Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1913-07-18
My Lecture
on India
It Achieved a Result Be-
yond What Was
Intended
BY DONALD cHAN1BERLIN

u blulldT cnhuBe OF necessity came
over the outlaws we had to deal with.
The horse stealing industry was not
as profitable as It had been and was
better taken cart Of by those who had
horses to lose. Wholesale robbery had
become less lucrative. since more bust
ness was done by means OF checks on
banks and less with gold dust The
grub desperate was being transformed
into the butterfly confidence man.
But before he ceased TO be a desper-
ado he began to devote himself TO- con
hdence games. In other words, he was
both. We. had one man in Out region
who was the most dreaded of the
many who had terrorized us and was
at the same time the most artful swim.
dler. His real name was not known,
though many Of the anne he used
were on record with the sheriff. There
fore he acquired the sobriquet OF The
Eel. He had an especial fancy for as
Stunning different characters. BE once
made a fine haul by p~ersonatng a
capitalist out from the east looking
over the ground with a view to estab-
fishing a bank. On another occasion
he represented himself as an agent Of
the postofice department In this he
was not 80 successful. for he was
caught before realizing any plumber.
But he did not hesitate to kill the man
who caught him. and nothing was
gained in the affair by low and order.
One day n man rode into town who
said that The Eel was masquerading
In the region through which he had
passed as q Methodist minister. When
asked how be knew the fellow was
The Eel, he said he had met the minis
ter and at once knew him for The Eel,
whom he had seen.
1 had done some work as deputy
sheriff for which 1 had been commend
ed and was asked II 1 would under
take the Job of going out to try and
bring In The Eel, dead IT alive. l
think the preference was for dead.
since alive meant a trial and a possl-
bility of the prisoners escape either
by lack Of evidence or an artful dodge.
1 signlhed my assent, determining that
I would fight fire with Gre. In other
words, l would play a part just as
The Eel was playing a part.
I donned a black broadcloth suit and
white cravat, intending to pass myself
of for a missionary collecting funds
for the board of foreign missions. We
had had such a man among us recent
ly, and l succeeded In getting some
printed documents he had left behind
him. These l read carefully In order
to be able to talk inteligently on the
subject Of foreign missions. Mounted
on the meekest looking horse | could
and, my %saddlebags filled with the
printed matter, a Derringer pistol slung
in each coat sleeve by an elastic cord,
I started out to find The Eel.
1 was obliged to travel fifty miles be-
fore l found him, but was not dis
pleased to get so far from home that !
would not very likely be recognized.
Though l usually wore a beard, l was
now clean shaved. l tracked The Eel
to n town that was quite civilized for
that region and found him at work
raising funds for the ostensible pur-
pose Of building a church. he had
been invited to stop with one Of the
most respectable citizens and was evil
IDENTIFY on the way to make an excellent
scoop.
1 inquired as to those citizens who
were most interested In The Eels
church building scheme and, selecting
one, Abner Smith, called upon him, in
troduced myself as James Ridgeway.
missionary in India, and, telling him
that ! had come among the people of
the town to raise funds for foreign mis-
sions. asked his assistance. He re-
piled that | had arrived at an inoppor-
tune time, since an effort had been
started by the Rev. Mr.. Swartout, who
had also recently come to town to build
a church. I suggested that Mr.. Swart-
out and l might possibly work togeth-
er, since we We're both In the same
service, and I would like Mr.. Smith to
bring us together. He consented and
with the usual western hospitality In
vited me to be his guest during my
stay in the town.
That same afternoon l was intro
duced to the Rev. Mr.. Swartout, whom
I at ono recognized as The Eel by a
descriI ton Of him I had secured be-
fore leaving home. He was a rather
tail, sharp faced man. with black hair,
which he wore quite long. His eye
a steel gray, and on meeting one
Of his W pretended calling be looked
through 1t with a suspicion which.
though not noticed by others present,
was not lost on me. But l at once set
about convincing the reverend gentle
man that he had nothing to fear from
me. especially in his church building
enterprise, by offering to work with
him In his own scheme
let us FIRST lay the foundation" I
said earnestly. 'by building a church
for these good people. After the church
Is finished there will be ample lime to
do something In missionary work. For
my part, / shall not attempt 10 raise
any funds here, but viii gladly re
main for a few days and give you all
assistance in my power"
Noufd sac hfa fhouoht 4, hf. -.