158 PLAN TO ROB ME: 



had come into St. Joe for letters and money, and was now on 

 my way to rejoin my companions on the Platte River. I 

 replied that I was, wondering what was coming. He then told 

 me that seeing one of the passengers whispering with a deck 

 hand late on the previous evening, he had crept forward and 

 had listened to their conversation, which, it seems, was about 

 me. The passenger was the man of whom I have spoken, and 

 the two men were discussing a plan for following and robbing 



me. Captain T offered to help me in any way I thought 



best, and it was decided between us that if the man got out at 

 Nebraska city after saying that he was going on to Omaha, we 

 should hunt up the city marshal, and arrange to have him 

 detained till I was well on the road. 



Captain T had come from New York on the track of a 



murderer who had fled from that city, and was supposed to have 

 gone up the Missouri, which was a fortunate thing for me, for 

 had he not been there to overhear the conversation, the man 

 might easily have joined me en route, and I could not have 

 sent him back, as he had as much right to travel on that road 

 as I had, when nothing would have been easier than for him to 

 have shot me in the back as we rode along. 



When we reached Nebraska city that evening, Captain T 



and I went ashore, he having arranged with the captain of the 

 boat to detain it for two hours ; and instead of walking into the 

 town, we remained on the wharf for some time, when we saw 

 the man who wished to go with me land and go into a whiskey- 

 saloon near the wharf, so Captain T went to find the city 



marshal, and I remained to keep an eye on the house. On 

 the arrival of the marshal, we went into the saloon and had a 

 drink, and lest the man might suspect something, I asked him 



