The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1901-05-07
The Arrest Of
Big Martin.

house. A man with muller round his
throat and his coat buttoned up to his
ears stepped out with a lantern in his
hand. AS he did so he raised his head,
and his eyes rested ON the little knot
of mounted men halted over on the
crest of the hill not more than 800
yards away. Then, bounding back to
the door, he lifted the latch and disap-
peared within the patch of light be-
You'd.
Two minutes later Henderson's fur
gauntlet came down with crash upon
the rude panels of the door.
"Fat ees it?'' came in cracked half
breed accents from behind the still
quivering wood
open the door, or I'll kick it in!'
said Henderson decisively You know
who | am, and you know what I
want"
Slowly the door swung back on it's
hinges, and the inspector and his men
entered together. There was no trou-
BILE. The men they wanted, smugglers
and cattle stealers, gave themselves up.
"Michel Rene, John Fidele, Joe
Snake, Doninick Levine, Angus Nc
Lean and Philip Leseur,' said Hender-
son half to himself as lie ran over the
Names keeping tally by short mods in
the direction of each man mentioned.
six in ALL he repeated slowly, and
then wheeling sharply on his heel SO
that his spurs iingled as he turned he
faced the owner of the house.
and Big Martini" he queried.
"Where is hep
Old Simon Michaud, whom his half
breed friends had nicknamed Simon
the Crane" because of his long, thin
legs and great bony nose, wriggled UNI
der the question and shifted uneasly
from one foot to the other.
i Gle ees not in re house, sair He hat
not pass zis way since Crissmas. We
haf''-
THAT will Go," interrupted Hender-
son. Il know you're the biggest liar
in the northwest, and | believe you're
lying to me now. Sergeant Warren,
take Harvey and search the place,
barns and all. Fields, you stay with
me and mount guard over the prison
ers''
The sergeant and trooper did as they
We're bid, and Henderson settled him
self in chair by the table to await
their return. He was a determined
man, and when any hard or difficult
work was to be done Commissioner
I Lawrence always sent for Inspector
! Henderson, and the trust was never
misplaced. Henderson invariably full
! filed his mission to the utmost, and
! that was why in the present instance
! he chose to consider his raid failure,
4 because the prime outlaw of the lot
had eluded his clutches.
/ half an hour later Sergeant Warren
reported to the inspector that a search
of the premises had failed to disclose
any trace Of Big Martin. A watch
! was set on the prisoners, and In
/ spector Henderson threw himself on
long, hard settee with the intention
! of taking a nap. 1t must have been
midnight when he awoke with the
startled feeling of man who has seen
a horrible vision in his sleep The
wind was whistling around the house
1 in the maddest fashion, and as Hen
derson raised himself on his elbow
some fine particles of snow drifted in
| through the crevices of Il nearby Win
dow and fell upon his face. The floor
creaked in the next room. and through
the half open door Henderson saw, or
thought he saw, a huge shadow glide
past. He was on his feet in an Instant
and gave the alarm.
A. moment later there was a clicking
of carbine locks as Warren and Har-
voy answered the inspectors signal.
Then a crash of glass from the next
room and gust blew a cloud of snow
in the faces of the three men, who
sprang to the shattered window a
man was tloundering along through the
drift a good hundred yards from the
house. A sharp tongue of fire shot out
into the darkness, and a Remington
bullet sung past the fugitive's head.
But he never paused for an instant.
A minute later the entire establish
ment was gathered around Inspector
Henderson, who stood with his hand
on the door latch.
1T amt safe, sir, to go after him
such a night as this" demonstrated
Sergeant Warren in his usual respect
full fashion. IT'S a-blowin hard from
the norwest, and man 'ud freeze to
death on the prairie"
Eat is So" promptly interposed ST.
mon the Crane, IAN beside re groom
! dreeft-he is drefful bad"
You rascal" snapped Henderson,
turning upon the last speaker. You
had him hidden here all the time, wait
ing to let him loose when we left. No,
Warren, I'll do this thing myself.
There's no need to risk any one else,
and I'll catch Big Martin, ground diff
or no ground drift" and, with last
glance at the cylinder Of his pistol, he
passed out into the night.
He was as good as his word. He
caught Big Martin half a mile along
the edge Of the trail that led from
Simon Michaud's house, and here two
days later Captain Jackson, with a
squad of six troopers, found little hill
lock Of drifted snow, from which a
Al.