A WHOLESALE ROBBERY 33 



When he returned with the stone, I happened to 

 notice that the prisoner was directing with his eyes the 

 other man's attention to the corner of the room nearly 

 back of him, where the rifle and the shotgun were 

 standing against the log wall. The confederate turned 

 round a little, saw the firearms, and comprehended at 

 once what the other man meant by his silent signals. 

 So he at once made a dash for the corner, grabbing the 

 rifle with his right hand, but I had jumped as quickly 

 as he, and catching the shotgun almost simultaneously 

 with the confederate's grasp of the rifle, I struck that 

 weapon with the barrel of the shotgun, knocking it 

 upward, and then, of course, I had him covered with 

 the gun. He was speedily disarmed, and in spite of 

 his struggles the extra pair of handcuffs were snapped 

 on his wrists. 



Now we had five men to watch. We brought in 

 some quilts and some straw, and made places for them 

 to lie on the floor for the balance of the night while 

 Larkin and the other two men lay down at the far end 

 of the cabin. 



At one end of the dining-room a square hole was cut 

 in the logs to allow ventilation, and also to permit the 

 garbage to be thrown out into a barrel which stood out- 

 side in front of this opening. At about twelve-thirty 

 in the morning, when the other three watchers were 

 sleeping soundly, and we who were on duty had been 

 dozing for a few minutes, we both heard a slight 



