Year: 1875

night operator in the railroad Office at D,
Iowa. The principal road between Chicago and
Council Bluffs runs through D., and the
great irregular night trains, and the con-
slant danger of collision resulting therefrom,
rendered the position of night operator by no
means an easy one. 1t may be well to men
tion here, as necessary to the following story,
that besides the railroad offices, there was also
at D. a business Office, of the Unien compa-
NY. This we always spoke of as the "down-
town" Office.


One stormy night, not far from eleven o'clock,
sat at my desk-and, for wonder, idle. The
wires had not called for some time, and l was
leaning back in my chair, listening to the wind
outside and rejecting on the loneliness of my
situation. The eastern train had crossed the
river more than an hour ago; all the depot Of
fcials had gone off home, aid, so far as knew,
l was entirely alone in the vast building.


Finally, tired of thinking, picked up the
evening paper, and glanced listlessly over its
columns. Among other things read the de-
tailed account of fearful tragedy that had oc-
Cured fifty miles up the river on the previous
night. Three raftsmen, well known as despe-
rate characters in that vicinity, had entered
the cottage of one Matthews, farmer, living
in an isolated spot-had butchered the farmer
and his children, terribly maltreated his wife,
and then departed as they came, having taken
with them whatever plunder was handy
What interested me most was full description
of the chief of the villainous trio, Tim Lynch.
Here it is:


Give hundred dollars reward will be paid
for information leading to the capture, dead or
alive, of Tim Lynch, the ringleader of the
Matthews tragedy. Lynch is remarkably
large man, six feet four inches in height, very
heavy, and broad across the shoulders. Eyes
greenish gray with deep scar over the right
one. Hair wry, black, and beard of same color.
When last seen he was dressed in black Kos
suth hat, faded army overcoat, pants of gray
Jean, and heavy boots. The above reward will
be paid to any one furnishing positive nforma-
ton of his whereabouts. --,


Sheriff of - county"


At the very instant finished reading the ad-
vertisement, there occurred the most remarka
BILE coincidence that has ever come under my
observation. l heard heavy tread on the
star,Sand then the door opened and there en-
tered-Tim Lynch The moment l set eyes
upon him l recognized him as perfectly as
though I had known him all my life. The
army overcoat and gray pants tucked into the
heavy boots, the massive frame and shoulders,
the slouched hat pulled down over bis right
eye to conceal was sure-the scar, above all,
desperate, hunted look in his forbidding coun
teuance-all were not to be mistaken. / was
as certain of his identity as though he had
stepped forward, pulled off his hat to show me
the scar, and told me his name


To say that was not alarmed at this sudden
and unwelcome intrusion would be untrue.
am not a brave man, and my present situation,
alone in the depot with hunted murderer,
was by no means reassuring. My heart beat
violently, but from mere force of habit arose
and asked him to be seated. While he turned
to COR ply succeeded in conquering my agita-
ton to some extent. He drew chair nosily
forward, and sitting down, threw open his coat,
displaying by so doing heavy navy revolver
stuck in his belt. Then he freed his mouth of
a quantity of tobacco juice, and spoke!


"Young fellow he said, motioning with his
head toward the battery, "that thar macheen
is what yer call Telegram, | s'pose?"


"Well," 1 answered, with faint smile, in :
tended to be concilatory, "thats what we send
kilograms by"


oval, want you to send message to a
friend O. mine out in Cohoe. tell you afore-
hand han't got no collateral. But l kinder
guess you'd better trust me, young fellow
Here be laid his hand significantly on his belt.
'Ill fetch it in ter-morrow eff it's convenient"


hastened to say that the charge could just
as we'll be paid at the other end by his friend.
"Umph! Plaguey little you'd get O. Jim, l
reckon. Howsumever proceed"


"What is the message, and to whom is it to
gow


81 want you to tell Jim Fellers, of Cohoe, that
be close on his heels"


AS he delivered this sentence he looked at me
as if he expected me to be mystifed. But |
thought it best not to appear so, and | said
carelessly:


81 suppose you are dealer in stock, and this
is your partner Ah, sir, the telegraph helps
you fellows out of many a sharp bargain"


"Ya'as," he answered slowly, evidently
pleased with the way took it. "Ya'as, that's
um. Pm sendn' down lot O. stock. Bought
it dog cheap over in Genesee yesterday. Purity
lot as ever you see."


turned to my instrument. What was to be
done Though ours was railroad Office, we
often sent business messages; and if l did as
usual now should probably get rid of my un-
welcome visitor without further trouble. But
in my short conversation with him l had some
what recovered from my first alarm, and now
conceived the idea of attempting the capture
of Tim Lynch.


was only poor salaried operator trying to
save enough to marry in the spring. Five hun
dred dollars would do me great deal of good
Just now-to say nothing of the eclat of the
thing. But how was it to be accomplished 2
Here was l, alone in the depot with man big
enough to whip his weight in such little men
as was several times over. Any attempt to
secure him single-handed was not to be thought
of. But could not excuse myself, and going
out fasten him u No. well l knew from the
distrustful look in his face that any proposal OF
mine to leave the room would be peremptorily
objected TO by him, What then?


Why, simply this l would telegraph to the
downtown station. But alas That very day
the connection between the two Offices had been
shut for repairs. It was seldom used at any
time, of course. But what of that? 1t was only
question of few seconds more time.
All these things went through my mind with
the rapidity of lightning as l went to the bat
terry. Lynch regarded me from the corner OF
his uncovered eye with suspicion that made
me shake in my shoes. AS sat down he rose
and came to my side.


"Look here, young feller," he hissed in my
ear, ard his breath was sickening with the
fumes of liquor, "perhaps ye mean fair enough
Il hope ye do for yer own sake. But don't
undsrstan' ncthin' bout them tellygrams, and
list want to tell ye that yer'd better be squar'
for, by the Eternal God eff ye 60 back on nae
I'll stretch ye on this yere floor as stiff as ever
I did a man yet~ and felt the cold muSale OF
his revolver on my cheek. Perhaps my voice
trembled little, but Twas still unmoved in my
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