The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1893-12-20
OUTwITTED TIE BANDITS.
Adventure in n Mou uain Pass Back of
Acapulco.


'1f you are going. to travel alone in
this country you mus. carry two rcvolv-
crs, but one of them may be worthless.
in fact it may he better to have one Of
them of somcwhit ol fashioned make"
said Mr. J. V. Ha ykins, of Pueblo,
Mexico. "McNiCo h,s improved mar
vellousiy in The past ten years, but bun
dts are still too nu'ncrous, and | can
tell you how TO protc yourself by rclat-
ing the experience oi Il friend of mine.
His name was McCoy Shepard, aud he
was on his way alone from Acapulco to
the capital, 1t is II easily followed
lIa p%ke Gf ba sHa Ssss it s. once S fTd bas nf
little thought of danger although hold.
ups are common enough on that route,
but he went prepared for business. He
put i'll the holster of his saddle Al.
calibre revolver loaded with cartridges
that barely had enough powder in them
to blow the bullets out OF the muzZlc,
and then in the small of his back lie
hung the handest 3S calibrc he
could find when in Frisco. Mc,wus
making trap, and u worked
at haproncd that rs he was coming
down out of the mrin range three road
-
| roai and had him corncred before he
could whistle. They were armed with
shOtguns us well as machetcs, but for
| some reason did not shoot before they
spoke, rs not inircgucntly happens
They invited Mac to get down, aud he
did pcrfOrcc. Then one of them took
the big revolver Nc holster.
" Good. 1t is big.''said he.
'Npa go;l M,. u,,I ;t's T, .,...I
less thing after all never want to kill
any one. only carry it because must
make people think aIn armed
"'rhe bandits laughed at that Ibwas
incredible that such pistol should be
worthless, and they said so.
"B But. gentlemen, will put my hat
in the road and you may shoot at it with
the pistol. The bullet will NOT go
through the hat
AT that he took off his hat, a(por-
gcous Mexican affair that cost : % in
Acapulco, aud put it cna rOok, not ten
feet away, and stepped back toward but
about five feet ut one side of the bandits.
They were Interested at onoc. The idea
was novel to them. The man with the
pistol aimed deliberately and fired at the
hat. Then .hc three ran to look at the
effect OF the shot. Macs turn to shoot
had come. Whipping out the unnoticcd
revolver he shot two Of them down before
they could turn on him. The third did o
more than turn round, before he caught
his dose Hs well.
Leaving everything as it lay bodies,
guns. hat, and all, Mac sat down in the
shade of rock and waited for some one
To come along. lie did not even reload
his revolver. He had to make out
good case before the Government off.
cials, aud he knew Just how TO do it,
AFTER an hour or 80 native planter
With his servant came riding along
"'IIavo the goodness to inform tho
Alcaldc that an American gentleman has
had trouble here with bandits said ne
to the native, and the native did as re-
questcd, Of course. Three or four hours
later came the Alcaldc of the next place
with half dozen soldiers. Mac told his
story briefly, and the Alcalde noted each
point of it with the corroborating eyi.
dence on the ground.
"'You have done WELL he said. Il
know the rascals well. You have saved
cartridges for my soldiers by killing
them
"Then ne stopped. lie could not un.
derstand how the big revolver had failed
to shoot through the hat. He thought
there was some Kind Of nccromancy
about II. SO Mac cut a bullet from
cartridge and showed that the usual
powder space was for the most part
filled with a cork. 1,SAlcaldc turned
the cork in his hand AID then said:
"'Those wise Yankeesl But they do
by subtlcty what we would do by valorl'
"rhen Mac gathered up his hat and
revolver, mounted his mule, and rode on
with the Alcaldc, leaving the soldiers TO
look after the dead bandits. Take my
word for Il, and carry good gun out OF
sight when travelling in Mexico, and
another whefo all can see it."-INew
York Sun.