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+Project Gutenberg's Jack Wright and His Electric Stage;, by "Noname"
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Jack Wright and His Electric Stage;
+       or, Leagued Against the James Boys
+
+Author: "Noname"
+
+Release Date: September 19, 2007 [EBook #22670]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JACK WRIGHT ELECTRIC STAGE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Richard Halsey
+
+
+
+
+JACK WRIGHT AND HIS ELECTRIC STAGE;
+OR,
+Leagued Against the James Boys.
+
+By "NONAME,"
+Author of "Jack Wright and His Electric Battery Diver," etc., etc.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+THE BANDIT KING.
+
+As the 11:30 A. M. express train from New York was speeding toward the
+fisher village of Wrightstown, one of the passengers went out on the
+rear platform of the last car and intently gazed back along the rails.
+
+He was a compactly built man, with rather rough clothing on, and the
+soft felt hat on his head shaded a bearded face, which denoted a daring,
+reckless disposition.
+
+A half smothered oath escaped his lips as he caught view of a locomotive
+chasing the train he was on, for he distinctly saw a man in the cab whom
+he recognized as one of his worst enemies.
+
+"Sheriff Timberlake!" he growled between his clenched teeth, as a dark
+scowl mantled his brow. "Curse him! he is hot after us now, and if he
+overhauls this train he may give us no end of trouble."
+
+"The skunk has followed us all the way from Missouri, and after we saw
+the sights of New York, and gave him the slip, he must have discovered
+that we started for home in this train. Now he has evidently hired that
+locomotive to chase and capture us. I'll go in and tell the boys. We
+must keep out of his reach."
+
+His anxiety was caused by observing that the pursuing locomotive was
+slowly but surely gaining on the train.
+
+Opening the door, he passed into the car.
+
+It was occupied by four men, who were part of a gang of outlaws whom he
+commanded, for the bearded man was the notorious bandit king, Jesse
+James.
+
+The men who were with him were known as Jim Cummins, Wood Hite, Clell
+Miller and Frank James--a brother of Jesse.
+
+Sitting in a bunch, they were quietly laughing and talking over their
+experience in New York, when the chief hurried in with a look of supreme
+disgust upon his face.
+
+The moment the rest glanced up at him and saw it, they knew something
+out of the ordinary had happened.
+
+"What's the matter, Jesse?" demanded Jim Cummins.
+
+"You look as if you'd seen a ghost!" laughed Frank, jocularly.
+
+"What sent you out on the rear platform!" asked Wood Hite.
+
+"Timberlake is after us," said Jesse, with a steely glitter in his eyes.
+
+"Thunder!" roared Clell Miller.
+
+With one accord the quartet pulled revolvers from their pockets, bounded
+to their feet and sprang into the aisle.
+
+A grim smile passed over the face of Jesse James for a moment, and as it
+faded sway, he made as impatient gesture and said:
+
+"He is on a locomotive that is chasing us."
+
+"Sure!" asked Cummins, with a dubious look.
+
+"I saw him in the caboose."
+
+"Can he overtake us?" asked Frank.
+
+"Eventually; but we mustn't let him."
+
+"How can we prevent it?" queried Miller.
+
+"By jumping off at the next curve and hiding."
+
+"Good!" exclaimed Wood Hite, "Where's the curve?"
+
+"Just before we reach Wrightstown."
+
+"Let's get ready for it then," suggested Frank.
+
+"All right," assented the bandit king; "but be careful that no one
+detects us. To avoid being seen we must leave by the rear platform."
+
+As he said this he thrust his head out the open window, and peering
+ahead, he studied the roadbed.
+
+Satisfied with his scrutiny; he said to his companions:
+
+"There's the curve about a mile ahead."
+
+"Well?" demanded Cummins.
+
+"The train is bound to slacken speed when it goes around. A mass of
+timber, bushes and rocks abutt into the curve. It will hide our
+movements from the sheriff's view. We can easily hide there."
+
+Stationing themselves near the rear door, they waited.
+
+In a few minutes the cars reached the curve and went around.
+
+As the last car turned they dashed out upon the rear platform, and one
+after another they sprang to the ground.
+
+Then they plunged late the bushes.
+
+Gathering speed again, the express train ran away without them, and a
+few minutes afterward a locomotive came flying along in pursuit of it
+with an engineer, a stoker and the sheriff in the cab.
+
+The bandits glared from their coverts at Timberlake like so many wild
+beasts as he sped by, ignorant of the trick they played upon him, and
+nearly all of them gripped their pistols with a burning desire to fire
+at him.
+
+It would have been too rash to do that.
+
+In fact Jesse observed their anxiety, and hissed in warning tones:
+
+"Don't drop him!"
+
+In a moment more the locomotive was gone.
+
+The outlaws emerged from their places of concealment.
+
+"How long before Timberlake will discover our ruse?" asked Frank.
+
+"If the train goes on, not for an hour yet," replied Jesse, as he cast a
+swift glance around. "But we are in a sorry plight now."
+
+"How do you mean?"
+
+"You know we all lost every dollar we had, playing faro in the city. How
+are we going to ride back to Missouri without a cent? It's my opinion
+that we'll have to do some work about Wrightstown to get ahead. The last
+dollar I had went for the purchase of tickets to Missouri, which we gave
+the conductor."
+
+The gang looked very glum.
+
+"What sort of a place is Wrightstown?" asked Cummins, finally.
+
+"I've heard that it's a fisher village. A young fellow named Jack Wright
+lives there. He's an inventor of electric machines for flying through
+the air, navigating under water, and running over the land. Everybody
+has heard of him. He has the reputation of being one of the richest boys
+in the country. By means of his famous inventions he has made a barrel
+of money."
+
+"Then he's our game," said Frank, decisively.
+
+"Yes," assented Jesse. "He's about the only one from whom we could
+expect to make a rich haul. I hope he's at home. I've got a plan in view
+now by means of which I can bunco him out of several thousands of
+dollars, if we can operate the game before the Wrightstown Bank closes."
+
+"What are you going to do?" eagerly asked Miller.
+
+"I'll show you when I try the trick. It's a very smooth game, and if I'm
+clever enough I'll succeed. Come on to the village, and see if we can
+operate it. We've got to have money. If we can't get it by means of the
+plan in view, I'm going to lay out the first man I meet, and go through
+him."
+
+The rest chuckled at this remark.
+
+Going to the village, they found it to be a thriving place at the head
+of a beautiful bay on the Atlantic sea coast.
+
+There was a bank on the main street, and when it was located, Jesse said
+to Frank:
+
+"In nearly all banks there is a desk or table, for the benefit of
+depositors, on which are pens, ink, deposit slips, and blank checks. You
+go into the bank, and pocket several of the checks. There's an old
+hostelry down there near the bay called the Sea Spider House. We will
+register there, and you'll find us in the bar room."
+
+Frank James nodded, and in a moment his compact and wiry body was going
+rapidly down the street.
+
+Although Frank was a desperate, fearless ruffian, he had a pleasant
+face, keen gray eyes, a light mustache, and a most quiet air and
+unassuming manner.
+
+No one would have suspected him of being a bandit, and as he was a
+fairly good talker, full of grit and coolness, and best suited for the
+work in hand, Jesse trusted him implicitly.
+
+The outlaws registered at the hostelry with as much sang froid as if
+their pockets were lined with gold.
+
+They patronized the bar liberally, had the drinks charged to their
+account, and ordered a fine luncheon.
+
+Frank soon returned.
+
+He had the blank checks.
+
+Handing them to Jesse he said in low tones:
+
+"No trouble at all. The clerks paid no attention to me."
+
+"They'll soon have reason to remember us," grimly answered Jesse.
+
+Telling his companions to remain there until he returned, he left the
+hotel, asked a pedestrian the way to Jack Wright's house, and having
+received the desired information, made his way there.
+
+It proved to be a magnificent mansion, standing in the midst of a
+handsome garden which sloped down to a creek.
+
+There was a fine big workshop standing at the foot of the garden, upon
+the bank of this creek, in which the young inventor constructed the
+machines that made him world renowned.
+
+Jesse James boldly ascended the piazza, rang the bell, and an old sailor
+with a sandy beard, a glass eye and a wooden leg, answered it.
+
+His name was Tim Topstay, and he lived with the inventor and not only
+aided him to build his inventions, but always went with Jack on the
+adventurous journeys he made.
+
+"Waal, messmate," said he, in bluff, hearty tones, as he took a chew of
+navy plug, and scanned the outlaw with his solitary eye. "Wot kin I do
+fer yer ter-day?"
+
+"Is Mr. Jack Wright in?" politely asked the bandit.
+
+"He are," replied Tim. "D'yer wanter see him?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and on important business too."
+
+"Then step inter ther library an I'll call him fer ye."
+
+Ignorant of the dangerous nature of the caller Tim ushered him into a
+cozy library and left him there.
+
+A fat young Dutchman was in the room, but he immediately left it,
+casting an inquiring look at the bandit king.
+
+His name was Fritz Schneider, and he had yellow hair, watery blue eyes,
+an enormous stomach and a pugnacious temperament.
+
+Fritz and Tim were chums and the fat fellow occupied about the same
+position in the house as the old marine did.
+
+A few moments afterward Jack Wright entered.
+
+The outlaw keenly sized him up and observed that he was a well dressed
+young fellow with a sturdy figure, not particularly good looking as his
+features were very angular, but his dark eyes showed a very high spirit.
+
+"You wish to see me, sir?" he asked, as he studied Jesse and felt a most
+repugnant sensation creep over him.
+
+"I have called on a begging expedition," bluntly replied the bandit,
+inventing a plausible lie. "I live in Missouri, and wish to go home. I
+was unlucky enough to lose my pocket-book. I am an utter stranger here,
+and did not know what to do to raise ten dollars to pay my car fare.
+Having been told that you was a charitable man, I wish to know if you
+will lend me the money. I will gladly mail the amount to you when I
+reach home."
+
+"Why certainly I'll let you have it," replied Jack.
+
+"To prove to you that I want the money only for the purpose I
+mentioned," glibly preceded the outlaw, "you can make out a check
+payable to the bearer, and you will find the voucher stamped or endorsed
+by the railroad company in payment for my ticket."
+
+"I would have been obliged to give you a check anyway," laughed Jack,
+"for I've only got three or four dollars in cash in my pocket. Just
+wait, and I'll give you the check."
+
+He sat down at his desk, and Jesse saw him pick up several checks
+exactly like the ones purloined from the bank by Frank.
+
+Jack filled out one of the orders for ten dollars.
+
+He handed it to Jesse, and the bandit thanked him like a very grateful
+man, repeated his assurance that he would refund the money upon his
+arrival at home, and then departed.
+
+Jesse James was delighted at his success thus far.
+
+Returning to the hotel, he procured pen and ink, retired to his room and
+studied Jack's check intently.
+
+The signature to it was a very peculiar one that the most expert forger
+in the world would have found it almost impossible to imitate.
+
+But the rest of the writing was easy to copy.
+
+The bandit practiced the formation of the different letters for over an
+hour, and made a good imitation of them.
+
+"And now to raise Wright's cheek," he muttered in tones of exultation,
+when he saw how successful he was.
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+SWINDLING THE INVENTOR.
+
+The date, number, amount, and figures designating the amount of money
+Jack's check called for were written.
+
+Jesse now took one of the blank checks Frank got for him, and imitating
+Jack's writing, he filled it in with the same number as the good check;
+after the words: "Pay to the order of---" he wrote, "Bearer," as Jack
+had done; before the word "Dollars," on the next line he wrote "Five
+thousand," and after the mark "$--" he put "5,000."
+
+He left out the date and signature.
+
+These were unnecessary in the trick he was playing.
+
+Having satisfied himself that his writing bore a close resemblance to
+that on Jack's check, he laid the check he had filled out one top of the
+one Jack gave him with the greatest care, so that all the lines on one
+were exactly opposite the lines on the other.
+
+This he ascertained by holding them up to the light and staring through
+the thin paper.
+
+When he had them matched exactly, he located a spot across the width of
+both where no writing was seen.
+
+Holding the checks tightly together he tore them in two, just as if the
+two checks were one thickness of paper.
+
+Consequently both were torn exactly alike.
+
+Taking off the two top pieces he laid them side by side, joining the
+edges where they were torn, and then did the same with the other check.
+
+This done he took the right hand piece of Jack's check, upon which were
+the date at the top and signature at the bottom.
+
+He then took the left hand piece of the check he had made out and put it
+to the piece with the signature which Jack inscribed.
+
+The check now, instead of being for ten dollars, called for $5,000 and
+although a composite thing the signature was no forgery, and that was
+the principal writing studied by the paying tellers of banks.
+
+It looked like a perfectly genuine check torn in two, for as both checks
+had been torn together, the curves of one fit the grooves of the other
+piece to perfection.
+
+Jesse now burned up the remaining two pieces.
+
+"Eureka!" he exclaimed, with an evil smile. "I've done it well. The most
+experienced bank clerk in the country would fail to detect the
+deception. Now to get it cashed!"
+
+He put on his hat, and holding the two pieces of check in his hand, he
+left the Sea Spider House.
+
+Making his way to the Wrightstown bank, he coolly entered, and
+approaching the paying teller's little brass barred window, he thrust in
+the two pieces of check and said blandly:
+
+"Please cash that for me."
+
+"You've torn the check in two," said the paying teller.
+
+"I had it in my breast pocket, and as I was coming in the door I put my
+hand in my pocket to draw it out, when the end of the check caught in
+some books and it ripped in two."
+
+The paying teller matched the torn ends.
+
+They fitted with the utmost accuracy.
+
+He then keenly scanned the signature.
+
+Familiar with Jack Wright's checks as he was, he saw at a glance that
+the signature was genuine.
+
+Without the slightest hesitation he cashed the check, paying the bandit
+with one hundred dollar bills.
+
+Jesse requested him to give him bills of smaller denomination for one of
+the bank notes, and when this was done, he leisurely counted the money,
+placed it in his pocket and strolled out into the Street.
+
+Here he came face to face with Jack.
+
+The young Inventor was just about to enter the bank.
+
+The shock upon a man of weaker nerves than Jesse James had, to thus meet
+Jack, would have been awful.
+
+But the bandit king bad nerves of steel.
+
+He did not start, turn pale, or twitch a muscle.
+
+On the contrary he assumed a cheerful smile, shook hands very heartily
+with Jack, and said in apologetic tones:
+
+"I deemed it best to pay for my railroad fare in cash, so I came here
+and got the money for your check, Mr. Wright."
+
+"It's just as well you did," replied the Inventor. "I'm a director of
+this bank, and hold the position of president. The board meets to-day,
+and as I need some cash, I'm killing two birds with one stone."
+
+"Very clever," said Jesse. "Good-bye. I must be off."
+
+"Good-day, sir," said Jack, and he entered the bank.
+
+The bandit strode swiftly to the Sea Spider House.
+
+He found his companions dining, and joining them, he made a good meal,
+and at its conclusion all hands repaired to the bar again, and indulged
+in several more drinks.
+
+Jesse then startled his companions by pulling out his big wad of bills,
+and paying the landlord for their fare.
+
+The moment the gang got him alone, Frank whispered:
+
+"Where did you get the roll, Jess?"
+
+"From Jack Wright," laughed the outlaw.
+
+"Tell us about it!"
+
+"Certainly. It was the easiest game I ever played, and I got $5,000 out
+of it, too. Ha, ha, ha!"
+
+Looks of intense astonishment appeared on the faces of his friends.
+
+He then explained what he had done.
+
+A roar of delight went up from the gang when he finished.
+
+"Bully for you, Jess!"
+
+"Oh, Lord, what a game!"
+
+"You've done splendidly."
+
+"What a roasting for the bank!"
+
+They laughed and chuckled over it for some time.
+
+But suddenly the solemned-faced Frank exclaimed in startled tones:
+
+"Say! Suppose Jack Wright finds out in the bank what you've done! We'll
+have all the police in this town looking for us. Hadn't we better get
+out of here?"
+
+"Oh, don't hurry yourself," coolly replied Jesse, as he noted the blank
+look of dismay on the faces of the rest produced by his brother's words.
+"There's no danger."
+
+The bandit king always exercised a powerful influence over his brother
+and his men, and they immediately became imbued with his reckless
+carelessness, and got over the sadden fright which had for a moment
+shocked them.
+
+Jesse then questioned the hotel keeper about the departure of trains
+from there, and learned that they could not leave Wrightstown in less
+than an hour.
+
+He told his companions the news.
+
+Before the train came in which, they intended to depart, another one
+arrived from the opposite direction.
+
+Sheriff Timberlake was aboard.
+
+His locomotive had caught up with the express train, and he boarded her,
+and learned that a passenger had seen five men spring aground at the
+Wrightstown curve.
+
+As Jesse James and his men were not aboard, he at once presumed it was
+they who had thus eluded him.
+
+He, therefore, alighted at the next station, and boarded the first train
+back for Wrightstown.
+
+By dint of inquiring, he discovered that five men who answered to the
+description of his prey, were at the Sea Spider Hotel, and made his way
+there.
+
+When he reached the hotel, he learned that the men were there, and had
+retired to one of the rooms.
+
+Timberlake was a man who never wasted words.
+
+When he spoke or acted, it was to the point.
+
+He therefore made no remark, but quickly made his way up-stairs, sure
+that he had his prey cornered.
+
+By moving quietly, and listening at the different doors, he finally
+located the sound of several voices coming from the room occupied by the
+James Boys.
+
+He recognized them at once as the voices of the gang whom he had tracked
+to New York.
+
+"It's time to get ready, boys," he heard Jesse say.
+
+"We've got ten minutes yet," replied Cummins.
+
+"Just time enough to reach the depot," added Frank.
+
+The sheriff smiled, and produced a brace of revolvers.
+
+Flinging open the door he saw the five men in the bedroom, sitting
+around a table upon which stood an empty whisky bottle and a deck of
+cards with which they had been amusing themselves.
+
+Leveling his pistols at the outlaws he cried:
+
+"Hands up!"
+
+"Timberlake!" roared Jesse.
+
+"Quick, obey or I'll fire!"
+
+"Caught!" muttered Frank.
+
+"I've got the drop on you!"
+
+They saw that resistance was simply madness, so up went their hands and
+the keen glance of the sheriff swept over the party and he counted four
+men.
+
+Miller was missing.
+
+For a moment there was deep silence.
+
+The bandits had time to recover from their panic.
+
+"Let up, Timberlake, and I'll give you $5,000," said Jesse.
+
+"Not for ten times that amount," replied the sheriff.
+
+"You can't take all of us."
+
+"Two will do--you and Frank."
+
+"Will nothing bribe you?"
+
+"Absolutely nothing." Jesse uttered a sharp signal whistle.
+
+It echoed piercingly through the hotel, and the sheriff started and
+demanded with a frown:
+
+"What did you do that for?"
+
+"To summon assistance," coolly replied Jesse.
+
+"You won't get any here."
+
+"Oh, yes, we will. You'll see."
+
+"I am going---"
+
+He never finished that sentence.
+
+Miller had heard the danger signal, came up in the hall, saw how the
+situation stood, and stealing up quietly behind Timberlake, he dealt the
+plucky officer a stunning blow with the butt of his pistol.
+
+It knocked the sheriff down.
+
+He was hardly prostrate before the whole gang was upon him, and while
+one took the pistols away from him, the rest bound and gagged him.
+
+He thus was rendered perfectly helpless.
+
+When he recovered from the effect of the blow, he found himself at the
+mercy of the gang, unable to move or speak, and tied up to the
+old-fashioned bed post.
+
+"Fool," said Jesse, standing before him, and bending a burning glance
+upon him of mingled hate and rage. "Are you soft enough to imagine you
+can get away with all of us single handed?"
+
+Timberlake did not reply of course.
+
+But the look of intense fury he bestowed upon Jesse, amply evinced all
+that was passing in his mind.
+
+"We are going to leave you here," preceded the king of the bandits, "and
+we are going back to Clay County. I'd like to blow your head off before
+we go, but that would run my bead in the hangman's noose. If you are
+unlucky enough to stumble across my path again, though, I shall be less
+merciful. I'd wipe you out as I would a viper."
+
+Gagged as he was, Timberlake remained silent.
+
+"Come, boys, let us begone," said Jesse turning to his companions. "We
+barely have time to catch the train."
+
+They filed out of the room, and Jesse locked the door, carried the key
+away, and they left the hotel.
+
+Making speed, they quickly reached the railroad depot.
+
+A train was just leaving.
+
+They quickly boarded it.
+
+Away they were whirled to Missouri.
+
+And that was the last Wrightstown ever saw of them.
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+THE ELECTRIC STAGE.
+
+Toward evening a chambermaid in the Sea Spider House went up to the room
+which had been occupied by the James Boys and discovered Sheriff
+Timberlake bound and gagged.
+
+She was very much frightened at first, and ran screaming from the room,
+for she thought the apartment was vacant and had gone up to put it in
+order.
+
+The landlord heard her shrieks, learned what frightened her, and
+hastening up to the room liberated the sheriff.
+
+"Another victim of these villains!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Have they got the best of some one else?" asked Timberlake.
+
+"Yes; the evening paper contains an account of a clever check swindle
+they played on the Wrightstown Bank, by duping Jack Wright, the most
+respected young citizen in this town."
+
+"How long have they been gone?"
+
+"They departed a few minutes after you went up here at noon."
+
+"Do you know which way they went?"
+
+"The paper says they boarded a westbound train."
+
+"In that case they've given me the slip again."
+
+"Why did they treat you this way?"
+
+"I am the sheriff of Clay County, Missouri, and they were Jesse and
+Frank James, the notorious bandits, and three of their gang."
+
+"Good heavens! and I harbored them here!"
+
+"Of course you did not know who they were."
+
+"Certainly not, if I had I would have handed them over to the police."
+
+"Let me read the newspaper account."
+
+The landlord handed him the paper.
+
+He read the article, which gave an account of how Jack Wright had been
+cheated, and added, in conclusion, that after the inventor entered the
+bank he discovered the swindle.
+
+The police were notified.
+
+They traced the James Boys to the hotel.
+
+But when they got there the birds had flown.
+
+Hastening to the railroad depot, they discovered that the bandits had
+made their escape on the cars.
+
+They telegraphed to the authorities ahead of the train at its first
+stopping place to arrest the bandits.
+
+But the reply finally came back that the cars did not stop there, as the
+bandits had taken possession of the engine, and were seen forcing the
+engineer to keep the train going by menacing him with their pistols.
+
+Timberlake was not surprised at this.
+
+He knew that there were no more desperate men than the James Boys, and
+was aware that they would resort to any means to escape.
+
+"I can't do anything farther," he sighed. "At least, not until I get
+back to Missouri. I think I'll call on Jack Wright, and get all the
+facts from him of the bank swindle."
+
+He thereupon left the hotel.
+
+Going to Jack's house, he found the inventor in.
+
+Introducing himself, and showing his credentials, the sheriff had a long
+talk about the matter with the inventor.
+
+In conclusion, he said:
+
+"For a long time I have tried every means to capture those bandits. But
+they slip away from me with the most remarkable ease every time I feel
+surest I've got them. There's a reward of $5,000 offered by the governor
+of the State for their capture, and I and a Pinkerton detective named
+Carl Greene have been making the most desperate efforts to capture the
+James Boys, and break up their gang. We have thus far failed to do so."
+
+"Why has it been such a difficult task?" asked Jack.
+
+"In the first place, Jesse James owns a horse named Siroc which is
+unequaled in speed and intelligence by any horse in the world that I
+know of, and he can easily outfoot the fleetest animal that ever chased
+him."
+
+"Well," asked Jack, "suppose an electric overland engine were to chase
+that remarkable quadruped, don't you think he might be overtaken? The
+engine I refer to can run at the rate of fifty miles an hour over rough
+ground."
+
+"Any engine could last longer than a horse, and such a machine as you
+mention could outspeed that horse. But, of course, such an engine is an
+utter impossibility."
+
+"You are mistaken," said Jack, quietly.
+
+"How so?" asked Timberlake, with a puzzled look.
+
+"Because I have got such an engine."
+
+"You have?"
+
+"Just finished building it."
+
+"And it runs by electricity?"
+
+"Entirely so."
+
+"Without tracks?"
+
+"On the ground."
+
+"And at fifty miles an hour?"
+
+"Yes. I have tested her to that speed."
+
+"This, if true, is most extraordinary."
+
+"No, it isn't. I have constructed such machines before."
+
+"I've been told you are an inventor of electrical contrivances."
+
+"Do you doubt the probability of such an engine?"
+
+"Candidly, I do."
+
+"Do you want me to prove it?"
+
+"By all means."
+
+"Then come with me. I'll show it to you."
+
+"I am burning with curiosity to see the wonderful affair."
+
+Jack smiled and led his caller out into the yard.
+
+Proceeding to the door of the workshop he opened it with a latch key and
+they entered a very large room.
+
+It was cast in gloom.
+
+Jack turned a switch on the wall.
+
+Instantly scores of brilliant incandescent electric lamps were put in
+circuit and blazed out, illuminating the room as if by day.
+
+A strange-looking vehicle in the form of a stage was disclosed standing
+in the middle of the apartment.
+
+Jack pointed at it and said:
+
+"There's the machine that will do all I claimed for it."
+
+"By thunder, that's an odd looking affair!"
+
+"She certainly is a peculiar carriage."
+
+"Yet she is very handsome, light, and durable."
+
+"Lift one end of her. You will be amazed at her weight."
+
+"How can one man lift such a heavy thing as that?"
+
+"Try, and you'll see."
+
+The sheriff complied.
+
+He was astonished to find he could raise her,
+
+Jack burst out laughing at his amazed expression.
+
+"I can't imagine what material she can be made of!" said the officer.
+
+"It's aluminum," replied Jack, "Have you a revolver?"
+
+"Yes--a 32 calibre weapon."
+
+"If you will put a bullet through her I'll give you $10,000."
+
+Timberlake's surprise increased, and he drew his weapon.
+
+Aiming it at the vehicle in various places he blazed away.
+
+Six shots were thus fired.
+
+He then closely examined the Terror, as the stage was named, and
+although he saw where each of the heavy caliber bullets had struck the
+machine, he failed to find a perforation.
+
+In fact he picked up the bullets from the ground fused and battered out
+of shape.
+
+Jack watched him with an amused smile.
