Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1907-07-19

and stopped. l supposed that his rea-
son for stopping was to invite me to
ride But was sadly mistaken.
"Bub,' he said. still smiling, "give
me that money! Quick!"
For a moment l was dumb with as
constituent; then recovering my speech,
| blurted out, "W-w-whatY
Il say, give me that money! And
be quick about it," The stranger leap
ed to the ground, and leading his horse,
advanced toward me threateningly.
That the man was a robber, and that
he was In earnest, had now no doubt.
My first thought was to run; but how
could l, fleet-footed as was. hope to
outrun that magnificent black horse?
The next moment a brighter thought
struck me. To my left, across the
road, were fields of wheat; and to the
right, beginning at the roadside, not
more than three feet distant, was a
dense forest. l thought very rapidly.
The stranger, now advancing a few
steps, repeated his demand: Give me
that money" And his little green,
beadlike eyes twinkled most unpleas-
antly.
Taking the wallet from my pocket,
held 1t out toward him. Here it ls,"
l said, bitterly.
He stepped forward to take 1t when,
with quick, outward jerk of my hand,
flung the wallet far back among the
trees at the roadside.
You little scamp" said the robber,
the smile now gone from his face.
"Why did you do that?
II don't know" l replied, astonished
at my own audacity, unless it was
because l wanted to-"
IIe led his horse to the edge of the
wood, ana tried 10 tie the bride round
one of the trees. But the girth of the
tree was too great, as, indeed was that
of every tree in sight He glanced
about In vain search for something
to which he might hitch his horse. But
although he was unsuccessful in this,
he had gained one point he had placed
himself and his horse between me and
the thicket In which l had flung the
wallet.
Bub, he said, suddenly turning,
his features again lighted by that
pleasantest of smiles, lets be reason
able!'
made no reply, but waited o/hear
what he had to say.
Now" he continued, 81 can't trust
you to go into the woods to look for
the purse, because II you found 1t you
wouldn't come back. And l can't go
myself, because there is no place here
to tie my horse. But I'll tell you
what will do. If you will hold the
horse for me, and not let 1t go, nor at
tempt to play any tricks on me, I'll go
and find the purse and divide the
money with you. You know it will be
much better to go home with forty dol
lars than with nothing"
This seemed very reasonable, be-
cause for the moment l saw before me
no choice except that between losing
all the money and losing only half.
preferred losing only half. So l
stepped over to where the robber stood.
"All right" l said, grasping the
bride. "Pll hold the horse"
The robber, with the parting injunc-
ton, "Now remember what | said 7"
plunged into the thicket.
Looking up the pike now, 1 saw at
glance the explanation of his hasty
terms; for there, not more than quar-
ter Of mile distant, came farm wag-
on drawn by two gray horses. Evil
IDENTIFY having seen this only moment
before, and believing that he had but
few brief minutes, In which to consum.
mate his robbery, he had resorted to
this daring scheme in sheer despera-
tion.
For minute or two I could hear
the man thrashing around In the tan
gled brush; and then, apparently sur
missing that the wallet had fallen at
point some distance back, he pushed
farther into the forest and l could hear
him no longer.
The farm wagon was rumbling along
toward me at snails pace. l knew
that 1t would be useless for me to cry
for help while the farmer was at that
distance; for even If l could make my
voice heard, the rObber in his wrath
might do me bodily .injury-perhaps
kill me-and escape before the farmer
could possibly arrive. So stood there,
my hands trembling, and prayed in an
incoherent way that the robber might
be delayed until the farmer was near
enough to render me some assistance.
Nearer and nearer the wagon came.
could almost distinguish the features
Of the farmers face. and could hear
r,,.tf II t,xl., Ii 20