Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1889-03-13
4 DESPERATE OUTLAW.
His Pursuit and Capture by a Merry,
Gooi-Gica,led Detective.

/ Gook-IcAueu lSetectINo.
A Canadian officer al Calgary, n W T.,
tells a New York Post correspondent this
story of an adventure with Il desperate
Whislly-tradcr: "I have had some close
calls with whisky-traders in my time, and
still, he added, mcditatively, = never had
TO shoot one yet" After a moments
pause he continued:. "O'ie of the most dcs-
perate mon | ever arrested for having
whisky in his possession was Blank. 1t was
in the fall Of 1856, lie had IA four-in-hand
load Of Whisky, gin and Brandy that he was
running across, and he and his partner
were bosh ridlng in the wagon, Blank hay
| ing no saddlc-horse. This cargo was all he
possessed in the world, and he knew that if
he was caught he could hot pay fine of
S4o0, for this was his second offense, and, of
course, his four horses, wagon and liquor
would be contiseated. When | first caught
sight OF them they were nbout three miles
off, and at once rode towards them to see.
who they were, AS soon as they saw that
fWas after them they whipped their horses
up to gs;llop, but INV horse was fresh and
fast rlnhec, and before they had scEe fag
1t was plain to see that | was gaining fast
! on them. AS soon as Blank saw this he
stopped, cut off the leaders, and mounting
, one Of them, galloped of but by this time
was within half II mile OF the wagon.
when | rode up alongside | saw at
glance that it contained whisky, and also
that the man who remained with it was not
its owner l dismounted and made him my
prisoner, teillug,him TO remain there with
the wagon. until l returned. Look here,
stranger said he, don t follow that man,
he won't be taken alive. He IS armed with.
a Winchester and a Colts revolver, and to
prove to you that he won't be taken olive,
l Il tell you Who 1t is. It's Blank. .4H
"'rhat's the very man 1 want said [. l
jumped on my horse and put the spurs to
him and rode after Blank. ] caught up to
him about half u aeuc further on in eoulee,
Where he had dislnounted and was trying to
hide. | gallopcd up to him so fast, and
pulled up so quiet, that, in stepping back to
avoid my horse, he ciiight hls heel on the
ground and fell. Before he could regain
his feet I had disnounted aud covered him
with my revolver. He sprang to his feet
and tried to draw his. laid my hand on
his shoulder, telling him that he was my
prisoner, at the same time holding my re-
Volver close to his head By this time he
had his partly drawn, and, seeing this, 1
pressed the trigger until the hammer of
my self-ceckcr was as far back as it could
go without Swapping. He told me to shoot.
and be cursed, and at the same time sprang
forward, so that the barrel of nly pistol
caught him on tho temple, tearing a deep
cash back into his scalp about six inches
long. This partly stunned him, but in two
or three seconds he recovered.
His revolver was a Colts IS single
action, and therefore it required to be
cooked before it could be fired. BY this
time it was drawn, and he attempted to cock
it, caught hold of the hand IN which he
held it and turned it to one side, and at the
same time told him that | would count ten,
Gad if he did not drop his pistol when the
number was counted I,would blow out his
brains. He called out: Blow away
counted up to nine, and pressed the trigger
so that the hammer rose, and on seeing this
he dropped his weapon and gave himself
up. got HIM mounted on his horse and
brought him back to the wagon. Every
thing was as l had left it. but the prisoner
who had been there was gone, and ] did not
blame him for going. =.
"Of all the men | ever arrested this was
bhe OF the most desperate If shad given
him the least chance he would have shot
me- On the othof hand, had been IA the
least excited should have shot h,m But
am not of AN excitable nature, and besides
Incver want to take away that which can
never returp.h
:" Well yes,n said I, "I think a good
many men would have lost their heads
under such circumstances and pulled the
trigger
II suppose some might have done So"
SAID simmons. as he scratched match to
Light his pipe, which had gone out while lie
was talking. Then he added thoughtfully:
f" What puzzled me most is that when he
ran with such force against my revolver
when my finger was pressed against the
trigger it didn't go off and shoot him.