+
+"What do you think of that for bullet-proof armor?" he asked.
+
+"It is simply wonderful--extraordinary!"
+
+Timberlake scanned the engine with newly awakened interest.
+
+It was about thirty feet long, by ten in breadth, rode on four broad
+cogged wheels, and was set on strong, flexible springs.
+
+Under the middle of the car was a powerful motor for revolving the
+wheels, in front of the dashboard was a projecting ram over which stood
+a search-light of 90,000 candle power, above the forward wheels were air
+brakes, the driver's seat was in front, and before it stood a steering
+wheel and several levers.
+
+All the actions of the Terror were controlled by these levers.
+
+Each side of the car was indented with four windows and four
+bull's-eyes, there was a door front and back, and a rear platform from
+which hung a ladder to get on and off.
+
+The lower section of the walls consisted of metal plates, while the
+upper part was made of aluminum wire netting, there was a small
+smokestack on top of the roof, and on each side a railed platform.
+
+Her interior was divided by partitions into three rooms, the forward one
+being a general living room containing bunks for sleeping, the middle
+one was a combined dining room and kitchen, the cooking being done on an
+electric stove, and the rear room was for storage.
+
+In it water and provisions, arms and ammunition, tools and many other
+useful articles were to be stowed.
+
+There were two compartments--one under the sleeping room floor in which
+stood the mechanism for running the Terror, and the other beneath the
+store room floor, in which stood a small powerful dynamo which operated
+automatically by a spring clockwork.
+
+All the room lamps and the search-light derived their current from the
+dynamo, while it worked the motor, and that in turn operated the driving
+wheel machinery.
+
+"It don't require a skilled electrician to see how the Terror operates."
+said Jack, as he showed the sheriff the interior, "for I have based her
+construction upon the simplest known principles."
+
+"Oh, I can readily see how she ought to work."
+
+"I'll give you an example," said Jack, seating himself behind the
+steering wheel and pulling a lever.
+
+That set the clockwork in motion, it spun the dynamo armature, a current
+was generated, flashed into the motor, the shaft operated the machinery,
+and the Terror rolled ahead.
+
+When she reached the end of the room he reversed the lever and she
+backed to the other wall.
+
+He then ran her around the room in a circle, steering by the wheel, and
+attained a tremendous velocity; he put on the brakes and she stopped
+within a few feet, and he turned a switch that caused the search-light
+and lamps in her to glow.
+
+By the time he finished the sheriff was wild with admiration of the
+extraordinary vehicle.
+
+"For what purpose did you build her? he asked Jack, when they finished
+maneuvering her, and alighted.
+
+"Just for fun, I have plenty of money and leisure, and a strong liking
+for building these electrical inventions."
+
+"But why did you say she could catch Jesse James' horse Siroc?"
+
+"Simply because I have made up my mind to do so?"
+
+"What! Go to Missouri in pursuit of the James Boys?" asked Timberlake,
+as he took up Jack's remark.
+
+"Yes, sir. I or the bank have lost five thousand dollars by a mean trick
+the bandit king played on me, and I mean to recover it."
+
+"League yourself with the State Government against the outlaws, and you
+may not only recover the stolen money, but you stand a mighty good
+chance of winning the standing reward of five thousand dollars for the
+arrest and conviction of the James Boys."
+
+"The money is no temptation to me whatever," asserted Jack. "I don't
+need it. But you must consider that I was greatly chagrined and
+mortified when I discovered what a clever game had been played upon me,
+and I am very anxious to even matters up with those villains. Besides, I
+rather like the wild, exciting adventures in view if I run after those
+outlaws."
+
+"You must not forget that it may cost your life."
+
+"Oh, I am aware of that! And say---"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"How would you like to accompany us?"
+
+"First-rate. I would be of great help to you, too, as I am familiar with
+all parts of the State."
+
+"That settles the matter then. You go with us."
+
+"When will you depart?"
+
+"I'm going to write to the Governor of Missouri, and I'll go just as
+soon as I get a reply from him."
+
+"I'll write him at the same time then, and I feel confident that we
+won't be there long before we break up that gang of outlaws, and have
+the James Boys behind the bars."
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+OFF FOR MISSOURI.
+
+The sheriff resolved to remain in Wrightstown, and start from there on
+the Terror, with Jack and his two friends.
+
+While awaiting a reply from the Governor of Missouri he put up at the
+Sea Spider house, and went daily to the young inventor's workshop to
+help get the engine ready.
+
+Jack had to purchase many necessary articles to equip the electric
+engine, and while they were stocking her, he said one day to Timberlake:
+
+"As you are the sheriff of Clay County, Missouri, I cannot understand
+what, right you had to desert your post of duty there, and go off on a
+chase after the James Boys all the way to New York."
+
+"That mystery can easily be explained," replied Timberlake with a smile.
+"I was taking a vacation, to which I am entitled, when I learned of
+their proposed trip to the metropolis to see the sights. Instead of
+taking a rest, I became excited into a longing to capture them, and
+started in pursuit as a detective would have done."
+
+"Oh, that accounts for it!"
+
+"You see I always carry with me a warrant for the arrest of the James
+Boys and their gang, and therefore was prepared to take them had luck
+favored me."
+
+Just then Tim stumped up to them, and proffering a plug of tobacco to
+the sheriff he asked:
+
+"Have a chew?"
+
+"No, I never use plug."
+
+"Yer werry welcome, said Tim, and he took a bite.
+
+"Don't mention it," laughed the sheriff.
+
+"I've been havin' a awful hard time o' it, Timberlake."
+
+"You don't say, Tim! What has happened?"
+
+"Oh, 'twuzn't nuthin' wot occurred lately."
+
+"To what do you refer then?" asked the perplexed sheriff.
+
+"A leetle incident wot happened ter me when I wuz aboard o' the ole
+frigate Wabash in ther navy."
+
+"Indeed! Was you in the navy?"
+
+"A good many years, sir. Whar else did I git this leg blowed off?"
+
+"You was just going to mention something that happened."
+
+"Ay, ay. So I wuz. Yer see, it happened this way. We wuz a coastin'
+through ther Red Sea one brilln' arternoon, watchin' ther monkeys an'
+crocodiles on ther Arabian shore when all at onct I noticed a queer
+yaller-redness in ther sky on ther Afriky shore. It wuz caused by a
+simoom. Great clouds o' sand, driv' by the wind, wuz a-rushin' acrost
+ther desert toward ther ship, an' as it came out toward us, we seed we
+wuz doomed."
+
+"You were in a mighty tight box," observed the sheriff, interestedly.
+
+"Keel haul me if we wuzn't," agreed Tim, with a nod. "Waal, sir, we
+knowed that ther minute them ere clouds o' red-hot sand came down on
+ther ship, it would bury us an' bake us ter death. All my messmates wuz
+skeered ter death, an' droppin' down upon thar marrer bones about ther
+deck, they begun ter pray like sons of guns. Did I give away ter ther
+general panic? Not much.
+
+"Cause why? I'll tell yer. A way ter save ther ship an' crew occured ter
+me. Wot wuz it? Yer'll see. Yer know as crocodiles is reckoned ther
+fastest swimmers in ther water. Waal, sir, as soon as I seed that ere
+storm abarin' down on us I knowed as our only chance to save ourselves
+laid in runnin' away from it. Now thar wuzn't wind enough for ther sails
+ter do it, so wot does I do but gits a rope; then I jumped overboard
+right in ther midst o' them crocodiles. Afore yer could count ten I made
+a slipnoose fast about ther necks o' forty o' them animiles, got back
+aboard the frigate an' tied ther other and o' ther line ter the capstan.
+Then I took a spear an' cllmbin' out on ther bowsprit I began ter jab
+'em an' away they went, pullin' ther frigate along like greased
+lightning---"
+
+"Say, Tim---"
+
+"I ain't done yet---"
+
+"But I tell you---"
+
+"Awarst thar! As I wuz asayin' along we went like fury, ther simoon
+chasing arter us. It wuz a terrible race an' I yelled and poked at them
+ere crocodiles like mad.
+
+"In a few moments we wuz makin' eighty knots an hour, an' I noticed as
+we wuz pullin' away from that ere storm werry stiddy, ontil at last we
+lef it astarn, an' ther ship wuz saved. You'd oughter seed how glad my
+poor messmates wuz when I finally cut ther crocodiles loose an' we
+sailed in clear water---"
+
+"It must have been great," dryly said Timberlake.
+
+"Ay now," proudly replied Tim. "That it wuz, sir."
+
+"Say, Tim, that would be a splendid yarn only for one thing."
+
+"An' wot might that be, Mr. Timberlake?"
+
+"Crocodiles can't live in salt water, and as the Red Sea is exceedingly
+briny, I don't understand how the ones you captured could have been
+there and submitted to being harnessed as you did it, without offering
+to make a meal of you."
+
+A rather startled look crossed Tim's face.
+
+He thoughtfully rubbed his big red nose and gasped:
+
+"Gee whiz!"
+
+The fact was Tim was an awful liar.
+
+He seldom spun a yarn without being tripped up.
+
+That is the trouble with most liars; they generally make an error in
+their stories which won't stand analysis.
+
+"Will you be kind enough to explain how those saurians happened to be in
+that sea in such a docile frame of mind, Tim?" asked Timberlake, with a
+provoking smile of derision.
+
+"No, sir," flatly answered the old sailor, who was utterly at a loss how
+to clear himself. "The fact are, sir, as I never gives explanations e'
+my yarns, an'---"
+
+But here he was interrupted.
+
+By the wild shriek of an accordeon.
+
+In the hands of Fritz.
+
+The Dutchmen hated Tim's yarns.
+
+And Tim hated Fritz's music with equal fervor.
+
+Consequently, while the yarn caused the fat fellow to strike up his
+frantic melody, the music grated on Tim's ears so that a wild desire
+entered his soul to pulverize the Dutchman.
+
+"Hey!" he howled, shaking his fist at Fritz. "Belay thar!"
+
+"Shiminey Christmas, vos yer tink I vould listen ter some more ohf dem
+lies mitoud dot I trownd it oud alretty?" fiercely bellowed Fritz,
+working away at the wheezy box.
+
+"Ye kin dash my toplights if I don't wipe up ther floor wi' yer then!"
+yelled Tim, and he made a rush for Fritz.
+
+"Shtood beck!" roared the Dutchman. "Stob a leedle, or py yiminey I soak
+yer in der chaw mit dot moosic!"
+
+He brandished his accordeon in the air by the strap as he spoke, and as
+it opened out and his fingers were pressing on several of the keys, it
+let out a shrieking groan horrible to hear.
+
+Tim did not pause.
+
+His spunk was up.
+
+As soon as he reached Fritz be gave a whoop and jumped on him.
+
+The next moment they were tangled up in a heap on the floor, and a
+terrific struggle began between them, the sailor trying to put his
+wooden leg through the accordeon, and the Dutchmen industriously
+striving to gouge Tim's glass eye out.
+
+In the midst of the scuffle, a monkey and parrot came flying in from the
+next room, howling like fiends.
+
+The parrot was named Bismarck.
+
+Whiskers was the name of the monkey.
+
+Fritz owned the bird, and Tim claimed the animal.
+
+They had once been captured in Africa by their masters.
+
+Since then the sailor and Dutchman invariably took their pets off on the
+expeditions they made in Jack's inventions.
+
+Between Bismarck and Whiskers there existed a deep rooted enemity, which
+always culminated in pitched battles.
+
+The monkey had been chasing the parrot when Tim and Fritz got fighting,
+and as these two creatures possessed more than ordinary intelligence,
+they at once determined to take sides with their respective owners.
+
+"Whee!" bowled Whiskers, and he hopped on top of Fritz's head, grabbed
+him by the hair, and tried to pull it out by the roots.
+
+"Mild up, Boilvar!" yelled the slangy bird, as he fastened his beak in
+Tim's ear. "Waow! Whoop her up, boys! Cracker! Crack---"
+
+Biff! went Tim's hand against Bismarck's head, interrupting him.
+
+Bang! went Fritz fist against the monkey's neck sending him spinning.
+
+"Wow!" screamed Whiskers.
+
+"Root, you sucker, root!" yelled Bismarck.
+
+Then he made a dive at the monkey, and as Whiskers scampered away, the
+parrot flew after him, plunged his beak in Whiskers' tail, and away they
+flew into the next room.
+
+Just then Jack interrupted the fracas.
+
+"Stop, boys, and attend to business!" he sung out.
+
+Tim and Fritz were accustomed to obeying him, and ceasing hostilities at
+once, they rose, and the old sailor asked solemnly:
+
+"Goin' ter stop playin' if I stops yarnin'?"
+
+"For sure, Mikes," replied Fritz. "Put it dere."
+
+They shook hands and that settled the matter.
+
+Work on the electric stage was resumed, and by noon they had her in
+perfect condition for her long journey.
+
+When they entered the house they met Jack's beautiful wife and bright
+little son.
+
+Answers had arrived from Missouri.
+
+The governor wrote Jack the following lines:
+
+"Mr. Jack Wright,--In reply to your letter I beg to assure you of my
+heartfelt gratitude for your kind offer to try to apprehend the James
+Boys and break up their villainous gang. These outlaws have too long
+been a terror to the community, and there is not a decent man, woman or
+child in the state who would not be glad to hear of the extermination of
+the gang. The list of crimes for which the James Boys are amenable is
+too long and too horrible to enumerate here in detail. Let it suffice
+that there are charges of every description in the category against
+them, including many atrocious murders.
+
+"So bitter is the feeling against them that a reward of five thousand
+dollars has been offered for the James Boys, dead or alive. I enclose
+warrants and all necessary authority for you to act in league with the
+officers of this State in the capture or killing of the bandits in
+question, and sincerely trust that you will meet with entire success. By
+this mail have also written to Sheriff Timberlake whom I am delighted to
+hear intends to go with you on your perilous expedition. He is a brave
+and true man, in whom I have the most implicit confidence.
+                                                 Yours truly, John Doe."
+
+The papers in Jack's envelope were entirely satisfactory.
+
+Timberlake's letter was of a personal nature, and when he finished
+reading it, and heard what was communicated to Jack, he said:
+
+"Well, now that all details are settled, when do you intend to go in
+pursuit of the outlaws?"
+
+"To-night," replied Jack. "We have everything ready but the stowage of
+our clothing aboard."
+
+"Good! The sooner the better."
+
+"I tink so neider," agreed Fritz.
+
+"That settles it, then," Tim added.
+
+It did not take them long to put their clothing and the parrot and
+monkey aboard the Terror.
+
+When night fell, Jack took leave of his wife and child.
+
+They all then boarded the electric stage. Jack taking his seat at the
+wheel, and she started.
+
+Many people in the village streets saw them as they went flying by, and
+heartily cheered them on their way, as the news of Jack's intention had
+got abroad.
+
+The Terror soon left Wrightstown behind.
+
+Following the hard country road he sped along swiftly, and soon was lost
+to the view of the villagers.
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+THE JAMES BOYS' MOTHER.
+
+The trip to Missouri was made without adventure by the Terror, but her
+peculiar appearance aroused the wonder of everybody who saw her during
+her journey through several States.
+
+Late in the afternoon of a pleasant day she passed Kearney, in Clay
+County, and followed an old country road.
+
+A few miles from the town she arrived near a neat old log house standing
+back in a wooded pasture near the road.
+
+This house contained three rooms; in the front yard were several lilac
+bushes, and all the way from its fences to the town many farm houses
+lined the road.
+
+Sheriff Timberlake sat on the steerer's seat of the electric stage
+beside Jack, and the moment the old fashioned Western home referred to
+came in view he pointed at it and said:
+
+"There is the home of the James Boys."
+
+"Indeed!" exclaimed Jack, eying the house intently.
+
+"Yes; it is the residence of Dr. Reuben Samuels, their step-father, and
+the mother of the two villains. She's a Tartar about her boys--a regular
+she-fiend in temper, although a woman of fifty-five. Ah--see! There she
+is now!"
+
+He pointed at the house.
+
+The woman, in a gingham dress, stood at the door.
+
+She was shading her eyes with her hand.
+
+A look of surprise crossed Jack's face as he glanced at her.
+
+"Why," said he, "she has only got one arm."
+
+"Yes; the other was blown off by the explosion of a hand grenade which a
+Pinkerton detective threw into the house some years ago in an attack
+upon her sons. There was a younger son of hers killed by the same bomb."
+
+Mrs. Samuels was suspiciously and curiously eying the Terror as it
+rolled toward her.
+
+Then she suddenly disappeared in the house.
+
+Her action struck Jack as being very significant.
+
+"Did you see that!" he asked the sheriff.
+
+"Yes. She's a queer, violent tempered woman,"
+
+"Perhaps she has gone in to warn her sons of our coming."
+
+"By thunder, you may be right."
+
+"We'd better search that house, Timberlake."
+
+"I intend to do so."
+
+"The woman is acquainted with you, ain't she?"
+
+"Well, I should say so," laughed the officer. "I've been here often
+enough to be pretty well known. My posse has shot bullets into nearly
+every square inch of that house and the fence, in our past efforts to
+get at the two bandits."
+
+"The woman can't have much affection for you."
+
+"She would gladly kill me, I believe, if she had the chance."
+
+By this time the Terror reached the house.
+
+Jack cut out the current and alighted with his companion.
+
+They knocked at the door, and a moment later it was opened by Mrs.
+Samuels, who glared at her callers and demanded:
+
+"Well--what do you want, Timberlake?"
+
+"Your sons, madam," blandly replied the officer.
+
+"They ain't here."
+
+"I am not sure of that."
+
+"Search the house if you like."
+
+"Thank you. I shall."
+
+He swiftly passed inside and went through the rooms, but saw nothing of
+the James Boys.
+
+Jack remained at the door with the woman.
+
+He saw by her nervous manner that she was smothering a feeling of
+intense agitation.
+
+Whether it came from her aversion of the officer, or because her sons
+were around, Jack could not judge.
+
+"That's a mighty queer wagon you've got there," she remarked presently,
+as she pointed at the Terror.
+
+"Yes," replied Jack. "It is designed to run down your sons."
+
+She started, and a tigerish look flashed from her eyes.
+
+"So you are leagued against them, too, eh!" she hissed.
+
+"Yes. I am here to capture them if I can."
+
+"But you will never succeed."
+
+"That remains to be seen."
+
+At this moment Timberlake rushed out.
+
+He was terribly excited.
+
+A smothered cry of alarm escaped Mrs. Samuels.
+
+"I've seen them!" gasped the officer.
+
+"Where?" demanded Jack, quickly.
+
+"Both were here. She warned them. They got down in the cellar. I found a
+tunnel there, leading over to that timber. They had gone through.
+Jesse's horse, Siroc, and Frank's horse, Jim Malone, must have been
+tethered there, for they mounted and dashed away."
+
+"Get aboard, and we'll chase them."
+
+"You shall not go!" hissed the woman.
+
+She slammed the door shut, and put her back against it, a look of fierce
+determination upon her face.
+
+It was clear that she designed to delay them so as to give her fugitive
+sons as long a lead as possible.
+
+Jack saw through her scheme.
+
+"Get away from there! he cried, sternly.
+
+"You can't leave this house!" she shrieked.
+
+"I see through your plan."
+
+"Stand back, or I'll brain you with this!"
+
+She had been holding her hand behind her back.
+
+As she now brought it into view, they saw that she held a hatchet with a
+keen, glittering edge.
+
+"This way, Mr. Wright!" cried Timberlake.
+
+And he dove headfirst through a window.
+
+Jack started to follow him, when the woman rushed after him with the
+hatchet upraised.
+
+There was no such emotion as fear in the mother of the Missouri bandits,
+and she had bred her ferocity and evil will into her two detestable
+children.
+
+Jack's life was in danger, for she could have dealt him a death blow
+with the weapon before he could get out the window after the sheriff.
+
+He therefore turned upon her.
+
+The young inventor was noted for his enormous strength.
+
+Avoiding an ugly blow she aimed at his head by nimbly leaping aside, he
+seized the hatchet before she could raise it again and made an effort to
+take it away from her.
+
+She was wonderfully strong in her single arm.
+
+In fact, the strength she lost with the arm which had been blown off
+seemed to have concentrated in this remaining arm.
+
+Jack found it no easy matter to get the weapon, for she held on to it
+with great persistence, and exerted every device to delay him as long as
+possible.
+
+"You shall not have it!" she raved as she struggled.
+
+"Let up!" cried Jack, losing patience. "I don't want to use you roughly
+on account of your sex and crippled condition. But I'll have to do it."
+
+He thereupon tore the hatchet from her hand.
+
+Flinging it into the next room, he saw her spring toward him, and make
+an effort to grapple him.
+
+Struggling with women was very distasteful to Jack.
+
+He therefore avoided her and rushed out the door.
+
+She ran after him screaming and threatening, but he kept out of her
+reach and got upon the stage.
+
+The sheriff was already aboard.
+
+Jack sent the Terror flying along the road.
+
+In a few moments she was out of reach of the woman.
+
+There was a door in the forward part of the vehicle beside Jack, and Tim
+and Fritz now opened it.
+
+"Gee whiz," chuckled the old sailor. "She wuz ther most piratical craft
+in petticoats wot I ever seen!"
+
+"I don't blame her for trying to protect her sons."
+
+"Yah; but she vos delay us!" growled Fritz.
+
+"Only a few moments."
+
+"There they go now!" cried Timberlake.
+
+He pointed up the road at two flying horsemen.
+
+They were so far away that their figures could hardly be distinguished,
+and their steeds were going like the wind.
+
+"What a magnificent black horse," commented Jack.
+
+"That's Siroc," informed the sheriff, "Jesse's horse."
+
+"We'll overhaul them though."
+
+"Let her fly if you wish to succeed."
+
+"Are you sure they were the James Boys?"
+
+"Certain. I did not get very near them, but noticed that one wore a
+heavy beard and the other a mustache. They had on riding boots, with the
+legs of their pants tucked in the tops, flannel shirts and soft felt
+hats, while around their waists were buckled cartridge belts into which
+were thrust a knife and brace of revolvers a piece."
+
+"Does that description tally with the general appearance of the James
+Boys?" asked Jack.
+
+"Yes. I am sure it was them."
+
+The young inventor put on full voltage.
+
+It caused the motor to fairly buzz, and the Terror shot ahead along the
+road with the velocity of an express train.
+
+She rapidly bore down upon the fugitives.
+
+It was a long and exciting chase, though, for Siroc and Jim Malone were
+wonderfully fleet horses.
+
+Several miles were thus covered.
+
+Finally, though, the machine drew close to the two riders.
+
+"Halt!" shouted Jack.
+
+Casting a quick glance back the riders obeyed.
+
+So suddenly did they pull up their steeds, that they rose on their
+haunches and pawed the air.
+
+The four inmates of the Terror had them covered with their rifles, and
+when the horses came down and wheeled around, a shout of chagrin escaped
+Timberlake.
+
+"Duped!"
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Jack, in surprise.
+
+"They ain't the James Boys."
+
+"Sure enough. But the horses belong to the bandits."
+
+"Yes; that's how I was deceived. Now I see through it. I've been
+tricked. I really chased Jesse and Frank from the tunnel. They put these
+men on their horses and hid, while their two men rode off to decoy us
+from the spot so they could escape."
+
+Such was really the way it happened.
+
+Jack had stopped the Terror, and now shouted to the two men, who were
+part of the James Boys' gang.
+
+"Throw your hands up!"
+
+Both men obeyed.
+
+"Don't fire!" pleaded one of them.
+
+"That depends on how you answer me."
+
+"What do you want to know, sir?"
+
+"You just heard our version of how the James Boys eluded us?"
+
+"We did, sir."
+
+"Is it correct?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Are you members of their gang?"
+
+"We are."
+
+"Where have they gone!"
+
+"I refuse to tell you!"
+
+"Your life depends upon it."
+
+"I don't care. I won't betray them."
+
+"Fool! I will count three. If you don't answer, we'll fire!"
+
+"Go ahead!" was the defiant reply.
+
+"One!" exclaimed Jack.
+
+The two bandits did not flinch.
+
+"Two!" sternly cried the inventor.
+
+Still the men stubbornly refused to speak.
+
+"Three!"
+
+A deathly silence ensued for a moment.
+
+Then the weapons in the hands of our friends were discharged.
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+SHADOWING A LONE HORSEMAN.
+
+Although there was a tacit understanding among the crew of the Terror to
+fire over the heads of the two bandits to frighten them they imagined
+that they were to be shot down in cold blood.
+
+It electrified them.
+
+An instant before Jack gave the order to fire they plunged their spurs
+into the flanks of the horses.
+
+One animal sprang to the right and the other to the left.
+
+It was done like lightning.
+
+Both steeds were well trained.
+
+Siroc cleared a hedge and wheeling to the right went flying back in the
+direction he came from, while Jim Malone went thundering in among some
+rocks and vanished.
+
+Both bandits imagined they had a narrow escape from death, although the
+fact was they had been in no danger at all of being shot from their
+horses.
+
+Our friends burst out laughing.
+
+"Badly scared," said Jack.
+
+"Oh, Lord, wot cowards!" Tim chuckled.
+
+"Ain't they likely to return to the James Boys?" asked the sheriff.
+
+"Dot vas more as likely," agreed Fritz. "If dem vas der Chames Poys'
+horses vunct, dey vill back by deir owners go, don't it?"
+
+Jack peered around.
+
+At some distance off to the south was a forest.
+
+He caught view of both horses plunging into it.
+
+"That settles our pursuit of them!" he exclaimed, in disgust. "We can't
+follow them among those trees, and as they seem to realize it, they've
+taken advantage of the timberland."
+
+"We might keep a watch upon the woods anyway," suggested Timberlake.
+"They are bound to come out somewhere sooner or later. If we can get
+upon their track we may yet force them to lead us to the bandits'
+rendezvous."
+
+"It won't hurt to follow the plan," assented Jack; "for we haven't the
+remotest idea where to look for the villains."
+
+He thereupon steered the Terror toward the trees, and as Fritz was a
+good cook and had charge of the culinary arrangements, he set about
+getting their supper ready.
+
+It was a waste of time to guard the forest.
+
+Several days passed by and nothing was seen of the two men.
+
+They had gone straight through the timberland at a gallop, and emerging
+on the other side, rode rapidly away.
