Year: 1869

rival of two or three coaches, and did
not start till after dinner, very often


had a good distance to drive after dark.
It was in the dead of winter, and the
season had been a rough one. A great


deal of snow had fallen, and the drifts


were plenty and deep. The mail that l
carried was not due at LittletOn by con-
tract until one o'clock in the morning,
but that winter the postmaster was Oblig-


ed to sit up little later than that hour
for me.


One day in January, when drove up


my mail at Danbury, the postmaster
called me into his office.


"Pete," said he, with an important,


serious look, there's some pretty heavy
money packages in that bag and he
pointed to it as he spoke. He said the
/ money was from Boston to some land


agents near the Canada line. Then he
asked me if I'd got any passengers who


were going through to LittletOn. [ told
him did not know. But suppose I
have nOt?' says I.


'Why,', said he, the agentOf the low


er rOUt came in to-day, and he says that
there were two supiCiOus characters on
/ the stage that came up last night, and


he suspects that they have an eye upon
this mail, so that it will stand in hand


to be a little careful"


! He said the agent had described one


Of them as a short, thick-set fellow,
about forty years of age, with long hair,
and a thick, heavy clump of beard Un-


der his chin, but none on the side of his
face. He didn't know anything about
the other. I told him I guess there


wasn't much danger.


"Oh no, not if you have not passen-
I gers all the way through; but only told
you of this so that you might look out
sharp when you change horses"


I answered that 1 should do 50, and
! then took the bag under my arm and
! left the office. / slowed the mail under
my seat a little more careful than usual,
placing il so IOoUld keep my feet against
/ it, but beyond that 1 did not feel any
/ concern. 1t was past one when we
started, and 1 had four passengers, two
Of whom rode only to my first stopping
place. I reached GOwan's Mills at dark,
when we stopped for supper, and where
my other two passengers concluded to


stop for the night.


! About six o'clock in the evening l left
GOwan's Mills alone, having two horses
and pung.


! I had seventeen miles to go, and a
| hard seventeen it was, too. The night


was quite clear, but the wind was sharp
and cold, and loose snow flying in all
directions, while the drifts were deep


and closely packed. 1t was slow, tedi-
GUS work, and my horses soon became
leg weary and restive. At the distance
! of six miles I came to little settlement
called Bulls Corner, where I took fresh
horses. I'd been twO hours going that
distance. As / was going to start, man
came to me and asked me if I was going
through to LittletOn. told him should
go through if the thing could possibly be
done, He said he was very anxious to
go, and as he had no baggage I told him
to Jump in and make himself as comfort
able as possible. / was gathering up
nv lines, when the hOstIer came up and
and asked me if / knew that one of my
horses had cut himself badly. 1 Jump
ed out and went with him, and found
that one of the animals had got a deep
cork cut on the off fore foot. l gave such
directions asI considered necessary, and
was about to turn away, when the host
Ter remarked that he thought I came
alone, I told him did. "Then where
did you get that passenger p said he.


" He just got in" I answered,
"GOt in from where ?''


''I don't know"


dwell now" said the hOstIer, that's
! kind of curious. There amt been no
such man at the house, and I know there
amt been none at any of the neigh
| bOrs."


"Let's have look at his face" said
| I. ave can get that much at any rate.
| Do you go back with nae, and when I


get into the bqng, justhOld your lantern
/ SO the light will shine into his face.U


He did as wished, and as I stepped
| into the pung, l got fair view of such
portions of my passengers face as was
not muffied up. I saw a short thick
| frame, full, hard features, and I could
almost see that there was Il heavy beard
under the chin. / thought of the man
l whom the Postmaster had described to
me; but did not think seriously upon


it until I had started. Perhaps I had
gone half a mile when noticed that the


mail bag wasn't in its place under my
! feet.


HalloOr' says 1, holding up my


horses little, where's my mail i"
! My passenger sat OH seat behind me,
and I turned toward him.


Here Is a bag of some kind Slipped


back under my feet,n he said, giving it


a kick, as though he would shQVe it for
ward.


Just at this moment my horse lumber
4 ed into a deep snow drift, and ! was
]


snow in front of them, and lead them
! through it.


This took me all of fifteen minutes


and when got i'll again pulled the


mail bag forward and got my feet upon
! it. AS / was doing this I saw the man
! taking something from his lap, beneath
! the buffalo, and put il into his breast
pocket. This thought was pistol. /
! had caught the gleam of q barrel in the
starlight, and when had time to reflect
! l knew I could not be mistaken.


About this time I began to think
somewhat seriously, From what had
heard and seen, I soon made up my
mind that the individual behind me not
only meant to rob me of my mail, but
| he was prepared to rob me of my life
/ If l resisted him he would shoot me, and
EpeThaps he meant to perform thatdelect-
able operation at any rate. While 1 was
| pOndering the horses plunged into an
other deep snOw-drift, and was again
! forced to get out and tread down the
snow before them. / asked my passen-
! ger if he would help me, but he didn't
J feel very well, and wouldn't try; so /
| worked all alone, and was all of a quar-


ter of an hour getting my team through
When 1 got into the sleigh againI be-
| gan to feel for the mail bag with my
/ feet. found it where had left it; but
when I attempted to withdraw my foot
] I discovered it had becOm entangled in
something thought it was the buffalo,
and tried to kick clear; but the more I
| kicked, the more closely was it heidi


reached down my hand, and after feel
! ing about a few moments, I found that
my foot was in the mail bag! I felt


again, and found my hand in among the
! packages Of letters and papers, | ran


my fingers over the edges of the OPEN


ing and became assured that the stout


leather had been cut with knife


Here was a discovery! I began to


wish that had taken little more fore
! thought before leaving Danbury; but as
! ! knew that making such wishes was


only a waste of time, quickly gave it


up, and began to consider what / had
! best to do under existing circumstances.
I wasn't long in making up my mind
upon a few essential points. First, the


man behind we was q villain; second, he
| had cut open the mail bag and robbed it
| of some valuable matter-he must have
! known the money letters by their size
| and shape; third, he meant to leave the


stage on the efirstOppOTtunity, and fourth
! ly, he was prepared to shoot me If at
! tempted to arrest or detain him.
I revOlved these things over in my


mind, and soon thought Of a course to


pursue. I knew that to get my hands