The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-06-08
A PAYMASTER'S
FLIGHT.
toriglnal.l

l Il
eight men acting as a guard to Major
b., who had paid off the force Mt our
post and was going to pay those at
the next He was a small. baldhead-
ed, lean man. except a round stomach.
which begins to protrude upon some
people after they pass forty, with
crafty eye and silent tongue. The
, only words he spoke were directions
as to handling bis safe, small affair
that could easily be lifted by two men
and for which place was arranged
on blackboard wagon which the major
| always used to transport the treasure.
His clerk drove the horse, while the
paymnster sat beside him, the safe be.
tween his legs.
The country through which we es-
corted the paymaster contained wild
and lawless people. thought at the
time that eight men, though drilled
| soldiers and well armed, were small
guard for such purpose. Whether
| the major thought so or not | didn't
know at the time, for .he said nothing
about it. ] learned afterward that the
colonel commanding wouldn't give him
any more. and the paymaster entered
on the trip under protest
We were crossing "A part of what IS
called the Great American desert or
alkallplalns, with nothing there higher
than n mans waist. | rode n couple
of hundred yards IN advance, keeping
n sharp lookout in every direction.
For more than half n day not a living
thing except the members of our party
and gophers was in sight. But sud-
1 denly In turning TO look to our right
| and rear j saw on rise far in the
! distance a mounted figure looking at
us. Judged from the general outline
of horse and man that he was an In
| dian. After what appeared to be
careful survey of MS he disappeared
on the other side of the rise"
felt bit uneasy. Turning, di.
rected each man TO see that his arms
and ammunition were in order and no.
| titled the paymastcr of what had
seen. 1t didn't seem TO trouble him
much. We logged on for few miles
and when emerging from low ground
suddenly heard n minging of yells and
saw on our right n motley crew sew
cral times as large as our own coming
down on us. They were evidently q
mixture of road agents and cowboys,
with sprlnklng of Indians. Their
| leader rode in advance, n revolver in
each hand the only one of the lot who
was not yelling.
had just time TO draw my men u.
In line between the oncomers and the
blackboard before they came within
close range. and | told each man to
| pick one in front Of him as nearly as
he could estimate. Ny men were armed
with repeating rifles, while the attack
Ing party had some guns. but mostly
revolyers. waited till they came
within 200 yards before / gave the
order to fire. Nearly every one of my
troopers brought down his man. The
| gang hesitated, and l gave second
order to fire. This halted them but,
rallied by their leader, they came on,
bringing us within range of their re-
volvers, and my men began TO get hurt.
! For some minutes there was contin-
ued firing on both sides. several Of my
men being put out of the fight, though
but one was killed. My effective force
was reduced TO four men besides my
self, Major b. and his clerk. 1t began
to look as though the robbers were 60
ing to get the safe.
| Suddenly | was astonished to see
| Major b.. who had stood in the buck
board using Il rifle, jump down from
the wagon, cut the traces, spring on
the horses back, and away he went
| like an arrow. The act demoraliZed
my force so that they broke. failed
to rally them, and we were all soon
tumbling after the paymaster. His
! clerk mounted the horse of the man
who had been killed and Joined In the
| flight.
Never have been so incensed in my
| life. The paymaster, a commissioned
officer by his cowardly act had cast
discredlt on me and my men. had
! the modification TO see the bandits
ride down on the safe and capcr joy.
| fully about It. All could do was to
help the wounded men of my com.
mand along, supporting them by turn
In their saddles.
But what surprised me was the feet.
ness of the majors horse. | am no
judge of horsetlesh, and had mis-
taken the animal that drew the buck.
| board for mere beast of burden
Looking ahead, could see the pay
master miles IN advance, fleeing as for
| dear life, and in time he disappeared
| altogether For once IN my life
| placed money before human life and
wished he were in the safe and the
| funds were on his horse. ! thought
with some satisfaction how | would
prefer charges of cowardlce against
| him as soon as we reached the post we
were making for.
| The bandits, having secured the safe
paid no further attention to us, and we
rode on to our destination. What was
| my astonishment on riding into the
garrison TO see Major b. sitting coolly
smoking before an extemporized desk
with heaps of bills before him paying
Off the enlisted men. His belly was
4 gone. 1t was plain that he had taken
it off and placed tia heap of money
4