Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1904-03-09
A VIRGINIA
.....BANDIT
!original.1

! This is a story-a true story Of old
Virginia before the war.
Early in the spring of 1858 a cattle
| buyer when crossing the Bald Top
| mountain on horseback saw walking
before him a young fellow who drag
ged himself along as though tired.
Catching up with him, the cattle buyer
spoke to him.
"Whar yo' goin' atT'
| "Deering." replied soft, boyish
voice. and smooth faced boy looked
up.
"Whar did yo' come fromf
| "Linwood."
| That's quite a ways. Reckon | kin
help yo' a spell Git up behind me-"
The boy sprang up. placed his arms
around the trader. and the two logged
on, chatting pleasantly. Suddenly,
while passing a lonely place, a narrow
| defile in the mountain, the trader felt
something against his head that as
| tonished him-the cold muzzle of pis-
| toll At the same time the boy behind
| him called in as commanding a voice
as he could assume:
| Give me your money or III shootr
The trader, hearing a click. did not
! dare disobey. He took $500 he had in
his pocket and handed it to the boy
| The latter jumped down from the
| horse.
Stranger" he said. "as you're broke
and | took your own pistol from your
belt to do the job here's 500 to buy an
| other
| Handing the trader the money, the
| youthful highwayman ran away, and
the trader went on to Huntley, where,
! finding a sheriff. he reported the rob
berry. A posse was dispatched which
| secured the mountains for three days,
but found no trace of the robber.
Three weeks later peddler was held
up and robbed near the place where
| the trader had lost his money. The
| robber was a small, youthful looking
| person except for a very bushy beard.
| From that time robberies were fire.
| quent in that region, and it was sus-
| pected that a gang of highwaymen
| We're secreted in the mountains, the
| different members of which made
! journeys alone and committed the rob-
berries. But the fact that they were
| committed in the same locality finally
led to the belief that they were per
petrated by one person in different dis
| guises. A deputy sheriff was sent out
| to patrol the mountains, but never
found a person answering to the de-
scription of any of those given of the
desperate. Then a reward Of $500 was
offered
This was enough money to induce
! Gabe Unison and AL Wheaton to
| spend all their time in hunting for the
robber. They lived in the locality
| where the robberies had been commit
ted and were familiar with the roads
| and trails by which the robber might
/ elude his pursuers. One morning, with
| Gabe's bloodhounds in leash, they were
climbing Rattlesnake mountain when
! they met a Jew peddler who had just
been robbed by highwayman with
| bushy beard. Guided by the pcddler.
| the two men went to the place where
! the robbery had occurred and the dog
| placed on the robbers trail. The trio,
dog over trail leading around the
mountain At the end of a couple of
hours the dog gave evidence of coming
| near the object of their search, and
| Gabe caught sight of a form fitting
| along before them. Gabe fired, but
| the figure kept on, though it soon dis
| appeared However, the dog tracked
! the fugitive to the hollow trunk of a
| fallen tree. Having "treed" their man,
| the dog was not allowed to go in after
him. The two men called on the man
| in hiding to come out, threatening to
| smother him with smoke if he refused.
The fugitive did not reply. They
| listened, but could hear no sound with
| in the log. Then the men, fearing
some desperate move, concluded that
| Al should go for assistance while Gabc
remained on guard.
An hour after noon the messenger
directed that the log be forced apart
by means OF axes and wedges. When
| the aperture was well widened the
| party and the dog stood ready to shoot
| or seize the prisoner, but no prisoner
came forth. A form was found lying
on its face perfectly motionless. The
officer took hold of the shoulder and
turned it over. The prisoner was dead.
Gabe's bullet had done the work
| piercing the robber through the back
Then the whiskers fell away. and Il
was seen that they We're false. Gabe
| threw up his hands.
IT'S Nell Prescott"
Such is the story of the only woman
bandit ever known in the state Of ole
Virginia. Nellie Prescott was the
daughter Of Job Prescott who lived at
| the foot of Bald Top mountain. Her
parents We're very poor, and in order
to secure food and clothing for them
she had resorted to highway robbery
Living ut home, she could easily in
male attire hold up wayfarers in the
nptrh borbOnd CHANGING her 2DDpar-