PLUNDERING THE STE. GENEVIEVE BANK.

 The success of the bandits thus far greatly encouraged them in their lawless operations, and they were constantly planning new and still more reckless adventures. They remained in their secure hiding place during the winter of 1872-3, retiring upon their[Pg 57] laurels¹ and living royally upon their immense gains. During this period of jolly hibernation², schemes were proposed for wrecking³ railroad trains, and before the appearance of spring, Frank James and Jim Younger were sent into Nebraska for the purpose of gathering⁴ information concerning the express shipment of treasure from the west. Not hearing from the robber agents as soon as was expected, Jesse James, Bill Chadwell, Clell Miller⁵, and Bob and Cole Younger decided⁶ to pay their respects to another[Pg 58] bank before venturing upon their proposed railroad enterprise, and the Savings⁷ Association, at Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, was selected for the strike. Accordingly, early in the morning of May 27th, 1873, the five desperate free-booters appeared in the streets of that old-time Catholic town, and the moment that Mr. O. D. Harris, the cashier, accompanied by F. A. Rozier, a son of Hon. Firman A. Rozier, the president, entered the bank to begin the business of the day, the three daring bandits followed them into the building and presenting six pistols, demanded the immediate⁸ opening of the bank vault⁹. Young Rozier, regardless of the danger, made a speedy exit, and as he ran down the street crying for help, a bullet from one of the outlaws¹⁰' weapons went whistling through the tail of his coat, but he escaped. Mr. Harris, however, was covered by too many pistols to permit of his escape, and stern necessity forced him into a compliance¹¹ with the wishes of the robbers. He opened the vault, from which the sum of four thousand one hundred dollars was taken, a large part of which was specie, and shoving it speedily into the sack provided, the bandits mounted their horses and decamped. As they were riding out of the city, the bag containing the treasure was accidentally dropped, to recover which it was necessary to return, and one of the robbers had to dismount. In doing so his horse became frightened and broke away. At this juncture¹² a German came riding by[Pg 59] and the robbers compelled him to ride after and catch the fleeing animal, which was returned to the riderless bandit, only after such delay as permitted a hastily organized posse of the citizens to approach within pistol shot of the three highwaymen. An exchange of fire caused the posse to check their pace and the distance thus gained by the pursued, was never made up. The pursuit was continued for several days, but without result. The outlaws stopped at Hermann, Mo., two days after the robbery, but as usual, there was no posse there to apprehend¹³ them. Several well known detectives from St. Louis were sent out, and the sheriff of every county in Missouri notified and requested to keep a sharp lookout¹⁴ for the desperadoes; but though many suspicious characters were arrested the real culprits were never captured. The amount secured at Ste. Genevieve was a great disappointment to the robbers, for it was known that the bank usually carried from seventy-five thousand to one hundred thousand dollars, but at this particular time, very fortunately, the association was winding¹⁵ up business, and had deposited the greater portion of its funds in the Merchants' Bank of St. Louis.

1 laurels   

n.桂冠，荣誉

参考例句：

• The path was lined with laurels.小路两旁都种有月桂树。
• He reaped the laurels in the finals.他在决赛中荣膺冠军。

2 hibernation   

n.冬眠

参考例句：

• Bears wake up in the spring after a winter of hibernation.熊经过一个冬天的冬眠后在春季苏醒。
• The tortoise spends the winter months in hibernation.乌龟在冬眠中度过寒冬季节。

3 wrecking   

破坏

参考例句：

• He teed off on his son for wrecking the car. 他严厉训斥他儿子毁坏了汽车。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Instead of wrecking the valley, the waters are put to use making electricity. 现在河水不但不在流域内肆疟，反而被人们用来生产电力。 来自辞典例句

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

8 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

9 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

10 outlaws   

歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯

参考例句：

• During his year in the forest, Robin met many other outlaws. 在森林里的一年，罗宾遇见其他许多绿林大盗。
• I didn't have to leave the country or fight outlaws. 我不必离开自己的国家，也不必与不法分子斗争。

11 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

12 juncture   

n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头

参考例句：

• The project is situated at the juncture of the new and old urban districts.该项目位于新老城区交界处。
• It is very difficult at this juncture to predict the company's future.此时很难预料公司的前景。

13 apprehend   

vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑

参考例句：

• I apprehend no worsening of the situation.我不担心局势会恶化。
• Police have not apprehended her killer.警察还未抓获谋杀她的凶手。

14 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

15 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。