Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1900-09-18
SOUTH PARIS. MAINE TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 49, 1900

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this particular gang. with the result
that the governor Of Colorado had Of
| tered q reward Of 5000 for the cap
ture Of Dallon himself and 500 head
| for the arrest Of the subordinate MEM
bers Of the band.
This proclamation had for . time .
deterrent effect. and for some weeks
the country was quiet. But II was
merely lull. Jim Dallon, like Reuben
| Filley. was meditating and planning Q
grand coup. one that II successful
would land him In comparative anu.
ence for the rest Of his days and yield
Q rich "dIyvy" for each Of the minor
rogues. -
The scheme was ingenuity personi.
aed and one that could be put through
with little or no bloodshed. for Dallon
was growing cautious and crafty. He
had his paid and secret agents In Den
ger and the surrounding towns and
consequently was early apprised Of the
coming gathering Of railroad magnates
| from all parts Of the Union. Then Il
was that his darling and daring plan
was conceived. He had heard or read
OF the deeds of Italian and Sicilian
bandits. 80 for a change he determined
TO take leaf out of their book and do
q little kidnapping on his own account.
holding his prisoners for q rich ransom.
Calling the leading spirits Of the
gang around him. Dalloh divulged the
main points OF the scheme, which was
received with gross chuckles and
hoarse grunts Of satisfaction. II only
remained to select the victims: the rest
Dallon believed would be easy.
"Bests the express business all hol-
lery' exclaimed Leather Jack. the sec.
ond In command, nlnging his sombrero
on the ground In an ecstasy OF delight.
'Right you are. my boy" echoed Bill
Root. BEST OF II ID theren be no
shootip to bring Shurf Ramsey smeilin
round. The hull Job can be done In a
nice. genteel style 30 ~ nobody's feel.
ms II be hurted"
Trusty emIssaries rode OF In differ
ent directions, one toward Denver and
q second to Colorado Springs, less than
80 miles away, with orders to pick up
any news that might be stirring. By
midday Of Friday. May IA. they were
all back In camp with the necessary
information. and then Dallon's plans
were rapidly matured.
The robbers retreat was In the foot
hills midway between Colorado Springs
and Denver. Here the whole face Of
the country is scanned and cut up as
though In some past aye the rival
giants Fire and Water waged mighty
battle with Mother Earth. To helyhten
the havoc and confusion the hand Of
man has still further marred and scar
red the surface In q mad quest for the
precious metals. But mining In this
locality was soon played out" and
nothing but abandoned claims. rusting
machinery and rotting cabins remained
TO mark where once q thousand picks
had rung and dug and delved.
Leading to one Of these worked out
camps few miles back from the rail-
road a spur Of track had been built on
which cars had been loaded with ore
for the smelters at Denver. This side
track. after leaving the main line,
made a gradual descent to the bed OF
q dry canyon, along which II led for a
couple OF miles until II ended abruptly
where the solid ellis Of granite quartz
narrowed 50 as to almost touch each
other. The empty cars used to run
down this gentle incline by gravity
and when loaded were drawn up again
by a locomotive sent down for the pur.
pose. OF course there bad been .
switch at the point where the spur left
the main track. but when the workings
were abandoned the railroad men had
not gone to the trouble Of taking II out.
but had simply withdrawn the lever
and spiked the switch.
The locality was perfectly well
known to Dallon. and the scheme be
had hatched was certainly an ingenious
one. The whole force Of the band NOV.
ed over to Bone gulch. as the dry tor.
rental ravine was named, and pro
ceeded to make themselves az snug as
circumstances would permit
There's nothing to do. boys. till
niehtfall 'cept to lie low" said Dallon.
"But remember--no fires and no shoot
In" These preparations had occupied
the latter half Of Friday and the fore
noon Of Saturday.
The Denver express was due In Colo
RADIO Springs at o'clock p. IN. on Sat
urday, May Is. but she was nearly two
hours late. However, fresh engine,
ready coaled and watered. with full
head of steam. was ready and waiting.
The mail bags and newspaper bundles
were flung out before the train fairly
stopped. the half dozen lnvalids for
the famous sanitarium disembarked.
and In ave minutes the 'Thunderbolt
was once more on Its way, the dying
fires OF day lingering on the summit OF
Pixies peak away to the westward In
full view Of our friends In the Miranda
as the express cleared the town and
once more breasted the desolate ribbon
Of track on the last lap for Denver. 10
miles away.
Just before the train pulled out Q
dark and stealthy figure stole from
the shadow Of . freight train on. the
side farthest from the well lighted
platform, crept under the trucks OF
the Miranda and disappeared. This
was Jim Dallou himself.
Gradually the speed increased. There
were no stops for passengers to be
made, and the only stations passed
were mere hamlets or watering tanks.
showing only one or two dim lights.
| The conductor went through the cars
| for the last time and then proceeded to
make himself snug In the smoker.
| Eighty-nine would be In Denver By IL
o'clock.
In the Miranda the following was the
situation: Mrs. Hurst was dozing In .
wicker chair. John Draper and Flor.
enee were playing desultory game OF
chess, while Madge and Chester were
simply doing nothing but making love.
and that without any attempt at con-
cealrnent II Madge had told the truth
now she might have written back to
her dearest Fan" that two weddings
were In prospect. Reuben Filley had
1 a.