OUT OF EXILE.
As Frank and Jesse James, the celebrated outlaws, live separate
and apart from the rest of mankind, they have no confidence in
men, and will not receive the confidence of others. Frank is a
self-possessed, silent man, who cares little for the society of his
fellows. Jesse, on the contrary, under some circumstances, might
have become a rollicking, good-humored citizen, given to "merry
jests and healthy laughter." Both have schooled themselves to
wariness and a caution which keeps guard over their words at all
times. They are temperate to the extent of total abstinence from
every thing which could intoxicate. In brief, the James Boys are
brave as men ever become; they are daring, but not reckless; they
are intrepid to a degree perhaps unexcelled in any who have ever
lived on this globe; no combination of circumstances or conditions
can place them in a position to be surprised. In the midst of
imminent personal danger they are cool and collected as if they
were sitting at a table with a party of friends. They have made
human nature a study, and have noted its every manifestation. They
expect no mercy from a society which has long ago proscribed them,
and they have little emotional regard to waste on that social
organization which spurns them. Brothers in outlawry, separated
from the balance of mankind by an impassable gulf which they have
created themselves, they have learned to hate the representatives
of law and order, and their defiance is not to be despised.
Superadded to physical courage unequalled, they possess cunning and
craft never surpassed. With mental gifts which, properly directed,
might have made them renowned as leaders of men in the better walks
of life, they are no trifling foes to the vindicators of lawful
authority.
These brothers, when under their true names, never even associate
together. They do not travel the same road in company, and never
travel the same way on the same day. Though never together, they
are never far apart. If one needs assistance the other is sure to
be near at hand to render it. If one should fall, it is safe to
assume that his fall would be terribly avenged by the other. They
ride at will over the vast plains of Texas, nearly always alone,
unless danger threatens, and neither savage aborigines or wild
borderers can make them afraid. They are veritable roving kings
of the plains. In the haunts of civilization they are no less
men to be dreaded and avoided. The quick pistol and the unerring
aim cannot be despised. Dead men tell no tales, and the man who
would betray will not return to reveal their counsels. Whicher
sought them and Whicher died; Askew would surrender them, and
he, too, perished on his own threshold. They seem to possess the
occult power of reading other men's very thoughts. Such are the
characteristics of the James Boys. Bold, shrewd, cool, deliberate
men, whom no danger can appall; no sudden surprise can disconcert.
They are always ready, and can act instantaneously whatever may be
the emergency.
But it must not be supposed that these men, though outlaws, are
exiles from the haunts of men. As Jameses they are seldom seen,
by even the most intimate of the associates of other days. But
they are not always the terrible outlaws to the seeming of men.
Nor are they condemned to a lonely life away beyond the borders
of civilization among wild herds and roaming savages. They have
travelled much, and have carefully studied; they know the ways of
the world, and avail themselves of that knowledge to enjoy some
of the privileges and pleasures of civilization. Many times when
they were hunted in the out-of-the-way regions of the country, they
have been enjoying life as respectable gentlemen among the citizens
of our Metropolitan centers. While Pinkerton's men have sought
them among the forests of Clay county, Missouri, they have calmly
reposed in the Grand Pacific hotel of Chicago; while McDonough's
"staff" hunted the outlaws in Western Missouri, they were listening
to the soul-stirring strains of Kellogg and Carey in St. Louis.
It must be known that for years they have led a double existence.
They have many names, and are capable of assuming any character.
The same circumspection in speech and action which enables them to
successfully plunder a bank or overhaul an express train is carried
with them into social life, and enables them to make friends and
secure immunity from annoyance, and disarms all suspicion.
The plundered money of an express train permits them to appear as
gentlemen at the Fifth Avenue hotel, New York, and Jesse James as
Charles Lawson, of Nottingham, is not regarded as an outlaw in New
York society. It must be remembered that the James Boys are not
altogether illiterate, nor did they spring from a parentage of
uncouth, unlettered rustics. They have made voyages by sea, and
have been thrown with persons of culture and refinement. Their
father was a man of decided culture, and they have many relatives
of education and refinement. An uncle of theirs is a somewhat
prominent citizen of California, recognized as a gentleman of
intelligence and good breeding. It is, therefore, not so difficult
for them to play the role of gentlemen even in refined society.
The Jameses have various names which they assume as occasion
requires. Another peculiarity of their method is the respectable
character of their friends in their own immediate neighborhoods.
These are respectable farmers and stock-traders, and merchants
and what not. Among their neighbors they are kind and hospitable,
and in every transaction scrupulously honest. On Sunday they are
punctually at church service, and are usually liberal contributors
to all neighborhood charities. No one would for a moment suspect
that such persons could possibly be in league with the most
desperate outlaws who ever lived. Such good neighbors and upright
persons surely can do nothing wrong--so the people think. Among
these, Frank and Jesse are not known under their own proper names,
and if they were it would make no difference. They are circumspect
when with such people, and sometimes can assume the piety of
Puritans.
