Year: 1869

1 /


| In the autumn of 1S17 had occasion to
visit the Land Office at jackson, Mo. My
route lay through the county of C.
| Two years before the date of my adventure.


my niece, Miss b., was married to Mr.. NJ !,


who had moved to c. county, of which


he was now sheriff AS | had not seen my


niece since her marriage, [ concluded to


make it convenient to stay with her one
night while on my way to Jackson.


On the morning Of the second day after
leaving home I reached the home Of my
friends in the town of s.. Ny niece,
Mrs. NJ, was delighted to see me; and, after
the ordinary salutations were over. she re-
Iquested me to stable and feed my horse, as
| Mr.. NJ. was absent from home. [ immediate
ly complied, for the comfort of my horse is
always my first care Having made Bob


as comfortable as horse flesh could reason


ably wish to be, returned to the house.


where hastily prepared supper was al


ready waiting me. Those who have ridden


all day over rough country, without stop
ping for ''the inner comforts" can under


stand how readily I dispatched the delicious
light bread, cold sweet milk and rich yellow
butter, together with good things ''too
tedious to mention" that my tidy little
niece had set before me. In the course of
the evening, which passed pleasantly and
rapidly, I learned that Mr.. NJ. had left
home on the same morning that | had left
mine, and that he would be gone two days
longer. This [ regretted, as [ very much
wished to see him. I promised myself


however that [ would stop again on my
return, when the sheriff would be at home


Before refining for the night, Mrs NJ. con-
fided to me that there was large sum of
money in my bed-chamber, mostly in gold,
of which her husband, as collector Of the
county, had charge, and with which he was
to start for Jefferson city in few days;
and, also, that he had charged her not to


let any one stay in the house during his
absence. [ laughingly replied that the no.
tice came too late, as [ had already taken


up my quarters, but that I would stand
guard over the money-bags till morning.
With that I took candle and retired to my
room.


took out my two pistols, laid them on
the table by my bedside, and undressed for
bed. The possibility of danger, however,
strongly impressed my mind. The great
risk of SO large a sum of money being
guarded by only a helpless woman i'm
pressed my mind more and more the long


er thought about it. / became so rest
| less that I arose from my bed, relighted
my candle, examined my pistols to see that
they were dry, reprimed and recapped the


tubes, and, having placed them under my
pillow in such position that I could grasp
them at moments warning, [ again re-
tired to my bed, almost disposed to laugh
at my folly. Soon fell asleep. How long
| slept | don't know. l slept long enough
| for my mind to indulge in one of those
strange, mysterious freaks that we call
! dreaming. Three men seemed to enter by
| force. l heard the screams of my neice,
heard the robbers demand the money, heard
| them advancing up the stairway. and saw
| the bright flash of lights as with candle in
hand, they entered my chamber. During
all this time [ lay utterly helpless. I
knew that if [ could shake off this ter
rible spell that bound me I could
save all; but my body refused obedience to
my will-not hand, not finger could |
move. The robber, for there now seemed
to be but one in my chamber, instead of
approaching the chest containing the
money, walked directly toward my bed
wonder that the agony that I then suffered
didn't turn my head gray at once. The
robber who approached me seemed to be a
man of gigantic stature, and in features
more terrible than anything my mind could
imagine. He seemed clad in a loose-foW-
ing robe, parted at the neck, in his left
hand he held what seemed to be a flaming
TORCH and in his right a Strengthening
weapon of huge size. AS he almost reach
ed my bedside, by protracted and terrible
effort broke the spell that bound me, and
in moment I was awake. Instead of nv
grim, gigantic yisitant, with his flaming
torch and huge blunderbuss little woman,
none other than my niece, stood before me,
with her long white gown reaching almost
to the floor, the very counterpart of that
worn by my imaginary robber. In her left
hand she held candle, i'll her right the
key of the money chest. In short, she was
the giant of my dream; and my excited
imagination had converted very pretty
woman into a frightful monster.


In a moment was myself again; and a
significant motion of my niece's head and
hand imposed silence. [ was not little
puzzled. What could it mean? [ didn't re-
main long in uncertainty, for my niece dis
closed in q whisper that three men had en-
tered the house, and ordered her, at the
peril of her life, to deliver them all the
money IN her possession.


Danger frequently quickens our wits, and
in this case think it had that effect with
me. [ had it all in a moment. Snatching
up an apron that CHANGED to be lying in the
chair by my bedside, I directed Mrs M. to
tie it around her body, and in this to place
the money. Then cooking one of my pis-
tolls, I placed it in her right hand and di-
rected her to hold the apron in her left, and
with the pistol firmly held in her right, and
concealed in the folds of her apron, she
was to descend, and to whichever of the
robbers came forward to receive the money
she was to give the contents of the pistol.
[ was to follow carefully down the stairs,
and conceal myself behind the stair door
until she fired; then | was to spring out of
my hiding place, and with my remaining
pistol, give q salute to one of theremaining
two, leaving the disposition of the third
one to be determined by the circumstances.
| In far less time than it takes to tell it, this
plan was carried into execution. The few
moments that elapsed after [ reached the
| foot of the stairs before [ was signaled to
| the scene of action, seemed almost endless.
Would the little woman have nerve enough
to fire That was the rub. So intense was
my excitement, that / feared the violent
beating of my heart would betray my pres
ence. A few seconds, however, answered the
question. A stunning report told me that
Mrs. M. had done her part, and signaled me
to do mine. AS leaped from my place of
concealment, | was just in time to see the
forms of two men rushing out of the door.


[ discharged my pistol at the flying forms,


but, so far as I ever heard, without effect


Mrs. M. had made better shot, ana had
secured her game. The wounded man Law
upon the floor, groanng hideously, appar-
emily unconscious of the glitterlng coins
that lay IN strange profusion all around him.
| Poor scoundrell he had got far more than
he had bargained for. On examination l
found that he had received very severe,
but didn't think mortal wound But the
strangest part ofmy story is yet to be told.


When stripped OF his disguise, our robber
turned out to be no other than the veritable
sheriff himself, arrested in the execution of
a deep scheme Of rascahty by the hand of
his own wife.


| The whole matter was now explained


NJ. had conceived plan of robbipg himself
of large amount of money belonging to
| the state, and, with this nice sum, he
would remove to partsunknown, and enjoy
his illgotten fortune. Bat the best laid
plans of mice and men "gang aft aglee.
NJ. recovered, moved to Oregon, and for
/ anCTbt | ly1nyIT &c c+1 nf