Chapter 7

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.