A Nineteenth Century Friar Tuck.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXIII, Issue 7368, 16 November 1898, Page 4

A Nineteenth Century Friar Tuck.

For the past four years " Ponca Jim," alias " Montana Jack,'' has been hunted by the dwellers in Gregory County, South Dakota, whera he was dreaded as the boldest of cattle rustlers, the most darins: of horse thieves, and the most' successful of highwaymen and ent-fchroats in that region. In the same locality dwelt the Rev. Myron Hilgard, with his charming wife and three lovely children. For four years he had been known and respected as one of the ablest and most sincere evangelists in the North-west. He held revivals, his life •was exemplary, and his neighbors loved him. He had bnt one weak point, and that W3s his constant and liberal charity to the poor. The rest will be readily guessed. The Rsv. Myron Hilgard was ''Ponca Jinx," "Montana Jack," and & dozen or so other mysterious outlaws with picturesque names. He preached and held revival meetings by day, and by night ran cattle out of the country, stole horses by the score, held up and robbed lone travellers, entered and ransacked farmhouses, -and shot whoever molested him. On one occasion the evangelist, while on hjs way to hold a revival series, combined business with duty by stopping and plundering a victim. He always was masked, and wore a disguise. He was caught at last, his mask plucked from his face, and tho mystery that had baffled everybody for four years was solved. Tha wonder of it all is that he was not lynched incontinently ; buo his captors were so astonished by the discovery that the outlaw was their beloved pastor they lost nerve, and took him to gaol instead, and there he lies for the present. And now the dismay that filled his friends and the community in general at the outset has changed to sympathy (says the Boston Herald), for the story has gone forth that the profits of his nnevangelical plunder were all devoted to charitable purposes, and that he had actually become a phenomenal criminal to raise money with which to relieve the neceaaitiea of the poor families of his Hook.