The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-08-07
A DARING ROBBERY.
How Inordinate Greed Brought It's Own
PM LII,
,rini has assumed the PRESIDENCY.

How Inordinate Greed Brought It's Own
Punishment.
Clad in his bullet proof coat of mail, the
trusty guard of the ice wagon sat in the
| iron plated turret on the hurricane deck
of the vehicle, with his Winchester rife in
his hand, a collection of hand grenades
within easy reach, and his belt full of navy
revolvers of the largest size. On a little
shelf in front of him was a pair of sabers
ready for instant use in an emergency re-
| quiring hand to hand fighting, and pow
erful field glass for detecting an enemy
at long range swung on pivot in such a
way as to command a view of the land
scape in<@very direction. The driver of the
wagon, as heavily armed as the nature of
his duties would permit, sat in a bomb
proof inclosure, and guided the horses by
means Of lines passing through portfolios
in front, while the athlete who occupied
the responsible and dangerous position at
the rear of the wagon and delivered the
ice to customers was equipped with bot
ties of vitriol for defensive use, and wore
under his outer garments a suit of chain
armor that had belonged once TO a base
bail umpire.
Under the watchful protection of the
guard on the roof the wagon had stopped
at its regular places, the man in the rear
had made several deliveries of ice to Gus
toners in perfect safety, and as the driver
turned down a wide street in thickly
settled portion Of the town, with few per-
sons in sight except children at play, the
vigilance of the trio in charge of the ice
wagon relaxed and q sense of security stole
over them.
Suddenly as they passed an alley troop
of horsemen dashed out of it with wild yell,
half dozen lassos flew through the air,
and before they could recover from their
confusion the guard on the roof and the
man on the rear step of the wagon were
dragged from their posts, thrown to the
ground and bound with ropes. This done
a part Of the gang opened fire with re-
volvers on the bomb proof casennate where
the driver sat, and succeeded in occupying
his attention while the others with crow
bars and sledge hammers forced open the
iron doors in the rear.
The plans of the daring robbers had been
laid with care, and in less time than it
takes to tell of It they had succeeded in
their desperate undertaking, and were on
their way out Of the town with their booty,
a chunk Of ice weighing at least ten pounds,
carefully wrapped in blanket.
The knowledge that the news Of the rob
berry would be flashed through the place
and telegraphed far and wide, accompanied
by offers Of large rewards for their capture
dead or alive, lent wings to the fleeing vii
lains. They had held up many train on
the plains of Texas and in the rocky fast
nesses of Missouri but had never engaged
before In scheme of plunder on SO gigan-
tic scale, and they rode from the scene Of
their exploit with the wild haste OF men
fleeing for their lives.
In little clearing in the heart of dense
wood, miles and miles from the town they
had invaded. these men halted at last
Turning their jaded animals loose they
gathered eagerly about their prize. On
rolling it with the utmost care they feAsted
their eyes Oh is glittering outlines, and
with hands trembling with excitement
they prepared TO divide it,
No chea1ingf' thundered Broken EOsed
Pete. as gaunt viIlAin with 3 saw drew it
across the block Little to the left Of the
une he bad drawn ao-css 1t with dagger
Hare Ixpped Moses esprang TO his feet with
2 terrible oath. knives flashed IN the air,
derrinSers were drawn and the sounding
aisles Of the dim woods rang with the
voices Of men in angry STRIFE.
High rose the din Of conflict. The pity
ing sun looked down on Google Eyed Hank
and Grizzly Jake, the Terror Of Bloody
Guich, engaged IL fierce combat, while
Con&1che Dick snd Wild Nike rolled over
and over on the ground hitting and goug-
ing each other n frantic rage Dare
DeTil Sam and One Eyed Jsckzon enptied
their pistols at each other, and then fought
a. close quarters with brass ku1ckleS ana
slungshots- In this way the battle had
ragged for some tine withoc. any decisive
result, whea a frightfQl. blood curdling
yell from one Of the ooz6s1ants caused q
suspension of host 5+iSs- He had stopped /
lighting and WIS ssaadizg in wild diSnzr !
over the spot where ths captured treasure |
had lain.
Il had vsuished
While they hsd been fighting over lis |
possession the s1a had melted away a I
forSunes-Chicago Gr5buEe-