The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-07-12
A WILD WEST
EPISODE
By aNoR MARSH

graduated from q 1orn1Al scnooA u lie
east, resolved an o1er 70 20 to Denver
70 I'll the position Of teacher. At that
tine the Union PaetHe railroad was
bufsdfnS. and trains were running as
far a. LARAMIE From Laramie the
only pubic Conveyance 70 Denver was
By stagecoach
The train Numbered over long stretch
e. Of aIkah 1eids. q good deal Of The
way beside the Platte river. which. not
having any trees On tn baaks. remind
ed her Of q man with no hair OF beard
Miss Hndred reached Laramie In the
evening, and since the daily coach nd
not leave til the neKt morning. shs
took a room In q tavern and vent 70
bed The town had sprung up nks O
mushroom In the night. comprising that
kind of population which can only be
Understood by a view Of Il Miss HI
dred was tired and would have slept
soundly had II not been for revelry In
q dance hall close BY. One Lady more
for thts setF' SAlamand leftT Swing
your partnergT ~KenoF' were mingled
IN confusion
This introduction 70 western life at
that time was not encouraging, but q
more vivid experience was reserved
for the next day. After a sleepless
night the young schoolma'am break
tasted and went out to board the coach
for Denver. A man stood at the door.
only permitting certain persons to en-
ter. On seeing Miss Hildred he stop
ped her and was about to turn her back
when a man standing near spoke to
him. evidently referring TO the young
lady.
"Are you in it?' asked the man regu-
lating the entrances
Miss Mildred. supposing that he
wished to know II she was going to
Denver, gave an Affirmative nod Of her
head. She got into the coach. the door
was shut and the vehicle rolled away.
Il thort," said a woman. with q very
coarse voice. that there was to be six
Of us ! see there's seven"
That's not countin' the KID" said q
man in a white cravat whish was sup
posed to designate him as a clergyman,
at the same time casting a glance at
| Martha
and three were women, the latter all
being strapping creatures apparently
| as strong as the men. Miss Hildred
was on the back seat sandwiched be-
| tween a man and a woman
-Can you use another weepon, kid
dy7" said the woman beside her. /
got one more'n I need"
Miss Hlldred looked at her blankly.
not understanding what she meant
'Oh, see. NUNS the word" said
the other and made no further ad-
! vances.
There are no outsiders today" said
one of the men. who wore the SOM
brero, wooden shirt and trousers tuck
ed In his boots of the typical westerner
Of the period.
NO" replied a quiet little man, the
only delicate looking person In the
coach. The agent concluded to man
age 1t with only insiders He was
afraid that too many would scare 'em
| or"
All this was Greek to Miss Hildred.
but she was thinking about what she
would find in her new field Of labor
and was not paying any attention to It.
Suddenly a shot rang out ahead
The coach came to a stop. the door
was thrown open, and two men stood
facing 1t with short guns pointing into
the coach.
step out. ladies' and gentlemen"
said the man nearest the door.
No one made a move to do 30. but
one Of the women, apparently much
frightened, cried out Don't shoot
mer' and with her arm raised the
muxxie Of the gun held by the man
standing nearest her Another one of
the passengers at the same time shook
Derringer pistol out Of bis sleeve and
quick as 4 fash of lightning put bull
let into the brain Of the man whose
gun had been knocked up. The quiet
little man covering In a corner sud
denly seemed to explode, and the 9TH
er road agent, for that Is what the
men. without were, fell dead
Miss Hildred at this point tainted
dead away. When she came to her.
self she was stretched out beside the
road. while six men stood about her
The first idea that popped into her
head was as TO where were the three
women passengers. One Of the men
pulled out flask and tried to induce
her to take drink. but she refused.
Raising herself on her elbow In an
effort to get up, she saw two dead men
and tainted again. On coming to her.
self a second time one of the men ex.
claimed:
How in thunder did you get into
this gangg"
, When later the coach rolled into
Denver there was first class story to
: be told. The express company, in or.
der TO entrap a couple OF road agents
who had infested the road, permitted
) 1t to leak out that It would send a
+ treasure by that particular coach. In.
stead It sent six armed men. half of
them In women clothes. Since all were
disguised 1t was not easy for the per.
son who admitted them to the coach
I to tell who belonged 10 the gang: