Year: 1876

sidewalk, and as the citizens would
come along they would seat themselves
with the merchant. After We let the
men 90 we started for the mountains.
| never heard so much fuss in one little
town before in my life, it appeared 20
me that every man in the crowd had
six tongues, and all yelled ''rdbbers" at
one time. .


TIE RETREAT.


BY the time We were through town
we could hear the pursuing parties com
ing. We We're well mounted and
travelled through the woods about six
miles when we struck creek called
Twelve Pole. There we pressed a
guide to pilot US to Whites Creek,
some five miles farther, where we gave
him seven dollars and dismissed him
We then increased our speed as we
desired 10 cross Big Sandy River before
dark, and arrived at the river and
forded it just at dark. We then road
leaSurely until midnight. when we rode
off to the side of the rode aud slept un-
til daylight. We then mounted and
rode through the mountains by the
compass for three days, the most OF the
time without any road. BY this time
my mare became almost entirely played
out. She had (being high mettled)
fre,ted and worried until she was brok
en- down. The third day we were
passing school house, and the teacher
ha,. fine sorrel horse hitched by the
roadside road mp to the door ana
and asked him if the horse belonged to
him he said he did. ] asked him if
he would sell him, he said yes, If he
could get one hundred and ten dollars
for him. ! was afraid to appear too
anxious to buy SO | told him that was
too much, and started otf-tirst offering
him one hundred dollars for the horse.


He called me back, and said | could
have him for that money. | paid him
his money, and told him TO keep my
mare until ! called for her, and that |
would make it all right with him,
though, of course, never intended 10
cal, for the mare. We then rode for
two or three days without anything
transpiring worthy OF note, until one
morning, the parties yet at large, pro
posed a separations the reasons assigned
/ | will not record. SO we separated,
they taking one route, and my partner
aud myself, another. We were at this
time in Kentucky.


At about nine o'clock on themorniDg
We separated, my partner aud myself
stopped at farmhouse to feed our
horses. The farmer had no stable or
barn, nothing but trough in n small
lot. Whilst our horses were eating we
removed the saddles, and were washing
their backs, which, owing TO the ex'
treme hot weather and the long and
continuous riding we had done, were
much chated.


THE FIRST FRIGHT.


While we were thus engaged party
of mounted men came dashing around
the corner of corntield from the north,
and got within about three hundred
wards of us before we could see them.
told my partner to saddle the horses
and | would try to hold the party a:
bay. | Immediately opened fire on
the yigilants, aud terrible fight eEsu'
ed. IL appeared to me that | could
have held up my hat on either side and
caught it full of balls The horses
broke loose from us at the first fire
We stood our ground and fred until
we emptied two sevenshooters apiece,
reserving only one load to each OF us
| told him to stop firing; that If we
fired all of the loads out of our pistols
they would charge us, we bad the par
ty checked, and they were dismounung.
| told him we would have TO leave our
horses aud try to make the woods. So
we jumped the fence and retrrated
across stubble field about one fourth
of a mile reloading Onr pistols as we
ran. Our pursuers threw down the
fence mounted their horses and pursued
us across the field When we were
about halt way across the field the
foremost of the party came within range
aud opened fire upon US, which we
Immediately returned and again checked
them, we succeeded III reaching the
edge Of the woods when we were com
PEELED from exhaustion 10 lay down.
That was the last we saw of that party.
| have never heard how many there
were OF thin, but think there were
about fifteen or twenty.


We then travelled through the noun
tains OH foot tor two or three days.
When cue night We were walking along
a turnpike at eleven o'clock at night,
iu Rockcastle county, KY, when all at
once some parties opened hre on US
from under the shed of "A little store,
that stood by the roadside, that We had
just passed.


SHOOTING or wEBB's rARTSEE.


One of about the first shots that were
fred pierced my partners breast, he
reeled and fell, and | went 10 him and
asked him if be was badly hart. lie
told me he was dying, and for me to
leave him and try to make my escape;
but the idea of leaving him, my com
paniou, in that condition, / could not
at first entertain for moment, for he
was man that had stood by my side
in all sorts of dangers. We were about
eighty yards from the shed, where a
constant fire was kept up on US. |
stopped down over my dying comrsde,
and fired upon the party in the sned