rt himself was put in
charge of its execution.

Less than ten men in the whole Northwest knew of the movement that was
gradually taking form under the direction of the patriarchal fighting
man from Fergus County; but the Marquis de Mores was one of those men.
He told Roosevelt. Stuart's plan, it seems, was to organize the most
solid and reputable ranchmen in western Montana into a company of
vigilantes similar to the company which had wiped out the Plummer band
twenty years previous. Groups of indignant citizens who called
themselves vigilantes had from time to time attempted to conduct what
were popularly known as "necktie parties," but they had failed in
almost every case to catch their man, for the reason that the
publicity attending the organization had given the outlaws ample
warning of their peril. It was Stuart's plan to organize in absolute
secrecy, and fall on the horse-thieves like a bolt from the blue.

The raid was planned for late in July. It was probably during the last
days of June that Roosevelt heard of it. With him, when the Marquis
unfolded the project to him, was a young Englishman named Jameson
(brother of another Jameson who was many years later to stir the world
with a raid of another sort). Roosevelt and young Jameson, who shared
a hearty dislike of seeing lawbreakers triumphant, and were neither of
them averse to a little danger in confounding the public enemy,
announced with one accord that they intended to join Stuart's
vigilantes. The Marquis had already made up his mind that in so lurid
an adventure he would not be left out. The three of them took a
west-bound train and met Granville Stuart at Glendive.

But Stuart refused pointblank to accept their services. They were
untrained for frontier conditions, he contended; they were probably
reckless and doubtlessly uncontrollable; and would get themselves
killed for no reason; above all, they were all three of prominent
families. If anything happened to them, or if merely the news were
spread abroad that they were taking part in the raid, the attention of
the whole country would be drawn to an expedition in which the element
of surprise was the first essential for success.

The three young argonauts pleaded, but the old pioneer was obdurate.
He did not want to have them along, and he said so with all the
courtesy that was one of his graces and all the precision of phrase
that a life in the wild country had given him. Roosevelt and the
Englis