Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1899-08-10

'Do yoa Ilto.o trlto voit'rc chinningf'
reputation. being known far and wide
az the most industrious and capable
train robber in all Texas, a quick firing
and straight shooting. ruthless desper-
ado, afraid Of nothing, least Of all the
law
"Who's running this shown de
manded Mannies. who's your boss ~
Were Captain Snike's gang. re-
piled the other, with Difference.
Il might "a known it, !" cried Steve.
with unconcealed derision Its just
Ike .is-.ar
The masked man made no attempt
to stop Steve and his followers as they
poured out of the car into the sur
rounding darkness.
"What are you about therer' yelled
a voice from near the engine. Don't
let these men leave the car.
'It's Steve Mannies and his boysP'
shouted back the masked man in ex-
cuse
Although the surprised Captain Sniko
merely mentioned the lower regions,
there was tremor in his voice which
showed that the unexpected meeting
with so noted man as Steve was not
one Of unalloyad pleasure.
''See here, captain. roared the an
CRY desperate, "what = the meaning of
thisG What are you doing on my terri
tory2 Can't L take care of these here
trains. or has there been any complaint
on the part of tho r.. B. and c. com
thpVt,
close enoughg What in thunder's the
reason of your being ont so late at night
anyhow? Some of you boys II catch cold
first thing you know. =
"Why, hang it, Steve. said the cap
tain in tones Of apology, II didn't
know you were in this locality mt all.
You see, nobody's heard from you for a
month, and we thought perhaps you
had struck for Californy. We did, cure.
But I'll tell you what Wen dove II
divide square and fair.
divide nothingW cried Steve. Tho
trains mine, and you've no business
here at all Still there's nothing mean
about me, and like to encourage anna
toors If you want the passengers, you
kin have EN-. You go through 'em and
then git.
1--WE don't want no passengers-not
tonight we don't. +" demurred the cap
tain 1--WE got news from Frisco and
thought nobody else was on to IL. We're
after the safe, and that's what's the
matter with this crowd. "
"Well I'd like to oblige you, but
that safes mine. We had news from
Frisco too. Did you think we were off
on our vacationT'
Wont you divider" appealed the
captain There ought to bo enough to
20 round.
Mary divide, said Steve deter
minedly "Tho safes ours and has been
ever since we got on tho express. We've
got dynamite i'm bag to blow her open.
and we'd n been through and away by
this time if you hadn I Clipped into the
game when you weren't wanted. -
At this juncturo one Of tho express
messengers with genius for doing the
right thing at the psychological mo
ment fred at Steve, dimly seen through
tho radiance from the car windows. and
missed him. of course. but winged one
Of the gang who stood near, who in
stantly whipped out his gun with an
oath and blazed away in the direction
the shot came from Each side thought
the other had broken the underwood
truce and had fired first. Both gangs
had been on the alert for that very
thing. and every man had his finger ON q
trigger In two seconds the biggest
fight that part of Texas had ever seen
was ON. and tho black darkness was fit
fully spotted with the crimson splitting
Of revolvers Cries of rage and pain
showed that some Mt least Of the bullets
were finding their billots
The conductor. crouching along tho
offsido Of the train. stole mp 10 the en-
gine and snid in a hoarse whisper TO tho
driver who still stood dazed with his
hands on his head
"For Gods sake, John. pull out
| quick'"
"Ain't they covering mef" asked the
frightened engineer in n trembling
voice
"No; you re all safe. They're fight
ing like cats and dogs. Get a move on
you.
"But the track's bound to be- torn M
ahead
Gwen have 10 rick that. John. Any
things better than this. Pull yourself