Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1909-02-13

with the worst kind of white men that
then infested the frontier. These were
horse thieves. And horse stealing in
those days was crime that came
close in ranking with cold blooded
murder.
Once I wanted grizzly bear skin, or,
rather, one of my sisters wanted it for
a rug l had promised as soon as
should have time to get her one, for
even in those times big grizzly could
not be shot in ones dooryard. 1t meant
a long trip through the hills and more
than little danger.
After Shooting a bear and skinning
him l started back, but the going was
bad. BY sunset | saw l couldn't hope
to get back to camp that night. So
looked about for good, sheltered spot
to camp. Just then my horse whin-
MED. His call was answered from a
hollow just behind the creek bed along
which l was riding. l dlsmounted,
fastened him and, rife in hand, went
on to investigate.
There, hidden in little gulch, were
about twenty horses, They weren't
guarded. Looking around in the dusk,
l saw a dugout about hundred yards
up the hill. Lights appeared through
the cracks. l clambered up to learn
who was there.
/ knocked at the blanket door. The
voices l had heard as I climbed the
slope were hushed all at once. Then l
heard a half dozen sharp clicks. That
meant the cooking Of rifles or revolv-
ers. began to wonder what company
] had stumbled into. Before I could
move back some one called:
who's there"
"a friend and a white man." I re-
piled.
The door opened, and a big, ugly
looking fellow stepped forth and said;
Come In"
/ accepted the invitation with some
degree of fear and hesitation, which l
endeavored to conceal, as l thought 1t
was too late to back out and that 1t
would never do to weaken at that
point, whether they were friends or
foes Upon entering the dugout my
eyes fell upon eight as rough and viii
famous looking men as l ever saw
in my life Two of them l instantly
recognized as teamsters who had been
driving in Lew Simpsons train a few
months before and had been dis
charged.
They were charged with the murder
ing and robbing of ranchman, and,
having stolen his horses, it was sup
posed that they had left the country.
/ gave them no signs Of recognition,
however. deeming it advisable to let
them remain in ignorance as to who
/ was. 1t was a hard crowd, and
concluded the sooner / could get away
from them the better it would be for
me. l felt confident that they were a
band Of horse thieves.
Where are you going, kid, and
who's with you" asked one Of the
men, who appeared to be the leader Of
the gang
II am entirely alone. left Horse
shoe Station this morning for bear
hunt, and, not finding any bears, l
had determined to camp out for the
night and wait till morning." said l,
land just as was going into camp a
few hundred yards down the creek l
heard one of your horses whlnnying,
and then l came to your camp"
where's your horse" demanded the
boss thief.
81 left him down at the creek" an
swered.
They proposed going after the horse,
but | thought that would never do, as
1t would leave me without any means
of escape, and l accordingly said in
hopes to throw them off the track,
Captain, I'll leave my gun here and
go down and get my horse and come
back and stay all night"
But my clever little game did not
work at all, as one of the desperadoes
spoke up and said:
Jim and l will go down with you
after your horse, and you can leave
your gun here all the same, as you'll
not need it."
"All right" l replied, for l could
certainly have done nothing else.
Come along" said one of them, and
together we went down the creek and
soon came to the spot where my horse
was tied. One Of the men unhitched
the animal and said, "I'll lead the
horse"
VERY WELL" said /. Owe got cou-
pie of sage hens here. Lead on"
l picked up the sage hens which 1
had killed a few hours before and
followed the man who was leading the
horse, while his companion brought
up the rear. The nearer we approach
ed the dugout the more I dreaded the
idea of going back among the villain
Gus cutthroats. My first plan Of es-
cape having failed, l new determined
upon another. l had both Of my re-
volvers with me, the thieves not hav-
ing thought 1t necessary to search me.
1t was now quite dark, and l purpose
ly dropped one of the sage hens and
asked the man behind me to pick 1t up. |
While he was hunting for 1t on the
ground / quickly pulled out one Of my |
Colts revolvers and struck him a
tremendous blow on the back Of the
head, knocking him senseless to the