+
+Jack and his friends had therefore been watching and hunting for a mere
+phantom, as it were.
+
+The young inventor quickly arrived at this conclusion, and on the
+evening of the third day he said to Tim:
+
+"It's my opinion that there isn't anyone at all in the woods, and I'm
+going to give up the watch and move on."
+
+"Ay, ay, that's ther bes' plan. I quite agree wi' yer, lad."
+
+"Those fellows would not be foolish enough to remain in that forest all
+this time for nothing."
+
+"If they wuz thar, I'm mighty sure as we'd a sighted somethin' o' them
+long afore this, my hearty. I recollect when I wuz in ther navy how I
+wuz once fooled this way. Yer see we'd been chasin' one o' ther enemy's
+ships, an' drove her into a lagoon. Thar we pounded her with our guns,
+an' ther crew desarted her, an' went ashore. We sunk ther ship, an'
+mannin' ther boats, we pulled ashore arter ther crew. We found ther
+shore lined with cliffs a thousand feet high. Thar wus no coast, that
+water beatin' up again ther base o' ther cliffs on all but ther
+seaward side o' ther lagoon. There wuz one indentation in the cliffs,
+covered wi' trees an' bushes, inter which ther hull crew went an' hid.
+Waal, sir, we landed thar, an' beat about lookin' fer 'em. Thar wuzn't
+no possible way fer 'em ter git away unseen, with ther water in front,
+them high cliffs surroundin' 'em on three sides, an' only a small plot
+o' ground filled wi' trees an' bushes fer 'em to hide in. So yer see we
+wuz sure o' catchin' 'em. Yet, when we'd sarched ther hull place not a
+sign o' them wuz ter be found! They'd wanished as complete as if ther
+arth had swallered 'em up. Now wuzn't that a worry mysterious
+perceedin'?"
+
+As Tim asked this, he refreshed himself with a chew of tobacco.
+
+Jack did not reply.
+
+He had his glance fixed upon the woods.
+
+Taking it for granted that he had aroused the curiosity of the young
+inventor to fever heat, Tim continued:
+
+"Waal, sir, everybody wuz puzzled cept me. Wot had become o' them
+lubbers wasn't werry plain. Howsome ever, when they gave up huntin' I
+made up my mind as I'd locate ther fugitives. Goin' over ter ther cliff
+I examined ther face of it, an' found a trap door. Openin' it, I entered
+a cave. Thar they was, armed wi' rifles, pistols, cutlasses and knives,
+an' ten o' them sprung ter thar door astarn o' me ter cut off my retreat
+while ther rest aimed thar weapings at me. Did I run? No, sir. Wot did I
+do? Stood. Wot happened then? Pointin' my finger at 'em I ses,
+surrender yer swabs, or I'll blow yer brains out! All o' them wuz so
+skeerd o' my threat they begged fer mercy. An' ther joke of it wuz, I
+didn't hev no pistol neither. It wuz so dark in ther cave yer couldn't
+see ther smellin' tackle on yer figger head, an in that gloom they
+mistook my finger fer a gun. Waal, sir, in less'n two minutes I made
+prisoners o' ther fifty men, an' marched them out ter my messmates in
+triumph. Now how wuz that fer a bloodless wictory?"
+
+And with a triumphant grin Tim turned to Jack.
+
+The young inventor made no answer.
+
+"He must be struck dumb with astonishment!" thought Tim.
+
+Then he seized Jack by the arm and shook him.
+
+"Say, my lad, how wuz that fer a wictory?" he asked.
+
+"What victory?" asked Jack, rousing from a deep reverie.
+
+"That one I jist told yer about, o' course."
+
+"Did you tell us about something?"
+
+"Of course I did. Didn't yer like ther yarn?"
+
+"I didn't hear a word of it. I've been thinking."
+
+Tim groaned.
+
+Jack's answer crushed him.
+
+"Oh, gee!" he gasped. "I've been a-talkin' ter myself!"
+
+Jack burst out laughing at him, when he realized into what a ridiculous
+position Tim had placed himself.
+
+Unable to bear it, the old sailor retreated into the stage.
+
+Jack then turned the Terror away from the forest, and sent her flying
+across the rolling country.
+
+He had come to the conclusion to make inquiries at the nearest town for
+information about where the James Boys had last been seen terrorizing
+the community.
+
+It was his hope to thus get on their trail.
+
+The gloom of night fell.
+
+Heavy, dark banks of clouds covered the sky.
+
+The electric stage finally reached an alluvial bottom, through which
+wound a broad deep creek.
+
+Here she went among a dense growth of bushes, and Fritz served an
+excellent supper.
+
+While the rest were partaking of the meal Jack remained on duty, and
+suddenly caught view of a lone horseman moving slowly along the bank of
+the creek like a shadow.
+
+As quick as a flash Jack turned a switch, putting out the lights.
+
+He could barely discern the horseman, and did not remove his glance from
+him for an instant.
+
+Jack was suspicious of the man.
+
+It did not seem likely to him that any honest wayfarer could be
+wandering along that unfrequented section of the country at night,
+acting in such a stealthy manner.
+
+At all events he made up his mind to keep the man in view without being
+seen himself.
+
+He therefore graded the speed of the terror to accord with that of the
+walking horse, and kept along the clearest ground he could distinguish
+in the gloom.
+
+The sudden extinguishing of the lights alarmed Jack's friends, and
+brought them to the front room with a rush.
+
+"Vot's der droubles?"
+
+"Anything happened?"
+
+"Is ther lamps injured, my lad?"
+
+These three questions were discharged at him together.
+
+Jack gave a warning hiss, pointed ahead, and said:
+
+"I've just spotted a horseman ahead, boys."
+
+"Who he vos?" eagerly asked Fritz, peering out.
+
+"I haven't got the least idea."
+
+"Be yer follerin' him?"
+
+"Yes, Tim. Ha! there he goes!"
+
+The rider had turned abruptly to the left, out across the course of the
+Terror, and headed for a mass of trees, rocks and bushes, that formed a
+hollow near the creek side.
+
+Jack stopped the machine.
+
+He had caught view of a gleaming light ahead.
+
+It came from a camp-fire down in the hollow, and flung a lurid glow upon
+the scene around.
+
+Timberlake gave a slight start and now said:
+
+"Do you know that the James Boys generally prefer to make their camp in
+just such hollows as this is?"
+
+"Is that so?" asked Jack. "Then you have an idea that by following the
+lone horseman we have accidentally run into the outlaw's encampment?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Well, I'm going ahead to see."
+
+"I'll go with you, if you like."
+
+"Very well; arm yourself."
+
+They procured a pair of deadly pneumatic rifles and revolvers of Jack's
+invention that hurled explosive ballets.
+
+Then they left the stage in Tim's care.
+
+Alighting, they crept toward the hollow.
+
+In a few minutes they reached it.
+
+The lone horseman had disappeared.
+
+Jack and the sheriff proceeded with the caution of two cats, and slowly
+worked their way down into the hollow.
+
+They presently neared the fire, when a startling scene met their view.
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+THE SHERIFF'S MISFORTUNE.
+
+Jack and Timberlake had reached the bottom of the verdure clad hollow,
+and were lurking behind a clump of bushes.
+
+It was darker down there, if possible, than it had been above, but the
+ruddy glow of the camp-fire lit up a patch in the scene.
+
+Around the fire were grouped a dozen ruffians, among whom Jack
+recognized the two James Boys.
+
+Among the others were Jim Cummins, Wood Hite, Clell Miller, Cole Younger
+and his three brothers, John, Jim and Bob, Dick Little, Jack Keene, Ed
+McMillan, Bill Chadwell, Hobbs Kerry, Charley and Bob Ford and Oll and
+George Shepard.
+
+The horses belonging to the gang, most of which had been stolen, were
+tethered to the nearby tree.
+
+An exciting dialogue was going on among the bandits, and Jack and the
+sheriff heard Jesse say:
+
+"Yes, Timberlake has got the Governor at Liberty to league Jack Wright
+against us. It's been hard enough to fight the sheriff's posse and the
+military reserve but it's going to be a blamed sight harder to get the
+best of that inventor. Wright owes me a grudge. He has soured on me for
+doing him out of that $5,000 in Wrightstown."
+
+"That machine of his'n must be a wonder," said one of the men.
+
+"You have no idea what a dangerous article it is," promptly replied
+Jesse, with a fierce expletive. "Ripley and Barker had a taste of it,
+though, when the machine chased them on Siroc and Jim Malone. It was
+awful the way the electric engine overhauled them, I can tell you. Our
+only salvation now lies in leading them to places where the Terror can't
+run."
+
+"If Barker hadn't put on false whiskers to look like you and if I hadn't
+fixed myself up to resemble Frank," spoke up one of the men, "we
+wouldn't have no Wright after us. But seeing us on your horses increased
+the deception so that we had no trouble about the matter. You should
+have seen how disgusted they were when they discovered how we fooled
+them."
+
+"No doubt," said Frank, with a grim smile.
+
+"What are you going to do about the hold-up to-night, Jesse?" asked Jim
+Cummins impatiently. "We've arranged to meet here and settle the whole
+matter and not gab about things of no interest to the case."
+
+"There's plenty time," quietly replied the bandit king.
+
+Jack squeezed Timberlake's arm.
+
+"They're going to lay a plot!" he whispered.
+
+"We'll hear the whole thing," replied the sheriff.
+
+"Perhaps we can baffle them."
+
+"Yes, if they give themselves away."
+
+"Then we can't attack them now."
+
+"Not if they have got work in view. If we should tackle them now we
+might not fustrate any game they might play when they get away. We can't
+expect to scoop the whole gang you know. Some would be bound to escape."
+
+"Well, we'll hear what they have to say anyhow."
+
+"Of coarse. We can grade ourselves according to circumstances
+afterward," whispered Timberlake cautiously.
+
+The gang had been drawning closer around Jesse.
+
+When they were close enough, the bandit rose, and said:
+
+"Boys, we've got a big haul in view for to-night."
+
+"What is it, anyway?" demanded Miller.
+
+"An express package on the M. & M. road, which will go through on the
+midnight express, it's worth $10,000."
+
+Whistles and exclamations of surprise and delight escaped the gang.
+
+This was something unusually rich.
+
+Besides they were all pretty hard up.
+
+"Let's hear about it," said Cole Younger.
+
+"Well, I was in Kansas City and there learned that the Fourth National
+Bank sends a keg of $10,000 in gold coin on the tenth of each month, to
+the banking firm of Bradford & Co., in Springfield, Illinois. That train
+will reach a point between Polo and Cowgill, according to the
+timetable, shortly after midnight. As it is the only train which carries
+an express car bound for Springfield, it must be the one we are after."
+
+"That's fair to presume," said Frank.
+
+"We had better stop it and see!" Jesse exclaimed. "We can hold it up at
+the curve, and as there's a dense mass of bushes on each side of the
+track, you all can conceal yourselves there until I get the cars
+stopped. Then an attack can be made upon the passengers, while I and
+several others get into the express car after the keg of money."
+
+A plan of operations was then agreed upon.
+
+When they finished, Jack whispered to the sheriff:
+
+"There are three things we can now do. One is to attack the bandits
+here; the next is to notify the railroad people to look out for them;
+and the last is to let them attempt to carry out their plan and raid
+them in the act. Now, what shall we do?"
+
+Timberlake pondered.
+
+He wanted to avoid making any mistake.
+
+Finally he muttered:
+
+"If we were to run away to the railroad to apprise the company,
+something might happen that would delay us. Then the villains could
+carry out their purpose anyway. We can't do that. Now if we tackle them
+here, some of them are apt to give us the slip, an' do the job in spite
+of us. I think it will be safer to let them go to the rendezvous, and
+try to stop the cars. Then we can sail into them, and frustrate their
+plans."
+
+"I quite agree with you," said Jack.
+
+"Then let us return to the Terror."
+
+Creeping silently away, they were getting safely out of the hollow, when
+suddenly a sentry came along, and almost stumbled over them.
+
+"Hello!" he roared. "Who goes there?"
+
+"Caught!" gasped the sheriff bounding to his feet.
+
+"Timberlake!" groaned the man, recognizing him. "Hey! Help! Help!"
+
+He yelled furiously.
+
+The sheriff sprang at him like a tiger.
+
+"Shut up!" he hissed, grappling the bandit.
+
+"A spy! A spy!" howled the guard, wildly.
+
+He clung to the sheriff with all his might, and they fell struggling to
+the ground, locked in a tight embrace.
+
+Jack was startled.
+
+He heard the gang rushing toward them.
+
+"Can you manage him?" he panted.
+
+"Yes--run!" replied the sheriff.
+
+Thinking he might have to call his friends to help, Jack slipped away
+unseen, and Timberlake might have gained the mastery of his opponent,
+had not the gang at that moment dashed up to them.
+
+Surrounding him, they attacked the sheriff upon all sides, and in a
+twinkling made a prisoner of him.
+
+He was knocked senseless, bound and gagged.
+
+As soon as Jack found that the sheriff was not following him, he paused.
+
+"I wonder if he's in trouble?" he muttered. "I can't go on this way. No!
+I'll return and see."
+
+With this resolution he retraced his steps.
+
+Reaching the spot where he had left Timberlake, he found that the
+sheriff had vanished.
+
+Looking across the hollow, Jack saw the bandits mounting their horses.
+
+He could just see them by the light of the camp-fire.
+
+A moment afterward they went galloping out of the hollow, and he saw
+Timberlake a prisoner among them.
+
+"They've captured him!" he muttered.
+
+Jack's dismay increased.
+
+He could not do anything single handed to save his friend, so he hurried
+back to the electric stage.
+
+"Hello!" called Tim, seeing him alone. "Whar's ther sheriff?"
+
+"Caught by the James Boys," replied Jack.
+
+_"Ach du lieber Gott!"_ gasped Fritz.
+
+Jack hastily got aboard.
+
+"We must chase them!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Wuz them lubbers down in that 'ere holler?" asked Tim.
+
+"Yes--the whole gang," replied Jack.
+
+"Den dot feller by horses back vos van ohf dem?"
+
+"He was, Fritz, and a nice plot they have formed."
+
+"Wot is it?" asked Tim.
+
+The inventor briefly explained.
+
+When he finished he sent the stage ahead.
+
+Tim and Fritz armed themselves, to be prepared for trouble, and they
+sped along the course of the creek.
+
+Nothing was seen of the bandits for some time.
+
+They had gone several miles in this manner from the place where
+Timberlake was captured, when the moon suddenly burst from behind a
+cloud bank.
+
+Just then Jack uttered a stifled cry.
+
+"There they are!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Whar?" eagerly asked Tim, peering out.
+
+"Across the creek! See there!"
+
+He pointed to the eastward and stopped the Terror.
+
+A league away rode a large body of horsemen, and as Jack leveled a glass
+at them, he saw that there was no mistake about the matter--they were
+the James Boys' gang.
+
+"How ve get across dot streams ter shase dem?" asked Fritz.
+
+"That's what worried me," replied Jack. "I can't see a means anywhere.
+It's bound to delay us. Before we can do anything for Timberlake, they
+may kill him."
+
+"Ay, ay, an' wot's more," added Tim, "they may reach ther railroad an'
+stop them cars afore we kin stop them."
+
+"What a pity that I did not have a pair of air cylinders under this
+stage!" regretfully said Jack. "We could then have floated her across
+the stream."
+
+He noted the direction the bandits were pursuing, and sent the Terror
+running along again.
+
+Tim and Fritz maintained an anxious lookout in the meantime for an
+opportunity of getting over the creek.
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+HOLDING UP A TRAIN.
+
+"Midnight!"
+
+"Dere vos der roat."
+
+"Ay, but whar's the bandits?"
+
+The Inventor had been obliged to run the Terror to the headwaters of the
+creek ere they were able to pass the stream.
+
+Considerable time had thus been lost.
+
+Indeed, it was twelve o'clock before they reached the railroad track at
+a point between Polo and Cowgill.
+
+"The question is, has the train passed?" said Jack.
+
+"Ve ditn'd seen nodding ohf her yet," replied Fritz.
+
+"Ay, but that ain't no sign as it didn't pass," growled Tim, as he took
+a chew of tobacco. "I recollect when I wuz in the navy how we started
+fer ther rendezvous o' a enemy's ship---"
+
+"I won't listen!" exclaimed Jack, with a frown.
+
+"Waal, I'll tell Fritz," said Tim, in nowise abashed. "Yer see it wuz
+sich a dark night we missed ther spot, which was a lagoon, on the coast
+o' Georgie---"
+
+"Try ub!" roared Fritz.
+
+"I'll be blowed if I will!"
+
+"I don'd vant ter hear dot yarn."
+
+"I don't keer if yer don't. Ter continer: But although we missed ther
+lagoon in ther gloom, an runned inter a leetle bay, our enemy did ther
+same. Thar we had him. Gee whiz, how we socked it ter him! He sailed
+aroun' and aroun' ther bay, an' we arter him. I manned ther long Tom,
+an' pickin' 'em out one by one, I gave it ter each o' ther crew---"
+
+"For Heaven's sake, stop!" cried Jack.
+
+"Wot fer?"
+
+"How could you see in the dark?"
+
+"Why, every time I fired ther moon popped out, an' as soon as I stopped
+it hid itself agin," explained Tim, "Waal, sir, arter ther crew o' that
+ship surrendered, wot d'yer s'pose?"
+
+"Ve don't vos tink noddings!" roared Fritz.
+
+"But I wants yer ter, I'll tell yer. We diskivered as ther ship wot we
+wuz firin' at wazn't no enemies wessel at all. It wuz our own consort,
+an'---"
+
+"Oh, you old liar! You positively asserted it was your enemy---"
+
+"But I wuz mistooken. I---"
+
+Bang!
+
+A startling report rang out.
+
+It came from beneath the stage.
+
+The Terror stopped.
+
+"By jingo, she's broken!" gasped Jack.
+
+"How?" asked Tim, forgetting his yarn.
+
+"It must be in the truck."
+
+"Himmel! How ve go ahet now ter safe dot drain?"
+
+Jack alighted.
+
+He quickly examined the gear.
+
+"It's one of the driving rods snapped in two!" he cried, finally.
+
+"Kin ye fix it, my lad?"
+
+"I don't know till I take it off. We are crippled."
+
+He got a wrench and unfastened the bolts, took off the two pieces, and
+then saw that the rim of one of the wheels had picked up a long stone
+which flew around with it.
+
+It jammed between the body of the stage and one of the spokes, and the
+sudden shock had caused the rod to snap.
+
+Just as Jack examined it, he heard the distant tooting of a locomotive
+whistle, momentarily drawing nearer.
+
+"Here comes the express now!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Kin yer git her ready in time?"
+
+"No. It will take an hour to fix this."
+
+_"Donner und blitzen!_ Dey holt her ub!"
+
+"No doubt of it."
+
+"We must do somethin', my lad."
+
+"Arm yourselves, if you're anxious. Don your metal suits. We'll follow
+the train. She must be nearing the curve to whistle like that. Hurry up,
+and we'll leave the Terror here."
+
+They all put on suits of aluminum mail and armed themselves.
+
+Then they ran at full speed along the track in the direction from whence
+the whistle sounded.
+
+The moon was then flooding the scene.
+
+Far ahead the polished rails described a curve in a wide, deep cut,
+filled with trees and shrubbery.
+
+In the middle of the north-bound track stood Jesse James waving a red
+lantern to an oncoming train, the headlight of which was blazing upon
+the bandit king with a silvery glow.
+
+Jesse had a black mask on, and clutched a revolver in his hand.
+
+None of the men were visible.
+
+The train had slackened speed to round the curve, and as soon as the
+engineer saw the danger signal he stopped the cars.
+
+"Hello!" he cried, "What's the matter?"
+
+"Rail broken!" replied Jesse, approaching the cab.
+
+"Here comes the conductor."
+
+"I'll speak to him about it. Come down."
+
+"Can't. It's against the rules for me to leave the caboose."
+
+The conductor and several brakemen had alighted and now came running
+toward the outlaw to learn the news.
+
+As they drew near Jesse dropped his lantern.
+
+That was the signal for his men to emerge, and to the alarm and
+astonishment of the train crew, the gang of masked men rushed from the
+shrubbery toward them.
+
+Jim Cummins and Wood Hite clambered into the cab.
+
+There the plucky engineer and fireman had armed themselves with a monkey
+wrench and a crowbar.
+
+They attacked the two bandits as they climbed into the cab, dealing them
+such terrible blows that they were knocked down.
+
+Just as the engineer seized the throttle valve to start the cars, Dick
+Little and Hobbs Kerry rushed up, and aiming their revolvers at the
+driver and stoker, the former yelled:
+
+"Throw up your hands!"
+
+"All right!" gasped the engineer.
+
+He knew he had to do it or get shot.
+
+The fireman wanted to resist.
+
+A word from the engineer sufficed to change his mind.
+
+While Dick held them up Hobbs climbed into the cab and pitched the two
+men out, so they could not run away with the train.
+
+A swarm of the thieves had approached the passenger coaches under the
+leadership of Frank, and dividing into several detachments, each party
+took a car.
+
+The train only consisted of the locomotive, the express car, two day
+coaches and two sleepers.
+
+As the bandits crowded into the doorways they began to fire into the
+cars to intimidate the passengers.
+
+A tremendous clamor arose.
+
+Women shrieked and fainted, men yelled for mercy, and a wild panic
+ensued that beggars description.
+
+The bandits rushed in in the midst of the confusion, and flourishing
+their knives and pistols in the faces of the terrified passengers, they
+demanded their valuables.
+
+Out came pocketbooks, watches, rings, studs, bracelets, lace pins, and
+scores of other things.
+
+While this was going on, Jesse and several of the men had gone to the
+door of the express car.
+
+It was guarded by an express messenger, and a trainman.
+
+"Open that door!" yelled Jesse.
+
+"Never!" came the determined reply from within. "Never for you!"
+
+"If you don't we'll blow it open!"
+
+"You can't do it!"
+
+"We can't, hey?"
+
+And crack--bang! went Jesse's revolver.
+
+The ball tore a hole through the car.
+
+It was echoed by a fusillade from within.
+
+Crack!
+
+Crack!
+
+Crack!
+
+Crack!
+
+One of the bullets hit Jack Keene, and made him yell with pain.
+
+It infuriated the bandits to have the two men resist them in that
+summary fashion, and they let drive a volley.
+
+Bang!
+
+Bang!
+
+Bang! went the shots.
+
+"There's but a slim show to hit them," said McMillan.
+
+"I'll teach them a lesson!" said Jesse, savagely.
+
+He got several sticks of dynamite, tied them in a bunch, and fastened
+them along the door sill.
+
+Standing back, he aimed his revolver at it and fired.
+
+Boom! thundered the explosive.
+
+There was a lurid gleam, and the stout planks of the door were torn and
+shattered, and a yell of delight pealed from the bandits, for an opening
+had been made into the car.
+
+The force of the explosion had almost hurled the express car from the
+tracks.
+
+Jesse made a rush for the opening.
+
+He looked like a demon now, for his temper was up.
+
+"Charge!" he yelled.
+
+After him rushed several of the men.
+
+Before they could get into the car, three strange-looking apparitions
+came dashing down the track.
+
+They were Jack, Tim and Fritz, in their metal suits.
+
+Losing not an instant, they opened fire upon the bandits, their bullets
+flying noiselessly from the pistols, and bursting with terrific force
+when they struck.
+
+A roar went up from the bandits.
+
+"Jesse!" yelled one of the men.
+
+The bandit king gazed at the three daring fellows in surprise.
+
+Raising his pistol, he aimed and fired at Jack, there sounded a metallic
+click as the ball struck the aluminum suit, and then the inventor
+uttered a mocking laugh.
+
+"Here's your bullet back, Jesse James!" he cried.
+
+Then he fired a shot at the bandit.
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+A CLEVER RUSE.
+
+The bullet from Jack's pneumatic pistol struck Jesse James, and a hoarse
+yell of pain escaped the bandit king.
+
+He reeled back and would have fallen, had not Oll Shepard caught him in
+his arms.
+
+"I'm wounded!" he gasped.
+
+"Who are they?" hissed Shepard.
+
+"Jack Wright. I recognize his voice."
+
+"There's only three of them."
+
+"But they are firing bomb-shells."
+
+"We'll bring them down!"
+
+He yelled to the gang, and over a score of rifles and pistols were aimed
+at Jack, the Dutchman, and the sailor.
+
+Bang!
+
+Bang!
+
+Bang! rattled the shots.
+
+A hail of leaden pellets struck the trio.
+
+But their suits shed the bullets as if they were rain drops, and they
+continued to pour a deadly fire into the outlaws.
+
+Every time a bullet burst it either scattered and injured many or else
+it lodged in a solitary man and blew a big piece out of him.
+
+It was impossible to withstand such fire.
+
+The worst of it was their bullets failed to injure the three.
+
+As man after man was getting wounded Jesse gasped:
+
+"By heavens, we'll have to retreat!"
+
+"This is awful, and only three of them too!" groaned Bill Chadwell.
+
+"To horse!" roared Jesse.
+
+He had recovered from the shock of the shot he got and the whole gang
+made a rush for the bushes firing back at Jack and his friends as they
+went.
+
+By this time the train crew recovered from their panic, and those of the
+passengers who had weapons drew them and began firing out the windows.
+
+The bandits broke into a run.
+
+"That settles them!" cried Jack. "They see that they can't hurt us,
+while we stand an excellent chance of killing them."
+
+"Chase 'em! They've got Timberlake yet," said Tim.
+
+The outlaws' horses were concealed among the shrubbery, and they mounted
+and sped away through the railroad cut.
+
+Jack and his friends ran after them.
+
+The inventor now saw the sheriff.
+
+One of the outlaws held him on a horse.
+
+Jack aimed at the animal and fired a shot.
+
+True to its mark sped the bullet, a wild neigh of agony escaped the
+animal, and it bounded high in the air and fell dead, the two riders
+being thrown to the ground.
+
+The bandit was stunned.
+
+But the sheriff, although pounded and bruised, escaped fatal injury and
+retained his senses.
+
+"I've saved him!" said Jack.
+
+"Bully fer you, my lad!"
+
+"I vill catch dot oudlaw!"
+
+While Jack was cutting Timberlake's bonds and ungagging him, Tim and
+Fritz secured the bandit.
+
+"Well," said the sheriff, when he was free, "this is luck."
