Potosi journal. (Potosi, Mo.) 1894-1929, 1899-01-25

" i.t III were ft.r fiS tthiudS BUCK DJilEOh
and Charley Reeves.
These men knew hat Dodge had
money. and were bent OIL robbng and
possibly numbering him, though the
operations of ths vigilance committees
had made them somewhat less bold in
their movements than they had once
been.
| Dodge started one day for Virginia
City On his horse. and stopped for the
night at the cabin of en- innkeeper
named Prickett, paying dollar for the
privilege of sleeping on the floor After
/ he had curled up under his blankets in a
corner, & man, unknown to him, came in
| and asked for the privilege of rolling in
with him, as he, the stranger, had no
blanket. Such request Dodge could
not refuse, as the season was winter and
the weather cold.
Dodge was next the wall. His COM
| panion soon gave every sign of being
fast asleep, and so did Ddoge; but he
| was wide-awake. There was no light in
| the room, but the night was starry with
out, and the cabin was not "cb;nked,"
so that q little of the light filtered
through.
Not long after Dodge had apparently
fallen asleep o horseman rode up to the
door, and presently Dodge heard him
| ask Prichett In a whisper if he, Dodge,
| were there. The questioner, as Dodge
| soon discovered, was Buck Stinson.
Trickett, withou, word, indicated the
place where Dodge was lying, tucked
in behind the other man.
Two or three times Dodge saw the
dim form of Stinson passing up and
down beside him. Evidently the other
man was not confederate, for no
communication seemed to pass between
| him and Stinson. The man was. more
ever, to all appearances, sound asleep.
Ry and by q second horseman ap-
Feared. There was whispered talk be-
tween him and Stinson. and Dodge knew
| that the newcomer was Charley Reeves.
He, too walked past the seeming sleep
ers. but did nothing; If the pair wished
to kill Dodge, they evidently did not
! care to kill the other man, too. BY and
by Stinson and Reeves lay down to-
! eether on the other side of the room.
and Dodge soon felt sure they were
asleep.
Dodge had no doubt they had come
tof him, and that they would presently
take steps to get him. He had his re-
| voivcr cooked. and was resolved TO fie ht
| for his life. But as he lay against the
wall. he noticed that there was a very
! wide chiEk where crooked log had
| been put ina sort of curve that might
| afford passage for mans body. He
tried to see If he could not work his way
out through it, and presently found
himself on the outside.
This had been done with extreme
slowness and stealth; he had worked
his way out Of the blankets and through,
the hole so carefully as not to disturb
even his fellow-sleeper.
! Once on the outside. Dodge went to
the rude stable and got his horse. max
Ing no noise. 1t is only the old frontiers
| man who can manage 4 horse silently.
| Virginia City was the nearest place OF
safety. and that was 60 miles away
Dodge rode hard for it, outdoine. he il
| sure, either the ride of Paul Revere or
Phil Sheridan. He reached Virginia
City in safety, but his horse fell dead az
he entered the town. He had. like man,
another man In a dangerous position
sacrificed the animal to save himself.
At Virginia City, he had hardly gath
cred some friends around him before
Stinson and Reeves made their appear.
ance in very desperate frame of mind
With Dodge. y the desperadoes came
up, was Sheriff Dillingham;.
"What was your hurry, Dotlge?" Stin-
son called out. "Why didn't you wait
for company"
All day the fury of the desperadoes In.
creased. and in the afternoon, excited
by liquor, Stinson shot Sheriff Dilling.
hahn throught the heart. Reeves and
Stinso, were both convicted of the mur.
der, and were sentenced to death, but
were helped by mob of their OWE
friends to escape on the day set for thei,
execution.
'The wonder is am now living" said
Dodge. in telling the story, "for I was Z
marked man to the whole gang."-
Youths Companion.