crowded into the streets of Mankato seeking information and anxious for
orders. The ubiquitous Dill was there with his disciplined men. Baxter was
there and Sheriffs Finch, Davis, Barton, Long and Harrison, Mayor Wiswell
and Captains Holmes and Owens. Thus were the counties of Winona, Blue
Earth, Rice, Waseca, Faribault and Ramsey represented by their sheriffs
and men. The five Northfield boys, who had never for an hour given up the
hunt, were there and ready again to guard, mount and scour the woods.
Davis, of Winnebago, whose story of the robbers’ appearance the evening
before at Indian Lake, was so little heeded, was now almost lionized, and
it was surprising how many were all at once found who believed in the
famous horse thief catcher from the first.
It was necessary that some system be pursued; accordingly General Pope, of
Mankato, was appointed generalissimo of the forces, and that gentleman at
once set about a plan of organization. Bridges must be guarded,
cross-roads and by-paths watched, patrols sent out, and skirmish lines
established. One would think by the measured tramp of armed men, the
bustle, the eager excitement, the groups of mysterious gossips, that
Mankato expected a seige from the combined forces of all the hostile
savages paying allegiance to Sitting Bull, rather than that the men were
called out to capture six fugitive robbers.
But the people seemed determined. Their looks seemed to say that they were
tired of playing this game of hide and seek, and were for once in
downright earnest and bent upon bringing this thing to a quick and
decisive close.
It was a miserably wet morning, the rain descending in a continuous
shower, and the air was filled with a damp chilliness, which rendered
out-door vocations particularly disagreeable. The streets and roads were
filled with slimy mud—griming and sticking, to the intense misery of
pedestrians. But the rain and the mud and the cold could not deter the
excited populace, and even women caught the infectious fever of excitement
and dared the elements in search of news. All the city was on the tip-toe
of expectancy, but the hours glided slowly along and no news was brought
in from the skirmish lines or outposts. Reports, it is true, were rife,
and many a thrilling tale of manly courage and sanguinary encounter was
whispered by mani-tongued rumor. At one time the robbers were all
slaughtered, at another, a brave citizen was sacrificed, but enquiry
proved them to owe their existence to fertile imaginations. Evening at
last closed in upon a miserable day, and the tired, wet and hungry hunters
began to return. The Clifton house was filled with them, the congenial
host doing his best to appease their ravenous appetites, after which the
weary men stretched themselves at length upon the floors of the parlors,
offices and halls to snatch a few minutes’ refreshing slumber. Meantime a
strong guard was placed at every point around the city, and mounted men
patrolled the streets all night.
At about midnight some of the men on guard heard peculiar whistles at
different points, which seemed to be replied to, the call resembling the
low note of the quail, and the answer, the high note of the same bird.
Report was made of the circumstance at “Headquarters,” and while a
discussion was progressing as to whether the men were not mistaken, and
their ability to distinguish between the veritable bird call and its its
imitation, a mounted messenger came dashing in with the news that three of
the robbers had