+
+"I see they got away from you at the hollow."
+
+"Yes; I was too confident of beating them."
+
+"What were they doing with you?"
+
+"They already had my death sentence passed, and were going to put me out
+of the way as soon as they finished that train job. But you have baffled
+them nicely."
+
+"Not only with you, but we stopped them getting into the express car. We
+arrived just in time."
+
+"Where's the Terror?"
+
+"Up the road, crippled."
+
+"That's a pity!"
+
+"Come back to the train till I see the amount of damage they've done,"
+said Jack. "Are you hurt any?"
+
+"Scratched and bruised a trifle."
+
+Tim and Fritz went ahead of them, carrying their prisoner, and when they
+reached the cars they found two more of the bandits badly wounded in the
+train crew's hands.
+
+All had recovered from the panic by this time.
+
+The conductor now rushed up to Jack, followed by the train crew and
+passengers.
+
+He gave the young inventor a hearty handshake, and cried:
+
+"Let me thank you on behalf of all the people and myself for your
+gallant conduct, sir. If you had not come to our rescue, God only knows
+what would have become of us at the hands of the James Boys' gang."
+
+"You exaggerate the case," quietly replied Jack.
+
+"No, no, no! Gentlemen, three cheers for these noble fellows!"
+
+"Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!" shouted the passengers.
+
+Some of them had been robbed.
+
+But the majority escaped, owing to the timely arrival of Jack's party
+upon the scene.
+
+Moreover, the contents of the express car had been kept out of the
+clutches of the bandits.
+
+True, the explosion had slightly injured the two men who had been in the
+car, but their condition might have been worse had Jack not interfered.
+
+All the bandits had vanished except the three who had been captured, and
+they were bound hand and foot, and put aboard the car.
+
+The conductor took charge of them.
+
+He intended to put them in the hands of the law.
+
+As soon as the passengers were back in the coaches, and the engineer and
+stoker in the cab, every one gave Jack and his friends a parting cheer.
+
+The train then moved ahead.
+
+"We didn't do so blamed bad arter all," chuckled Tim.
+
+"Did yer see me drop forty o' them pirates vi' one shot?"
+
+"Forty?" grinned Fritz.
+
+"Ay--that's wot I see," Tim answered, haughtily.
+
+"Nein! Yer vos misdooken."
+
+"How so?" growled the old sailor.
+
+"It vos eight hundert. But dere only vos dirty in ther gang."
+
+"Come!" interposed Jack. "Quit your fooling, and let us get back to the
+stage. She's so disabled that we can't chase the bandits with her now.
+The sooner she's repaired the quicker we'll be able to get upon their
+trail and hunt them down."
+
+They strode back to where they left the Terror.
+
+Both the parrot and monkey were yelling furiously inside, and did not
+cease their clamor until their owners went in and pacified them.
+
+It required several hours to repair the driving rod, and when it was
+finished, although not as strong as it was before, it was very firm.
+
+They could not do anything further that night, so they divided the watch
+and turned in.
+
+After breakfast on the following morning, Jack mounted the steersman's
+seat, and sent the Terror rolling to the place where the bandits were
+last seen.
+
+There he saw a large plain trail they had left.
+
+"I'll follow their tracks," said he to Tim, who had taken a seat beside
+him. "It's an easy trail to follow, and if we have say sort of a chance,
+we are bound to run them down in a short time."
+
+"I ain't so sure about that my lad."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Jesse James are mighty cunnin'."
+
+"That's a fact. He may fool us yet,"
+
+"Still thar ain't no harm in tryin'."
+
+Jack sent the Terror flying off in pursuit of the bandits, and they ran
+out on the open plain.
+
+It was a rolling, grassy country.
+
+The trail led them on for a distance of about five miles when an old
+blasted oak tree was met.
+
+Here the cunning of the James Boys was shown.
+
+Evidently fearing pursuit, they had ordered the gang to scatter in every
+direction, each one going to a different point of the compass.
+
+It was then utterly impossible to follow any particular one of the gang,
+and know which one it was.
+
+Jack was rendered angry.
+
+"See there how they've baffled us!" he cried with a frown, as he pointed
+down at the scattered trails.
+
+"Gee whiz!" groaned Tim, "they've throwed us off ther course entirely
+now, Wot one'll we foller?"
+
+"If you mean so that we can corral the James Boys, I cannot say--one
+trail is the same as another."
+
+"Blast thar lubberly hides!"
+
+"I've got a plan though."
+
+"An wot's that?"
+
+"To pursue any one at random."
+
+"But mebbe it won't be ther one we wants."
+
+"Any one will do. Whoever the man is, we can perhaps catch him and force
+him to confess where the rest are to meet. By that means we can find
+them again."
+
+"Jist ther plan, by thunder!" cried Tim, pounding his good leg with his
+fist. "Keel haul me if you ain't got as long a figgerhead as Jesse
+James, cute though he be."
+
+Jack told Fritz and the sheriff what occurred, and what he now intended
+to do.
+
+They agreed with his plan.
+
+In fact it was the only feasible thing to do.
+
+Accordingly Jack selected the most likely trail.
+
+He then sent the Terror flying off after it, and she sped along until
+the afternoon set in before they finally sighted the man they were
+after.
+
+Then they saw that he was Frank James.
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+FRANK JAMES' ESCAPE.
+
+Frank James was mounted upon his horse Jim Malone, and had paused on the
+crest of a hill from whence he gazed back at the bottom traversed by the
+Terror.
+
+He saw the stage, and realized at once that it had followed his
+particular trail to the exclusion of the rest of the band.
+
+It was clear enough to him that he could not outstrip the Terror in a
+running race, and would therefore be obliged to retain his liberty by
+resorting to strategy.
+
+What course he could follow would depend entirely upon circumstances,
+but he turned over fifty plans in his mind.
+
+Jack was a league from the man when he recognized him, but he had a
+powerful field glass, which plainly showed him every feature of Frank
+James' face.
+
+"The rascal sees us," he commented.
+
+"Wot's he standin' thar for like a statoo?" asked Tim.
+
+"Probably sizing up our intentions."
+
+"Dot retskal vos a gone goose," said Fritz, decisively.
+
+"Better wait till you get your paws on him before you feel so certain
+about it," dryly remarked the sheriff. "If you knew the James Boys as
+well as I do, you would realize that no slipperier men exist on the face
+of the earth. Just when you are surest you have them is the time you
+haven't got the scoundrels. Ha! There he goes!"
+
+Frank had galloped away.
+
+He went down the other side of the hill.
+
+In a few moments he disappeared from view.
+
+Jack increased the speed of the stage.
+
+She ran ahead like a locomotive.
+
+In less than ten minutes she reached the crest of the elevation where
+they had seen the bandit.
+
+From this point a view was commanded of the country for many miles in
+various directions.
+
+Jack soon saw the outlaw.
+
+He had gone down the valley, and was furiously galloping toward the
+rocky, well wooded foothills on the other side of the depression, and
+Jack exclaimed:
+
+"He is well aware of our weakest point."
+
+"Vot veak point?" growled Fritz unwilling to admit such a thing.
+
+"Our inability to run among rocks and close setting trees and bushes.
+
+"It looks mighty like as if he wuz atryin' ter git inter sich a spot."
+
+"You an right, Tim. But he has lost a mile though."
+
+Down the declivity shot the stage, and she swiftly reduced the distance
+that separated her from the fugitive.
+
+As the flying horseman went up the hill on the other side of the valley,
+he glanced back over his shoulder and saw that the Terror had arrived
+within a mile.
+
+Fast as Jim Malone was on a level stretch, he could not race up the
+steep grade of a hill with anything like the speed at which the Terror
+went.
+
+In consequence, long before the bandit reached the plateau he was
+heading for, the engine was close behind him.
+
+Jack sat outside steering.
+
+He did not have on his armor.
+
+Frank suddenly paused.
+
+Wheeling his horse around he raised his rifle.
+
+Crack--bang!
+
+It was a good shot.
+
+The bullet struck the stage within an inch of Jack's head.
+
+Frank dared not remain to attempt it again as every second was precious
+now.
+
+He therefore dashed away again.
+
+Bang!
+
+Bang!
+
+Bang! came three shots.
+
+Tim, Fritz and the sheriff had fired.
+
+Exploding around Frank the awful bullets tore up the ground, chipped the
+rocks, trees and bushes and stung the horse, but failed to injure the
+rider.
+
+The bandit reached the shelter of the rocks and trees on the plateau
+before any of the bullets hit him.
+
+He then disappeared.
+
+Along thundered the electric stage.
+
+She had a hard climb, but her dynamo and motor were very powerful, and
+carried her up to the level ground.
+
+There she got on Frank's trail again.
+
+The plateau was a picturesque place, as it was covered with flowers,
+tumbled rocks, vine-clad trees, and dense shrubbery.
+
+A plain track through it was seen.
+
+"We'll reach him in a few moments!" muttered Jack.
+
+He cast his glance ahead, and as the ground gently sloped down from
+there, he saw the outlaw.
+
+And he also saw a wide chasm.
+
+It stretched straight across the horse's path.
+
+Frank James was caught in a sort of natural trap, for he had gone
+plunging in between two steep rocky walls.
+
+He could not turn to the left or right, and ahead of his sweating horse
+there yawned the wide deep chasm.
+
+If he wished to escape he would have to clear the gulf, and as it was
+fully twenty-five feet wide, such a feat seemed to be entirely out of
+the question.
+
+He glanced back again.
+
+The Terror was swiftly coming along after him.
+
+It rendered the fugitive desperate.
+
+He headed his gallant steed straight for the chasm and plunged toward it
+a furious pace.
+
+"By heavens, he is going to attempt to leap that split!" cried Jack,
+observing what the outlaw intended doing.
+
+"He can't clear it, said Tim.
+
+"Vell, he vos got der nerve ter dry!" Fritz exclaimed.
+
+"He's bound to go down!" cried Timberlake, excitedly.
+
+"If he does, he may perish!" said the inventor. "The man must be
+fearfully desperate to attempt the jump."
+
+"Gief him a hall vunct."
+
+"Hey, Frank James!" called Jack.
+
+The man looked back, but did not answer.
+
+He did not look in the least unnerved by the terrible ordeal.
+
+Jack could not help admiring his courage.
+
+He hailed him again from sheer pity.
+
+"Halt there, you madman, you are committing suicide.
+
+"You'll not nab me!" came back the defiant reply.
+
+"Pause--quick! We'll spare you."
+
+"Never! Good-bye! Now, Jim, up, boy, up!"
+
+The gallant horse seemed to gather every muscle to a high tension when
+he reached the verge of the chasm.
+
+He bounded high in the air.
+
+For an instant the horse and rider were poised there.
+
+It was a brave effort.
+
+But it failed.
+
+Three-fourths of the distance was covered.
+
+Then down the animal plunged into the abyss.
+
+As they sunk out of sight Jack whirled the wheel around and applied the
+air brake.
+
+The Terror barely had time to swing around to avoid the edge of the
+chasm, and a cloud of dirt and dust flew up from beneath her wheels.
+
+She quickly paused.
+
+Jack alighted.
+
+Going to the edge of the abyss he peered down.
+
+It was not more than twenty feet deep.
+
+Along the bottom flowed a wide, deep mountain stream.
+
+Frank James and his horse had alighted in it without the slightest
+injury, and Jack saw the beast swim ashore and wade out.
+
+They had been swept some distance down the stream by the fierce current,
+and had got out near a wide opening in the rocks on the side opposite
+Jack.
+
+"Stop where you are!" shouted Jack.
+
+The drenched fugitive looked at him and laughed ironically.
+
+Then he dashed ahead, for Jack had drawn a pistol, and was aiming it at
+him.
+
+Just as the horse leaped into the opening in the rocks, the young
+inventor fired at the bandit.
+
+The ball cut the spot Frank had just evacuated, and striking against the
+rocks, exploded there.
+
+Up jumped the young inventor, and he ran along until he arrived opposite
+the split rocks.
+
+But he failed to see the fugitive as Frank had gone around a bend in the
+opening, and was then hidden from view.
+
+As he could not do anything there, he hastened back to the Terror,
+sprang aboard, and started her back the way she came from, at the same
+time telling his friends what happened.
+
+Jack made a wide detour, and passed the end of the gorge.
+
+The stream there broadened and became so shallow that he easily drove
+the stage through it.
+
+Reaching the other side, he began a search for Frank, but it finally
+proved to be in vain.
+
+The shadows of twilight fell when he finally gave up the hunt and headed
+for a tiny hamlet near where he was.
+
+It was a place which had built up about a general store, at which the
+stage coach, paused which carried passengers from the northern railroads
+who wished to make connections with the smaller branch lines dissecting
+that portion of the state.
+
+At this place--called Jones' Corners--there was a big surprise in store
+for our friends.
+
+It came about when Jack drove the Terror up to the store and quietly
+made inquiries of the owner as to whether he had seen a man answering to
+Frank James' description about that vicinity that day.
+
+The man told him he had seen such an individual.
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+A SUSPECTED PLOT.
+
+The store at which the electric stage paused was a small, dingy place,
+used as a grocery, a post-office, a saloon, and, in fact, half a dozen
+different kinds of business.
+
+Its owner was a typical Missourian, in raw hide boots, his pants tucked
+in the legs, a flannel shirt upon his ample body, a felt hat on his long
+hair, and one of his bewhiskered cheeks distended with a huge quid of
+tobacco.
+
+When he had eyed the electric machine, and commented upon it at some
+length, he finally said:
+
+"Yas, neighbur, I reckon thar wuz sich erchap hyar ez you wuz quizzin me
+erbout. It's ergoin' on two hour ergo as he stuck his nose into this ere
+place, an' ast me all erbout ther runnin' er that stage-coach from hyer
+ter Independence."
+
+"Asked you about the stage-coach, eh!" said Jack, his attention
+particularly attracted by this remark. "What did you tell the gentleman
+about it?"
+
+"Why, I jist guv him ther time table all erlong its route, an', ses I,
+thar's ter be one erlong ter-night erbout ten er-clock from ther
+south'ard, which'll stop hyar ter water ther nags. It ginerally kerries
+from five ter ten people, yer see, an' I allers hev ter laugh when I
+hears how skeered they gits while er-crossin' ther ledge down yander on
+thet ere spur er ther hills."
+
+"Dangerous place?"
+
+"Wall, I reckon it be. Hev a chaw er terbacker?"
+
+"No, I thank you. What time does the stage leave the next town?"
+
+"Nine o'clock--it's jist one hour difference."
+
+"Did the gentleman inquire particularly about this stage?"
+
+"Certain. It's ther only one wot's due fer two days."
+
+"Did he say anything about the ledge?"
+
+"Sure he did, an' axed me werry pertickler all about it. I was
+erwondsrin' wot he was erquizzin' me about so much, but reckon it wuz
+only his pesky curiosity."
+
+"Very likely," said Jack, in grim tones. "Then he rode off?"
+
+"Yes, an' or mighty likely nag it wuz, too, which he called Jim."
+
+"That's Jim Malone," thought Jack.
+
+The information he received plainly showed him that Frank James intended
+to rob the people of the Independence stage at the mountain ledge.
+
+In order to do this he would very likely summon some of the gang and be
+at the pass at nine o'clock that night.
+
+The storekeeper had no idea of this.
+
+Indeed, as he did not know who Frank James was, not a suspicion of the
+truth of the matter was likely to enter his mind, for the bandit led him
+to suppose he was anxious to travel to the northern main line on that
+vehicle.
+
+"In which direction did that man go?" asked Jack, in conclusion.
+
+"Ter ther west'ard. But why d'yer want all or this infermation?"
+
+"Simply became he is one of the James Boys."
+
+"Holy--jumpin'--jingo!" gasped the man.
+
+"He intends to rob that stage!"
+
+"Oh, thunder! wot er big fool I wuz ter post him!"
+
+"We will block his game. You keep mum."
+
+"Yes kin jist bet I will!"
+
+Jack returned aboard the Terror, and told his friends all he had
+learned, and a consultation was held.
+
+It was then seven o'clock.
+
+They had but little time to waste,
+
+"Our plan to save the people in that stage coach from robbery is a very
+simple one," said Jack. "We must run ahead and intercept them."
+
+"Supposin' them 'ere lundsharks is on ther road now? They will sight us
+again along ther trail," said Tim.
+
+"We can make a detour," replied Jack. "The only place they are apt to
+use to waylay the coach will be along the ledge mentioned by the
+storekeeper."
+
+"Fer sure." assented Fritz, "Ach, I vish me dot ve vos fighdin' dem now!
+Let her gone, Shack!"
+
+The inventor started the Terror off.
+
+It had begun to rain.
+
+There was every indication of a wet night.
+
+Jack had informed himself about the roads.
+
+Both he and Tim put on their rubber clothing and occupied the front
+seat, where they managed the wheel.
+
+A detour was made, and several miles further along they struck into the
+high road again.
+
+"If the stage-coach in any manner resembles the Terror," said the young
+inventor, as they ran along, "I think I know of a way in which we can
+substitute this vehicle for it and fool the bandits, should they waylay
+her."
+
+"Decoy 'em, eh?"
+
+"Yes. We can easily disguise this coach."
+
+"By hitchin' ther stage horses onter it, yer kin do it."
+
+"I'll make the venture anyway, if I can meet the stage."
+
+"When I wuz aboard o' ther frigate Wabash, we once played that ere trick
+on a pirate," said Tim. "Yer see, it happened---"
+
+But Fritz heard him.
+
+And produced his accordeon.
+
+Its horrible tones rang out.
+
+Tim stopped and was just going to expostulate, when Jack put an end to
+the playing by saying:
+
+"Stop that, Fritz!"
+
+"But dot yarn---"
+
+"The road agents may hear it."
+
+That settled it; the music ceased.
+
+It made Tim chuckle, and he said:
+
+"Gosh blame yer fat mug, I'll spin ther yarn anyway now! As I wuz
+a-tellin' yer, we wuz arter a pirate, an' as a passin' ship captain told
+us he seen ther lubber a-hidin' in a bay, we made up our minds ter
+disguise ther frigate so's ter haul up inter gun range o' ther lubber.
+So we sot ter work, an' paintin' her white, we altered her rig, an' bore
+down on ther bay. In we went, but ther pirate had gone. Whar? Nobody
+knowed. We was disappinted. Whar wuz we ter look next? No one knowed. So
+we sailed away. Night fell. We hadn't gone far afore we sighted her ten
+leagues away ter ther---"
+
+"Say! You can't see thirty miles at night."
+
+"I meant to say three leagues---"
+
+"Nor three leagues---"
+
+"One league then, gosh blame it!"
+
+"That's better."
+
+"Waal, we sighted her b'arin' down on us."
+
+"And then?" asked Jack, smilingly.
+
+Why, we let her git right up ter us, thinkin' she had a easy wictim.
+Then we turned on her to fire, an' blow her ter pieces. Wot wuz our
+horror ter find as our powder got so wet we couldn't use it. Bein' as
+ther guns wuz useless, wot did we do? Perpared ter board ther lubber. Up
+ter her we dashed. Over flew ther grapplin' irons.
+
+"On her deck swarmed her crew. Down in her hold they chased ther
+pirates. But that wuz only a ruse on thar part. As soon's our crew went
+below, up came ther lubbers through ther hatch, an' fastened our marines
+down in ther hold. They wuz prisoners. I alone wuz lef aboard ther
+Wabash. Seein' 'em makin' a rush fer our deck I grabbed a ax an' cut
+ther grapplin's. We drifted apart afore they could board ther frigate.
+Seein' as all wuz lost onless I licked ther swabs, I manned ther guns
+an' gave 'em broadside ar ter broadside. I smashed thar ship ter pieces.
+She went down never ter rise again. Most o' her crew wuz killed. Them
+wot wuzn't swum on ther sea. Then I amused myself firin' shots at thar
+heads. I took 'em off as clean as a whistle every time I let 'em have
+it. In jest four minutes by ther clock they was all gone. Turnin' ter my
+messmates---"
+
+"Confined in the pirate's hold, they all went to the bottom with the
+ship," said Jack, quietly.
+
+"I--oh--ouch!"
+
+"The powder was so wet you couldn't use it. But in spite of this you did
+some remarkably good shooting, didn't you, Tim?"
+
+"Wha'--wha--what d'yer mean?" feebly stammered the old sailor.
+
+"Just what you said," laughed Jack.
+
+"I must a fergot about sayin' that."
+
+"Very likely. Will you acknowledge now that I've got you?"
+
+"Ay, ay. There's no help for it."
+
+"In a big lie?"
+
+"But, my lad---"
+
+"Tell the truth once in your life!"
+
+"Waal, I owns up," groaned Tim.
+
+It was a severe hardship to do it.
+
+But there was no help for him, he realized.
+
+Jack burst into a hearty peal of laughter.
+
+The sheriff and the Dutchman, inside the stage, had heard all that
+passed, and they fairly yelled over Tim's discomfiture.
+
+"Nipped that time, Tim," laughed Timberlake.
+
+"Shiminey Christmas, ditn'd he got it by der neck!" grinned Fritz.
+
+"Tell as the rest of the yarn, Tim."
+
+"Yah. Ve vos litsten," added Fritz.
+
+"Awast yer lubbers!" growled the old fellow, sourly.
+
+They might have chaffed him considerably more, but just then Jack
+interrupted them with the startled exclamation:
+
+"Hark, boys!"
+
+"Vos iss?" eagerly asked Fritz.
+
+"Horses' hoofs coming!"
+
+"Ay, ay, I hears 'em!" said Tim.
+
+"There's a wagon, too," the sheriff added.
+
+The sound was rapidly approaching along the road.
+
+All listened intently, and soon distinguished the steady pounding of
+hoofs and the rumble of wheels.
+
+A few moments later they caught view of two bright lamps on the vehicle,
+shining ahead, with a steady glow, through the falling rain drops.
+
+"That looks like a stage," muttered Jack, "but we will know positively
+in a moment more."
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+THE FIGHT IN THE CANYON.
+
+"Halt! Who goes there?"
+
+"Oh, Lor'! what's this?"
+
+"Is that the Independence stage?"
+
+"Yes. Don't shoot! I cave!"
+
+"Ah! do not alarm yourselves; we are friends."
+
+Jack turned on the search-light as he spoke and beheld four horses
+pulling an old fashioned yellow stage coach, on each side of which
+burned two lamps.
+
+Upon the box sat an old jehu, Sandy Ellis by name, who had driven that
+vehicle for quarter of a century over that route.
+
+He was a gray-whiskered old fellow, with a bony face and a long red
+nose, and his stage contained half a dozen people, who were excitedly
+discussing the stoppage and the meaning of that brilliant electric
+light.
+
+"For the Lord's sake, boy, what's that you've got there--the sun?"
+
+"Only an electric search-light," laughed Jack.
+
+"But where's your team?"
+
+"Don't need any for this electric stage."
+
+"What's that--a sort of a trolley car?"
+
+"Yes, without the overhead pole and wire."
+
+"Thunderation! this beats everything! What do you want?"
+
+"I wish to protect you from the James Boys."
+
+"Say, now, is them varmints around?"
+
+"Laying for this stage,"
+
+"Wow!" gasped Sandy. "That's terrible, so it is!"
+
+Jack gave all hands an account of what happened, and when he finished
+the stage passengers were in a cold sweat.
+
+They wanted to turn right back.
+
+But Jack wouldn't allow this.
+
+"I ain't sure whether they're ahead or behind us," said he. "At any rate
+you can't turn back now."
+
+"But they may kill us!" said a fat man in the stage.
+
+"They're bound to rob as anyway," asserted a man with a valise filed
+with genuine diamond jewelry samples.
+
+"That depends entirely upon all hands present," said Jack. "Are all of
+you armed?"
+
+Every one but a woman in the stage assented, and Sandy pulled out a big
+navy revolver from his boot leg, and remarked:
+
+"You can just gamble on it I am."
+
+"Any of you afraid to fight, if it became necessary?"
+
+"I'd rather not if I could avoid It," replied a thin fellow, with a
+hacking cough. "Fighting isn't my fort."
+
+"Waal, I guess you'll pull a trigger if you saw a gang of masked bandits
+trying to bore a hole in your head."
+
+"I fancy I would."
+
+"That's settled then. Now you see my stage?"
+
+"Yes, and a queer one she is!" commented Sandy.
+
+"She is bullet proof. I propose that as she is safer than your
+ramshackle old wooden affair, all hands get inside of her, and let me
+carry you through."
+
+"But what about my horses?" asked Sandy.
+
+"Hitch them on to this vehicle. Throw those rubbers over my stage to
+hide her outline. You can also put your lamps on here and drive for us.
+That will draw the bandits from cover. My friends are all armed and
+ready to fire the moment they show their noses."
+
+Every one but the lady liked the plan.
+
+She, of course, was averse to fighting of any kind.
+
+As there was no way out of their dilemma, and Jack's offer gave promise
+of protecting them from robbery and, perhaps, death, every-one got into
+the Terror.
+
+The lamps and horses were transferred.
+
+"You can leave the stage here," said Jack to Sandy.
+
+"No one will molest it until you return for it to-morrow."
+
+"Are you pretty sure about them there James Boys?"
+
+"Decidedly, or I wouldn't have troubled myself to do this for you,"
+replied Jack.
+
+"Well, it would do no harm, even if we are disappointed about meeting
+them," said the old driver.
+
+They had been obliged to tie the traces to the Terror, but there was no
+pull on them as Sandy had only to keep his horses trotting while Jack
+made the machine run itself.
+
+Owing to the gloom of the night, the rubbers on the body of the Terror,
+the horses, lamps and driver any one would have imagined it was the
+regular old stage coach.
+
+The people inside talked in low tones and every man aboard held his
+weapon ready for use.
+
+Down pattered the rain drops with a monotonous sound, and the hoofs of
+the four horses splashed up the muddy water from the puddles in the road
+and beat on the hard ground with the regularity of clockwork.
+
+They rattled along in this manner for quarter of an hour and ran from
+the regular road into a dark canyon.
+
+Here the walls towered up hundreds of feet.
+
+It was a very gloomy place.
+
+"We must be pretty near the ledge road now, ain't we?" Jack asked.
+
+"Yes; in five minutes this 'ere canyon will swing us out on it," replied
+Sandy. "That's where we're to look for them, ain't it?"
