The herald., 1893-10-20
LUCK WAS WITH BOTH
A HOG sELLER's PLUcKY BLUFF ANn
ITS SINGULAR SEQUEL.

We had finished our game of whist on
tbe train when one Of the players, red
headed man. said: "Your speaking OF
narrow escapes reminds me of one had
wears ago in the Sierras. Buckeye
House. he continued, sis public tav.
ern amid the mountains of southern
Plulnas county and is lonely spot,
being surrounded by dense forests OF
spruce and pine. On the night OF June
4. 1877, l stopped there and was told by
the proprietor that q highway robbery
had been committed in the vicinity dur.
ing the preceding day. This made me
exceedingly uneasy. for was carrying
81. 800 in grccnnacks into the mountains
to invest in 4 quartz mine. The money
was wrapped up in my horse blankets
and slowed away under the seat OF the
buggy, viii had about 500 in gold
and silver IL my pockets.
"Shortlv Mfte. leaving Buckeye the
road ascents u deep declivity and then
crosses ii; seow, rocky, brush covered
plateau. Threemiics farther on passed
Palmetto ranah, an abandoned stopping
place, where | again entered the denss
-
Iexamined NJ rcvolver carefully, placed
fresh caps on it and laid it on the seat
beside iue ready for instant use. Moth
ing occurred until | reached French
mans hill, when as was climbing one
of the steepest parts l was suddenly
stopped-so suddenly in fact, that had
no chance to defend myself. A man
sprang into the road and caught my
horses by tho brides, while a second
robber appeared from behind a tree,
holding in his hands shotgun at full
cock. The man with the gun was tall
fellow with squint eye and red
mustache while the other man was short
and stout.
"'Throw up your handsr cried the
squint eyed man in harsh voice.
glanced at the muzzle of the gun and
then at the revolver on my seata up
with your hands, or I'll give it to you"
and the look on the robbers face indi-
Gated that he meant what he said, so
reluctantly gave up all my ideas of de-
Tense and slowly and mechanically raised
my hands above my head, at the same
time cursing my i'll luck, for robbery at
that time meant ruin to me. Git ont
and keep your hands up cried the tall
man, till Jim takes yer money and yer
popgun.' got out and walked to the
head Of the horses as commanded and
the short robber deftly examined my
pockets and took what gold and silver |
had, saying as he ratified. the coins, 1t
pays to drive hogs.
"'Hogsp exclaimed. What do you
mean by hogs?
"'Oh, that's all right. He told us yon
were coming, and we laid in the brush
for you, was the response.
ri glanced up at that second and saw
a murderous look on the squint eyed
mans face, while his finger was on the
trigger of the gun. AS was standing
close to the small robber, the weapon,
of course, covered us both. gave an
involuntary start, which caused the short
man to looku His face blanched white
as he exclaimed, Take care there or you
will shoot us both, at the same time
stepping back 30 as to bring my horse
between himself and his scompanion'sg gun.
II involuntarily followed his example,
when the short man said in a low tone,
I believe that rascal meant to kill lis
both. Now he continued in loud
voice, at the same time taking my pistol
from the seat, 'you pile right in and be off,
II had supposed, of course, that they
would search my buggy, and now that I
was about to escapa.with my precious
greenbacks my heart beat furiously and
the blood rushed to my face as though
had just undergone great exertion. l
hastily obeyed the injunctions of the
robbers to drive on and keep a-going.'
and as soon as was out of gunshot
whipped up and drove at full speed until
/ overlook little old man, shabbily
dressed, driving lot Of fat hogs with
the aid of small dog.
aThe old man looked at me with some
astonishment as l drove rapidly up and
cried, Say, did some fellers stopyer back
thar
Yes was my reply. Did they rob
you?
"The old man laughed and slapped
his leg and then laughed again ere he
replied. Kinder curious how it turned
out, he said, but hanged if knew any
one was a-comin in two hoss buggy
"'What do you meanY l asked, for
saw nothing funny in the whole matter.
why, you see, them fellows stepped
out in the road, right in front of my hogs,
and cried for me to stop. This scared
the hogs, and they broke outin the brush.
pretended not to understand what they
meant, and sending Boze out on one side
l took the other, at the same time a-cuss-
ing them chaps right lively for soaring
my hogs. When got 'em all back again,
/ turned around and said, "Now, what
do you want?"
Money cried the tall fellow. ALI
you've got
Money? and | roared SO you could
have heard me half way back to Buell.
eye. You don't reckon that chap rs
has got to go afoot and drive hogs for
living has any money? If you want that.
just stop the boss, who is coming alon5
in two hoss buggy, and you will get
some
"'Get right on then, said the tall
chap, and we'll lay for the boss
"'And they got your continued the
hog drover. / hope you did not lose
much
ga hundred dollars said |, 'bpt,I
got off lucky atfhat.'
SsSo did > said the old 1rovar will, n