he said it was not on account of revenge, but simply in self-defense, “for
what object could there be in such a cold-blooded crime, when the party
must be the sufferers. It was a very unfortunate affair for us,” he said.
Bob did not hesitate to answer any question proposed to him which
concerned himself. He volunteered the statement that he was one of the
three who entered the bank, and it was he who tried to keep Manning from
firing up the street. Being asked if he was not considered a good shot, he
said he had always considered himseif a good marksman, but he thought that
he would now have to forego all claim to being a crack-shot, after
considering the unusually bad shooting he made in the bush when captured.
To the boy who put the Mankato men upon the track, Cole extended his hand,
and said:
“READ YOUR BIBLE,”
“my lad, and follow its precepts. Do not let them lead you astray. For
your part in our capture I freely forgive you.”
Every opportunity he could get when ladies were present, he would ask them
to pray for him, and he would incessantly talk on religious subjects and
his previous history, laying the blame of his position to the “force of
circumstances,” tracing the beginning of his trouble to the “murder of his
father by a band of militia thieves.”
He said that many of the great crimes for which he and his companions were
blamed, he had nothing at all to do with.
There were not a few of the visitors who were of the opinion that Cole
Younger was