+
+"Yes--if not sooner---"
+
+"Hark! D'you hear that?"
+
+Jack listened intently.
+
+The wind was howling over the crags.
+
+All the trees and bushes were loudly rustling.
+
+But it was not this that attracted the driver's attention.
+
+Jack quickly caught the sound of pattering hoofs coming toward the
+vehicle from both sides.
+
+Then a stentorian voice roared out:
+
+"Halt!"
+
+"What--me!" shouted Sandy.
+
+"Yes--you!" came the reply.
+
+And at the same moment Jesse James, mounted on his wonderful coal black
+steed, Siroc, dashed up beside the stage.
+
+He was followed by his entire band.
+
+Although he and the rest were masked, Jack knew his voice at once, and
+shrank back to conceal his features in the collar of his rubber coat,
+which was turned up around his neck.
+
+In a moment the whole gang was about the Terror.
+
+Sandy reined in his horses.
+
+Then he growled:
+
+"What do you want?"
+
+"Throw up your hands!"
+
+"No, I won't! You're thieves!"
+
+"Obey, or I'll blow your head off."
+
+This order was accompanied by the click of a pistol, and it was poked
+over toward the old driver's face.
+
+Sandy dropped the reins, and Jack stopped the Terror.
+
+This was no sooner done when two of the bandits cut the traces, and
+delivering the horses a blow, sent them galloping away.
+
+"Oh, Lor'! There goes my nags!" roared Sandy.
+
+"Shut up, and hand over your valuables."
+
+"Ain't got none!" roared the old driver.
+
+"Give me some light, boys, and we'll go through the passengers."
+
+The next moment a dozen dark lanterns in the hands of the horsemen
+flashed out upon the Terror.
+
+They recognized her instantly.
+
+"Duped!" yelled Jesse. "It's the electric stage!"
+
+"Fire, boys!" shouted Jack.
+
+A deadly volley was poured from within the Terror, and many a yell of
+pain from the outlaws plainly told how effective some of them had been.
+
+They dashed their lanterns to the ground and galloped off.
+
+But that did no good.
+
+Jack turned on the search-light.
+
+Its broad glare brightly lit up the canyon, and they saw the bandits
+galloping ahead of them.
+
+"Give it to them again!" cried Jack.
+
+The inmates of the Terror let drive a second volley.
+
+Crack, bang!
+
+Crack, bang!
+
+Crack, bang!
+
+Shot after shot pealed out.
+
+Jesse James never was more furious.
+
+He yelled at his men, and then screamed:
+
+"Fire back! Obey, or I'll fire at you yourselves!"
+
+"By thunder, this was a surprise!" groaned Frank.
+
+Bang!
+
+Bang!
+
+Bang!
+
+Bang! went the shots fired by the gang.
+
+A storm of bullets flew back at the stage.
+
+Poor old Sandy Ellis suffered death for his temerity.
+
+A bullet struck him in the breast, and he uttered a groan and fell to
+the ground, never to rise again.
+
+"They've killed Sandy!" cried Jack.
+
+His words aroused the rage of the inmates of the Terror.
+
+"B'ar down on ther pirates!" gasped Tim.
+
+Jack sent the machine racing after the bandits.
+
+There was one of the masked riders directly in front of the Terror, and
+the villain turned in his saddle, aimed a revolver point-blank at Jack,
+and was just upon the point of firing when the ram struck his horse.
+
+It toppled the bandit from the animal's back, his pistol was
+discharged, the ball flew up in the air, and the horse was impaled and
+killed.
+
+As the Terror pushed ahead, the two front wheels ran over the bandit's
+neck, almost putting an end to him.
+
+Back recoiled the stage, the ram was withdrawn from the horse, and then
+she dashed ahead again in hot pursuit of the gang who all rode like fury
+now, to escape.
+
+As they plunged ahead, the inmates of the stage kept up a pitiless
+fusillade of shots against the flying outlaws.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+THE STRANDED COUNTRYMAN.
+
+"We can't run any further!"
+
+"Gee whiz, lad, then ther bandits'll escape!"
+
+"I can't help that, Tim; there's something the matter."
+
+The Terror had scarcely emerged from the canyon, when the lights
+suddenly went out, the machinery ceased to work, and the electric stage
+came to an abrupt pause.
+
+All the bandits had been seen bunched far ahead, going down the slope at
+a breakneck pace.
+
+When the light went out they vanished.
+
+That was the last our friends saw of them that night, and every one
+began to bombard Jack with questions.
+
+"What's the matter?"
+
+"Can't you go ahead?"
+
+"Do you want them to escape?"
+
+"What are you stopping for?"
+
+These and similar questions assailed the inventor.
+
+He almost lost patience with them, as he cried:
+
+The machinery for some reason has broken down.
+
+"Vat vos pusted--dot trifin' rod!" asked Fritz.
+
+"I don't know yet, but I'll find out."
+
+"Here," said Timberlake, "take one of the stage coach lanterns."
+
+Jack alighted with Fritz, and they made a critical examination of the
+machinery situated on the outside of the Terror.
+
+But they failed to find the cause of the mishap there.
+
+Then they went inside to look.
+
+Nor was anything broken here.
+
+Jack was intensely puzzled.
+
+"What does this mean anyway?" he muttered. "I can't find a solitary thing
+the matter with her."
+
+"Dot peat me!" replied Fritz, scratching his head.
+
+"With electrical machinery, which is one of the simplest things in the
+world, one ought to see at a glance any derangement," said Jack, "But I
+can't understand where the trouble is now."
+
+"Let's look ofer it agin," suggested the Dutchman.
+
+It was done.
+
+The second examination was as fruitless as the first, and they were left
+as much in the dark as they had been before. Half an hour was thus lost.
+
+Some of the stage passengers in the meantime went back into the canyon
+with a spade and the other lamp.
+
+They found Sandy Ellis' body.
+
+He was dead.
+
+They buried him.
+
+When they returned Jack said:
+
+"I wonder if the dynamo spring can be broken?"
+
+"See," suggested Fritz.
+
+Jack opened the box.
+
+One glance was enough.
+
+"Well, if we haven't been fools!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Vos iss now?" asked the Dutchman.
+
+"The spring has only run down and needs winding."
+
+Every one burst out laughing now that the threatened gravity of the
+situation resolved itself into a comedy of error.
+
+Jack wound up the spring.
+
+Everyone got aboard and the lights blazed up under Jack's management,
+the machinery began to work, and the Terror ran ahead again without any
+trouble.
+
+The delay had given the bandits a chance to escape.
+
+Upon reaching the nearest settlement Jack left the people there whom he
+had rescued, and the Terror continued on her way.
+
+On the following morning the rain ceased.
+
+Breakfast was partaken of and then Jack said:
+
+"Although we have created some mischief in the James Boys ranks, we have
+not yet done anything to bring the two ringleaders to justice. Nor have
+I gained a cent of the money stolen from the Wrightstown Bank."
+
+"I have warned you what a slippery cuss Jesse is." said Timberlake, "Now
+you have seen some samples of it."
+
+"He certainly is a pretty shrewd fellow."
+
+"But whar is we ter look fer him!" asked Tim.
+
+"He has no regular haunt," replied the sheriff.
+
+"Den ve only by plind luck must go?"
+
+"I'm afraid so, Fritz," assented Timberlake. "However, since he has
+started upon his raids again, he won't stop now until he makes a big
+haul. Then he is liable to divide with the gang, disband for a while,
+and seek safety in flight to some other section of the country until his
+funds are exhausted."
+
+"Like most criminals, though," said Jack, "I see that he has the same
+hankering after the place where most of his villainy is practiced."
+
+"All outlaws have a series of habits exactly like, as far as my
+experience has taught me," said the sheriff.
+
+"When I wuz in ther navy," began Tim, "I once---"
+
+Biff! came Fritz's fingers down on the back of his neck.
+
+What he was going to say was choked off.
+
+Then Fritz rushed him into the next room.
+
+There he jammed the sailor and banged the door shut.
+
+"Dot seddles him!" he chuckled.
+
+As the door was locked they were spared the affliction of hearing
+another of Tim's awful yarns for the time being.
+
+The Terror scoured the surrounding country for a week after that, but
+nothing was seen of the bandits.
+
+It was then decided to run to Independence and try to get some
+information from the authorities there by means of which they could
+locate the gang.
+
+According to this programme, the sheriff gave Tim the direction, and the
+old sailor steered the stage on her way.
+
+It was then very late in the afternoon.
+
+They followed a country road, and passing several wayfarers, the
+appearance of the Terror caused them the most intense astonishment.
+
+A few miles along the road they caught sight of an old fellow in a wagon
+loaded with grain.
+
+He looked like a farmer.
+
+There was no horse hitched to the vehicle.
+
+But the shafts were broken and to the stumps there yet clung the remains
+of a broken harness.
+
+The old fellow was the picture of despair.
+
+He sat on top of his load, a whip in his hand and a big, red bandana
+handkerchief in the other with which he was vigorously mopping his
+forehead.
+
+Fritz was steering the Terror.
+
+Observing the forlorn countryman he burst out laughing.
+
+"Shiminey Christmas!" said he, "dot fellow vas look like as if he vas
+got left behint mit his horse!"
+
+"What are you talking about?" Jack asked from inside.
+
+"Dot wagon in der roat."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"Ahet."
+
+Jack emerged.
+
+He saw the wagon.
+
+And he also noticed an old log house.
+
+He stood embowered among some trees, rocks, and bushes some distance
+ahead on the left hand side of the road.
+
+In a moment more the Terror reached the wagon, and halting beside it,
+the countryman glaring at it with a look of the most intense
+astonishment upon his face.
+
+"For the lands sakes alive!" he gasped, "what's that thing?"
+
+"A stage that runs by electric power," Jack replied.
+
+"And what's the trouble with you, sir?"
+
+"I've been having an awful time with Eliza."
+
+"Eliza? Who is she?"
+
+"My mule."
+
+"Oh! It looks as if she had been cutting up tricks."
+
+"You'd ought to have seen her; consarn her old hide--and you'd have
+pitied me. She's the blamedest stubborn critter I ever seen. Once she
+gets her back up and quits, there's no use trying to go no farther. Look
+at the way she left me."
+
+"Pretty sad sight."
+
+"I should say so. She took a sudden notion to stop right here, I coaxed
+and cajoled her, but she wouldn't budge. Then my dander riz, I spit on
+my hands and hit her a whang on the tail, and she raised up her heels
+and kicked out like a battering ram."
+
+"How unfortunate for you."
+
+"It made my blood bile. I then thumped blazes out of her. The more I
+soaked her the wuss she kicked, until finally she kicked herself out of
+the harness and ran sway."
+
+"And left you here with your load?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Have you got far to go?"
+
+"Only to yonder old log hut."
+
+"That isn't far."
+
+"No, not when you say it quick."
+
+"I'll tow you over there with this machine."
+
+"Will you? Oh, thank you! I was just going to ask you to do it!"
+
+"Is that all?"
+
+"Can you help me roll the wagon inside to protect the grain in case it
+rains before I can find Eliza again?"
+
+"Certainly we will," laughed Jack.
+
+They hitched a rope to the wagon, and the Terror hauled it over to the
+door of the old building.
+
+As the Terror could not get the wagon through the door, Jack and his
+companions alighted; each one manned a wheel, and the farmer seized the
+shafts.
+
+Ahead they rolled it toward the open door.
+
+But scarcely had they got it started when a dozen men, with masks on
+their faces and pistols in their hands, rushed out of the building and
+surrounded the four friends.
+
+"The James Boys!" gasped Jack, in startled tones.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+INTO THE QUICKSAND.
+
+It was evident to Jack that he and his friends had been the victims of a
+very shrewd game.
+
+The fact was, that the James Boys had a rendezvous in the log cabin, and
+having held up the farmer who owned the wagon, they had stolen his
+money, his mule, and his clothing.
+
+Seeing the Terror coming, Jesse concocted the scheme to trap our
+friends, rigged one of the gang in the farmer's clothes, and the game
+was played according to the bandit king's orders.
+
+It looked as if it was going to be a success, too.
+
+None of the Terror's crew were armed.
+
+And the outlaws had them covered with their weapons.
+
+"Yield!" roared Jesse.
+
+"We're tricked!" gasped Jack.
+
+"Hands up, or die!"
+
+"Don't fire! We submit!"
+
+There was no alternative.
+
+So the four raised their hands.
+
+"Bind them!" ordered the outlaw chief.
+
+His men carried out this order with alacrity.
+
+In a few moments more all were rendered helpless.
+
+A grim look of intense satisfaction swept over the dark bearded face of
+Jesse James as his four enemies lay upon the ground at his feet.
+
+He intently regarded them a moment and then hissed:
+
+"At last I've got you, Jack Wright!"
+
+"Well, what are you going to do about it?" coolly asked the inventor.
+
+"Put you out of my way as quick as possible."
+
+"Very well; proceed. You have an excellent chance now."
+
+"I've got your fate settled. And yours, too, Timberlake."
+
+"If our positions were reversed," bitterly said the sheriff, "I would
+not lose a moment about blowing your brains out!"
+
+"I have no doubt of that," Jesse answered, with a dark scowl. "And I'll
+follow your good advice. Prepare to die."
+
+He drew his pistol from his belt and aimed it at Timberlake.
+
+A tremor passed over the plucky fellow and he turned pale, for he knew
+he was face to face with death; but his courage did not forsake him and
+he quietly remarked:
+
+"I'm ready to go. Fire!"
+
+Before Jesse could do so. Frank sprang between him and his victim.
+
+"Fool!" he hissed, warningly. "Do you want to throw your neck in the
+halter by doing this with all hands looking at you?
+
+"Get out of my way!" savagely replied Jesse.
+
+Although Frank was the eldest, and was accustomed to obeying his more
+determined brother, he did not do so in this instance.
+
+"If you don't stop," he exclaimed, in angry, excited tones, "I'll hit
+you."
+
+A look of surprise mantled Jesse's face.
+
+He was not accustomed to threats and disobedience from Frank.
+
+It therefore gave him a most emphatic shock.
+
+"Are you getting crazy?" he asked.
+
+"No--but you must be. Think of what you are doing."
+
+"The men have seen me bring down my man many a time."
+
+"Very true. But that was in a fight. Did they ever see you commit a
+cool, deliberate murder?"
+
+This version startled Jesse.
+
+He returned the pistol to his belt.
+
+"You are right, Frank," said he, reluctantly. "I'll have to swallow my
+rage and hang or shoot these prisoners in accordance with the law of
+civilized communities."
+
+There was a bitter tinge of sarcasm in his tones as he said this, and
+turning abruptly to the men he said, brusquely:
+
+"Carry them into the hut."
+
+Timberlake felt relieved.
+
+So did Jack and the rest.
+
+If Frank had not interfered the sheriff would have been killed, for they
+saw a lurking demon in the glare of Jesse's eyes when he was menacing
+Timberlake.
+
+He certainly, meant to carry out his mad intention.
+
+The prisoners were carried into the hut.
+
+They saw the floor littered with saddles and bridles, blankets, cooking
+utensils and other objects of use to the bandits.
+
+As Jack leaned against the wall opposite the open door he saw the
+bandits go up to the electric stage and try to get in.
+
+The doors were secured with spring locks.
+
+As Jesse tried to open one he was startled to hear a gruff voice inside
+exclaim:
+
+"Stand back there or I'll drop a lighted match into a powder keg!"
+
+It was the parrot.
+
+He had once heard that sentence uttered.
+
+Now he used it at random, never knowing what it signified.
+
+But it was one of the luckiest expressions he ever made, for it startled
+the bandits and they rushed away in alarm.
+
+"There are more people in the stage!" exclaimed Jesse, who was deceived
+by Bismarck's voice, as he knew absolutely nothing about the existence
+of the bird.
+
+"But you counted only four in the crew," said Jim Cummins.
+
+"I know it. They may have picked up others though."
+
+"That's so."
+
+"Give them a shot."
+
+There were five men with Jesse.
+
+All had retreated from the stage.
+
+They now opened fire upon it.
+
+Bang--bang!
+
+Crack--crack!
+
+Bang--bang--bang!
+
+No shots were returned.
+
+This amazed them.
+
+But they heard Bismarck yell:
+
+"Go it, you chumps--go it."
+
+"Whoever that is howling," growled Jesse, "has got a nerve! I suppose he
+won't do anything until we get around the stage. Then he'll try to blow
+us up."
+
+"Don't go near the blamed thing then," said Wood Hite.
+
+"There's nothing in it for us, but I'd like to blow the infernal thing
+to pieces, so it can't do us any more damage."
+
+"Oh, we can do that as soon as we get more dynamite."
+
+"That's so. The party who is inside will hang around here in hopes of
+rescuing their pals, and we'll get a chance later."
+
+None of them dared go too near the stage.
+
+Nor was it of any use to fire at the Terror.
+
+Bullets made no impression upon it.
+
+Jesse understood this very well.
+
+He, therefore, retreated to the interior of the hut with his men.
+
+Jack kept his eyes and ears wide open, and soon saw the gang follow a
+motion of Jesse, and group themselves in one corner of the hut, and hold
+a whispered, conversation.
+
+The inventor did not hear a word they uttered.
+
+But he saw by their actions that they were scheming some mischief
+against them, and the result was soon manifested.
+
+Jesse left the crowd and approached the prisoners.
+
+"We've settled your fate!" he announced abruptly.
+
+"Indeed," replied Jack. "What new villainy is brewing?"
+
+"That you will find out in a few minutes. You wounded me and I know you
+are authorized to hunt me down, break up the gang and put us in jail.
+Consequently I am going to have revenge. In quarter of an hour you will
+be dead and buried."
+
+"I doubt it," quietly answered Jack. "And as for your debt of vengeance,
+let me recall to your mind that it was you who aroused the enmity
+between us. You began it by robbing or rather swindling the Wrightstown
+Bank out of $5,000."
+
+"Oh, yes," grinned the bandit, pulling a big roll of bills out of his
+pocket. "This is the money only a couple of hundred of it gone. That was
+quite a clever game."
+
+"It did not hit me as hard as it might," said Jack. "The bank loses the
+money of course, but as I am the president of it, and a large
+stockholder, fully half the amount comes out of my pocket. I'll get that
+money away from you now."
+
+"Now?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"How?"
+
+"This way."
+
+And up jumped Jack.
+
+He had got Fritz to loosen his bonds with his teeth.
+
+Once free from the wrist lashings, he liberated his ankles.
+
+The bandit recoiled with a startled yell, and the rest arose.
+
+Jack sprung forward, snatched the roll of bills from Jesse's hand,
+shoved it in his pocket and seized the outlaw.
+
+The young inventor was a veritable Hercules in strength.
+
+As the gang made a rush for him, he suddenly lifted Jesse James up in
+the air and hurled him at the crowd.
+
+The bandit's body struck Bob Ford and Cole Younger, knocked them back
+against the crowd, and ere they all recovered from their astonishment,
+Jack sprang out the door and rushed to the stage.
+
+Several pistol shots were fired after him, but as the outlaws were
+excited, they aimed poorly and missed their mark.
+
+Reaching the Terror, Jack jumped aboard, and she sped away.
+
+As soon as the outlaws recovered, and saw him escaping, Jesse yelled:
+
+"Grab the rest, and hustle them out before they escape too!"
+
+The gang pounced on Tim, Fritz and Timberlake.
+
+Carrying them out of the hut by a back door, they passed through the
+woods until they came to a glen.
+
+In the middle of it was a small, shallow lake, covering a bed of
+quicksand, and they paused upon the shore.
+
+"Throw them in!" ordered Jesse.
+
+His men complied.
+
+As the prisoners were bound, they could not help themselves.
+
+One after another they were tossed into the treacherous lake.
+
+No sooner were their bodies upon the sand when they began to slowly sink
+into it.
+
+The bandits gathered along the shore to watch their unlucky victims
+perish in the quicksand bed.
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+RESCUED FROM DEATH.
+
+Having gained his freedom, Jack had raced away with the Terror in order
+to keep out of danger until he was prepared to defend himself.
+
+He did not stop the stage until she was at a considerable distance from
+the rendezvous of the bandits.
+
+Then he critically examined her.
+
+She proved to be in first-class order.
+
+Jack then went inside and put on a suit of armor.
+
+Thrusting two pistols in his belt, he procured a small basket, and
+opening a box, he withdrew from it a dozen steel balls to each of which
+a small metal handle was attached.
+
+These he put very carefully into the basket.
+
+They were hand grenades.
+
+Loaded with the same terrible explosive compound that he put in the
+bullets he used, they possessed ten times the power that ordinary
+dynamite shells have.
+
+Armed with these awful missiles, he was ready to go back and
+single-handed engage in a fight with the whole gang.
+
+Jack's courage and perseverance were of a high order.
+
+He deposited the basket in a metal, bullet-proof box on the front
+platform, and seating himself, seized the wheel.
+
+"I've got explosives enough here to blow the whole crew to fragments,"
+he muttered. "And what is more, I'll do it too, in order to wrest my
+friends from their clutches!"
+
+Back along the road rolled the Terror.
+
+The moon now rose in the sky.
+
+In a few minutes Jack neared the hut.
+
+Stopping the electric stage within fifty yards of it, he picked up one
+or the bombs and shouted:
+
+"Jesse James, come out here, or I'll blow that hut up!"
+
+Receiving no reply, Jack hurled the grenade.
+
+It struck an end of the hut.
+
+A horrible glare of light flashed out.
+
+It was followed by a report like thunder.
+
+Half of the hut was blown to fragments, and the ground shook.
+
+Jack saw at a glance that the hut was deserted.
+
+He heard the distant voices of men among the trees, and realizing that
+the bandits had gone into the woods, he drove the stage along a road
+that wound among the trees.
+
+In a few moments he neared the quicksand lake.
+
+The bandits saw him coming, and aiming their rifles at the gallant young
+inventor they fired at him.
+
+A storm of bullets struck Jack.
+
+They did not pierce his armor, however.
+
+He stooped over and picked up one of the grenades.
+
+As soon as he arrived close enough to the outlaws, he hurled the bomb at
+them, and it landed in their midst.
+
+The explosion was fearful.
+
+Three of the villains were blown to pieces, several were knocked down,
+the rest were half deafened, and an uproar of hoarse yells of pain
+escaped those who were struck by the flying particles of metal from the
+exploded shell.
+
+Seeing the Terror coming on toward them rapidily, the bandits who
+survived rushed away into the woods.
+
+They were filled with horror and alarm.
+
+Such weapons as Jack Wright wielded were beyond their powers of
+endurance, and they set him down for a fiend.
+
+Once protected by the trees, they shot back at him.
+
+Bang!
+
+Crack!
+
+Boom!
+
+Whiz! came the shots.
+
+Jack picked up another bomb, and let it fly.
+
+It landed among the trees, and bursting there, spilt and tore them to
+pieces, and sent the outlaws flying again.
+
+At this moment Jack was startled by a wild yell of:
+
+"Help! Save me!"
+
+He looked around to see where the sound came from, and beheld his three
+friends buried to their necks in the quicksand.
+
+"Good heavens!" he gasped, as he realized what the outlaws had been
+doing to them.
+
+"They've tried to murder the boys."
+
+He saw that they were in a bed of quicksand.
+
+Assured that he would not have any immediate trouble from the outlaws,
+Jack went into the stage and got a hatchet.
+
+He then alighted.
+
+His friends were twenty feet from the bank.
+
+They laid pretty close together, but were out of his reach.
+
+Rushing in among the shrubbery. Jack rapidly cut down a number of cedar
+trees, and swiftly carried them to the quicksand.
+
+With these he built a rude bridge out to his friends.
+
+Even the trees began to sink in the sand as he walked out on them, but
+he reached Tim, and seizing him by the arm, he exerted all his enormous
+strength, and succeeded in pulling him up.
+
+Jack cut his bonds.
+
+"Don't waste a moment," he gasped, "but go ashore and cut some more of
+the cedars to pile on these."
+
+"Ay, ay," replied Tim, and he hastened away.
+
+Timberlake was next nearest.
+
+"Are you fastened?" Jack asked him.
+
+"Yes; bound hand and foot."
+
+"I'll get you up in a moment."
+
+"Shack," groaned Fritz. "Hurry ub."
+
+His mouth was even with the water, and it was with the greatest
+difficulty that he prevented himself swallowing it.
+
+Tim came back and flung some cedars to Jack.
+
+With these he built his bridge out further.
+
+Giving the sheriff a pull that raised him a foot, Jack left him and made
+his way to Fritz.
+
+He reached the Dutchman just in time to save him.
+
+It almost pulled the fat fellow's joints apart when the inventor hauled
+him up, but once he was free of his bonds and upon the cedars he aided
+Jack to pull the sheriff up and set him free.
+
+They all got their feet stuck in the sand as they fought and struggled
+to reach firm land, for the trees were now sunk but they finally managed
+to get ashore.
+
+Here they found Tim bombarding the woods.
+
+All the bandits had seen what was happening, and now opened fire upon
+them again.
+
+The old sailor procured two bombs.
+
+He let thus drive in the direction the shots came from, and they ripped
+the woods and blew up rocks and trees, and created the most terrific
+devastation.
+
+That silenced the outlaws.
+
+None of them were killed, but many were wounded, and they now lost no
+time at making their escape.
+
+Jack and his companions hastened back aboard the Terror, and sent her
+flying back to the road.
+
+There they waited for the appearance of some of the gang; but they
+waited in vain.
+
+All had escaped in the other direction.
+
+When assured of this, the four adventurers went inside to change their
+clothing, and rest themselves.
+
+Jack's companions told him how they happened to be found sinking in the
+bed of quicksand.
+
+"They meant to kill you!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Ay, ay, lad! But you balked 'em!" chuckled Tim.
+
+"And I've get most of the stolen money back," laughed Jack, as he held
+up the wad of bank notes he took from Jesse James.
+
+_"Donner und blitzen!_ Vot a surbrised barty dot vos fer der pandits,"
+roared Fritz. "Inshtid of Yesse Yames hookin' money from odder beoples,
+it must haf peen shtrange fer him ter haf money hooked from him
+alretty."
+
+"Yes--a very novel experience for the thief," said the sheriff, dryly.
+"I congratulate you, Mr. Wright, for doing something to that villain
+that nobody else ever did. It is a most remarkable thing for Jesse James
+to be robbed."
