The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-08-04
SAW JESSE JAMES TVICE
A BOY'S MEETING WITH TWO
NOTED OUTLAWS.
wood Hste's Cruelty Made q swimmer Of
Him -Josse Jsmes's stStking Appear.
anee-LAst visit % Old Chum-HisP Pro-
sentiment Of tho Fate lie Was 10 Meet.

~ NtRD.t
~snce-LAss visit % Old Chum-Hisp Pro-
sentiment Of tho Fate lie Was TO Meet.
Not long g I met UP with young
Jesse James, said a man. the son Of an
army officer. who spent his youth at Western
army posts. young Jesse recently came
out at she top Of his law class In Kansas
City.
He 10 a bright but singularly taoiturn
ohap-ike his dad before him in that re-
spect, He looks a good deal like his father,
barring the elder Jesse's beard. and this
10 q boost for him. for the outlaw was q
handsome mana man who, though he
came Of stock rather below middling. had
tbs carved features and many other points
Of the thoroughbred. including remarkably
small hands m feet.
IL had two good looks at Jesse James,
the -ou~tlsw-once when he was living and
the other when he was dead. And, with
my younger brother. / was once at the
age Of 8 the terrified and shrieking victim
OF a famous member Of the James gang,
Wood Hite.
THAI little incident was an odd al air.
IL was due to that desperado's innate
cruelty and his hankering TO infiict torture
upon human creatures-for Hite was the
most reckless and merciless devil Of the
James gang. I've often heard it said-that
my brother and | became pretty good
swimmers.
My brother was 7 and l was only q
little bit more than s. and we used TO sneak
away from home to 90 swimming in the
wicked Missouri River. which flows past
Fort L~savenworth. When We got down
to our regular wallowing spot at the river
side one hot afternoon We found q huge
red haired and red bearded fellow sitting
in the shade OF a tree close to the verge.
flaming himself with his sombrero.
He spoke to us in an agreeable way
and we didn't mind him. We stripped to
fool around In the shallow water. The red
bearded man watched us for a while, and
then he climbed into an old leaky skin that
was pulled up on the river bank.
Oct In. young 'uns,' he said 20 us pleas
sntly-h had an agreeable speaking voice
when he choee to make II so. and we'll have
q little ride
I'VE climbed into the stern sheets OF the
skin, a pair OF pleased naked youngsters.
Without saying a word the red bearded
man rowed the skif out to the middle OF
the Big Muddy. which is q mile or nearly q
mile wide at Fort Leavenworth, and the
current was as swift as a millrace out there
and filled, with sucking eddies. When he
pulled the boat to midstream, he dropped
the oars. rose, calmly stepped TO where we
sat huddled In the stern sheets, picked US
up one by one and deliberately tossed US
over the side OF the skifY into the arrowy
! river.
Did we SWIM Well, youth observe
that l am here for one, to show that we
swan all right. We had to swim. There
wasn't anything to il.
= Il don't suppose Hite really meant to
brown us All he wanted to do was to tor
tire us. We spluttered and hollered and
shrieked, but we swan. As we passed
down with the current he picked up the
oars and followed us in the skif.
we got hold Of the skif and he helped
us In. He allowed us to breathe for a bit,
and then he threw us overheard again.
He repeated this half a dozen times or
more.
I'VE whimpered and begged, but he paid
no attention to that; He'd just pick us up
and chuck us into the s~wirling stream like
as II we we're part Of a skifload. OF cobble-
stones, take ms out when we began to show
signs Of complete exhaustion, and then
when we'd rested up in the boat for a short
spell. heave us overheard again. He got
- an hour A. II and rowad ,s eshnra'o'S
o'yW S.I ~ - ~ - % asnVre.
"e nsu. u oomun; no .uea MO tne man
M. noo.s = ~. a Mooa hlte.
nIleu W auo. usJSpesIo' was wing IN
sn1 nncss"e NJ hrn,har . vnS heavehCorth
sn - nhara. ~ s"oT iona
ven, .So ~. W c1iaooose
morgue, snu ne uoooSSA N !hCo me deed
room Donsyan ZOO .ne sneet from his
Iace; sho NY n;th 10y sno exchanges
cnS,xy h ,oTsSs ssn sn;oy,n. I har,. ne va tne
man wno uc c enJyya"s h,nseiL nav Day
~ tossing us i"'o '"e ni'oo'o OF the big
"u.uuuMyy. o, A.. -
wnen Nc ~, ou. % .ne uedu room We
lmmedieteIy pegsn' OF course' 70 Drag TO
our 10y Ras sovu. Low Ieu peen IN the
sams skim Nun .le uead uesperado OF the
m ouncn. anu 10Y ne had cnuoked US
Into tn9 ws.eI = o. .ns., anu woro OIL
rcecneo ny oao rev Gays aver; and
supp9se tne W. oi w weIe not whaieo TO a
insnzIe or sny.nins nke that.
In pr0tnor Snu were pretty good
swimmers fIom tnaC umo ON. Inc tortur-
ine Vutiaw ~ gwen us sw.mming nerve
we nao connuonoe' ior "eu hao a stin
tesn,
~ was only eoouSa yea. aLter that when
1 saw jesse Jdu1eb ninSeu HHVe ana dead,