putterings 451a < vandeveer_19170330 index
Esther Vandeveer. “Andy Miller, Desperado”
Esther Vandeveer. “Andy Miller, Desperado”
The Livingston Chronicle (Livingston, Merced County, California) 9:28 (March 30, 1917)
U California copy/scan (via hathitrust) : link
entirety below —
- A girl about sixteen years old was walking along a road when she saw a man coming toward her. The moment she caught sight of the figure and a certain swing there was in the walk she started. He was some distance from her, and she had time to pull herself together before they met.
- “Can you tell me,” she asked, “how to get to Roslin?”
- “You're goin’ the wrong way for Roslin. It’s a couple of miles back of you.”
- “Oh!” exclaimed the girl. “I’ve been walking away from it all the time.”
- “I’m goin’ in that direction. I'll show you the way.”
- “Thank you.”
- As they walked along they chatted upon ordinary topics. Presently the man said: “Ain’t you afraid to be walkin’ along this road all alone by yourself?”
- “Why should I be afraid?”
- “Oh, there's lots o’ rough characters in these parts. Some of ’em might harm you.”
- “I’ve heard that Andy Miller has been seen about here lately.”
- “Who’s Andy Miller?”
- “He’s the man that killed Cyrus Borden?”
- “Who’s Cyrus Borden?”
- “Why he was a man that lived just outside o’ Roslin.”
- “What did Miller kill him for?’
- “Why, I suppose it was to get his money. But he didn’t get it after all. Mr. Borden kept his money in the chimney, and Miller didn’t look for it there.”
- At this the man showed interest.
- “How do you know all about this?”
- “I’m a friend of Maggie Borden, Mr. Borden’s daughter. She told me all about it.”
- “I suppose since the killing they’ve put the money in the bank.”
- “No; Maggie says they keep it just where it was. Nobody would think of looking there for it. It’s behind a loose brick.”
- The man smiled, but took care that the girl didn’t see his smile. Surely she was the quintessence of innocence. They walked on together till they came to a crossroad a short distance from Roslin, when the man turned off, leaving the girl to pursue her way alone.
- “Goodby,” she said. “Much obliged to you for shewing me the way.”
- The murder of Cyrus Borden was one of the most cold blooded that had ever been known in those parts. He had drawn $2,000 from the bank which to pay off a mortgage. The same night some one broke into his house and demanded at the point of a pistol the money he had drawn from the bank. Borden refused and attempted to defend himself. He was killed by the robber, who then made a search for the money. He failed to find it and departed empty handed.
- Mrs. Borden was away at the time with her two younger children, Maggie being at home with her father. Maggie did not know anything about what had occurred until she was awakened by the robber searching for the money. Opening her door, she heard him ransacking a bureau drawer. She could see the flashes of his dark lantern, but not him. She turned on the lights, and he fled.
- Maggie ran to her father’s room and found him lying dead on the floor.
- Maggie’s description of the murderer tallied with that of a notorious desperado, Andy Miller. who had terrorized the country roundabout and had been seen near Roslin. Justice at the time was administered in that region by members of a vigilance committee. They searched for Miller, but he was too smart for them. He would appear when they were not looking for him but would be conspicuously absent when they hoped to find him.
- The night after the meeting of the man and the girl on the road the man about 10 o’clock walked past the house where the murder had been committed. Not a light was to be seen in it. Seeing something white on the front door, he drew near it and saw that it was a bit of paper on whicb was written:
- Gone to Aunt Mary’s. Will return at 11 o’clock.
- “What luck!” said the man to himself.
- Going around to the rear of the house, he tried a window sash and found it unlocked. He had only to raise it to step into the window and find himself in the kitchen. Passing into the living room, he found an open fireplace. Stooping and flashing his light up the chimney, he began to feel for a loose brick.
- “Come out o’ that!”
- The man turned and saw the room illuminated and half a dozen men covering him with revolvers. One of them had already relieved him of his revolver when his back was turned toward them.
- “Andy Miller, you’re caught at last” said the leader of the vigilance committee.
- “How did you get on to me?” asked the man, white as a sheet.
- “Maggie, come here.”
- The girl who had inquired the way to Roslin and told bim her innocent story appeared.
- “You were trapped by this brave little girl, who is the daughter of the man you murdered. She was smart enough to do what was too big a job for us.”
- Half an hour later the desperado was dangling from a tree.
24 July 2024