+
+"I reckerlect when I wuz in ther navy," said Tim, "I once had a
+experience like that. We went out ter hunt fer a fillibuster's ship when
+wot wuz our surprise ter have ther lubber tackle us. Gee whiz! wuzn't I
+mad! I ups an' loads one o'ther guns ter fire at him when he slipped
+aroun' asturn us. As we couldn't train no gun ter b'ar on him in that
+ther sitiwation wot should I do but git a coil o' rope, mount ther
+riggin' an' lasso his capstan, It wuz a mighty good throw too. Waal,
+sir, we heaved an' hauled on that ere rope, dragging ther lubber over to
+our ship until we got him alongside---"
+
+"And none of them attempted to cut your lasso from their capstan?" asked
+Jack. "They must have wanted to get captured."
+
+"It's werry funny," said Tim, "but none o' them seemed ter think o'
+doin' that. Waal, sir, as soon as we hauled 'em alongside we had a
+broadside ready ter pour inter that craft ter blow her ter pieces, an'
+ther gunners wuz at ther posts ready ter fire. But afore we could carry
+out this plan ther willians boarded us an' captured us an' our ship."
+
+"It can't be possible?"
+
+"But it wuz, my lad."
+
+"How did you escape?"
+
+"One night I got free an' rushed into the powder magazine with a lit
+pipe in my mouth, an' them arter me."
+
+"If you were a prisoner where did you got the lit pipe?"
+
+"Oh, I had it," replied Tim. "Ter continer, seein' my enemies all
+rushin' arter me, I took ther pipe an' yelled fer 'em ter go back or I'd
+drop ther burnin' baccy inter ther powder. They refused---"
+
+"And you dropped the light into the powder?"
+
+"No. Ther light had gone out," grinned Tim. "It skeered 'em so though,
+that when they recovered they bolted out, an' fearin' ter git blowed
+up, they all jumped overboard an' was drowned. I released my messmates,
+an' we took ther ship."
+
+"Tim, is that a lie, or a fabrication?"
+
+"A fabrication, o' course," indignantly and innocently answered the old
+salt. "D'yer s'pose Tim Topstay would tell a lie?"
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+THE CAPTURE OF WOOD HITE.
+
+On the second day after the aforegoing events occurred Fritz happened to
+glance into the water tank of the Terror and noticed that their supply
+of liquid was running low.
+
+This was very unpleasant, as they were then nowhere near any spring or
+stream, and he walked into the front room where Jack sat talking to
+Timberlake, and said:
+
+"Dere don't vos more as enough water to last bis to-night."
+
+"That's too bad. Can't we get a supply near here?" said Jack.
+
+"Not that I am aware of," answered the sheriff. "But, about three miles
+along the road there is a farm-house, and we can get all we want from
+the countryman's cistern."
+
+"Suppose we go there and try," suggested Jack.
+
+"Vell, I dell Dim," said the Dutchman.
+
+He then spoke to the old sailor who was steering, and Tim sent the stage
+in the direction indicated.
+
+In a short time they came in view of the farm-house.
+
+This had scarcely been done when Tim caught sight of a man with his head
+swathed in bandages rush out of the house to the stable from whence he
+soon emerged on horseback.
+
+He gave one glance back at the stage and then, plunging spurs into his
+steed's flanks, he dashed away.
+
+Off he went across the rolling country at a furious pace, his peculiar
+action at once arresting Tim's attention.
+
+The old sailor only had one eye, but it was a good one, for no sooner
+had he seen the fugitive's face when he recognized him as that mercenary
+member of the James Boys' gang called Wood Hite, and noted as a
+desperate ruffian.
+
+"Gee whiz!" gasped Tim.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Jack.
+
+"Thar goes Wood Hite!"
+
+"Is that so?"
+
+"Ay, an' his head is all bandaged!"
+
+"He must have been wounded."
+
+"Sartin, and he wuz in thar farm-house tryin' ter git well."
+
+"He must have seen us coming and got scared out."
+
+"Jist my opinion, Jack."
+
+The young inventor came out on the front platform.
+
+He gazed long and earnestly at the flying rider and then said:
+
+"You have made no mistake--that's Hite."
+
+"This ere ole eye o' mine are a regler telescope."
+
+"Chase the villain, Tim!"
+
+"You bet I will."
+
+And pulling the dynamo lever over as far as it would go, the old sailor
+spun the wheel around, turning the stage from the high road, and sent
+her flying after the horseman.
+
+"If he thinks we can't run on anything but hard ground," said Jack,
+grimly, "he will soon learn his error."
+
+"That ere's a mighty good nag he's a-ridin'."
+
+"Yes--all the James Boys' gang are well mounted."
+
+"Ain't Hite ther lubber wots allers grubbin' fer money?"
+
+"Yes, he, the most grasping one of the gang."
+
+"D'yer reckon as thar's any more o' his messmates in ther farm-house?"
+
+"No, I believe not. If there had been, they would have come out with
+him," replied Jack, as they flew past the old house.
+
+"S'posen we runs him down?"
+
+"I'll make him admit where the rest of the gang is."
+
+"Ay, now, that's a blamed good plan."
+
+The bandit had taken refuge in the house, as he had suffered a very bad
+wound, but having seen from one of the upper bed rooms that the stage
+was coming, he took alarm and fled as has been recorded.
+
+By so doing, he greatly amazed the good people with whom he had been
+stopping, as they knew nothing of his real character in consequence of a
+lie he told them.
+
+The man was wild with fear.
+
+He spurred and lashed his horse furiously.
+
+And he kept his lead with remarkable speed.
+
+The Terror rattled and bumped over the rougher grass, but found it
+pretty good going anyway, as the open country of Missouri is generally
+fairly level.
+
+Tim watched the contest with interest.
+
+He could not help admiring the bandit's good riding.
+
+But he also saw that the stage slowly but surely began to gain.
+
+"Fer a short dash, that was prutty good!" he remarked.
+
+"In a long race no animal on earth could run against us though," replied
+Jack smiling.
+
+"See how we're overhaulin' ther lubber!"
+
+"In a few minutes well reach him, Tim, and---"
+
+Bang!
+
+The fugitive fired back.
+
+Zing! came the bullet.
+
+It grazed Jack's head.
+
+One inch nearer and it would have killed him!
+
+"Hit yer?" asked Tim, in alarm.
+
+"No, just missed," coolly replied the inventor.
+
+"Gee! it hummed like a bumble bee!"
+
+"Yes, it was a dangerous shot."
+
+"Shall I heave him one, an' drop him?"
+
+"No! I want to take him alive."
+
+On they continued to go until at last the Terror was very close to the
+bandit.
+
+"There is nothing can save you from capture now!" Jack shouted at him.
+"Surrender, you dog!"
+
+"I'm blowed if I will!" roared Wood Hite.
+
+He made one last supreme effort to forge ahead, but finding he could not
+do it, he leveled his revolver at Tim.
+
+Jack had a pistol in hand.
+
+He aimed, and fired it at Hite's weapon.
+
+Simultaneous with the explosion of the bullet there came a wild howl
+from the bandit, and his pistol flew up in the air, ruined beyond
+repair.
+
+"I'm struck!" he groaned.
+
+"Will you quit?" demanded Jack.
+
+"Don't drop me and I will."
+
+"All right! Dismount!"
+
+The fugitive pulled in the panting and sweating horse, and Tim stopped
+the electric stage.
+
+Down to the ground jumped the bandit, and raising his hands above his
+head he roared:
+
+"Mind you now--no games, partner."
+
+"What was you doing in that farm house?"
+
+"Getting over the wounds you gave me."
+
+"Where are the rest of the gang?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"Come, come! No lies!"
+
+"I tell you I don't know."
+
+"We'll see," said Jack, pulling out his watch and drawing a bead on the
+man. "It is now three minutes to four. At precisely four o'clock, unless
+you tell us where I can find the James Boys, I'll fire!"
+
+"Say! don't do that!" cried the bandit, in alarm.
+
+"That's the law."
+
+"But I really don't---"
+
+"One minute."
+
+"For Heaven's sake, let up!"
+
+"You are wasting valuable time, Wood Hite."
+
+"If I knew I'd tell you quick enough."
+
+"Your time on earth is growing mighty short."
+
+"Won't anything else satisfy you?"
+
+"No. Two minutes!"
+
+"Good Lord A'mighty!"
+
+"Speak--quick!"
+
+"It's as much as my life is worth!"
+
+"Very well. Ten seconds more!"
+
+The outlaw was as pale as death.
+
+The bandages around his head added to the look of unutterable woe upon
+his haggard face.
+
+He trembled like an aspen, and burst into a cold, clammy perspiration,
+and was breathing heavily.
+
+Jack glanced up from his watch.
+
+"Time's up!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Mercy!"
+
+"Speak, or perish!"
+
+"Yes! yes! I'll tell."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"To-morrow at two o'clock they'll be in Husking Valley."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"To raid the town."
+
+"Any particular place?"
+
+"Yes--the bank."
+
+"Good! We'll be there. What's the plan?"
+
+"Jess did not mention it."
+
+"That will do."
+
+"Can I go now?"
+
+"Oh, no; we want you."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"To go with us. I want to see if you lied. Come here!"
+
+Wood Hite slouched up to the stage, cast a regretful glance at his horse
+which was browsing the grass, and Tim tied his hands behind his back.
+
+He was then hustled into the stage, and Jack had a short conversation
+with Timberlake about the place where the alleged raid was to occur.
+
+The town was a place remote from where they then were, and the sheriff
+directed Tim in which direction to go.
+
+Meeting with another farm house, they procured some water and then sped
+away.
+
+That night they arrived in the vicinity of Husking Valley, and Jack
+entered the town to reconnoiter the ground.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+RAIDING THE BANK.
+
+On the following afternoon there were a great many strangers in the town
+of Husking Valley, but the residents did not consider this very strange,
+as the County Fair was being held there.
+
+These fairs were matters of great importance to the natives.
+
+They always brought large crowds of strangers from the surrounding
+country, and created a rather lively scene.
+
+Jack was lurking near the bank with Timberlake, and Tim and Fritz were
+aboard the Terror in easy hailing distance, yet completely concealed
+from view.
+
+The inventor and his companion stood in a doorway close to the bank,
+intently watching the thronging natives.
+
+"Here's another example of the James Boys' cunning," said Jack, finally
+breaking the silence.
+
+"To what do you allude?" moodily asked the sheriff.
+
+"Why, Jesse James timing his arrival here during the fair."
+
+"In what way was that a sharp move?"
+
+"To do this job he would need the gang, wouldn't he?"
+
+"I think he would not venture it without them."
+
+"And he must have known the fair was going on."
+
+"Probably he did."
+
+"Wouldn't the entrance of his gang to the town excite a great deal of
+comment and attention if there were no fair?"
+
+"Naturally, as crowds in country towns are unusual."
+
+"Well, I figure it that he knew the fair was in progress here, that he
+knew the crowd would cloak his entrance of his gang, and they would
+therefore excite no suspicion."
+
+"That seems to be pretty likely."
+
+"Would you know all the men if you saw them?"
+
+"I believe so--at any rate, I would recognize the old members. He
+occasionally recruits new men. We have wiped out some of the newer
+element. I noticed that although some of the old bandits were wounded
+during our engagement with them, the ones who fell were mostly new men.
+
+"That's the reason they fell perhaps. The older birds had experience
+enough to keep out of harm's way."
+
+"Well, if any of them happen to go into that bank, you can rest assured
+that I'll recognize them."
+
+"It's half-past two now, but they haven't materialized yet."
+
+"Maybe Wood Hite was lying to save his life."
+
+"No--I think not. His tones had a truthful ring."
+
+Jack glanced across the street at the bank.
+
+It was a a small brick building, with two iron-barred windows and a door
+flush with the street, through which he could see the entire interior.
+
+There were half a dozen clerks busy inside behind a long desk, before
+which there was a wire netting that rose almost to the ceiling.
+
+The first window nearest the door was that of the cashier, the next was
+that of the paying-teller, and the next the receiving-teller, after
+which followed the book-keepers and discount clerk.
+
+All were busy at their various occupations, as it had been a rush day,
+in consequence of the large crowd.
+
+Jack had seen every man, woman and child, who had gone in or come out
+since midday, and he had scanned every one who had passed by without
+detecting a bandit.
+
+Yet his patience did not give out.
+
+"Do you suppose our prisoner knows what method Jesse James will employ
+in his attempted raid?" he asked.
+
+"No. He never tells his plans to the men, as a rule, until a very short
+time before they are carried out. Jesse James is very cautious and
+suspicious. He knows that the hand of every honest man is turned against
+him. He is even on the alert for danger. He is quick witted, deep, dark
+and cunning, and he wouldn't trust his own brother out of his sight.
+That probably accounts for the wonderful success he has always had at
+carrying out his daring plans, and escaping the consequence."
+
+"The fellow is certainly a marvel in some ways."
+
+"He inspires his men with fear of him. I have particularly noticed this
+of the Ford Boys. They seem to think that every time he looks at them he
+suspects them of treachery, and they seem to think that every time he
+draws a gun he is going to kill them. Most of the rest have the same
+feeling about Jesse. They all fear him, yet he has a strange marked
+influence over them. It seems to inspire the gang with a certain trust,
+respect, and blind obedience to his commands."
+
+"Hello! what's that? See there?"
+
+"What?" asked Timberlake in startled tones.
+
+Jack pointed down the street.
+
+A great cloud of dust was rising there.
+
+People were scattering right and left, and as it drew nearer, Jack
+distinguished a huge coal black horse bestrode by a man who rode him
+furiously.
+
+"What is it, Timberlake--a madman?"
+
+"It looks like a horse running away."
+
+"The man rides it as if he were part of the animal."
+
+"Heavens, what speed! See--here he comes!"
+
+Like wildfire the rider came thundering along.
+
+In a few moments he was in plain sight.
+
+"Some drunken countryman on the rampage!" muttered Jack.
+
+"That fellow will kill somebody yet."
+
+"When he goes by let us stroll over to the bank, and quietly warn the
+clerks of Jesse James' plot to put them on their guard. Then they will
+be ready for him."
+
+"It's too late to do that now."
+
+"Why so?"
+
+"Because that rider is Jesse himself!"
+
+Jack shot a keen glance at the man, and a startled cry escaped him, for
+the horse was certainly the famous Siroc and the rider the king of the
+bandits!
+
+"What's his purpose, Timberlake?" gasped Jack.
+
+"Perhaps he is pursued. See--he clutches two revolvers, and the wild
+villain is holding the bridle rein with his teeth.
+
+"He's heading for the bank!"
+
+"Come on!"
+
+They rushed from their covert.
+
+Jesse's quick eyes detected them instantly.
+
+Raising a whistle to his lips, he blew a shrill blast.
+
+It was his usual signal to the gang and they understood it, and mounted
+upon their horses, came galloping out of the by streets and other places
+where they had been concealed.
+
+The whole armed crowd headed for the bank.
+
+They thus cut off Jack and the sheriff.
+
+To everybody's surprise, the moment Siroc arrived opposite the door of
+the bank, Jesse turned him and sent him galloping right into the
+building.
+
+Pausing before the paying teller's window, Jesse thrust his two pistols
+through, causing the man to yell and recoil.
+
+"Hand me every bundle of bills in that draw before you!" roared the
+bandit. "Quick, or I'll fire!"
+
+"No--no--no!" gasped the startled man.
+
+"I'll make you!"
+
+And--bang! went his pistol.
+
+The bullet grazed the clerk's head.
+
+"I'm killed!" he screamed.
+
+"No, you ain't, but you will be if you don't obey."
+
+"For God's sake, don't fire again!"
+
+"Will you give me that money?"
+
+The cruel, wicked eyes were now turned upon the man in a manner that
+made him writhe.
+
+He saw that his doom was sealed unless he complied without wasting any
+more time about it.
+
+So out came the money.
+
+There were stacks of it--hundreds of dollars.
+
+The bandit kept the paying teller covered with one hand, and with the
+other transferred the money to his saddle bag.
+
+"Now, go!" he shouted.
+
+Then he began to blaze away.
+
+All the clerks dodged under the desk to escape the flying bullets.
+
+Having emptied one of his pistols, and intimidated them, the bandit king
+spoke to his steed.
+
+Siroc turned and went thundering out to the street.
+
+There an exciting scene was going on.
+
+The gang, to cover Jesse's movements, had begun to fire their pistols
+right and left, and the people in the streets and houses and stores
+hastily made themselves scarce.
+
+As soon as Jesse emerged, they closed in around him, dug spurs in their
+animals, and went clattering away.
+
+Jack and Timberlake had been baffled.
+
+They witnessed the daring robbery.
+
+Seeing that it was impossible to get through the lines of the bandits to
+stop it, Jack signaled his friends.
+
+No response came back.
+
+Fearing trouble for the Terror they rushed away.
+
+She was where they had left her, but Tim and Fritz had alighted, gone
+away and were only just then returning.
+
+"What's up?" panted Jack.
+
+"Wood Hite escaped! We've been chasin' him!" Tim replied.
+
+"Too bad! But never mind---"
+
+"Vot's all dot shootin'?"
+
+"The James Boys--they've beaten us!"
+
+"Whar is they?"
+
+"Running away! Get aboard--arm yourselves!"
+
+"Goin' arter 'em, lad?"
+
+"Yes; don't lose a minute!"
+
+All hands hastily got aboard the stage.
+
+Jack mounted the seat and sent her rushing out.
+
+As soon as she reached the street Jack sent her flying in pursuit of the
+fugitives.
+
+The bandits soon saw her chasing them.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+IN DEAD MAN'S GULCH.
+
+The sun was gleaming down brightly as the cavalcade of bandits went
+thundering out of Husking Valley chased by the electric stage.
+
+A cloud of dust was kicked up by the horses' hoofs which almost obscured
+the riders from view.
+
+Jack steered the machine with the greatest precision, and Fritz came
+through the forward door and joined him.
+
+"How did Wood Hite get free to escape?" asked the inventor.
+
+"Ach, he didn'd got free, His hants vos died behint his beck yet,"
+replied Fritz. "Me and Dim vos sittin' oud here, vaitin' tet hear yer
+sicknal. Puddy soon ve hear somepody behint dot stages, und see Vood
+Hite had got oud der beck door. He vas runnin' avay. Ve runt afder him.
+But vhen ve got down der streed, ve don'd see nodding ohf him. He
+ditsappeared."
+
+"Couldn't you find him?"
+
+"Nein. Ve ditn'd couldt seen vhere he vented."
+
+"I'm sorry, for I wished to put him behind the bars!"
+
+"Nefer mindt," said Fritz. "Ve mebbe caughted more ohf dem."
+
+"I hope so. Anyway, we are pretty close to them now."
+
+"So dey gotted der money from der pank?"
+
+"Jesse rode into the building on horseback and looted it single-handed."
+
+"Dot son-ohf-a-sea-ghooks vos got blenty spunks alretty!"
+
+"Too much for the safety of the public. I'd sooner arrest him
+individually than his whole gang put together."
+
+"Dot vould preak dem up!"
+
+"That's just my impression."
+
+In a few moments the town was left behind and the horse-men galloped out
+into the open country over a rocky tract.
+
+There the horses had an advantage over the Terror, as they could pick
+their way over the rough ground.
+
+A fearful jolting and rattling of the stage ensued, and Jack was forced
+to slacken speed.
+
+That gave the fugitives an advantage.
+
+They quickly gained a long lead, for Jack had to zigzag the Terror in
+and out among the stones.
+
+She kept falling farther and still further behind.
+
+Some distance beyond the rocky place Jack caught view of a prairie
+covered with brush and long dry grass.
+
+It renewed his hope, and he remarked confidentially:
+
+"Once we reach that place we'll soon catch up to them."
+
+"I don't tink so," answered Fritz, who was watching the bandits.
+
+"Why don't you?"
+
+"See vot dey vos doin'!"
+
+A chill of dismay passed over the inventor, for he now saw the bandits
+setting fire to the long grass.
+
+The wind was blowing toward the Terror.
+
+That kept the fire burning in her direction, while the bandits galloped
+away from it, setting fire to it as they proceeded.
+
+In a short space of time there was a roaring wall of flame and smoke
+opposed to the Terror.
+
+In order to prevent Jack from coming in on a flank, the outlaws, spread
+out like a fan, and kept dropping lighted matches into the combustible
+grass.
+
+It did not take long to thus create such a wide barrier that the Terror
+could not hope to get around it in time to overtake the miscreants.
+
+Jack stopped her short.
+
+Clouds of spark-laden smoke were being swept into their faces by the
+wind, and an intense heat was generated.
+
+"Fritz, we are thwarted."
+
+"Donner vetter! Dey cover deir redreat vell!"
+
+"We can't remain here; those flames will roast us."
+
+"Make a large circle vunct."
+
+"That's the only way," said Jack, starting the Terror.
+
+She now ran off at an angle, and the flames swept to the rocky section
+and burned out.
+
+There was not enough grass there to keep tha fire going, but behind the
+first avalanche of flame came another.
+
+It was, therefore, impossible to chase the bandits further.
+
+The fire rendered the air stifling.
+
+Timberlake and Tim were disgusted at this turn of affairs, for both had
+been confidant of capturing the outlaws.
+
+"If it hadn't ben for ther escape of Wood Hite," growled the old sailor,
+"we'd aheerd yer signal in ther town, an' reached yer wi' ther Terror
+afore them lubbers got away."
+
+"Regrets are useless now, Tim."
+
+"O' course. But it allers makes a feller mad ter think he didn't do sich
+an' sich a thing at ther time he wuz doin' anything wot don't pan out
+jist as he'd like it ter."
+
+"Perhaps we can head them off yet."
+
+"If thar's a livin' show, Jack'll get it, When I wuz in ther navy we was
+once asallin' up ther Red Sea, when an Arabian dhow collided with us,
+an' busted a hole in ther side o' ther Wabash below ther water line;
+then ther willain coolly sailed away without ever excusin' himself.
+
+"We could astood ther damage, but his indifference about ther injury he
+done ter us riled us all up. Seein' as he didn't care a blame, our
+skipper sent ther friggte aflyin' arter him. Waal, sir, ther cuss
+cracked on sail an' fled. Arter him we tacked, detarmined ter punish
+ther swab fer his imperdence. It wuz a long stern chase wot lasted ten
+hours. But we finally overhauled him---"
+
+"Why didn't your frigate sink if she had a hole stove into her below the
+water liner."
+
+Tim gave a slight start.
+
+He had entirely overlooked this point.
+
+Pondering a moment, he took a chew of tobacco, and replied:
+
+"I guess ther hole wuzn't smashed all ther way through."
+
+"Don't you know whether it was or not?"
+
+"No; how could I go below ter look at sich a time?"
+
+"You ought to know best."
+
+"Waal, let it pass an' I'll go on."
+
+"No, you won't go on."
+
+"Why not, sir?"
+
+"Because I won't stay here and listen to you."
+
+"Say, sheriff d'yer mean ter insinuate as I'm a liar?"
+
+"Oh, no. I'm too frank to insinuate what I know to be a fact, I say it
+right out, openly and plainly," laughed Timberlake.
+
+Tim eyed him with a mystified look.
+
+He did not know whether to accept this reply as a direct insult or to
+take it as a belief in his veracity.
+
+"Wot d'yer mean?" he asked.
+
+"Simply this--you are the most outrageous old liar I ever came in
+contact with!" replied Timberlake.
+
+"Oh!" cried Tim, in horror. "Listen ter him! You wait till I finish this
+ere yarn, an' see if I'm tellin' ther truth."
+
+"I'm afraid I won't live long enough to wait until you finish that
+story," dryly answered the sheriff. "It would be too long a wait on my
+part, and---"
+
+But Fritz interrupted him just there by shouting:
+
+"Dere dey go--dere dey go!"
+
+Timberlake opened the front door.
+
+"Who--the bandits?" he asked eagerly.
+
+"Yah."
+
+"Where are they?"
+
+"Dey go among dem rocks."
+
+The stage had by this time run around the fire.
+
+The James Boys must have curved their course toward the very direction
+to which the Terror was running, for Fritz had suddenly caught view of
+them.
+
+They were heading for the rocks at the base of a rugged range of hills
+directly ahead of the electric stage.
+
+Jack noticed a number of gorges, gulches and canyons splitting the
+towering hills and cliffs ahead, and observed that the bandits were
+heading for one of them.
+
+He pointed this out to his companions.
+
+"They don't see us yet!" he exclaimed, "but they will the moment they
+glance back this way!"
+
+"I think I know where they are going," said Timberlake.
+
+"Where?' asked Jack.
+
+"Into Dead Man's Gulch."
+
+"What would bring them there?"
+
+"A huge cave, where the James Boys sometimes retreat."
+
+"Can we reach it with this stage?"
+
+"Yes. But once they get in they could hold us at bay."
+
+"We will see about that when we run them to cover!"
+
+In single file the bandits rode into the dark gulch, and when it had
+swallowed up the last one Jack pulled over the lever and sent the Terror
+ahead at full speed.
+
+She made rapid headway to the gulch and soon reached it.
+
+"Where is the cave situated?" asked Jack.
+
+"Opposite that big bowlder, on the left hand side," the sheriff replied.
+"You'd better put on your armor."
+
+"I shall," Jack replied, as he stopped the Terror, "and you all had
+better arm yourselves, and prepare for trouble."
+
+Their preparation, were hastily made.
+
+As soon as everything was in readiness Jack alone went outside and
+assumed control of the wheel.
+
+His friends ranged themselves at the windows.
+
+All were well armed and ready for any danger.
+
+In the course of a few minutes the Terror ran up to the big boulder and
+paused there.
+
+Jack saw a mass of creeping vines that grew up the side of the wall,
+covering a dark aperture.
+
+This was probably the cavern entrance.
+
+He had scarcely noticed it when there sounded the sharp spiteful crack
+of a rifle behind the vines.
+
+Ping! came a bullet.
+
+It struck Jack squarely over the heart.
+
+His breast plate flattened it and it fell harmless.
+
+"A sentrys shot!" he muttered. "The villains know we are here now and
+the siege will soon begin."
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+THE BANDIT'S LAST SHOT.
+
+"Timberlake, I think I can run the Terror into that cave."
+
+"Look out you don't get her jammed in the entrance."
+
+"Oh, I can clear the rocks on each side easily enough."
