The Pascagoula democrat-star., 1890-06-27
HE WAS NOT ALL. BAD.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF
JOHN COPELAND, THE
ROBBER CHIEF.

AS the passenger train pulled up
AT Amnry Station, Tuesday even
ing, says Air Mount correspond
ont OF the Memphis Commercial,
an old gentlemen, weighed down
with full iourscore years or more,
and evidently from The rural dis
lricls, climbed into the coach and
dropped into a seal Immediately in
front Of your correSL ondent.
One of his first acts was to buy
copy of the Commercial, and
then, after fixing himself comfort
ably in his seat, he began the pc
rusal of lis news columns. Ten
minutes later he uttered a low cry
of surprise and The paper WAS
eagerly drawn nearer the feeble
eyes. "a robber chiefs money!"
he mutiered aloud, and then il be-
came evident that he was devour-
ing The Commercials special from
Conch utn, in which brief sketch
oi The life and doings Of john
Copeland, the famous outlaw
chiet. w given.
'The first thing he was known
to have stolen was a pucket-knife
OF the Barlow pattern" he read,
and he nodded his white head
ag ,in and again as he grumhled:
"Eighl! Right! but they have
moi got II ALL
In few minutes he started per-
ceplibly and grew little excl ed
as his eyes ruck This paragraph {:
"lle Quarreled with one OF Muir
rel'S iavoril es, however, on llttle
stream north of where the town
Of Water Valley now stands and
the affair ended IN the death of The
man who had provoked his aEgnr."
Then the old man laid down The
paper and mumhled in a half
whisper, evidently talking 10 him,
self, us The old people generally
do:
Eyes, JOHN KILLED HIM;
but they don't say why! They
don't know ! Nobody appears TO
know except me, and I'll soon be
gone"
You will tell me, grnndpag" 1
half questioned in a voice equally
as low as his own.
"Why, of course" he answered,
not in The least startled by my in
terruption. "John waa moi all bad
not all bad, and would have
been lower than IA brute had he not
killed the man. would have kill
ed hinI-yOu would have killed
him-anybody would have killed
him; yet they didn't say why!
But then The paper didn't know"
he concluded plaintively.
"Tell me all about IT," quietly
insisted.
"John Copeland was fifteen
years old when il happened, and
was one of The brightest young
fellows in the distIict school To
which we were all going. One af-
ternoon VIII Harris, the bully of
The school, who had ruled with an
iron hand for several years, accus-
ed young Copeland OF having
s'olen his knife. John denied il,
bui when Harris suddenly knock
ed his hat from his head The bar
low fell ont. Then viii, who was,
as You will soon discover, one of
the most vindictive aud cruel
hearted bruIes that ever lived,
sent one oi The boys after bunch
of swithces, and declared il his in
lenliOn to whip Copeland until he
could not stand. When they ar
rived he selected the toughest one
acd catching John in the collar,
was about tn bring il down across
The struggling lad, when suddenly
Nei Somers, new scholar and a
young man OF about Harris own
age, stepped forward and knocked
the bully down. Harris bounded
10 his feet and with howl Of an
ger rushed at the one who had
dared dispute his authority as boss
of the school. He was once more
knocked down aud punished until
he cried enough.
"Can you behave yourself and
im The future allow the teacher TO
do the coneciirg {" asked SOmerS,
letting Hairs rise 10 his feet.