"you know," said he, "that jackson county is one of the most rugged and broken districts in missouri; it not only abounds with bluffs, but also, in at least a few places, with almost impenetrable thickets, fit[pg 45] only for the abode of catamounts and foxes. one day i was riding through jackson county, i will not tell you where, when suddenly i was confronted by frank james. he greeted me cordially and then said: '——, i have every confidence in you and i know you would not betray us to save your right arm; therefore i invite you to our retreat; come with me!' i followed him in a bridle path for nearly a mile, when we came to a precipitous bluff, the base of which was completely hidden by a thick growth. there was an entrance between the growth and bluff, where any one would least suspect it, because, at the mouth are two bold rocks, which are apparently attached to the bluff itself; this delusion is accomplished by keeping the interstices filled with fresh brush so laid as to appear like a natural coppice. this passage-way leads about fifty feet, to a large fissure in the side of the bluff, resembling a vestibule; from this we stepped into a large cave, quite roomy enough to contain comfortably more than a score of men and horses. i was astonished at the completeness of the arrangement of things in the cave. there was a cooking stove, the pipe of which extended up and was lost in the top of the cave. frank james told me that the smoke from the stove passed into a fissure of rock which evidently opened into another cave, as no smoke could ever be seen issuing from the bluff. he then took me over to another part of the cavern, where there was a clear spring of[pg 46] beautiful water, and over this was another fissure from which there was a cool draft of air which thoroughly ventilated the entire cave. i could see that many of the conveniences of the place were due to no little labor. a part of the cave was ceiled nicely with grooved pine lumber so as to prevent dampness, and in this division was a large heating stove, and about a dozen beds, all supplied with neat bedding. in the rear of the cave, which was, perhaps, one hundred feet deep by sixty broad, were twenty-one stalls for the horses, and over the stalls was a large feed bin filled with oats and corn, but no hay, as the latter was too bulky to convey readily into the cave. but what surprised me most was the means of defence. there was an arsenal of fire-arms and a magazine for ammunition, while the approach to the cave was commanded by a fierce, breech-loading ten-pound cannon, which was kept constantly loaded with buckshot, and looked out towards the entrance in such a way that one man could defend the place against a hundred, for a discharge of that cannon would sweep everything out of the passage. the place is absolutely impregnable, even if it could be found, which it would be exceedingly difficult to do.
"i would not have told you this except for the fact that the cave is now abandoned and may never be occupied again, but yet there is a certain obligation, from which i do not feel myself wholly relieved, that causes me to keep the location of the cave a secret.[pg 47] frank james is in the east, and jesse james—well, i don't know what has become of him, but i hope he is living in safety and happiness, as i believe he is, because, with all their crimes, the james boys have been good friends to me."
