Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-07-14
CARRULOUSNESS
PROVES COSTLY
Thought at First That the Joke
Was on Hold Up
Man.
BUT TABLES ARE TURNED
The Bandit Took Paste Jewels, but
Later Returned and Sc
cured Genuine Ar
ticles.
BUT TABLES ARE TURNED

ticles.
Washington Star: I've just been
reading a dispatch in The Star, with
the Trinidad. Colo, date line, announc-
ing that Bob McManus, the last sur
viving member OF Black Jack Ketch-
um's notorious band of train robbers,
that terrorized Colorado and New Mex
leo for many years, had been captured
at that place" said Caspar Marks. a
we'll known travelling salesman for a
New York diamond firm, who often
visits Washington. That obscure little
item OF news carried me back fourteen
years 10 the summer i had the dis
tinction-to put II In that light and
breezy way-of being n OF Black
Jack Ketchum's victims. It's a story
that I would never have told upon ny
self for years afte- it happened, for
the memory OF IL ranked with me, see
ing that il involved "a lot Of fool vanity
and unnecessary -garTulousness on my
own part. But I've reached the stage
now where / can get as much fun out
or one on myself as upon some other
fellow.
ut happened in the summer of 81,
when | vas a good deal gayer n
more addicted TO talkativeness thar !
can afford 10 be nowadays The begin
ming OF IL was a trip / took on the
Santa Fe east-bound train, returning
from my regular annual tour OF the
west and southwest. i was in the habit
at that time OF wearing a good many of
my samples. so 10 speak, in one shape
or another; for it hadn't then become
a settled maxim that a diamond mar
doesn't help his business a little bit
by parading around with enough gems
on him TO make him look like the
Nizim OF Hyderabad on a feast day.
My outfit of visible white stones con-
sisted of three big studs, three rings,
two collar buttons-onfy one or those
visible, by the way-and a pair OF
sleeve iinks-worth, in all, about $4,000.
Before l started for the east from Al
buQuerQue / had a talk with a jeweler
OF that town that got me to thinking.
Perhaps you are not aware, young
un,' said this Albuquerque jeweler,
that Black Jack Ketchum n his
bunch are working the Santa Fe just
now for all IL is worth. If you don't
know II, Tn telling you now. II you
do know IL, you ought TO be under
treatment. It's al even-money bet that
IL you're imbecile enough 10 carry all
those gew-gaws on you on your trip
back you'il never take them 10 Dem
YER"
n Great tuea.
Badly as l hated to own up at that
time, even to myself, that l didn't know
1t all, l was compelled 10 admit that l
would be making myself an easy mark
IL I didn't take his advice. But ! vas
young enough and vain enough to hate
to surrender my diamond front even
for the couple OF days that my round
about trip to Denver would take. Med
itating upon this subject, l suddenly
became seized with an idea that struck
me as being exceedingly humorous
"A few months before a travelling
ma who sold paste stuff on the road
had had all of the things I wore on me
duplicated in the paste junk n gave
them to me as a sort OF sardonic gift,
telling me that 1 might as we'll save the
wear and tear on the genuine stuff by
wearing the phony goods, which, being
a fanatic on the subject OF his bogus
goods, he declared looked just as good
as the real stuff, anyway. / had put
this paste bunch Of duplicates away in
the bottom OF my trunk. After having
that talk with the Albuquerque jeweler
! suddenly thought of my paste rep
licas. 1t occurred to me that Ii would
be a whopping funny thing to wear
that stuff on my trip to Denver, so
that, IL Black JACK Ketchum should
hold the train and me up, / would be
hAL0A1a w y - SoAA Z
upon him. I just chuckled and Choir
tied over that idea, and the more /
thought about 1t the more screechingly
funny ii seemed to me.
$50 l sent my genuine stones, to-
gether with the rest of my samples and
most Of my money, on 10 Denver by
express. Then / stuck all OF the paste
things In my apparel or around my
person where / had been habitually
nearing the 5nuiii stuff. N TOOK the
train.
To While the Time Away.
when we got TO a point about fifty
miles south Of Trinidad, where / was
to take the Rio Grande for Denver, /
began TO really fear that l wasn't going
to have a chance, after all. TO hand out
my glass goods to a bad man with a
guns. / was a little g.ieved over this,
for / wanted to have h experience OF
being held UP. especially under such
delightful, dead easy conditions.
Three OF us had put in most OF the
| time from the start In playing Califor-
MIA jack for a dollar q corner. II was
a compartment train, and every car
was filled.
THE train slowed up at a little sta
ton about forty miles below Trinidad
in the neighborhood OF IL o'clock. and
when IL started up again the passenger
Il had picked up, on signal, appeared
, - the doorway uf our compartment
and idly watched our game for a while.
HE was a tall. gaunt, commonplace
looking man, except that he had a pair
OF peculiarly black. deep-set and shifty
eyes. He wore a new and very badly
fitting suit OF store clothes, a blue
flannel shirt with a black string tie,
and q black sIouch hat. l didn't take
In all OF these details of his make up al
first, for none OF us paid II particular
attention TO him as he stood leaning
against the jamb of h door
After awhile, however, one OF the
fellows asked him IL he cared TO sit In
10 make Ii a party OF four. and he
smiled in a slow kind Of a way and
reckoned that he didn't mind. Then |
had q chance TO size him up, inc fig
ured 1t out that he was OF about the
make up OF a cook OF a rounding UP
outfit, or a bull whacker going home
TO see his folks. 1 observed, too, that
! every time l looked up from my cards /
caught him coming my array of paste
with his shifty eyes. but / had for
gotten all about the hold up business
by this time, and was only amused 10
hin h a l had hypnotized the new
man In the game with my AXE jewelry.
HE wasn't much of a California
Jack player, and one or the other OF us
original players got his silver dollar
with considerable regularity al the end
OF each game. After q while l asked
n of my friends to give me a bill for
ten silver dollars that I had accumul-
oted. When my friend pulled out a
wad as big al the lower end OF q
horse collar 70 accommodate me I