+
+"Go ahead then."
+
+Jack let the stage advance slowly.
+
+A volley of rifle shots poured out of the cavern entrance.
+
+The bullets did no harm, however, and the Terror continued on.
+
+Reaching the opening she glided in, the hubs of her wheels grazing the
+rocks on each side, so close did she run.
+
+Another volley met her.
+
+It was lucky Jack had on his armor.
+
+Had he not been so protected be might have perished.
+
+Shot after shot struck him, and bullet after bullet hit the stage.
+
+On she advanced unhesitatingly, though into a short gloomy passage, and
+then Jack turned on the search-light.
+
+The dazzling glare gushed into an enormous cavern in which, the James
+Boys had ridden upon their horses.
+
+At the sides there were ledges and galleries, above the roof was domed,
+and from the main cave numerous passages branched off in various
+directions.
+
+Near one of these passages stood Siroc with Jesse James astride of his
+back, the bandit clutching a rifle.
+
+The rest of the men were grouped behind him.
+
+"Hulloa!" he shouted at Jack.
+
+"Jesse James, I demand your surrender!" cried the inventor.
+
+"Why should I?" demanded the bandit.
+
+"Because you can't get away from here alive."
+
+"That's all you know about it. There are plenty exits."
+
+"Will you give in?"
+
+"I want to compromise."
+
+"That I'll never do!"
+
+"I've got a great inducement---"
+
+"You can make none to me."
+
+"Come here, and you'll see."
+
+A suspicion of treachery flashed over Jack's mind.
+
+He turned to his companions, and said in low tones:
+
+"We want him dead or alive. Fire at him!"
+
+Before Jack's friends could obey, a grating sound was heard above the
+Terror, and the inventor glanced upward.
+
+A cry of alarm escaped his lips.
+
+Several of the bandits had gone up on the gallery above the Terror, and
+were pushing over a huge rock that rested there.
+
+Just as Jack looked up it fell.
+
+The rock must have weighed a ton.
+
+It came down directly toward the roof of the Terror.
+
+Jack gave the starting lever a sudden jerk, and the stage suddenly
+darted ahead.
+
+She was too late to escape injury, though.
+
+With a sickening crush the rock struck the rear end of the roof,
+crushing it like an egg shell, and going down on the platform, it
+carried it and the steps away.
+
+A howl of joy escaped the James Boys.
+
+They thought the terror was destroyed.
+
+It was lucky Jack's friends were in the front room.
+
+Although the machine was badly damaged, she was not crippled so she
+could not work.
+
+The machinery had escaped injury, as Jack had caused her to run ahead
+just in the nick of time.
+
+"Give it to them, boys!" panted Jack.
+
+Bang!
+
+Bang!
+
+Bang!
+
+The three shots struck the men in the gallery.
+
+Not one of the villains knew what hit them.
+
+"Again!" roared Jack.
+
+Bang!
+
+Bang!
+
+Bang!
+
+This time the shots were directed at the riders, and that set up a wild
+chorus of yells and plunged away.
+
+It was clear enough to Jack that the bandit king had schemed to lure him
+over closer beneath the gallery so that the men up there would be sure
+to land the rock on the stage.
+
+A rattling volley came back from the bandits' rifles.
+
+Crack! Crack!
+
+Crack! Crack!
+
+Bang! Bang! Bang!
+
+The firing continued without cessation for several minutes, but when the
+Terror made a rush for the outlaws, it ceased.
+
+Every one of them drove their horses into the passages, and were
+instantly swallowed up by the gloom.
+
+Jack cut out the current and put on the brakes.
+
+"They're gone. That settles it. We can't follow them into those narrow
+passages!" he exclaimed. "Let's destroy this place and go out!"
+
+He procured several of the hand grenades, to which binding screws were
+attached, planted them in niches in the walls, joined them in series by
+copper wires, and from the two end ones ran two lead wires to the
+dynamo.
+
+Jack ran the stage out into the gulch.
+
+There he turned a current of electricity into the wires, the bombs were
+burst, and the cave was blown up.
+
+It was completely wrecked.
+
+The roof fell in, the walls caved in, the passages were choked up with
+debris, and it was rendered utterly useless as a place of resort again
+for the outlaws.
+
+Jack sent the stage dashing through the gulch.
+
+It emerged into a valley through which ran a stream which wound in and
+out among the hills.
+
+Instead of finding the bandits there though, Jack was chagrined to see
+that the passages they followed had led them up into the hills.
+
+He saw some of the villains speeding away on their horses for the other
+side of the range.
+
+It was not possible to follow them up there amid the tangled shrubbery
+and tumbled rocks with the stage.
+
+"The only course to pursue," Jack commented, "is to go around the base
+of the hills and try to reach them that way."
+
+"It's a mighty long course, my lad," said Tim.
+
+"That's so; but there is no alternative."
+
+"Vhere yer tink dey go now, Dimperlake?" asked Fritz.
+
+"Out of the State, as fast as possible," the sheriff answered.
+
+"Vhy yer tink me dot?"
+
+"Because they've made a rich haul from the Husking Valley Bank, and we
+have sickened them with this section of the country. They are not used
+to such rough treatment."
+
+"The James Boys won't leave Missouri until after I land them in prison,"
+resolutely said Jack, "I've come here to do it and I won't be baffled.
+You know I've got the money they stole from the Wrightstown Bank. Now
+I'm going to get the governor's reward, or know the reason why."
+
+"If you think you can do it, I'm with you heart and soul," replied the
+sheriff. "My chief ambition as to break up that gang, and get the
+nippers on those dare devil brothers."
+
+"To leave the State what place would they go to first?"
+
+"Well, as near as I can judge, the nearest railroad center to this
+place is Macon City."
+
+"Direct me how to get there."
+
+The sheriff complied.
+
+Jack had to steer the stage around the hills.
+
+She finally reached the table-land on the other side, and a survey was
+made with telescopes.
+
+In the far distance a horseman was seen.
+
+He looked not much bigger than a fly on the distant horizon, and Jack at
+once jumped at the conclusion that he might be one of the outlaw gang.
+
+He, therefore, pursued the man.
+
+As he drew near Macon City they were close enough to recognize him as
+Jesse James mounted on Siroc.
+
+Not one of the rest of the band were in sight for the simple reason that
+they had scattered and gone in different directions to reach the city
+singly and in pairs at intervals so as not to excite the suspicion of
+the inhabitants.
+
+Jesse had seen the stage long before.
+
+He was riding like the wind.
+
+His fine horse seemed to realize the threatening danger and was
+straining every muscle to outstrip the Terror.
+
+It was in vain.
+
+Nearer and nearer drew the stage.
+
+For a moment Jack was tempted to drive the ram into the gallant horse
+and thus end the race.
+
+But when he saw what a magnificent beast it was and realized how nobly
+it was striving to bear its master out of the reach of his foes the
+inventor relented.
+
+He did not have the cruelty of heart to kill it.
+
+All he wanted was the rider.
+
+So he shouted:
+
+"Halt!"
+
+"Only when I'm dead!" yelled Jesse.
+
+"Then I'll shoot you."
+
+"Two can play at that game!"
+
+As the stage rolled up to the horse, Jack and the bandit were aiming
+their pistols at each other.
+
+For a moment a deathly silence ensued.
+
+Crack--bang!
+
+The two reports sounded as one.
+
+Jack was unhurt.
+
+But Jesse James flung up his hands and toppled headlong to the ground,
+with blood gushing from a wound upon his head, and his face looking like
+that of a corpse.
+
+Siroc galloped on, and the Terror paused.
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+CONCLUSION.
+
+The moment the bandit king fell from the saddle, Jack sprang to the
+ground and rushed over to him.
+
+Planting his foot on the breast of the fallen man and raising his pistol
+in the air, Jack shouted:
+
+"Victory!"
+
+"Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!" cheered his friends.
+
+In a moment they were beside the young inventor.
+
+"Did you kill him?" asked Timberlake.
+
+"No it's only a scalp wound," Jack answered.
+
+"Let me handcuff him."
+
+"Your surmise was correct about the gang heading for Macon City."
+
+"I know what their general habits are."
+
+The sheriff handcuffed the bandit king.
+
+He was utterly unconscious from the shot.
+
+Fritz and Tim were so delighted they shook hands fervently, let off
+several emphatic expletives and fairly danced.
+
+"Gee whiz, he's captured at last!" roared the sailor.
+
+"Shiminey Christmas, Dim, who oxbected dot alretty?"
+
+"An' ther rest o' his crew must be in harbor in that town."
+
+"Fer sure. Ve vhas bound ter foundt 'em mit der railroat depot."
+
+"Carry the prisoner aboard the Terror, boys," said Jack.
+
+Tim and Fritz did this.
+
+Siroc ran on to the town and vanished.
+
+When Jack realized this a grave look crossed his face.
+
+"I'm sorry the horse escaped!" he exclaimed, regretfully.
+
+"Why so?" asked Timberlake, with some show of surprise. "You could not
+do anything with that animal. There are very few people in the world who
+can ride him unless Jesse puts the man on the beast's back and let's it
+know he desires it."
+
+"That ain't the point," said Jack, "I'm afraid the rest of the gang will
+see it run riderless into the town and know that Jesse has got into
+trouble. They may take warning and fly before we can get our hands upon
+them."
+
+"Very true; let's hasten after it then."
+
+They boarded the stage.
+
+The shadows of twilight were falling.
+
+Fritz and Tim took care of the wheel, and Jack and the sheriff went into
+the dining-room where Jesse laid on the floor.
+
+He had by this time fully recovered and realized what happened, and a
+dark scowl mantled his brow as he gazed up at Jack.
+
+"Come to crow over me?" he asked in surly tones.
+
+"Yes," replied Jack. "I made up my mind when I came here that I'd get
+you, and I've done it."
+
+"There isn't a jail in the State can hold me."
+
+"Timberlake will answer for that."
+
+"Where's Siroc?"
+
+"Ran away."
+
+"Good!"
+
+"Oh, I didn't want him."
+
+"I don't refer to that."
+
+"What then do you mean?"
+
+"All the money I got out of the Husking Valley Bank is in the saddle
+bag, and he will run straight to the gang, his empty saddle will warn
+them to fly, and they'll get the money."
+
+"Confound it!"
+
+"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"
+
+It was a derisive, mocking laugh.
+
+Jesse was delighted because the inventor had not gained all.
+
+On went the stage.
+
+She ran into the city at dusk.
+
+Jesse was put in jail, and Jack and his friends left the stage under
+guard, and hurried to the railroad depot.
+
+Fortune seemed to favor them.
+
+The first person they saw standing on the platform waiting for the
+train, was Frank James.
+
+Jack lightly stepped up behind him.
+
+Grasping both of his arms, he exclaimed:
+
+"Frank James, you are my prisoner!"
+
+A startled cry burst from the outlaw's lips, and he made an effort to
+tear himself free and reach his pistols.
+
+But the iron grip of the young inventor was not to be shaken off so
+easily, and the wiry bandit found himself as helpless as an infant in
+the hands of Jack.
+
+Then he craned his neck around to see who had him.
+
+A roar of rage escaped his lips when he satisfied his curiosity.
+
+"Jack Wright!" he gasped.
+
+"Yes, We've got Jesse, too."
+
+"What! Jess caught!"
+
+"Little over an hour ago."
+
+"May the demon roast you!"
+
+"Don't rave! it won't do any good."
+
+"Oh. Lord! Here's Timberlake, too!"
+
+"Yes. He waits to take you away."
+
+"Let go, or I'll---"
+
+He fiercely struggled again, but it was useless.
+
+Timberlake smiled grimly as he disarmed the outlaw.
+
+He carried a veritable arsenal.
+
+A crowd gathered around.
+
+As soon as they realized that the prisoner was one of the James Boys,
+the interest in him was aroused at once.
+
+Timberlake snapped a pair of fetters on his own and Frank's wrists, and
+led him away to the jail.
+
+An alarm had been sent out to the police to look for the rest of the
+gang.
+
+As Siroc and the men had mysteriously vanished, it was fair to presume
+that they had found the horse, got the money, took the hint, and left
+for parts unknown.
+
+Anyway none of them were found.
+
+Jack's mission was accomplished.
+
+The governor was notified of what he had done, and the reward was sent
+to him at once.
+
+Jack was well satisfied, and Timberlake more so.
+
+If the newspapers had not at once published an account of the arrest,
+more of the gang might have been taken.
+
+As it was all escaped arrest.
+
+When the evidence of the four was taken, the young inventor had his
+wonderful electric stage repaired for the journey home as he had nothing
+further to keep him in Missouri, now that he had dispersed the James
+Boys gang.
+
+They needed the rest they got after that.
+
+Before Timberlake left them to go to Kansas City, he said:
+
+"I am grateful for all you've done, boys, and will never forget your
+gallant conduct. You have accomplished what we have for a long time been
+striving to do."
+
+"Oh, Lor'," said Tim, disdainfully. "That ain't nothin' ter wot I once
+did when I wuz aboard o' ther ole frigate Wabash."
+
+"Whoop!" roared Fritz, interrupting him.
+
+"Stow yer gab!"
+
+"Vos a yarn comin'?"
+
+"That's none o' yer business, As I was assayin---"
+
+But he got no farther.
+
+Fritz grabbed his accordeon and began to play.
+
+Tim paused with a look of pain and horror on his face.
+
+"Haul to, thar!" he bellowed.
+
+"I can't. I vos vound up ter 'blay dwendy-four hours," grinned Fritz,
+grinding away furiously.
+
+"Gee whiz! Yer'll set me looney."
+
+"Noddings vould blease me besser."
+
+"Are yer goin' ter stop?"
+
+"Nien!"
+
+"Then yer a dead Dutchman!"
+
+And so saying Tim chased him into the store-room of the Terror, where
+the parrot and monkey were roosting, and a moment afterwards the four
+became tangled up in a struggle that shook the stage like an earthquake.
+
+It did not last long.
+
+When Tim, Fritz, Whiskers and Bismarck emerged from the room, they
+looked as if they had been passed through a threshing machine, but they
+were on terms of good fellowship.
+
+Shortly afterwards, Sheriff Timberlake shook hand, with the three
+friends and departed.
+
+Jack then made preparations to return home.
+
+As soon as the Terror was ready, they left Macon City and started across
+the country at a rapid pace.
+
+Nothing of importance occurred during the trip, and in due time they
+reached Wrightstown.
+
+Here they were gladly welcomed.
+
+The machine was then taken apart and packed away as they had no further
+use for it, the parrot and monkey were transferred to Jack's house and
+Jack refunded the money to the Wrightstown bank much to everybody's
+surprise.
+
+It was not long after this that Jack received news that the James Boys
+had escaped from prison, reorganized the old gang and were devastating
+the State.
+
+But he did not care to go after them again.
+
+Indeed, he ultimately learned that such a course would have been
+useless, as Jesse James was finally shot dead by one of the Ford Boys.
+
+Jack had a more peaceful pursuit in view at home.
+
+During his absence he had thought of another new invention, and began to
+plan it out.
+
+It was a most marvelous contrivance, and in the end he made a success of
+it, and, when he used it, the machine led him into the most thrilling
+situations.
+
+For want of space here we have prepared a sequel to this story which
+will follow in this publication.
+
+It is a most interesting account of Jack, Tim and Fritz, and as we will
+soon be in their company once more, let us conclude this narrative.
+
+[THE END.]
+
+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+
+FRANK TOUSEY'S HAND BOOKS.
+
+
+CONTAINING USEFUL INSTRUCTION ON ALMOST EVERY SUBJECT UNDER THE SUN.
+
+PRICE 10 CENTS PER COPY
+
+- - - - - - - - - -
+
+No. 1.
+Napoleon's Oraculum and Dream Book.
+Containing the great oracle of human destiny; also the true meaning of
+almost any kind of dreams, together with charms, ceremonies and curious
+games of cards. A complete book. Price 10 cents.
+
+No. 2.
+HOW TO DO TRICKS.
+The great book of magic and card tricks, containing full instruction of
+all the leading card tricka of the day, also the most popular magical
+illusions as performed by our leading magicians; every boy should obtain
+a copy, as it will both amuse and instruct. Price 10 cents.
+
+No. 3.
+HOW TO FLIRT.
+The arts and wiles of flirtation are fully explained by this little
+book. Besides the various methods of handkerchief, fan, glove, parasol,
+window and hat flirtations, it contains a full list of the language and
+sentiment of flowers, which is interesting to everybody, both old and
+young. You cannot be happy without one. Price 10 cents.
+
+No. 4.
+HOW TO DANCE.
+Is the title of a new and handsome little book just issued by Frank
+Tousey. It contains full instructions in the art of dancing, etiquette
+in the ball-room, and at parties, how to dress, and full directions for
+calling off in all popular square dances. The price is 10 cent.
+
+No. 5.
+HOW TO MAKE LOVE.
+A complete guide to love, courtship and marriage, giving sensible
+advice, rules and etiquette to be observed, with many curious and
+interesting things not generally known. Price 10 cents.
+
+No. 6.
+HOW TO BECOME AN ATHLETE.
+Giving full instruction for the use of dumb-bells, Indian clubs,
+parallel bars, horizonal bars and various other methods of developing a
+good healthy muscle; containing over sixty illustrations. Every boy can
+become strong and healthy by following the instructions contained in
+this little book. Price 10 cents.
+
+No. 7.
+HOW TO KEEP BIRDS.
+Handsomely, illustrated and containing full instructions for the
+management and training of the canary, mocking-bird, bobolink,
+blackbird, paroquet, parrot, etc., etc. Price 10 cents.
+
+No. 8.
+HOW TO BECOME A SCIENTIST.
+A useful and instructive book, giving a complete treatise on chemistry;
+also, experiments in accoustics, mechanics, mathematics, chemistry, and
+directions for making fireworks, colored fires, and gas balloons. This
+book cannot be equaled. Price 10 cents.
+
+No. 9.
+HOW TO BECOME A VENTRILOQUIST.
+By Harry Kennedy. The secret given away. Every intelligent boy reading
+this book of instructions, by a practical professor (delighting
+multitudes every night with his wonderful imitations), can master the
+art, and create any amount of fun for himself and friends. It is the
+greatest book ever published, and there's millions (of fun) in it. Price
+10 cents.
+
+No. 10.
+HOW TO BOX.
+The art of self-defense made easy. Containing over thirty illustrations
+of guards, blows and the different positions of a good boxer. Every boy
+should obtain one of these useful and instructive books, as it will
+teach you how to box without an instructor. Price 10 cents.
+
+No. 11.
+HOW TO WRITE LOVE-LETTERS.
+A most complete little book, containing full directions for writing
+love-letters, and when to use them; also giving specimen letters for
+both young and old. Price 10 cents.
+
+No. 12.
+HOW TO WRITE LETTERS TO LADIES.
+Giving complete instructions for writing letters to ladies on all
+subjects; also, letters of introduction, notes and requests. Price 10
+cents.
+
+No. 13.
+How to Do It; or, Book of Etiquette.
+It is a great life secret, and one that every young man desires to know
+all about. Send 10 cents and get it. There's happiness in it.
+
+No. 14.
+HOW TO MAKE CANDY.
+Complete hand-book for making all kinds of candy, ice-cream, syrups,
+essences, etc., etc. Price 10 cents.
+
+No. 15.
+HOW TO BECOME RICH.
+This wonderful book presents you with the example and life experience of
+some of the most noted and wealthy men in the world, including the
+self-made men of country. The book is edited by one of the most
+sucecessful men of the present age, whose own example is in itself guide
+enough for those who aspire to fame and money. The book will give you
+the secret. Price 10 cents.
+
+No. 16.
+HOW TO KEEP A WINDOW GARDEN.
+Containing full instructions for constructing a window garden either in
+town or country, and the most approved methods for raising beautiful
+flowers at home. The most complete book of the kind ever published.
+Price 10 cents.
+
+No. 17.
+HOW TO DRESS.
+Containing full instruction in the art of dressing and appearing well at
+home and abroad, giving the selections of colors, material, and how to
+have them made up. Price 10 cents.
+
+No. 18.
+HOW TO BECOME BEAUTIFUL.
+One of the brightest and most valuable little books ever given to the
+world. Everybody wishes to know how to become beautiful, both male and
+female. The secret is simple, and almost costless. Read this book and be
+convinced how to become beautiful. Price 10 cents.
+
+No. 19.
+FRANK TOUSEY'S
+United States Distance Tables, Pocket Companion and Guide.
+Giving the official distances on all the railroads of the United States
+and Canada. Also, table of distances by water to foreign ports, hack
+fares in the principal cities, reports of the census, etc., etc., making
+it one of the most complete and handy books published. Price 10 cents.
+
+No. 20.
+How to Entertain an Evening Party.
+A very valuable little book just published. A complete compendium of
+games, sports. card-diversions, comic recreations, etc., suitable for
+parlor or drawing-room entertainment. It contains more for the money
+than any book published. Price 10 cents.
+
+No. 21.
+HOW TO HUNT AND FISH.
+The most complete hunting and fishing guide ever published. It contains
+full instructions about guns, hunting dogs, traps, trapping and fishing,
+together with descriptions of game and fish. Price 10 cents.
+
+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+
+The Boys' Star Library.
+
+Each Number Contains a Complete Story, 32 Pages of Reading Matter is its
+Usual Size, and Some Numbers Contain 64 Pages. Which Makes it the
+Cheapest Library Published in the World.
+
+PRICE ONLY 5 CENTS PER COPY.
+
+A NEW NUMBER IS ISSUED EVERY WEEK.
+
+Read the Following List of Numbers Already Published:
+
+No.
+1  The Wolf Men of Minnesota. . . by Howard De Vere
+
+2  The Shark Hunters. . . by Horace Appleton
+
+3  Tim Finnegan, the Young Irish Detective. . . Written by Himself
+
+4  Fox Cap, the Friend of Daniel Boone. . . by Kit Clyde
+
+5  The American Robinson Crusoe; or, The Wreck of the "Hurricane". . .
+   by Gus Williams
+
+6  Hook and Ladder No. 6. . . by Howard De Vere
+
+7  Lost in the Pacific. . . by Lieut. E. H. Kellogg
+
+8  Ned Newton, the Young Engineer of the Swan. A Story of the
+   Mississippi River. . . by Albert J. Booth
+
+9  Cruise of the Silverwing. . . by George W. Goode
+
+10 On Board the Schoolship Norfork. . . by Hal Standish
+
+11 Roy, the Western Union Telegraph Messenger. . . by Robert Knox
+
+12 Wine and Cards. A Temperance Story. . . by H. K. Shackleford
+
+13 Skeleton Saul. . . by Marline Manly
+
+14 Billy Bunce the Boy Actor. . . by John Sherman
+
+15 McDonald, the Man Tracker. . . by Walter Fenton
+
+16 Yarns Around the Camp Fire. . .  by H. K. Shackleford
+
+17 The Secret Glen; or, The Mysterious War Chief. . . by Don Jenardo
+
+18 Comic Adventures of Mike Mulligan. . . by Tom Teaser
+
+19 Corney of the Cliff; or, The Bold Irish Smuggler. . . by Corporal
+   Morgan Rattler
+
+20 Abandoned at Sea. . . by Frank Forrest
+
+21 Nan and Nat. the Child Riders. A True Tale of the Arena. . . by
+   Horace Appleton
+
+22 Dan Hayes; the Detective. . . by Geo. W Goode
+
+23 Virginia Dick. A Southern Boy in the Mexican War. . . by Albert J.
+   Booth
+
+24 The Ghost of the Saw-Mill. . . by Robert Maynard
+
+25 Dick Desmond; or, The Mutiny on the Golden Gate. . . by A. F. Hill
+
+26 Tim Woodruff. the Young Chairmaker. . . by Percy R. St. John
+
+27 Moccasin Mose. . . by Paul Braddon
+
+28 The Pearl Diver. . . by J. G. Bradley
+
+29 Jolly Jack, the Rover; or, The Last Voyage of the Phantom Ship. . .
+   by Allyn Draper
+
+30 Night-Express Ned. . . by Frank Forrest
+
+31 The Lost Finger. . . by Berton Bertrew
+
+32 "Little Dot," the Dandy Scout of the Plains. . . by Paul Braddon
+
+33 Our Social Club. . . by "Ed"
+
+34 The Wreckers of the Wallkill. . . by Allan Arnold
+
+35 Big Beck, the Prince of Trappers. . . by Richard R. Montgomery
+
+36 Mail Train Mat. . . by Frank Forrest
+
+37 Swift-Foot: or, The Adopted Chief. . . by Ralph Morton
+
+38 The Ourang-Ourtang Hunters. . . by Geo. G. Small
+
+39 The Comic Detective. . . by "Ed"
+
+40 Yankee Jack. . . by Captain Geo. Granville
+
+41 Hank Monk; or, The Stage Driver of the Pacific Slope. . . by Robert
+   Maynard
+
+42 The Boss of the School; or, Around the World for Fun. . . by Captain
+   Will Dayton
+
+43 The Fire Rider. . . by Gaston Garne
+
+44 War Eagle; or, The Hero of a Hundred Fights. . . by H. K. Shackleford
+
+45 Simple Silas; or, The Idiot Detective. . . by Harry Rockwood
+
+46 Old Invincible. . . by Police Captain Howard
+
+47 The Secrets of the Diamond Island. . . by Horace Appleton
+
+48 Peeping Peter. A Tale of the American Revolution. . . by Roger
+   Starbuck
+
+49 He Didn't Get Left! Something Very Novel. . . by Peter Pad
+
+50 A Dead Witness. . . by Allan Arnold
+
+51 Danger Signal Dave, the Dashing Boy Engineer of the West. . . by
+   Albert J. Booth
+
+52 Brave Captain Kelly: or, The Daring Irish Privateers. . . by Corporal
+   Morgan Rattler
+
+53 The Caffre King; or, Three New York Youths in Africa. . . by Berton
+   Bertrew
+
+54 Iceberg Jack, the Hero at the Artic. . . by R. T. Emmet
+
+55 Ebony Eph, the Colored Detective. . . by Harry Rockwood
+
+56 Out With General Crook; or, The Twin Scouts of the Sierra Madres. . .
