Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1906-01-13
The COIonePS Compliments

came to get inl9 state pcSoA on u Iii
teen-year sentence are po.n.5 l sinai
not discuss. There wee / number y
US who did not believe bi1l g,Iity .
the crime ajtc gcd, 81 sJe cane tcse,...
III an e-40,C 10 at let L..1glte l.
in.pc.sop.lrn t
lie pian a. developed VS. ID rcs3"
to or4c-y pc 81 :. .1. l.
colonel had uotn IL ~s,o4 for S.
months ana lld Jsen i..,.e {, IL. 81
II other W3rus, lie VS. .es..11l@
who hal the free on Of lie y. a. l.
idea with US wa; To '.a..Oe lie ri,
guard to let the co.ol.l /. IS o. Z l3a
of chairs going out. T.. man Llu4iue
away the chairs for 81 'nent was
free man, and he must be bribed Tie
man who always accomp MED him t.
the depot was a convict, but one OF tle
Oldest TRUSTEES ABOUT the institution
He must be fixed.
Here were three men to be won over,
and one of them a prison official. We
had to move slowly and cautiously in
the matter There was money in plenty
to do with, but there was need of
diplomacy as well. The first man to
be won over was the gate guard The
discipline was such that the guards
were changed every other day, but the
change was only between two men,
One was single mantle other mar
ried. We selected the latter, although
we judged him to be less yielding
than the former. AS a man of family,
with his bread and butter at stake, he
would either betray us at once in
hopes to make himself more solid with
the warden, or he would stop and
think it over and end by taking our
bride. Our line of reasoning was cor
rect. He bluffed a bit and then agreed
to think it over and a week later he
was our man.
We had little trouble with the
driver. He was also married man,
but his wife had gone west and he
wanted to join her and buy a farm.
1t was solely question of pride with
him. 1t was for him to bring over his
trusty, and that was soon accom-
plished. When we had our men Sc
was to be passed out in place of the
trusty, who was to conceal himself
for at least half a day The colonel
would go out at o'clock in the morn
ing, and the load would be driven
straight to the depot, mile away. In
the freight sheds would be con-
cealed a suit of citizens clothes and
a false wig and whiskers, and the
colonel would make the change as
rapidly as possible. He would then
proceed on foot to a certain street
corner and there find a horse and
buggy awaiting him. He would drive
across the country a distance of four
teen miles and then go into hiding
with a farmer who had been told q
story to pass muster
We went over our plan a dozen
times, but could find no weak spot in
it. 1t was bound to work, and let
me say that it did work. There was
no hitch-no betrayal. The thing went
off as if timed by the watch. Before
the colonel was missed at the prison
he had almost reached his hiding place
fourteen miles away. l say that no
plan ever worked smoother, but only
up to certain point. That point was
at the very end Of it. In driving along
on the last mile Of the road the colonel
reached a spot where the highway sep
arated and ran around a mass of rock,
leaving an island in the center. 1t
was only twenty feet across this strip,
and eighty feet down the road the
two roads became one again. A young
woman had been to the village to make
some purchases, and in returning with
her horse AID buggy some part of the
harness gave way. She was out on her
feet making repairs when the colonel
came along. He was not on her side
Of the island, and he had liberty at
stake, but he was Don Juan in his
way. Here was a damSel in distress,
and he could not pass without Offering
her his assistance. He left his buggy
and crossed over and bowed like a
cavalier of old and said:
Fair lady, l observe that you need
assistance. l shall be f1attered if al
lowed to offer it,
He had forgotten his false wig and
whiskers, which were easy to be spot
ted at close range; also the fact that
he was talking to the unromantic
daughter of a hard headed farmer. She
took him for a brigand instead of 8
knight, and began to scream. Between
her screams the colonel managed to
compliment her on her looks and admit
that his heart had been touched at first
sight, and in throwing one compliment
after another he gradually drew near
er. The damsel in distress was too
frightened to run away, but she was
not too frightened to think of resist
ance. The colonel certainly looked
tough in his disguise, and his seductive
voice couldn't make up for it.
The weapon handiest to the girl was
q bottle of household ammonia lying ON
the buggy seat. She grabbed it and
hurled it in the colonels face. 1t
smashed at the impact, and next mo-