At Cimarron, the next station of importance, Arnold expected to have trouble, and determined to avoid it this time by not meeting it. Consequently he bought a quart bottle of whisky at Rayada, a few miles south of Cimarron, and presenting it to the driver, got off the coach with Bemis before the town was reached, requesting the driver in case they were asked for to state that they had left the coach, and promising to join the stage after the town should be passed. The Jehu promised compliance, but there was no demand for either the officer or his man. They jumped the coach per agreement, and were landed in Trinidad without further incident.
Bemis was sent back to Syracuse, where he pleaded guilty and threw himself upon the mercy of the court. Even the express company officials pleaded for clemency. Hence he was let off with a sentence of but eighteen months in the penitentiary. He should long remember Detective Arnold as his best friend.
A HORSE THIEF’S FOLLY.
CHAPTER LIII.
JOHN DOEN, A DESERTER, STEALS A HORSE FROM RUFUS CLARK, NEAR DENVER, AND GOES TO CHEYENNE—DETECTIVE CARR NOTIFIED BY GEN. COOK, AND BECOMES A PURCHASER OF THE STOLEN ANIMAL, ARRESTING DOEN AT THE SAME TIME—THE PRISONER ATTEMPTS TO ESCAPE AND IS SHOT DOWN AFTER A RUNNING FIGHT.
As a rule officers of the law are careful of the lives and general safety of their prisoners, often taking great risk upon themselves to protect the unfortunates who may chance to fall into their hands. Yet they are occasionally compelled to resort to violence to protect themselves or to prevent the escape of criminals from their custody. Sometimes the officer brings his man down, and occasionally death is the result.
A man giving the name of John Doen became a victim to a fate of this kind in Cheyenne, in the summer of 1876. Doen was a deserter from the army, who had for several years been engaged in herding cattle on the plains, and he had accumulated some cattle of his own. He appears to have been naturally predisposed to rascality, and one night he happened along by the premises of Rufus Clark, residing near Denver, and seeing a good looking horse, he laid his hands upon him and rode him off. Mr. Clark brought the information of the disappearance of the animal to Detective Cook, and asked him to bring the skill of his association to bear in returning the animal to him. He was able to give no clue, either as to the appearance of the thief, or the route he had taken. After brief investigation of the matter, Gen. Cook decided in his own mind that the horse and the thief had gone in the direction of Cheyenne, and he determined to notify his assistant superintendent at that place, Mr. T. Jeff Carr, to be on the lookout for the pair. There was not a long waiting. Carr received the notification at 9 o’clock in the morning, and at 10 the same forenoon the thief rode into town with the animal, as Carr learned by a visit to the livery stable kept by a Mr. Jeffrey. Doen had put the horse up at the stable, and had stated that he meant to have him sold at auction that afternoon. The animal answered the description which Cook had sent, to perfection, and Carr determined to lose no time in taking possession of him and in getting the thief. Hence he procured the services of an assistant detective. Mr. Clark Devoe, also of the Rocky Mountain Association, and they laid a plan to capture the thief at the same time that they should take the horse. This was to lure Doen to the stable, and this project was accomplished by getting the liveryman to send for Doen and tell him that there was a man who wanted to buy his horse immediately, and that it would be well for him to repair to the stable and put the animal up for sale.