The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1895-03-08

this sort OF Jnlng nau gone OUT VI
fashion. and the county sheriff at
tempted to arrest the disturber. Re-
suit: The sheriff killed the leading
citizen, and the leading citizen killed
the sheriff, causing vacancy in the
sheriff's Office. This brought along a
new sheriff and new deputy sheriff.
The deputy was a good man and a
brave man. He knew how to use gun,
and had the courage to do so if neces-
sary. He had the reputation of being
a man with whom it was far better to
use diplomacy than force. With all
these qualities he had had no official
experience, but of this he gained a
great deal the first time he ever made
an arrest. 1t happened this way:
Some miles from Buster City is lit
tie collection of houses and stores
known as Fishhook. A young man
had come through there riding horse
of such good quality as to attract uni
versal attention. He was anxious to
sell the horse, and. moreover, was will
ing to sell at price far below its real
value. 1t was beyond anyone's COM
prehension why the man wanted to sell
at such a price, unless he had stolen
the horse. Hence, the citizens of Fish
hook rallied together and took him in
charge as a horsethief, put him under
guard and sent word down to Buster
CITY by the boy who carried the daily
mail for some one from the sheriff's
Office to come up, get the prisoner and
take him to the county Jail In re-
Spouse to this message the new deputy
rode over. He had a new horse, a new
saddle that squeaked as he rode along,
and new siX-shooter-45-calib with
carved ivory handle, slung rakish-
" over his right hip. He carried also
a grim pair of handouts that were not
new, but serviceable.
When he reached his destination he
found the man he was after sitting in
a chair in one of the stores, with cir
Gle of stern, Winchester-bearingF Fish
hookers sitting all around him. The
man had on good clothes. and did not
look at all like a horsethief would be
supposed to look.
The deputy told him he would be
obliged to come along, and to put his
hands so he could put the handouts on.
The man turned pale when he heard
this, and especially when he saw the
cruel irons. Said he:
I'm a stranger here charged with
being a criminal. l am innocent and
hence more than willing to go with
you, as my innocence can readily be
proven. profess to be a gentleman,
! -, J.,
Put me on the slowest old horse YOU
can find, have me ride in front all the
way. You are armed, l am unarmed,
hence couldn't escape n / wanted to-
For Gods sake, though, don't disgrace
me by taking me through the country
with those things on me-"
The mans looks. his earnestness and
his horror of the handouts impressed
the deputy, and he felt very much like
relenting, but he didn't. 1t was his
first arrest. and it behOoved him to be
careful Duty was duty and ii wouldn't
do to take chances So he snapped the
handouts on the mans wrists and led
him out. Both mounted their horses,
the prisoner with some considerable
difficulty bound as he was. and the
deputy tied one end of a rope to the
bits of his own horse and the other end
to the bits of the horse supposed to
have been stolen. Together they rode
away, the prisoner riding on the right.
If the deputy had known his business
better he would not have allowed the !
prisoner to ride on that side. next to
he new six-shooter. He doesn't allow
prisoners to ride that way now.
The road was long. uninteresting and
very sandy. Their progress was neces-
sarily slow and they went along for
some time in silence side by side. Now,
the deputy was sociable. kindly man,
who loved to talk and be talked to.
and he stood it as long as he could,
but finally opened up a conversation
and his companion responded. The
prisoner turned out to be marvel. He
could talk about anything and talk
knowingly. He told stories and ex-
periences, novel and interesting.
So they rode on together, meeting
few people, who looked at them Gu
riously, until finally they entered a
long, straight stretch of road between
two high barbed wire fences. Open
fields were on either side, and not
human being in sight Over to the
left, low in the air, a few buzzards
were cireling lazily.
Il wonder what those buzzards are
after" casually remarked the prisoner,
noddiag his head in that direction. and
the deputy looked over at them. This
was the climax of the deputys errors.