contiguous to the mill.
This tract was for sale at . low figure
tut my friend could not raise the cash.
The result Of our talk was that We took
boat next morning and were left at
he mill landing. While he was over
eeing some change Of machinery
started out to get some idea of the
'alue Of the timber. The first thing l
new I was lost in the forest, and I did
nst what all other people do under the
the wrong way.
instead Of going toward the river. 1
rent away from il. It was in July, and
Though the mosquitoes nearly de-
CURED me. there was no danger Of suf-
sring from the inclemency Of the
II
1t was about ten o'clock in the morn
% when I started out. and BY mid-aft-
rnOon l had walked at least ten miles,
nd know that / was entirely bewil- +,
cred. Ioouldn't keep sstraight course