Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 109, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 May 1910 — HAD A CLOSE CALL. [ARTICLE]

HAD A CLOSE CALL.

Bill Aider«oa Saved the Idle '«! Hts Stboalnatc. ’lMjr father owes his life to the fact that he helped 11111’ Anderson, the guerrilla, arork ovtt a problem In arithmetic," said W. T. Rutherford of Huntsville, according to the St. Louis Globe Democrat. “Father and Bill Anderson had been schoolmates in a little district school near Huntsyille. "Anderson’s gang swooped down on father’s farm one day. It seems .that a number of valuable horses had been run out of the neighborhood to prevent, them falling into Anderson’s clutches. Some spy had told AnderstM that father was among those who had secreted his animals. When the gang first reached the house Anderson was not with them. A lieutenant conducted .an examination and father was found guilty. In a twinkling he was standing under f a tree with a rope around his neck. The guerrillas were getting ready to ‘hist way’ when Anderson himself rode into the yard and asked: “‘What you got, boys?’ “ ‘Been hidin' his horses, cap,’ was the terse reply of the executioner of the deajh sentence. “It wis .a capital crime in the eyes of the guerrillas. Anderson - looked keenly at the pale face before him. “ ‘Why,’ he said, ‘it’s little Hade Rutherford'.’ ‘“Yes, it’s me, Bill; your old school chum.’ “ ‘Humph!’ Father tthought he detected just a gleam of resentment in the eyes of the bandit and he played his last card. ‘Remember that problem you got stuck on, Bill?’ he asked: # “ ‘You bet. Teacher was going to lick me if I hadn’t worked it.’ “ ‘Yes, and I’m the lad that showed you how to do it, Bill.’ “ ‘That’s what you did, Hade,’ said Anderson, as he caught hold of the rope.

“Father said that was the most anxious moment of his life. He had heard of stories of Anderson shaking hands with people in one moment and shooting them the next. His mood was as irregular as the winds which swept across our prairies. But this time the rough rider was generous. He threw the rope over the limb and took the noose from father’s neck. Father and mother both started to thank him sf‘ fusiveiy. He drejr out his revolver and gritted his teeth. v " ‘None of that,’ he said, harshly. “You don’t love me and there’s no use pitting’ on.. Clear out before I change my mind.’ “Anderson probably uttered the last for its effect on his men, as his iron rule was to discourage any semblance of which he Considered as weakness. The netx thing that was heard of the guerrilla chieftain and his ciew was the affair at Centralla,. in which the sick soldiers were butchered by. the dozens, and’ Major Johnson’s mounted militia annihilated. Then came the bloody affray in Ray county, in which Anderson met the fate that had been due him for a long time. His body was literally shot to pieces while he was charging almost alone against a company of 100 soldiers."