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?"