The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1895-01-10
BENTON, LOUISIANA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 49, 1885,

| distance. adding a strange, uncanny
feeling to our already overweight
nerves, came the cries of the puma
the noun tain lion.
| 1t was nine o'clock when we reached
Mater and obtained the notes from the
banker We had taken light supper
of unwarmed canned meat only and
were quite exhausted from the cold on
our walk down. Retiring to the little
office we owned in the village, we
made out our promises to pay and
gave them to the guard, who, notwith-
standing, maintained his careful
watch.
| While sitting there, half frozen and
discussing our position, two of the
miners came in. They were the Nal
colin brothers, both men of superior
education and refinement. They said
to us, in low tone, fearing to be over
heard by the watcher outside: ..
Boys, although you have given
these notes, you will still be prisoners.
We have faith in you and believe you
are square; but. this is no place for
you, and you ought to leave this camp
and as quickly as possible. The fell
lows mean what they say and arc bad
men. They will stop at nothing to
get their money; in fact they viii
think no more of hanging you than of
smoking their evening pipes. Now, we
will do anything in our power to serve
you; and there are four more of us of
the same kind. Command usv'
/ @,1.
preciated their loyalty to us and asked
what they and we could do so that we
might leave the camp. They replied:
"The train leaves the station at
seven o'clock. mile and half below
here, as you know. We will bring
four horses here at 6:45. Be sure to be
ready to start Immediately. Get up
quietly at six and put on only your
mining clothes. Do not think of wash
ing or do any thing to attract the atten-
tion of the guard"
| l said | would see that they and
their mates were paid in full as soon
as / reached New York: and we prom
ised to, be ready for them in the morn
ing.
Little did we sleep that night. Be
fore throwing ourselves on the cots in
the rear office l looked out on the
peaceful, moonlit scene, and there,
pacing up and down. was the faithful
sentinel-doing his best to keep warm.
The sentries relieved each other every
half hour And so the night grew old
and we ewere full of fears for the morn.
ing.
Promptly, as may be imagined, we
quietly dressed and were ready and
waiting for our faithful friends -Four
horses were suddenly brought to a
stand at the office door The elder
Malcolm dismounting, rushed in. say.
ing:
Now, boys, quick-and be ready to
shoot If necessary
| We jumped on two of the horses
the Malcolm brothers on the Others
and, leaving two of the trusty ones to
take. care of the ''held-up'' guards, we
galloped for our lives in the early
| morning. III
Reynolds was ahead and his horse
threw the frozen particles of ice and
snow all over me, piercing me with
| cold never felt before. During the
night the thermometer had fallen an
other ten degrees
The noise made by the men and
! horses at that early hour had brought
out others of the disgruntled who had
| lived in the village since the shut
down; and we knew it would not be
| long before they secured other horses
and followed us.
We reached the station at 6:55 and
asked, nay, implored the conductor to
pull out Immediately. We explained
the urgent reason for his doing so;
but he said no power on earth would
make him start before his scheduled
time. To our excited imaginations
the five minutes, seemed like as many
hours. AT last the final second had
gone, and he signaled his engineer.
The next station was eight miles
away, at which stop of ten minutes
was to be made. As we pulled out
through the woods a mile beyond
Mater we could see, only two hundred
yards away, eight furious miners urg-
ing their horses with whips and oaths,
on, on, on. 4.
We pulled away from them and
reached Fairfax on time. There again,
the wal: was as long as indicated on
the local time sheet; and although the
conductor had already seen our need,
no instant of the time was given u.s.
When we started for the next station,
twenty miles down the valley, we
ccald see ina the distance the same
body OF men gust appearing on the top
of rise in the road half mile to our
rear. t"-
When they saw our train had start
ed they gradually slowed up.
E Baffied!-Ill Illustrated American.
A Deep-Laid Scheme.
'Yours is perplexing case" said