Precisely as Hummel had intended, Chief Wright of Nueces rode into Alice
and demanded the prisoner from Captain Hughes. As Hummel had _not_
intended, Captain Hughes refused to surrender the prisoner and told
Chief Wright to go to--well, he told him that he intended to obey his
commander-in-chief, the Governor of Texas.
On February 20th, Hummel, through Kaffenburgh, attempted to get another
writ of habeas corpus in Bee County, and promptly the Bee chief came
buzzing over and demanded Dodge, but to him Hughes replied even as he
had spoken to Wright.
Excitement in Alice had now reached such a pitch that Judge Burns, of
the Federal Court, in Houston, ordered United States Marshal John W.
Vann, of Alice, to assume charge of the prisoner. The indomitable
Hughes, however, paid no more attention to the United States Marshal
than he had to the local chiefs. But the situation was so delicate and
the clash of authority might so easily have resulted in bloodshed that
it was finally agreed by all parties that the best thing to do was to
have the prisoner returned to Houston in the _joint_ custody of Captain
Hughes of the Rangers and the United States Marshal.
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