The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1899-05-18

horse was in view, and l knew there
must be another. The driver--blt were
there not two? heard one man voice,
though not his words.
Hastily l drew in my head. and wiped
the cold water from my face and neck.
Who were these thieves that had put
their horses to my fathers wagon and
cotton? | had heard of similar case
in an adjoining county. a wagon load
ed with cotton had disappeared in the
night, and the owner, after tracking II
many miles, had at last found it at the
home of the thief.
This stormy night was the very time
for such theft; the rain would wash
out the wagon tracks. Of course it had
not occurred to the thieves that two
boys might be asleep under the sheet
Greatly alarmed, / began to shake
Dape. who was still sleeping peacefully.
We must do something. He uttered an
inarticulate cry of protest at being dis
turbed. / ceased to shake him, fearful
that the thieves had heard him.
For perhaps an hour l sat there in the
dark, rejecting on our strange situation,
and wondering what / could do. Where
were those fellows taking us? How
long had we been travelling and where
were we now?
/ raised the sheet again. The wagon
was going through fiat woods. Now
this told something, for we lived in
prairie country, and the nearest nat
wood was ten miles to the west. So we
were at least ten miles from home, and
going farther. Much alarmed, leaned
over Dape again, and whispered in his
ear:
"Dape, thieves are running clear off
with the cotton, and us, too"
This / repeated several times, until
he sat up suddenly, and his first whis-
pered question showed that he under
stood the matter. l told him what l
had learned.
"We've got TO get into our clothes
he said. "Then well unite the wagon
sheet at the hind end, drop out, and fol-
low the road back to where somebody
lives
That's easy, but if we do, why, then
the thieves get clear away with fathers
cotton and wagon"
"Well, then, we'll keep in hearing of
the wagon till it stops. Let's get dressed
right away
but the men are on the front end,
and they must be sitting on our clothes.
You know we put 'em right against the
sheet"
Here was predicament. If we got
out into the cold wind and rnin, bare
headed, barefooted and in thin shirts
and drawers, we must suffer fearfully,
and might be chilled to death.
What if we should stay in the wagon?
We shuddered as we asked each other
what would happen then. Murders are
often committed to conceal robbery,
and if we did not get out the thieves
must find us on stopping.
After discussing various plans, we de-
cided to wait till we came to house,
and then jump out and run to it. So we
united the sheet at the hind end, and
kept poking our heads out to look for
house. At this we soon got so cold that
we had to bury ourselves partly in the
cotton.
Houses were far apart, but at last the
wagon came to one. Even before we
saw its dim form, we could hear great
barking.
THAT sounds like dozen dogs,
6-esn't ." shivered Dape.
1T does" / shivered back. Big ones,
too. Let's not get out. What should we
do out there, nearly naked, in the cold
and dark, with such a pack?"
You're right; we're better off in the
wagon"
So we got down into the cotton again,
and warted for house with fewer dogs.
The laden wagon moved slowly. for
the cotton made heavy load for the
team, and before another house was
reached daylight came. We were now
more alarmed than ever, for if the
thieves should happen to look under the
sheet, they could not help discover
ing us.
Besides, it would be extremely en-
barrassing to approach house in
broad daylight in our present attire. In
fact, when we did come to one, and l
tried to get pape to start first he said:
"S'pose there were women? How'd |
look? Not much! You may go if you
want to. I'll see this thing out right
here" To this resolve / also was forced
by the circumstances.
About this time the rain stopped. AS
soon as the light began to come through
the wagon-sheet, we looked eagerly for
any chance of getting our clothes, and
now saw that only one man was sitting
on the edge Of the stretched sheet in
front. Either the other one had left the
wagon, or there had been but one, and
the talking we had heard had been his
talking to the horses. However, we
were sufficiently afraid of that one
man, armed as we felt sure he must be-
And he was sitting on our clothes. All
that could be seen of them was sleeves
and legs.
WELL said Dape. whose mind was
hopeful and fertile, the man must live
somewhere III these woods When he