It is related of the boys that on several occasions after a great
robbery, as known and respectable citizens, they have joined in the
pursuit of the marauders without exciting the least suspicion that
they were concerned in the affair. The following story of Jesse has
been repeated among their acquaintances:
One day--it was the second after the Corydon bank robbery--he was
riding along a not much frequented highway, when he saw two men
in pursuit. Confident that they had not seen him, he turned his
horse's head toward them and rode up the road to meet them. They
were citizens, well mounted and well armed. Jesse wore Grangers'
clothes, and at once assumed a rustic simplicity which comported
well with his garb. When he had approached near enough he quietly
saluted the robber hunters, and in a simple manner began to
converse with them in the following style:
"Well, gentlemen, hev you met anybody up the road ridin' of a hoss
an' leadin ov another one, 'cause you see as how I lives down on
the Noderway, an' some infernal thief has gone off with my best two
hosses. I hearn about two miles furder back at the blacksmith's
shop that er man passed there about a hour an' a half ago with two
hosses, an' they fits the descripshun of mine to a T. Hev you seen
sich?"
"No. Where are you travelling from?"
"Why, Lord, I've come all the way from the Noderway. The infernal
thieves are just usin' us up that way. I wish I'd come on the
infernal son of a seacook whose taken my hosses. I do, you bet, I'd
go fur him with these 'ere irons. I would that!" And Jesse revealed
his "weepons" as he called them.
"Did you see anybody on the road ahead?"
"Not for sum miles. I met four ugly lookin' customers this mornin'.
They looked like they might 'a been hoss-thieves theirselves. D--n
the hoss-thieves!"
"Thieves are plenty now-a-days. They come into towns and break
banks in open daylight. How far did you say the four men were
ahead?"
"Well, I didn't say, but it must be more'n two hours since I met
'em, an' they were a ridin' purty fast, an' I've rid my hoss almost
down, as you can see."
"What kind of looking men were they?" asked the robber hunters.
"Well, one was a sizable man, with long, red beard, an' a flopped
black hat on, aridin' on a big chesnut sorrel hoss, an' one more
was a smallish man, with very black hair and beard, and sharp black
eyes, an' he was a ridin' on a roan hoss, an' another was an oldish
man, with some gray among his beard, an' he wore a blue huntin'
shirt coat, an' he was a ridin' a gray hoss, and the last feller
was a little weazle-faced chap, with tallowy complexion, who didn't
ware no beard, an' he rode on a dark brown hoss."
The two robber hunters then consulted together. "That's their
description," said one. "Precisely," said the other. "Shall we
follow?" asked one. "I would like to," replied the other. "But
there are four of them," was the remark in rejoinder. "Yes that is
bad. If Ed, Dick and Will would just hurry up. Those fellows are no
doubt very dangerous men," was the comment of one. "You bet they
are," was the response.
All this time Jesse had listened as an interested party. Now he
thought he was privileged to make an inquiry.
"What's up, strangers, anyhow?" Jesse asked.
"You blow it! Don't you know that the Corydon bank, up in Iowa, was
robbed yesterday."
Jesse opened his eyes in well-feigned surprise. "You don't say so!"
he ejaculated.
"Yes, in broad daylight, and the men you met are the robbers, no
doubt. There's a big reward offered to catch them."
"What's this country a comin' to, anyhow? Hoss thieves down on the
Noderway, an' bank rogues up to Iowa. 'Pears like hard workin'
honest folks can't get along much more."
"Could you go back with us?"
"I'd like to, but the cussed hoss thieves will get away. Besides,
you see, my hoss is mighty nigh played out hisself. Howsumever, I
might ride with you as fur as I can. D--n all thieves, say I, don't
you?"
And Jesse actually turned around with the two pursuers of the
robbers, in pursuit of another posse of pursuers which Jesse had
been enabled to accurately describe by having seen them pass him
while lying snug in a dense thicket.
"They might catch the robbers, an' as he'd hev a sheer ov the
reward, it would be better'n nothin' at all fur his stolin hosses."
For some miles he kept company with the robber catchers, until his
horse becoming lame, and Jesse getting near a railway station,
rendered further pursuit of bank robbers distasteful to him, and
as his excuse was received as valid, he bid his late traveling
companions an enthusiastic adieu, boarded a night train, and was in
the vicinity of home next morning. Those were Jesse's courting days.
The writer of these pages has been informed by a reputable citizen
of St. Louis, that at a time when the detective forces of both
St. Louis and Chicago were out in the western part of the State,
hunting for the James Boys and Younger Brothers, that he saw and
conversed with Jesse James on the corner of Fifth and Chestnut
streets, St. Louis, and that on that occasion Jesse attended the
opera, Max Strakosch's troupe being then in the city. Of course
Jesse James was not the name the people called him by, but he was
to all seeming Mr. William Campbell, a most respectable shipper
of cattle from Wichita, Kansas. As Mr. Campbell, he had business
relations with many of the citizens, who esteemed him as "a very
clever gentleman." At that time, according to the statement of
the gentleman upon whose authority this incident is given, Jesse
remained in St. Louis a number of days. His associations were
excellent, and he was a visitor on 'Change, and ventured even into
the Four Courts building, in company with a well-known citizen,
who was, of course, ignorant of his true name and character. It
is believed that during this trip he made banking arrangements,
and that the Boys now carry a heavy bank account in some St. Louis
bank. Of course this business is transacted under assumed names.