is
gun at a pigeon, and snapped several caps on the other, which refused to
go off. As we approached Henderson, quite a crowd had gathered at the
hotel to see the arrest, and just as the stage swung up to the sidewalk,
the Frenchman took out of his pocket a small penknife, the largest blade
of which could not have been over four inches long. He opened it so
quietly that it did not excite my apprehensions in the least, although I
had my right hand on my six-shooter, intending to draw and cover him the
moment the stage stopped. He made a desperate lunge at his breast with
the knife, and handing me a carpetbag which lay on his lap, he said,
"The money is all in this bag, sir," just as if we had been talking the
whole matter over. I, fearing that he might strike at me with the knife,
drew my revolver and struck him sharply over the knuckles, making the
knife fly out of the window, and seizing him by the throat with my left
hand, I covered him with my pistol. The stage stopped. Retaining my hold
on him, and still covering him with my pistol, we got out of the stage,
on the sidewalk. He wavered for a second, and fell dead. He had put the
knife an inch into his heart. I found in a belt on his body, and in the
bag $5,320 in gold, which I deposited in the United States land office,
at Henderson, subject to the order of Major Cullen, who got it all in
good time. The Frenchman had in his pocket some letters from a lady in
Strasburg, written in French, conveying some very tender sentiments. I
never thought he was a bad man, but had yielded, as many do, to a strong
temptation, and had decided to die rather than be captured. It was not
more than twenty minutes before we were on our way to St. Paul. As no
evidence connected the German with the theft, he was sent back simply as
a deserter.

A curious question arose as to the reward. Major Cullen insisted on
giving it to me. I knew very well that, had it not been for the superior
detective sagacity of the deputy, the thieves would never have been
caught, so I refused it, as I would have done under any circumstances.
Then the sheriff claimed it, and finally the major left its disposition
to me, and I divided it between the sheriff and the deputy, partly
because I thought it just, and partly to keep the peace in the sheriff's
official family. Where the extra $320 came from, or where it went, I
never knew nor cared.

[Illustration]

THE PONY EXPRESS.

As western settlement pro