The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1894-01-31

the camp a few miles to the right.
Now we will follow this route, 60 into
hiding in a certain cave that l know
Of, then send man back to camp to
see if allis we'll. If it is, then we
will proceed homeward with all speed.
If it is not right, but all wrong, We
can hold the fort in the cave, for
have laid in large stock of supplies,
ammunition and arms, and there we
can stand off all the desperadoes in the
country
"Saying this, Robinson turned to
the left from the trail we had follow
ed, and very soon came to a prodig-
iously long and steep hill, thinly
wooded. The snow had ceased falling
and we could look down into the deep
cannon or valley of one of the numer-
Gus, unexplored forks Of the Clearwa-
ter. In the bottom of the valley we
could see that little or no snow had
fallen, indicating considerably mild
er climate. The hill was miles in
length and very steep in places.
"rWe mustrun to the bottom of that
hill, said Robinson.
"Thereupon he halted to adjust a
rude brake for the sled, when we were
startled by the sudden blast Of horn.
1t was signal, Immediately answered
in the distance. The highwaymen
had posted sentries in the forest, and
our approach had been discovered.
"Robinson understood the situation
instantly. Our horses were plainly in
the hands of the enemy.
"'We must make the cave, boys,
he said. It's only five miles, and
down hill the entire distance.
"In moment we were in motion,
and were gliding like winged birds
down the mountain. But the big sled
with the brake hindered us somewhat
and looking back when he had made
about mile, we perceived a band Of
outlaws, twenty in number, loom in
sight at the top Of the hill, and come
sweeping down the steep grade swift
as wolves. They were masked, and
soon bullets from their Winchesters
began to whistle around US.
Boys said Robinson, we must
take off that brake, and then keep oul
feet for lightning trip to the bot
tom. If man falls we can't stop tc
rescue him
"The brake was removed, and the
heavily loaded sled shot ahead like 3
locomotive. We approached the
steepest part of the hill, and swept
downward for half mile or SO like
birds upon the wing. Then Robin
son, who was in the lead, ran over ar
uneven spot and broke his sncwshoe
With the most surprising quickness
he leaped upon the sled, and
the race continued without Interrupt
tion.
'In less time than it takes to tell il
we were at the bottom Of the gulch
and halted at the mouth of the cavern
The sled with its precious cargo was
hauled inside, and Robinson lee
us to his arsenal, dozen loaded Win
chesters. The next instant our pur'
suers swept down to the mouth Of the
cavern, and were met by a very unex'
pected and deadly fusilade from a mid
den enemy. They were taken com
pletely aback in game in which they
thought they had the upper hand: Il
was all over in moment, and the out
laws dis appeared, leaving more thar
half of their number dead upon the
field.
''To make a long story short, we re-
NAMED in that cavern but few days
sentspies to our camp, and learned that
the survivors of the outlaw band had
ridden our animals out of the country
The snow was deepening daily, but
Robinson declared that we must gel
out of the mountains on snowshoes
following totally unfrequented trails
and dragging that loaded handsled
with US. He explained that in the
spring the outlaws would return in
force and certainly effect our capture
if we remained.
stTaking from the store Of food in
the cave enough to last us upward of g
month, we set out, the thickly falling
snow quickly obliterating our trail
For thirty days we toiled through the
wilderness like veritable galley slaves,
At last, on New Years Day, we reach.
ed stage road leading to Lewiston.
and applying to rancher, we hired
his team and sleigh to haul a load Of
alleged quartz from new strike to
Lewiston. We said we were prospec-
tors, and lost our horses in the noun
tains.
"We reached Lewiston without ac-
cident, and the half million at last
rested safely in the bank.