After getting all the valuables of the party the marauders returned the pocket-books with the railway passes and tickets, and giving the passengers orders to get in, mounted and rode off. They told the passengers, for consolation, that they had robbed the out stage, getting $700 from Mr. George Croghan, one of the owners of the cave.
The rider of the black horse was Frank James, and his companion was Jim Cummings. These facts have been fully established by information of an indisputable character, which came into the possession of the writer since the robbery.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE JAMES BOYS.
Singular as it may appear, there is scarcely a single feature of similarity in the character of the James brothers. Frank James is a man of more than ordinary education, and his manners show some effort at refinement. He is very slim, and not more than five feet six inches in height, and weighs about one hundred and forty pounds. He has blue eyes, very light hair and usually wears a shortly cropped full beard and straggling mustache, of a pale, reddish color. His face is peculiar in shape, being broad at the forehead and tapering abruptly from the cheek bones to the chin, which is almost pointed. In his motions he is neither naturally slow nor quick, but at times he affects either. His cunning and coolness are remarkable, and to compare the two boys in this respect would be like comparing the boldest highwayman with the lowest sneak thief, so great is Frank's superiority. In the matter of education Frank has improved his opportunities and is a student, being a lover of books and familiar with the different phases of life. He has murdered many men, and yet he is not destitute of mercy, and finds no gratification in deeds of blood. He has tried to imitate the traditions of Claude Duval, whose fictitious adventures Frank has read until he can repeat them like the written narrative.
Jesse James is a strongly made man, standing five feet ten inches in height, and will weigh one hundred and sixty-five pounds. He has brown eyes, dark hair and is of a nervous temperament. Jesse's peculiarity is in his eyes which are never at rest. In his youth Jesse was troubled with granulated eyelids from which he has never fully recovered, which is seen in the constant batting of his eyes and a slight irritation of the lids; besides this marked peculiarity, the first joint of the forefinger on his left hand is missing. He usually wears full whiskers of apparently one month's growth. His education is very limited, barely enabling him to read and write. He is revengeful in his nature, always sanguine, impetuous, almost heedless. It is due to Frank James' strategy and Jesse's desperate bravery that the latter has not long since been punished for his crimes. In deeds of violence Jesse finds especial delight, and in his entire nature there is not a trace of mercy.
It is asserted, by those who know them best, that Jesse and Frank are only half-brothers, having the same mother, but that Jesse's father is a physician in Clay county. What truth there is in this report the writer does not assume the responsibility of confirming, giving it only as the assertion of many prominent men of Clay county.
On one occasion, so George Shepherd relates, while Jesse and Frank were dining with their mother, with Shepherd as their guest, a dispute arose over a trivial matter, in which the brothers became very angry and drew their pistols. Mrs. Samuels made no effort to interfere, and the difficulty terminated without a fight. In the row Frank told Jesse that he knew they were not brothers, to which assertion neither Jesse nor Mrs. Samuels made any reply.
It is well known among the confederates of the James Boys, and it has been so declared by Shepherd, the Younger boys and Cummings, that there was no love between Frank and Jesse, and Shepherd told the writer that instead of Frank avenging the attack on Jesse at Short Creek he would applaud it. Going still farther, Shepherd said that at his last meeting with Frank, two years ago, the latter declared he would kill Jesse if he ever met him again; that Jess, as he called him, had tried to have him (Frank) ambushed and captured in Texas, and that that was not the first time Jess had played the stake to have him murdered.
The fact of Jim Cummings' association with Frank James in the robbery of the Mammoth Cave stage coaches gives color of truth to Shepherd's declaration that he killed Jesse James near Galena, or to Cummings' statement that Shepherd's shot, while not killing Jesse, had paralyzed his brain and destroyed his mind.