The Advocate and news., 1897-12-22

IL was done; so / described 10 ner now
sometimes the train was tagged by
danger signal, and when it had slowed
down the runner found himself covered
by armed men, or how gang would
board rhe train, one by one, at way sta
tions, and then, when the time came,
steal forward, secure the express agent
and postal clerk, climb over the tender
and compel the runner to stop the train
at some lonely spot ON the road. She
made me tell her all the details Of such
robberies as / knew about, and, though
had never been concerned i'll any, l
was able to describe several, which, as
they were monOtonously alike I confess
I colored up bit here and there, in an
attempt to make them interesting to
her. 1 seemed to succeed, for she kept
the subject going even after we had left
the table and were smoking our cigars
in the observation saloon. Lord Rallies
had a lot to say about the American
lack of courage in letting trains con-
tanning 20 and 30 men be held up by
half a dozen robbers.
why" he calculated, "bOth my
brother and l have double express with
us, and do you think we'd sit still in
our seats? No. Hang me if we wouldn't
pot somethingW
"You might" laughed, little
nettled, / confess, by his speech, "but
I'm afraid it would be yourselves. "
"Aw, you fancy resistance impossi-
ble?'' drawled Albert Cullen.
1T has been tried, answered, "and
without success. You can see it's like
all surprises---one side is prepared be-
fore the other side knows there is dan
ger. Without regard to relative num-
bers, the odds are all in favor Of the
road agents. "
but I wouldn't sit still, whatever
the Odds" said his lOrdship "And no
Englishman would"
"Well, my lord, " said, "I hope, for
your sake, then, that you'll never be in
hold up, for l should feel about you
as the runner Of locomotive did when
the old lady asked him if it wasn't very
painful to him to run over people. Yes,
madam, he sadly replied. There is
nothing that muses. an engine up so. ,"
don't think Miss Cullen liked Lord
Rallies comments on American courage
any better than / did, for she said:
"Can't you take Lord Rallies and
Captain Ackland into the service of the
X. and A., Mr.. Gordon, as a special
guard?'
'The K and A. has never had a rob
berry yet, Miss Cullen, l replied, land
I don't think that it ever will have.
"Why nOt?" she asked.
explained to her how the canyon of
the Colorado to the north and the dis
tance of the Mexican border to the south
made escape so almost desperate that
the road agents preferred to devote their
attentions to other routes. eff we were
boarded, Miss Cullen" said, "your
jewelry would be as safe as it is in Chi
cago, for the robbers would only clean
out the express and mail cars. But if
they should so far forget their manners
as to take your trinkets I'd agree to re-
turn them to you inside of one week. "
"That makes it all the jollier, " she
cried eagerly. "We could have the fun
of the adventure and yet not lose any
thing. Can't you arrange for it, Mr..
Gordon?"
"Tdlike to please you, Miss Cullen, "
I said, and I'd like to give Lord Rallies
q chance to show us how to handle those
gentry, but it's not to be DONE" real
ly should have been glad to have the
road agents pay us call.
We spent that day pulling up the Ra-
ton pass, and so ON over the Glorietta
pass down to Lamy, where, as the party
wanted to see Santa Fe, had our two
cars dropped off the overland, and we
ran up the branch line to the old Mexi-
can city TT WAS we'll worn OrOund tO