Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-05-09


man, then another, until darkness set
in and hid the leading fngitives from
sight. Seven lively specimens of the
border ruffian were the cfptives Of the
sorrel troop by nightfal!, and, closely
guarded, these were the men turned
over next morning to Mr. Sheriff Con-
way when that much fatigued official
and his posse reached the spot where
Ray and his men had made camp the
night before. Ray himself with dozen
troopers, had pushed on at daybreak,
following the trail Of the fugitives in
hopes of capturing the more prominent
members of the party, who, as it turned
out, had most of the i'll gotten booty,
while his lieutenant, Mr.. Scott, remain
ed in charge of the main body aud of
the prisoners until the arrival of ths
civil authorities, who promptly de-
manded and obtained possession. Co.l-
way and his posse, rejoicing, turned
homeward at once with their dishevelsd
prizes, hoping to reach Butte and ro-
ceive a triumph by evening of the next
day. Seven train robbers were more than
had ever been caught before in the his
tory OF the territory, and great would
be the rejoicings. Securely bound, the
luckless captives, each man dashed to
the stlrrup Ut some one of the numerous
posse, trudged painfully along the
homeward trail Silent, resolute, al
most defiant, no one Of their number
would givs the whisper of hint as to
the identity of the leaders or of one an
other. All We're strangers to, Butte.
Neither Conway nor his deputies had
ever seen one of their faces before.
lieutenant Scott had lost no time in
saddling and pushing ON after his cap
tain, two of the posse riding with him
SO as to give the possibly necessary civil
sanction to the arrest of the robbers
and to take the customary civil credit
for the same. naively explaining, "You
fellows in the regular army don t need
it; we do, or there's no chance for Con-
ways crowd next election
And on mis- triumphant homewar !
way what was more natural than that
Conway should march through Ransom
the following evening just as the ghost
like column in white stable frocks came
swinging up to barracks through the
cleaning? AS the shortest road ran
close to the mems quarters, it happened
that the burly sheriff, with his captive
train, went gathering by the long WOOD !.
en- porohes and such troopers as hap
pened to be excused from stables-pre-
cious few in Atherton regiment-came
rushing out of quarters to see them. All
the companies had had to .'stand to
heel" and have their stalls inspected
before they started up the slope, but in
Rays stable were only few horses.
and the few men under charge of Ser
geant Merriweather had already gone 20
barracks and were there when Conway
came through, and of this few was, the
new trooper, Hunter.
Still wearing his white stable frock
and looking trifle tired and somber,
the recruit had stopped at the corner of
the porch and was gazing with but
languid interest at Conways motley
cavalcade when Merriweather coined
him. A precious lot of jailbirds, y said
the sergeant, as the party came jogging
by, sheriff and deputies grinning affa-
bly,, and many of the latter shouting
words of coincidence to the stay al
homes who hadn't been rartakers with
them in the glories of the chase and
capture. Four prisoners had trudged
YEARLY by, while Trooper Hunter re-
piled briefly but without especial civil
lty to the sergeant's remark. Then
came the fifth, whose eyes, haggard
and hunted looking, glanced up just one
second at the man in stable frock at the
edge of the porch and instantly there
was flash of recognition. Sergeant
Merriweather, turning to his companion
in surprise, saw him gazing after No.
B with an expression of amazement and
dlsmay upon his handsome face.
Then you've met one of these fell
lows before, have your" said Merri-
weather, with instant suspicion.
But Hunter answered never word,
and, turning short, plunged into the
shadows of the great, gloomy barrack.
Not for 46 hours longer did Captain
Ray return, and with him came the two
deputies and one more prisoner. The
Others SO said the hoof tracks, had scat
tered during that first night over the
face of the earth, and even the trail soon
became indistinct on the hard prairie
beyond the Ska, but enough was known
to warrant the statements that two Of
the number had gone toward the agen-
cies away tn the northeast and that their
mounts were evidently blooded stock,
far swifter than Rays, for never once
had their leaders been in view, and there
was no use in further pursuit. Huddled
in the county Jail, the eight malefactors
We're awaiting the action of the civil
authorities and their Identification by
the railway people, while Ray and his
returned men shook off the dust of travel
and settled down to garrison duty again.
The first thing demanded of Sergeant
Merriweather was an account of his
stewardship and the progress of the
new trooper, and Merriweather looked
solemn and mysterious and was finally
understood to say that he had nothing
to complain of in him, but he reckcaed
other people might, whereupon Ray
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