The Somerset reporter., 1891-02-26
PIONEER DAYS

SELECTED.
PIONEER DAYS
In the pioneer days OF Minnesota ny
| father WAS elected Sheriff of--.county
and IN due time our family took up lti
residence in the county all. was the on
y child, and was st that time abou' Il
gears old. About month after we tooh
pos, e'sion we received prisoner who
was known over wide circle OF country
as Black jim, horse thief, robber, anc
general desperate. He was man abou
20 Years OF age, very dark complexion
quick and wlry. and his capture was hail
"a a. great event. Officers had been af
ter him for over two years, and two OF
them who had turned up missing were be
Ieved to have been shot down by the des
perad1 He WAS brought to jail l)sded
down with irons, and up to the time OF
bis examination father employed two ex
trs guards. After be had been remanded
the higher court, Black Jim was &c
quiet and humble that the extra guards
were disu iescd aud he was looked after
ny our regular turnkey, who was a mid
The al was built OF stone, and was the
lnly stone jail In the State at the time.
The prison part WAS twelve feet wide by
the width Of the building, making cor.
ddor about ~ by 80. There were no cells
10 this corridor, but clear space, with
hunks for Ave or six prisoners. 1t was
shut In by iron bars running from top to
bottom. and admission was had by sin.
gle door The windows were small and
well guarded. There was no fear of
Black Jim or any other prisoner getting
DOT II properly looked after.
Two wenks after our prisoner had been
remanded father WAS called upon to or.
gsnlze posse and seek the capture of a
gang OF horse thieves rsding in neigh
oorhood twenty miles away. | heard his
Instructions to Andrews before he left.
lie said
Don't take your eye off Black jim.
This afternoon my wife will go on duty,
and you can sleep and be ready for
night"
"Oh you needn't be afraid of anything
going wroug," replied Andrews. I'd
insf lks To zee J.n noodwiuk me. and
can watch for three days and nights, If
nece ssary.'
ing but he was In hurry to be of, and he
left right away after dinner. Andrews
took his station in an armchair in the cor
ridor and brought in some wood for the
big stove (it was OctOber), filled up the
water pals, and was busy for an hour OF
two. | happened to be in the corridor
when the gate bell rang, and was sent out
to answer it. The caller was a keen look.
ing man about 40 years old pretty wei
dressed, and he had package under his
arm. When he followed me into the jail
building he said TO Andrews
81 am Lawyer Thomas of Brockville
and have come to see my client"
Black Jims examination had taken
place at a town eight miles away, and
neither Andrews, my mother nor myself
had been present, therefore we did moi
know any of the lawyers In the case. Fa-
ther had not said anything about visitors,
and when Lawyer Thomas demanded an
interview with his client, Andrews did
not hesitate to let him into the ward
From the moment | saw Thomas at the
gate took dislike to him / set him
down as bad man. / wanted to protest
when Andrews let him into tie corridor
but hadn't the assurance. After he was
in made bold to say
you ought to have asked mother
first"
"Pahl What does your mother know
about matters In beref'
II don't believe he's a lswyer p
"Of course he is Why should he say
SO II he wasn'tr"
As soon as the lawyer had entered the
corridor he was heartily greeted by Black
Jim and the two retired to the further end
and sat down to be out of ear shot of the
turnkey. There they talked for long
Two hours and then Thomas came for
ward aud said:
II discovered that l have left some i'm
portant papers at the hotel, and must GO
for them. VIII 1t be against the rules If
call again this EVENING""
We had no rules about visitors, as this
was our first prisoner, and Andrews
promptly replied that the lawyer could
return and remain until 8 O'Clock. saw
some money slipped into his hand, and he
was all smiles as he bowed Thomas out
went and told mother, and added that
believed Thomas WAS friend OF Black
Jim's instead of being his lawyer, but She
reptile that Andrews was faithful man
ard was probably satisfied that ateverythine
was all ri.ht. Black Jim went to his tunk
and took advantage of this fact to re-
move the sash from the rear of the CORR.
der over the bench the pair had occupied
during their conhab. This done, went
up TO to the hotel, our village had only one
aud went direct to the stable, to see II
Thomas had come in q buggy. Nothing
of the sort had arrived. Then l discov.
cred that no stranger was stopping at the
hotel. made inquiries of several citi-
zens, and no one had seen man of
Thomas's description. Then asked who
had been Black Jim's lawyer at the exam.
ination, and was told that his name was
Mccormack.
1 returned home to give mother these
facts, and while they aroused considerab-
le anxiety, she could not fully credit my
assertions that the so-called Thomas was
there to help Black jim get away. She
cautioned Andrews without telling him
what had discovered, but he assured her
that he knew Thomas to be lawyer. and
that there wasn't thsalightest foundation
for suspicion or anxiety This silenced
me and reassured mother, but was by no
means convinced.
Darkness came about five O'Clock and at
half past I've let Thomas In again. He
had . pretty large bundle under his arm
and noticed that his boots we're muddy.
He handed Andrews some cigars, got off q
joke or two, and was admitted to the cor.
ridor. The two had NO sooner starts d for
the further end than started for the win
dow. Carefully lifting out the loose sash
could plainly hear their convers alton.
Tho first words 1 caught we're from
Thomas, who was saying:
"-at least mile guess. It's due
west Of here, with an old log house In 9
clearing. The horses are good ones"
"What's the weather outsider" asked
Jim.
"Going TO be dark"
"Well, it vii, be IS easy as rolling of Q
log"
"Anything in the house worth takingp'
"Can't tell till we have . look. I won
der where the devil this cold air come.
from2"
drew back, softly replaced the sash
nd then entered the corridor 10 tell An
drews. He sat In his chair half asleeI
aud It occurred to me that II called hin
OF his post the fellows would suspec
something. entered the dwelling par
aud related the particulars to mother.
remember how white her face grew .
she listened 10 me. She was for ono
seudiug ne out for some Of the nelghbora
bat whon We came to reflect We remem
bered that father had taken twenty Of th
best men in his posse, and va could thin
OF 10 one who woald b likely 70 accsp
our call. Andrews Was ct his post and
coah not b called Away q eoafssrs