ke chances on stopping the
stage in daylight, or I should have sent some one to meet the incoming
coach, which I knew would be along shortly, to warn the driver and
passengers to be on the lookout for robbers.

"It turned out, however, that a daylight robbery was just what they had
in mind, and they made a success of it.

"About halfway down the New Mexico side of the mountain, where the
canyon is very narrow, and was then heavily wooded on either side, the
robbers stopped and waited for the coach. It came lumbering along by and
by, neither the driver nor the passengers dreaming of a hold-up.

"The first intimation they had of such a thing was when they saw two men
step into the road, one on each side of the stage, each of them holding
two cocked revolvers, one of which was brought to bear on the passengers
and the other on the driver, who were politely but very positively told
that they must throw up their hands without any unnecessary delay, and
the stage came to a standstill.

"There were four passengers in the coach, all men, but their hands went
up at the same instant that the driver dropped his reins and struck an
attitude that suited the robbers.

"Then, while one of the men stood guard, the other stepped up to the
stage and ordered the treasure box thrown off. This demand was
complied with, and the box was broken and rifled of its contents, which
fortunately were not of very great value.

"The passengers were compelled to hand out their watches and other
jewelry, as well as what money they had in their pockets, and then the
driver was directed to move up the road. In a minute after this the
robbers had disappeared with their booty, and that was the last seen of
them by that particular coach-load of passengers.

"The men who planned and executed that robbery were two cool,
level-headed, and daring scoundrels, known as 'Chuckle-luck' and
'Magpie.' They were killed soon after this occurrence, by a member of
their own band, whose name was Seward. A reward of a thousand dollars
had been offered for their capture, an this tempted Seward to kill them,
one night when they were asleep in camp.

"He then secured a wagon, into which he loaded the dead robbers,
and hauled them to Cimarron City, where he turned them over to the
authorities and received his reward."

Among the Arapahoes Wooton was called "Cut Hand," from the fact that he
had lost two fingers on his left hand by an accident in his childhood.
The tri