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AN IDEAL VILLAIN.iIXudebnngit, «1»» I'wrtns DeiprrMlfl•V • In*\.)Vor. 8t, Louis (.lolx*-Dfmlt; eral |In the County Jail the desperado,j|[ Rudebaugh, a greater character than Billy the Kid, is confined, awaiting hi’a| second trial, and the whole party had i‘ insatiable Curiosity to see the real, II’ villain of the Western plain*. With # hesitation we asked that most courts citizen, Don Miguel Salazar, if sif thing could be, and without a cha hia handsome Spanish face, he bow in courtly Castilian phrase told we had but to wish, his house tfl time was ours. Mr. Salazar, now a lead*# iug lawyer of Los Vegas, is of Castilian# descent, and some winters ago was theadmired of Washington society, where he came in the company of his equally* handsome relative, ex-Oovernor Pacheco, of California, lie walked and danced# right into the favors of that gay city carried oft'one of its prettiest belles toof install in his new home at l^as Vegas.With such an admirable guide we^ took a by-street from the plaza, and* apologizing and deprecating for outf. morbid curiosity all the way, soon1* reached the Sheriff’s office. That dark-* browned official looked with some surv prise at the bonneted and furbelowea£ sarty that presented themselves tc him,n ut with the gravest politeness led tho way to the court yard, ujkiu which thlt;M cells open. It was at tiie noon hour anth© prisoners’ dinner was just being pt ijpou the table under a porch. Th m double grated doors, with ponderous padlocks, the stone and adobe walls four feefi and more in thickness, make one’s hear* sick to look at them. The rattle of cluiin^ heard within the cave-like openings givd* a sensation that nothing is akin to, am* when a newspaper and a greasy pack o^cards were thrown out of the door be*, youd us there was a suppression o screams and a jump for security behind* the Sheriff. Au assistant with a hum ^ of keys stooped and entered a cell, anlt;J titer© was a reminder of the lion-lame who walks boldly into the den of wily beasts. ITuis being my first visit ©ver to am kind of a prison, and the first sight o*manacled men, the clanking of th£ chains had a powerful effect, and m£ fingers were cold uud my knees shaking when the villain did appear. Kuu^ baugh stepped out, straightened h tinsels up, glaucea ut us and walked over to tbl table. He seated himselt and waited * bis first course to be set before him, we stared at him with almost op© mouths. No learned profession c» present a handsomer man tliau th slender, perfectly built specimen of sisl footed villainy. Black mustache, whit* teeth and th© blandest pair of blue eye*were picturesquely siaUed by a broad!battered felt hat, and a colored handier, chief was uotted at his throat under tin coliar of his blue flannel shirt. But bio on the stage just as he waa then, and h would be the ideal villain. Were he ithe New York Tombs the interesting ‘ low would be the pet of all the youu ladies, and have bouks and flowers au wine jelly sent him wholesale.It is a good thing that the intelligeu juries of the West are not won upon b good looks, or Kudebaugh’s smiling blu eyes might make them pass over his mui ders, cattle thefts and stage robberies only unpleasaut incidents of emotion* insanity. Of course we pitied him. 1 was too sad to see thn magnificent crei ture chaiued and shackled, and he wt not a bad man with a bad eye eiibef He blushed so blithely, was so unaffcc edly glad to see us and have a break i the monotony of bis life, that we wei all for Rudebaugh. That he talked a well, had so much of the gentlemanl highwayman about bim, and viewer! h own cundition with such a pathcti, that we could have wept ft him. That winning smile, and the re; fun and amusement that sparkled in h innocent eyes when we would all start! each rattling chain, established a freeuu 11 sonrv between us, and we smiled at bii and talked to him unbiushingly and fea lessly. The Sheriff with a solemn smil turned sideways, and told us that tfc stain on the sloue before Rudebaughcell waa blood.. | There be had murdered the preeedinsheriff iu au attempt to rescue a fello highwayman. For tliat he was tried an sentenced, but appealing for a trial blt; fore the Supreme Court of the Territoryhe has many mouths to wait in jail. “H will escape before that,” is whatever one says of him, but the Sheriff gives “ quiet look in response to such prophecie After this little bit of history Ruuebaug wore a different air to us. It seeine that there was villainy in every linec him, hard cruelty in his blue eyes, an © ] even a wicked crook in his very finger The Sheriff assured us that he w.*s a ft y i worse and more desperate man than BillIor■eiti-would stop at; that even the three-tinefork he was eating his dinner with woul* serve to kill us all if his fetters wer looseued, and we backed out incont nently, saving our thanks until ths oute* J sunshine of the street was upon ut Having seen one red-handed ruffian an-one daring desperado of the dime-nove tvpe, we speculated upon nothing els but the possibilities and probabilities fothe whole day, and tl ere was somethin! of a satisfaction in having seen a real live outlaw of the frontier.i
Newspaper Details
Weekly Times
Cincinnati, Ohio, US
Thu, Jun 09, 1881
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Kokomo-Howard C.
IN, USA 29 Mar 2022
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