Soon news arrived by telegraph that the robbers had called at the house of
a farmer named Jackson, two miles northwest of Madelia, at 6 o’clock, and
asked for something to eat. On being told that breakfast was not ready,
and urged to dismount and wait for it, they said they did not want
breakfast, only a loaf of bread. The good wife gave them what they asked
for, and they insisted upon paying for it. Mrs. Jackson finally accepted
ten cents.
One of the visitors was hatless, and he asked if they could not provide
him with an old one, as his had blown off into a swamp. Mrs. Jackson said
that they had only a new one which she had bought for her son the day
before. This the robber persuaded her to sell him for $1.50, and then both
started off at a brisk pace.
At 1:30 p. m., the fugitives called at the farm of Andrew Nelson, four
miles directly west of Madelia, and asked a few questions in regard to the
roads, and at two o’clock they called at another house on the same errand.
They made excellent headway, for later in the afternoon they were seen
near Mountain Lake, some seventeen miles from Madelia. The alarm had been
flashed ahead over the wires, and squads were turning out from all points
in hot pursuit.