+   by John Sherman
+
+57 The Cavern of Death; or, The Maiden Avenger. . . by Gaston Garne
+
+58 Young Hercules, the King of Detectives. . . by Police Captain Howard
+
+59 The Young Drover; or, The Secret Order of the Northwest. . . by
+   Morris Redwing
+
+60 The Circus Wonder. . . by P. T. Raymond
+
+61 Young Franklin; or, Buried Under the Snow. . . by Albert J. Booth
+
+62 Ruined by Wine. A Temperance Story. . . by H. K. Shackleford
+
+63 Bareback Tom, the Circus Wonder. . . by Horace Appleton
+
+64 No. 202; or, In League With the Secret Service. . . by Lieutenant E.
+   H. Kellogg
+
+65 The Island Captive; or, Donald Dane's Victory. . . by John Sherman
+
+66 One Thousand Miles on Skates. . . by R. T. Emmet
+
+67 Dick the Pilot; or, The River Pirate's Plot. A Tale of the
+   Mississippi. . . by J. G. Bradley
+
+68 The Young Cliff Climber. A Tale of the Andes. . . by Gaston Garne
+
+69 Alderman Maloney. . . by Tom Teaser
+
+70 "King of the Ice;" or, Astray in the Arotic. . . by Albert J. Booth
+
+71 The Spy of Toronto. A Story of 1812. . . by Don Jenardo
+
+72 Lost in the Sewers; or, Adventures Beneath a Great City. . . by
+   Gaston Garne
+
+73 The Wizard of the Deep; or, The Wonderful Ocean Cave. . . by C.
+   Little
+
+74 Gold Mask; or, The Mystery of the Mines. . . by Robert Maynard
+
+75 Young Wide-Awake, the Pride of Engineers; or, Life on the Railroad.
+   . . by Albert J. Booth
+
+76 The Flying Soud. A Romance of the Ever Faithful Isle. . . by Gaston
+   Garne
+
+77 In the Clouds with a Maniac; or, The Jockey's Peril. . . by John
+   Sherman
+
+78 Foxy and Brother, the Invincible Detectives. . . by Police Captain
+   Howard
+
+79 Lost Under Ground; or, A Week in the Dark. . . by Horace Appleton
+
+80 Rocky Mountain Joe. . . by Robert Maynard
+
+81 The Ogres of the Ocean; or, The Voyage of the "Seashell". . . by
+   Albert J. Booth
+
+82 Black Hills Bill. . . by H. K. Shackleford
+
+83 Daring Zach, the Dwarf Scout of Palo Alto. . . by Lieutenant E. H.
+   Kellogg
+
+84 Figure Four; or, Simple Silas' Last Trail. . . by Harry Rockwood
+
+85 The Young Life-Saving Crew. . . by Col. Ralph Fenton
+
+86 The Haunted School-House. . . by Gaston Garne
+
+87 The Mysterious Sport. . . by Robert Maynard
+
+88 The Ocean Mystery. . . by J. G. Bradley
+
+89 Jack Bruce, the Star of the Circus. . . by C. Little
+
+90 The Jaguar Hunters; or, Wild Adventures in Brazil. . . by Harry
+   Rockwood
+
+91 The Life-Savers; or, the Wreck of Lbs "Ringdove". . . by Albert J.
+   Booth
+
+92 The Wonder Skiff. . . by J. G. Bradley
+
+93 Mark Manley, the Young Engineer. . . by Albert J. Booth
+
+94 Kit Carson's Raid. . . by Robert Maynard
+
+95 Cape Horn Chris, the Whaler's Son. . . by Albert J. Booth
+
+96 Two Comical Crusoes, and A Very Black Friday. . . by Tom Teaser
+
+97 Dick Darnley, the Switch Boy. . . by Robert Lennox
+
+98 The Haunted Cave; or, The Land of Wonders. . . by H. K. Shackleford
+
+99 Old Sixty; or, The Last Run of the Special. . . by C. Little
+
+100 The Young Balloonist; or, A Boy's Adventures in the Clouds. . . P.
+    T. Raymond
+
+101 Two New York Boys Around the World. . . by Gaston Garne
+
+102 Phantom, the Prairie Trapper. . . by Paul Braddon
+
+103 "Stand Together;" or, The Young Firemen of Clinton. . . by C. Little
+
+104 Harpoon Harry; or, The Castaways of the Antarctic. . . by Albert J.
+    Booth
+
+105 The Rival Knights; or, The Forest Champion. . . by Walter Fenton
+
+106 Simple Silas Among the Moonshiners. . . by Harry Rockwood
+
+107 The Black Band. . . by Paul Braddon
+
+108 Pacific Dick, the Pirates' Dread. . . by J. G. Bradley
+
+109 Shorthand Dick; or, The Young Reporter in Omaha. . . by Robert
+    Maynard
+
+110 The Mystic "7"; or, The Terror of the Bandits. . . by Gaston Garne
+
+111 Little Crow; or, The Tomahawk and Scalplng Knife in Minnesota. . .
+    by Robert Lennox
+
+112 The Tattooed Hand. . . by Paul Braddon
+
+113 Lost in New York; or, A Country Boy's Adventures. . . by C. Little
+
+114 Simple Silas and the Night-Riders. . . by Harry Rockwood
+
+115 The Ocean Scout; or, Captain Low's Last Cruise. . . by Don Jenardo
+
+116 The Haunted Island. . . by Robert Lennox
+
+117 Torpedo Tom; or, What a Yankee Boy Can Do. . . by Howard De Vere
+
+118 Lightning Joe. . . by R. T. Emmet
+
+119 Among the Thugs; or, Two Yankee Boys in India. . . by Hal Standish
+
+120 Young Phenix: or, Avenged From the Grave. . . by Gaston Garne
+
+121 General Grant's Boy Spy; or, The Hero of Five Forks. . . by Ralph
+    Morton
+
+122 The Pearl of the Border; or, The Girl Avenger. . . by Robert Maynard
+
+123 The Boy Captives of the Zulus; or, Held For Ransom. . . by Capt.
+    Geo. Granville, U. S. A.
+
+124 The Invisible Scout. . . by P. T. Raymond
+
+125 The Mysterious Five; or, The Terror of the Bandits. . . by Paul
+    Braddon
+
+126 Hawk and Weasel, the Baltimore Detectives. . . by Police Captain
+    Howard
+
+127 The Boy Balloonists; or, Adventures in the Clouds. . . by Harry
+    Eaton
+
+128 The Scout's League. . . by Paul Braddon
+
+129 The Black Diamond. . . by Allyn Draper
+
+130 Matt Mizzen, the Young Rover . . . by Gaston Garne
+
+131 From Wine to Ruin; or, Jack Jordan's Peril. . . by H. K. Shackleford
+
+132 The Silent Hunter; or, The Old Scout's Secret. . . by R. T. Emmet
+
+133 The King of the Clouds. . . by Walter Fenton
+
+134 The Hidden Cave. A Legend of the Ohio. . . by Don Jenardo
+
+135 Little Luke the Boy Driver of the Mines; or, The Young Hero of
+    Diamond Shaft. A Story of Life and Adventures Down in a Coal Mine.
+    . . by C. Little
+
+136 The Diamond Bullet. . . by Gaston Garne
+
+137 Old Bob Gray: or, The Lone Trapper of the Rockies. A Story of Wild
+    Adventure. . . by C. Little
+
+138 The Red Pirate; or, The Island of Death. . . by J. G. Bradley
+
+139 The House on the Hill. . . by Don Jenardo
+
+140 Dashwell, the Detective; or, The Mysteries of Seven Days. . . by
+    Police Captain Howard
+
+141 The Dead Avenger; or, Denounced from the Grave. . . by Robert Lennox
+
+142 Little Corinne: or, The Pride of the Ring. A Thrilling Story of
+    Circus Life. . . by Lieut. E. H. Kellogg
+
+143 Tracked for Years. . . by Corporal Morgan Rattler
+
+144 The Dwarf Bell Ringer; or, The Mystery of the Church Tower. . . by
+    Gaston Garne
+
+145 Ranch 5. A Story of the "49ers". . . by Robert Maynard
+
+146 The Black Cross; or, The Mysteries of the Jungle. A Tale of India.
+    . . by Robert Lennox
+
+147 Keen Kit; or, The Border Detective Among the Mormons. . . by Walter
+    Fenton
+
+148 The Secret Den; or, The Mississippi Pirates. . . by Don Jenardo
+
+149 The Masked Safe Blowers of Chicago. . . by Walter Fenton
+
+150 Vogiene, the Unknown Wonder of the Border. . . by Paul Braddon
+
+151 The Mad Midshipman; or, The Pirate's Last Cruise. . . by Gaston
+    Garne
+
+152 Emerald Pat; or, The Orange and the Green. . . by Sergeant O'Donnell
+
+153 Born to Be a Middy; or, On and Off a Man-o'-War. . . by J. G.
+    Bradley
+
+154 The Circus Runaway; or, The Boy Trainer and His Elephant on Their
+    Travels. . . by P. T. Raymond
+
+155 Luke Bland; or, Piping a Dreadful Crime. . . by Tom Fox
+
+156 The Broken Vow: or, The Lion Tamer's Oath. . . by C. Little
+
+157 The Firebugs of Chicago. . . by Horace Appleton
+
+158 The Ghouls of Gotham; or, The Man in the Black Cloak. . . by Paul
+    Braddon
+
+159 Crookstaff, the Ranger; or, The Outlaws of the Hill. . . by John
+    Sherman
+
+160 Liontine, the Pirate's Daughter. . . . by Lieut. E. H. Kellogg
+
+161 Contiental Dick, the Dread of the Tories. . . by Col. Ralph Fenton
+
+162 The Young Brigand Chief. . . by Robert Maynard
+
+163 The Black Hand; or, The Mystery of a Ring. . . by Gaston Garnes
+
+164 Just in Time; or, The Plot That Failed. . . by P. T. Raymond
+
+165 Bold Ben Bryan, the Yankee Sailor Boy. . .  by J. G. Bradley
+
+166 Hunting the Wolf-Killers; or, Perils in the Northwest. . . by R. T.
+    Emmet
+
+167 The Haunted Cabin; or, The Secrets of the Swamp. . . by H. K.
+    Shackleford
+
+168 The Hand of Fate; or, The Hawks of New York. . . by Paul Braddon
+
+169 The King of Three Oceans. . . by J. G. Bradley
+
+170 The Gipsy's Curse; or, The Revenge of a Lifetime. . . by C. Little
+
+171 The Swan; or, Life on the Mississippi. . . by Don Jenardo
+
+172 Dragon Dick; or, In Pursuit of a Mountain Bandit. . . by Robert
+    Maynard
+
+173 From East to West in a Balloon. . . by Gaston Garne
+
+174 Around the World in the Air; or, The Adventures of a Flying Man. . .
+    by Harry Kennedy
+
+175 The Death Spell; or, The Black Voodoo's Vengeance. . . by C. Little
+
+176 The Boy Jockey; or, Fame and Fortune on the Race Course. . . by R.
+    T. Emmet
+
+177 Big Carlos, the Giant Pirate. . . by J. G. Bradley
+
+178 Hank Hamilton, the Blue Grass Detective; or, The Horse Thieves of
+    Kentucky. . . by Police Captain Howard
+
+179 Monte, the Mystery of Culpepper Valley. . . by Paul Braddon
+
+180 The Pearl of the Pacific. . . by Robert Lennox
+
+181 The Magic Rifle. . . by C. Little
+
+182 Bravest of tho Brave. A Story of the Mexican War. . . by Capt. Geo.
+    Granville, U. S. A.
+
+183 Greybeard, the Terror of the Seas. . . by A. F. Hill
+
+184 Pete Walsh, the Western Detective. . . by R. T. Emmet
+
+185 The House of Mystery. . . by Police Captain Howard
+
+186 The Masked Brotherhood. . . by Paul Braddon
+
+187 The Flying Man; or, The Adventures of a Young Inventor. . . by Harry
+    Kennedy
+
+188 The Mystery of the Forest; or, A Scout With Many Lives. . . by Paul
+    Braddon
+
+189 Jeppo, the Hunchback; or The King of Torturers. . . by C. Little
+
+190 Suspected; or The Horse Thieves Lost Raid. . . by R. T. Emmet
+
+191 The Missing Hunter. . . by Don Jenardo
+
+192 The Knight of the Black Horse. A Story of the Days of Chivalry. . .
+    by J. G. Bradley
+
+193 The Slave Trader. . . by Lieut. E. H. Kellogg
+
+194 Mankato Mark, the Indian Nemesis; or, The White Avenger of the
+    Nor'west. . . by R. T. Emmet
+
+195 Galloping O'Hagan; or, The Bold Free Rider. . . by Corporal Morgan
+    Rattler
+
+196 The Deaf and Dumb Detective. . . by Allan Arnold
+
+197 Matt, the Avenger; or, Fighting the Mexican Bandits. . . by Robert
+    Maynard
+
+198 The Locked League; or, The Mystery of the Key and Serpent. . . by
+    Paul Braddon
+
+199 Brave Bradshaw, the Express Messenger; or, Through by Night with a
+    Million. . . by C. Little
+
+200 "Comanche Bill;" or, The Texan's Revenge. . . by Robert Lennox
+
+201 The Black Doctor. A Thrilling Story of the Secret Service. . . by
+    Lieut. E. H. Kellogg
+
+202 The Maniac Scout. . . by Gaston Garne
+
+203 The Renegade's Doom. . . by John Sherman
+
+204 A Secret Foe. . . by Frank Forrest
+
+205 The League of Fate. . . by "Noname"
+
+206 The Country Boy Detective. . . by Lieut. E. H. Kellogg
+
+207 The Vault of Mystery. . . by C. Little
+
+208 The Cuban Avenger; or, The Young Privateer. . . by Major J. Anderson
+
+209 Sentenced for Life. . . by A U. S. Detective
+
+210 The Steps of Doom. . . by R. T. Emmet
+
+211 Cyclone, the Horse Runner; or, The Young Lassoer of the Plains. . .
+    by "Noname"
+
+212 The Black Bravos. . . by Gaston Garne
+
+213 Tracked by a Fiend. . . by Corporal Morgan Rattler
+
+214 The Crimson Cowl; or, The Bandit of San Basillo. . . by C. Little
+
+215 Detective Dark. . . by Tom Fox (Philadelphia Detective)
+
+216 Jack Wright, the Boy Inventor; or, Hunting For a Sunken Treasure.
+    . . by "Noname"
+
+217 The Hidden Treasure; or, Among the Cannibals. . . by H. K.
+    Shackleford
+
+218 Phil Faraday, the Young Explorer; or, Adventures in Savage Africa.
+    . . by Hal Standish
+
+219 Dick Gordon; or, The True Yankee Sailor Boy. . . by J. T. Brougham
+
+220 Jack Wright and His Electric Turtle; or, Chasing the Pirates of the
+    Spanish Main. . . by "Noname"
+
+221 Diver Bill; or, The Secret of the Wreck. . . by Ralph Morton
+
+222 The Child Stealer; or, The Vulture, of a Great City. . . by J. T.
+    Brougham
+
+223 Jack Wright'e Submarine Catamaran; or, The Phantom Ship of the
+    Yellow Sea. . . by "Noname"
+
+224 The Dark Corners of New York; or, The Perils of a District Telegraph
+    Messenger. . . by H. K. Shackleford
+
+225 Thado, the Thug; or, The Star on the Arm. . . by T. W. Hanshew
+
+226 The Broken Bottle; or, A Jolly Good Fellow. . . by H. K. Shackleford
+
+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+
+Latest Issues of THE BOYS' STAR LIBRARY:
+
+234 Saved at Six; or, The Wizard of the Waves. . . by A. F. Hill
+
+235 Jack Wright and His Magnetic Motor; or, The Golden City of the
+    Sierras. . . by "Noname"
+
+236 The Boy Miners. . . by C. Little
+
+237 The Merry Ten; or, The Shadows of a Social Club. A Temperance Story.
+    . . by H. K. Shackleford
+
+238 Jack Wright, the Boy Inventor, and His Under-water Iron-Clad; or,
+    The Treasure of the Sandy Sea. . . by "Noname"
+
+239 Jack Winters; or, Fighting for the Old Flag. . . by Capt Geo.
+    Granville (U. S. A.)
+
+240 The Young Sinbad; or, Back from the Grave for Vengeance. . . by T.
+    W. Hanshew
+
+241 Jack Wright and His Electric Deers; or, Fighting the Bandits of the
+    Black Hills. . . by "Noname"
+
+242 The Haunted Island; or, The Phantom of the Seas. . . by Allan Arnold
+
+243 Sleuth Hound Tom, the Veteran Detective. . . by Police Captain
+    Howard
+
+244 Midnight Dick, the King of Highwaymen. . . by J. G. Bradley
+
+245 The Thugs of New Orleans. . . by Paul Braddon
+
+246 Jack Wright and His Prairie Engine; or, Among the Bushmen of
+    Australia. . . by "Noname"
+
+247 Jack Winters in the Zulu War. . . by Capt. Geo. Granville (U. S. A.)
+
+248 The Mystery of the Dead Sea. . . by T. W. Hanshew
+
+249 The Fatal Glass; or, The Traps and Snares of New York. . . by H. K.
+    Shackleford
+
+250 Dave Dash, the Pride of the Circus. . . by Hal Standish
+
+251 Laughing Lake, the Yankee Spy of the Revolution. . . by Ralph Morton
+
+252 Santo, the Sea Wolf; or, The Secret of the Sea. . . by Allan Arnold
+
+253 Jack Wright and His Electric Air Schooner; or, The Mystery of a
+    Magic Mine. . . by "Noname"
+
+254 Gold Gulch; or Pandy Ellis' Last Trail. . . by Marline Manly
+
+255 Peppery Sam, the Young Spy of the Revolution. . . by D. W. Stevens
+
+256 Dick Catch; or, The Thief-Taker's Crime. . . by Ralph Morton
+
+257 Jack Wright and His Electric Sea-Motor; or, The Search for a
+    Drifting Wreck. . . by "Noname"
+
+258 Ben Brevier; or, The Romance of a Young Printer. . . by Horace
+    Appleton
+
+259 King of the Sea; or, The Rovers of the Deep. . . by T. W. Hanshew
+
+260 The Hidden Avenger. A Story of Mexico. . . by Capt. Geo. Granville,
+    U. S. A.
+
+261 The Thugs of Paris. . . by Paul Braddon
+
+262 Jack Wright and His Ocean Sleuth Hound; or, Tracking an Under Water
+    Treasure. . . by "Noname"
+
+263 Fighting Jack; or, A Yankee Boy in Africa. . . by Captain Geo.
+    Granville, U. S. A.
+
+264 The Lively Eight Social Club; or, From Cider to Rum. A Story of the
+    Great Evil. . . by H. K. Shackleford
+
+265 Adrift in a Balloon, A Romance of South America. . . by Frank
+    Forrest
+
+266 Jack Wright and His Dandy of the Deep; or, Driven Afloat in the Sea
+    of Fire. . . by "Noname"
+
+267 The Young Cadet; or, From West Point to Glory. . . by Allan Arnold
+
+268 Mad Anthony Wayne, the Hero of Stony Point. A Story of the American
+    Revolution. . . by Ralph Morton
+
+269 Trapeze Tom. . .  by Hal Standish
+
+270 Jack the Juggler. . . by H. K. Shackleford
+
+271 Jack Wright and His Electric Torpedo Rain; or, The Sunken City of
+    the Atlantic. . . by "Noname"
+
+272 Jack Wright and His Deep Sea Monitor; or, Searching For a Ton of
+    Gold. . . by "Noname"
+
+273 The Inner Circle. A True Story of the Nihilists. . . by Allan Arnold
+
+274 Jack Winters in the English Army. A Story of the War in Egypt. . .
+    by Capt. Geo. Granville (U. S. A.)
+
+275 Jack Wright, the Boy Inventor, Exploring Central Asia in His
+    Magnetic Hurricane. . . by "Noname"
+
+276 Jack Wright and His Ocean Plunger; or, The Harpoon Hunters of the
+    Arctic. . . by "Noname"
+
+277 Jack Wright and His Electric "Sea-Ghost;" or, A Strange Under-Water
+    Journey. . . by "Noname"
+
+278 The Fiends of Paris; or, The Conspirator's Secret. . . by Paul
+    Braddon
+
+279 Jack Wright, the Boy Inventor, and His Deep Sea Diving Bell; or, The
+    Buccaneers of the Gold Coast. . . by "Noname"
+
+280 Whisky Bill; or The Road to Ruin. A Story of the Rum Fiend's
+    Frightful Work. . . by H. K. Shackleford
+
+281 Jack Wright, the Boy Inventor, and His Electric Tricycle Boat; or,
+    The Treasure of the Sun Worshipers. . . by "Noname"
+
+282 The Haunted Lighthouse of Wreckers' Reef. . . by J. T. Brougham
+
+283 Jack Wright and His Under-Water Wrecking Rail; or, The Mystery of a
+    Scuttled Ship. . . by "Noname"
+
+284 The Rival Schools. . . by Frank Forrest
+
+285 Jack Wright and His Terror of the Seas; or, Fighting For a Sunken
+    Fortune. . . by "Noname"
+
+286 The Unknown Renegade; or, The Three Great Scouts. . . by Hal
+    Standish
+
+287 Jack Wright and His Electric Diving Boat; or Lost Under the Ocean.
+    . . by "Noname"
+
+288 Mike Fink, the Western Boatmen. . . by D. W. Stevens
+
+289 Jack Wright and His Submarine Yacht; or, The Fortune Hunters of the
+    Red Sea. . . by "Noname"
+
+290 To the North Pole in a Balloon. . . by J. T. Brougham
+
+291 The Tramp; or, The Mystery of the Old Haunted Mill. . . by D. W
+    Stevens
+
+292 Jack Wright and His Electric Gunboat; or, The Search For a Stolen
+    Girl. . . by "Noname"
+
+293 Running Rob; or, Mad Anthony's Rollicking Scout. . . by Ralph Morton
+
+294 Jack Wright and His Electric Sea Launch; or A Desperate Cruise For
+    Life. . . by "Noname"
+
+295 Saints of the Santee; or, Redcoats and Whigs. . . by Ralph Morton
+
+296 Jack Wright and His Electric Bicycle Boat; or, Searching For Captain
+    Kidd's Gold. . . by "Noname"
+
+297 Headless: or, The Man of Mystery. . . by Ralph Morton
+
+298 Jack Wright and His Electric Side-Wheel Boat; or, Fighting the
+    Brigands of the Coral Isles. . . by "Noname"
+
+299 The Winged Witch. . . by John Sherman
+
+300 Jack Wright's Wonder of the Waves; or, The Flying Dutchman of the
+    Pacific. . . by "Noname"
+
+301 Merry Matt; or, The Will-o'-the-Wisp of Wine. . . by H. K.
+    Shackleford
+
+302 Jack Wright and His Electric Exploring Ship; or, A Cruise Around
+    Greenland. . . by "Noname"
+
+303 Old Putnam's Pet; or, The Young Patriot Spy. . . by Ralph Morton
+
+304 Jack Wright and His Electric Man-of-War; or, Fighting the Sea
+    Robbers of the Frozen Coast. . . by "Noname"
+
+305 The Shattered Glass; or, A Country Boy in New York. . . by H. K.
+    Shackleford
+
+306 Jack Wright and His Submarine Torpedo-Tug; or, Winning a Government
+    Reward. . . by "Noname"
+
+307 The Lost Balloon; or, Missing For Twenty Year. . . by John Sherman
+
+308 Jack Wright and His Electric Sea-Demon; or, Daring Adventures Under
+    the Ocean. . . by "Noname"
+
+309 The Mystery of the Volcano. . . by Col. Ralph Fenton
+
+310 Jack Wright and His Electric "Whale;" or, The Treasure-Trove of the
+    Polar Sea. . . by "Noname"
+
+311 Jack Wright and His Electric Marine "Rover;" or, 50,000 Miles in
+    Ocean Perils. . . by "Noname"
+
+312 Jack Wright and His Electric Deep Sea Cutter; or, Searching for a
+    Pirate's Treasure. . . by "Noname"
+
+313 Detective Sleuth's Son. . . by Police Captain Howard
+
+314 Jack Wright and His Electric Monarch of the Ocean; or, Cruising for
+    a Million in Gold. . . by "Noname"
+
+315 Jack Wright and His Electric Devil-Fish; or, Fighting the Smugglers
+    of Alaska. . . by "Noname"
+
+316 Jack Wright and His Electric Demon of the Plains; or, Wild
+    Adventures Among the Cowboys. . . by "Noname"
+
+317 Jack Wright and His Electric Balloon Ship; or, 30,000 Leagues Above
+    the Earth. . . by "Noname"
+
+318 Jack Wright and His Electric Locomotive; or, The Lost Mine of Death
+    Valley. . . by "Noname"
+
+319 Jack Wright and His Iron Clad Air-Motor; or, Searching for a Lost
+    Explorer. . . by "Noname"
+
+320 Jack Wright and His Electric Tricycle; or, Fighting the Stranglers
+    of the Crimson Desert. . . by "Noname"
+
+321 Jack Wright and His Electric Dynamo Boat; or, The Mystery of a
+    Buried Sea. . . by "Noname"
+
+322 Jack Wright and His Flying Torpedo; or, The Black Demons of Dismal
+    Swamp. . . by "Noname"
+
+323 Jack Wright and His Prairie Privateer; or, Fighting the Western Road
+    Agents. . . by "Noname"
+
+324 Jack Wright and His Naval Cruiser; or, Fighting the Pirates of the
+    Pacific. . . by "Noname"
+
+325 Jack Wright, the Boy Inventor, and His Whaleback Privateer; or,
+    Cruising the Behring Sea. . . by "Noname"
+
+326 Jack Wright and His Electric Phantom Boat; or, Chasing the Outlaws
+    of the Ocean. . . by "Noname"
+
+327 Jack Wright and His Winged Gunboat; or, A Voyage to an Unknown Land.
+    . . by "Noname"
+
+328 Jack Wright and His Electric Flyer: or, Racing in the Clouds for a
+    Boy's Life. . . by "Noname"
+
+For sale by all newsdealer in the United States and Canada, or sent,
+post-paid, to your address on receipt of the price, 5 cents.
+
+Address
+P. O. Box 2730.
+FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, 34 & 38 North Moore Street, N. Y.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Jack Wright and His Electric Stage;, by "Noname"
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JACK WRIGHT ELECTRIC STAGE ***
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