The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-08-31


my supper, dressed and was startin for
dance down in The Bottoms when met
the Wells Fargo office agent comm a-rushin
up the street.
Hank, he says, Il was huntin, you'll
We're in devil of a fix! We've got nearly
$4,000 in gold bullion just come in that's
due in The Dalles by tomorrow night at
the close of business hours, or one of our
best shippers stands to lose lot of money
already paid on a mine. 1t ought to have
been down yesterday, but our down stage
throwed wheel and missed the regular
connection for The Dalles. I've been to
the stage Office, but Haworth says for me
to see YOU. What can you dor
Get the bullion to The Dalles by noon
tomorrow
But it's $40 mile
Nobody knows that better than do,
Mr.. Price, but you get your bullion ready
and in half an hour send it down to the
stage stables in a wagon And / went
on down the street. The superintendent
was still at the stables.
Did you see Price, Hanky
"'Yes, sir, says.
"'Can you make It'll?
Sure thing' 1 says.
y
IT had the stock tenders hook up six
horses that picked out, then went to the
boardin house. changed my clothes and
went back to tho stables with TWO two gal
lon de1nijohns of whisky. Price was there
with the bullion. 1t weighed just 4O4
pounds. had 'em put it in the bottom OF
the stage and throw lot of sacked feed In
on top of it, then climbed up to the seat.
Three or four shotgun messengers started
to foller me, and said: Hold up, gentle
men; one mans enough ON this trip. Tho
only trouble that I'm likely to run into
that l can't handle myself is at Willow
Springs, where there's always crowd Of
rustlers. One man may get through all
right, but if they're lookin for trouble or
suspicion anything you fellers wouldn' +
last as long as SNOWFALL in hi You'd
only be an advertisement for trouble. l
had my way and drove off with the bull
lion, feed and four gallons of whisky and
knowed that If passed Willow Springs
all right I'd make it. The Springs was
the toughest place ON the road, and when
ever there was holdup we could bank on
1t being by some of that Willow Springs
gang, made up as it was of cattle rustlers,
boss thieves, road agents and all around
bad men. Haworth had give me pointer
that he thought the gang was a-lookin for
the bullion, and the last thing he said
was: Now, Hank, look out for your team
and yourself. Let the express go If it
comes to a show down..
II got to the Springs long in the night.
Toward mornin / was hittin the trail
mighty fast, tell you. I knowed they'd
be gang there, for at the last station
passed they told me that the regular had
been held up the mornin before, SO long
before I got to the station commenced
whoopin and ye1lin and singin as loud as
could and sure enough when rolled up
there was about 90 Of the toughest lookin
fellers you ever saw, all heeled and didn't
look like they had been to bed, Lord,
wasn't I drunk! Wheel Most of 'em
knowed me, and the antics cut made 'em
laugh. / was too drunk to pay any atten-
ton to the station keeper or the stock
tenders, but grabbed one Of the demi-
Johns, and yellin for the boys to come on,
l staggered into the house. Ipoured about
half pint of good, strong whisky into
each one of them fellers, and In my drunk
en- way managed to tell 'em that was
takin the coach down to replace an old one
on the south end and had load Of food
for the way stations.
1T told the station keeper that five Of
the sacks of grain on top was for him and
for him to have 1t taken out. Then sang
another drunken song and staggered out
to the coach for the other demijohn. /
reeled up to the coach, where the station
keeper was takin out the grain, and spoke
quick and low: I'm runnin extry to The
Dalles with bullion. Have the tenders
change my team for the freshest and best
you've got-quick, man:
"sOh. I'm jolly stage driver
"sStay with 1t, boys. Here's s'more.' And
staggered back with the other demijohn.
Well, sir, in IL minutes 1 had that gang
fixed-plenty. What wasn't on the floor
or the ground outside was a-tryin to fight
over the balance Of the whisky saw my
team was hitohed up and made runnin
jump for the front boot, grabbed the lines,
and how did cut loose from therel
Whoopl Well, eat my dinner in The
Dalles and got mighty we'll paid for that
trip. The Willow Springs gang held up
the regular that follered me the next day.
They was dead on that the bullion was
due all right.
Comm back struck wagon train Of
Is families, and they was in trouble The
peded some of their bosses. You could see
the Injins five or six of 'em, a-drivin the
bosses across the valley two or three miles
away. The women and children in the
train were cryin and yellin, purity nigh
scared to death. The men was scared,
too, and didn't know how they was goin
to pull out. wasn't on schedule time, so
took out leader tied the others up, grab
bed my Henry off the seat and yelled for
five men to come on. The Injins was
headin for mountain, but I knowed the
country too well to believe they was goin
there, SO rode to head 'em off below. My
thoroughbred YVES too fast for the others,
and I was soon in range. I cut loose and
unloaded two ponies, and the other Injins
left the bosses and cut for shelter. I head
ed the train HOSES back and met the other
fellers comm up reckon my souls all
right if them women's blessin's is any
good. I told 'em to hook up and pull
right out of there, and did not have to
tell em twice. ST. Louis Post Dispatch.
Leaky Souls.