Chapter 4

It was about 50 miles from St. Louis to Jefferson City in a straight line, and that made it more like 90-100 miles by regular trail. That made it a 5-6-day trip if they didn't push hard, and they were especially concerned about tiring the mule carrying the gold. It was just a dead weight sitting on the poor beast's back, and they were afraid of sores developing, among other things.

The first night out, they found a hotel. That was where they stayed, or, at least, they rented a room there. However, they were afraid to leave the gold completely unguarded, so they spent 2-hour shifts in the barn with the gold bags. Hell, if they were going to do that, they might as well camp out for all of the difference it would make in the amount of rest they got.

The third day on the trail, they ran afoul of outlaws. Three men abruptly cut in front of them as they were riding near some dense bushes. The men were mounted, so it was surprising that the animals had not reacted to them before the men rode out of the brush.

One of the men said, "We're looking fer escaped slaves. Y'all seen any?"

Bob answered, "Nope, we ain't seen hide nor hair of such. Good luck ta y'all, though. Now, we need ta hurry on, since we got an appointment up the road a few miles."

"Not so fast, there! That mule looks pretty heavy loaded. What ya got in them bags. Them things look a lot like gold bags ta me."

"That ain't none of yer business. Now move out of the way afore I gits aggrafretted."

The talkative outlaw pulled out an especially long knife and said, "I think that I'll just have a look at them bags. There might be somethin' right interestin' in them things."

Bob's horse shied away when it saw the knife pointed in its general direction. The man grinned and took that as an invitation to proceed. His horse had taken two steps toward the mule when he got even with Billy's right hand. Billy whipped out his knife and made a slicing cut on the forearm of the outlaw. His knife was so sharp and so skillfully handled by an exceptionally strong man that, just as back in the bordello, the man's forearm was simply cut in two.

The man's scream was sufficiently distracting that Bob had time to draw his Colt revolver, thumb back the hammer, and point it at the other two men. "OK, who wants to die first?" Both of those men raised their hands and tried to look as innocent as possible.

"Dismount afore I blow y'all right out of yer saddles. DO IT NOW!" That was enough to make them jump in their saddles, but both men did dismount and stand beside their horses. "Both of y'all galoots walk over ta that little clearing, but leave yer hosses an' guns. I'll shoot the first one of y'all what don't move right smartly."

Meanwhile, the first man was madly trying to staunch the flow of blood from his arm. Billy leaned over to try to help, but the man fearfully jumped out of reach. Billy said, "Ifen ya don't git a tourniquet on that right quick, ya're gonna bleed ta death. Now, let me he'p ya afore ya pass out from loss of blood."

That seemed to get through to the man, and he turned to face Billy. But he was not looking for help. The man had pulled a Colt and was in the process of clumsily trying to bring it to bear on Billy's gut. Billy snatched one of the Colts hanging on his saddle, thumbed back the hammer, and fired right into the man's chest. The two men were so close that the outlaw's shirt was nearly set on fire by the muzzle flash of Billy's shot. It would have been difficult to tell without an autopsy just what killed the man, but suffice it to say that he fell dead immediately.

The sudden noise of the shot was almost enough to cause Bob to fire off a shot, but he did restrain himself. However, the noise was enough to make the other two men move rather briskly to the side of the road where Bob had directed that they go.

Billy continued to hold his revolver pointing in the general direction of the two road agents as he casually thumbed back the hammer to full cock. "Hey, Mister, we're doin' what yer partner said. Don't shoot us, please?"

"I won't shoot ifen y'all continue to mind my friend." That was the little bit of extra incentive that the men needed, and they were in place with their hands up about as fast as two men who were scared shitless could move.

Bob said, "OK, y'all stupid bastards, now STRIP, and I mean everything ya got." The two men were too frightened to argue, and removed all of their clothes, including their boots, with admirable alacrity. Soon, they were standing there wearing nothing but their moneybelts. Bob laughed and said, "I meant for y'all ta include yer moneybelts." This statement brought pained looks to the two naked men, but they did comply. "Now, y'all just trot up the road about 50 yards an' stand there, facing away from me. Ifen y'all don't move fast enough, I'm liable ta put a bullet in yer asses ta encourage y'all ta move a little faster." That last comment turned a fast walk into a run!

Once the two were safely out of reach, Billy and Bob looked through the possessions of the outlaws. Other than the usual junk, they did come up with two more Colt Navy revolvers and a Colt Pocket Pistol. There were the usual bowie knives and some junk of no real value. However, the moneybelts produced a total of $176 in gold and silver. The money they kept, but they threw the Pocket Pistol and the three knives into the brush where they would be hard to find. They bundled up the three sets of clothes and tied them to the saddles.

Bob yelled to the two men that they had better be out of sight before he counted to 10, because he was going to start shooting them if he could still see them. The only chance the men had to accomplish this demand was to run into the nearby brush, and being naked, especially barefoot, was going to make getting through that a painful experience. Both Billy and Bob started laughing, and Bob had trouble counting as a result, but he did finally manage to get to 10. Bob fired off one shot just for the fun of it, since the two men were well out of sight by now.

They left the site of the attempted holdup with the three extra horses and the men's clothing. They planned to dump the clothes after carrying them a few miles, but they would save the horses to sell at the next livery stable they came to. Though they did not know it at the time, this was their first meeting with bushwhackers, but not the last.

They sold the horses and ate lunch at a restaurant before moving on. That night, they found a good place to stop for camp. As they had done the previous night, Bob took care of the animals and set up the tent while Billy fixed their supper. This was the routine they followed, Billy cooked and Bob did everything else around camp. Billy was the much better cook and actually made drinkable coffee, so both men felt that they had the better part of the deal.

The two-hour shifts at guarding the camp paid off that same night. A bear showed up and scared the hell out of the mules. The noise the mules made in their fright probably woke up the whole county, but it was enough warning for the men to pepper the bear with two shots from their rifles and innumerable shots with their revolvers. They were not able to kill the bear, but they did drive it off. The poor beast probably died a painful death later on from all of the bullets that had penetrated its skin.

No more excitement came up before they got to Jefferson City. Jefferson City might be the capital of the state of Missouri, but about all there was to be found there were politicians, brothels, and professional gamblers. Billy didn't understand where all of the money came from for the politicians, but that group did an excellent job of keeping the other two groups gainfully employed.

The problem with Jefferson City as far as Billy and Bob were concerned was that there were so many professional gamblers there that there was little room left for new blood. The men hung around for a week, but found that there was little to keep their interest up, so they decided to move on to Kansas City. They left the next day by land.

It was two days out of Jefferson City when trouble hit again. By coincidence, the best camping spot the two friends could find was next to a refueling dock. They settled in and Bob had retired with Billy taking the first shift at guard duty. Billy was about to wake Bob for his turn as guard when one of the mules brayed a warning of a stranger in their midst.