Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-10-17
house after they had pieced. the letteI
together

mousse alter tney ndu pleceu' the letter
| together.
But the trail had vanished. -Four
Eyed Jacks" advent had given the ex-
pedition a farce-comedy turn and the
posse gave up the pursuit, with one
| exception. That was Jackson. He
| looked as much the desperate pursuer
as 'Four-Eyed Jack" looked the des-
perado. His weight didn't drop a notch
under $50 pounds, and he carried most
of that in front, under his belt. An
amateur getting acquainted with his
first gun could have hit Jackson at the
mile, and a one-legged man ought to
, have left him in the stretch. But Jack
son had an eye that glowed like
smothered fire under his shaggy brows,
and his face, fringed with glossy black
whiskers, was intelligent and uIfear-
ing. He said little in the debate at the
ranch house over the pursuit, but ev-
cry time he got the chance he voted to
go on regardless of encouragement or
discomfort, although in the latter res
pect he must have been the worst suf-
ferer in the posse.
Nobody evinced any particular i'm
patience with Jackson because Of this
persistence, for he was known to pos
sess the disposition of taking criminal
catching rather seriously. Previously
he had, single handed, captured a par
ticularly desperate character, the lat
ter ceasing to be such nthe course Of
the capture He mistook the accurate
and swift capabilities Of Jackson's
avoirdupois, becoming corpse there
by, with utter amazement left en-.
graved upon his features.
The posse at Farrington's ranch took
note Of Jackson's exceptions to going
back and voted to leave 'Four-eyed
Jack" to him II he felt that he wanted
Jack personally, together with Charley
Jones, If the latter happened to be in
| cluded.
It developed that this was what
Jackson did want, for he went out in
the trail alone, working on the theory
that -Four Eyed Jack" and Jones were
the right men to look for. Men used
to meet him here and there and ask
him solicitously If he had the terrible
tenderfoot in his pocket. But Jackson
eventually discovered that three men
were travelling to the Blackfoot reser-
walton, up I'M the northern part Of the
state. Then he went down to Helena,
secured an appointment as deputy
United States marshal, picked out a
posse of seven men and also headed for
the reservation.
Jackson appeared to have become
fairly well posted in the course of his
research, for he led his men promptly
to a lonely cabin in the wilds Of the
Indian land. They came up In native
fashion and located four men in the
cabin. By some certain process Jack
son worked out the correct deduction
that three of the cabins occupants had
robbed the Northern Pacific and met
there to plan a Great Northern hold
up, as developed later.
The seven men and Jackson sur
rounded the cabin and demanded a sur
render Immediately the cabin began
to exude and to absorb lead. The
posse shot at the holes and chinks in
the log walls, while the men inside
shot at the flashes outside. 1t was a
hopeless fight for the besieged from the
start, and they would have surrendered
but for their leader. Blu reckless dis
regard of his own safety and energy
in defence he inspired a struggle that
was as gallant a thing in the way Of
resistance as men have ever done
against Odds
They held the cabin until toward
night when a bullet smashed through
and the leader died from it in the
smoky, dirty muck Of the besieged
quarters. And deputy marshal lay
dead in the brush outside.
At dark the three survivors made a
dash and got into the woods. Jackson
and his men looked at the corpse In
the cabin and again started in pursuit.
The finish was not difficult or dam
gerous matter. They picked one man
up half starved and freezing by pile
of ties on the Great Northern. Some
body took the trouble to shoot the third
robber and collect the regard. The
fourth proved to be boy recruit who
gave himself up and turned states evil
dence. At the trial in Helena he told
the story Of their leader in the cabin
battle, a criminally desperate man,
who robbed for pastime and fought to
finish.
The capture marked Jackson in pop
ular estimation as a man who would
die with his boots on" an expectation
he fulfilled by failing through scaf-
fold into the basement Of the Capitol
building at Helena. He had served
successfully as the first under-sherin
in Sweet Grass when that county was
created, although he was an ardent
Republican and his superior Demo-
crat.
Throughout the range and mountain
country he was recognized as an au-
thority on tenderfeet. The robber they
found freezing was Charley Jones, and
the dead leader turned over in the cab
in wore the smoth face, minus the
spectacles, of that guileless, timid
greenhorn, "Four-Eyed Jack"