The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1900-02-03

Yes, stree, the train robber doesn't
walk in shoe leather that's eve going
to relieve me of a copper cent, and don't
you fail to remember thatl'
"The little man, who, as / afterward
ascertained, was on his way to Cali
fornia for his health. looked so puff
;oady and fierce while he was getting
off those brave remarks that l couldn't
help but laugh in his face. That net
tied him a trife, but l smoothed it over
and made a remark or so to him about
the general matter of train hold-ups.
my FRIEND said l, in conclusion,
, the only advice 1 can give you is, if
any of these chaps ever Gomez along
your way and asks you to call heaven
to witness with your w hands point
ing to the zenith, just you do it,
that's all, and do it in a hurry; do it
a-running; be nice and good about it,
and don't get gay; don't endeavor to
be frivolous with a man that's got the
edge on you with a 45-caliber lead
splitter
"'Just let one of 'em try it with
me, that's all!' exclaimed the little man,
fiercely, and then we changed the sub
ject.
swell, at about nine o'clock that
night We pulled up at a little station
called Tyrone, to give the engine a
drink. We only halted there about
four minutes, but it was long enough.
The train hadn't got more than five
miles out of Tyrone before we heard
a lot of shots up forward-the smoker
was the second car from the engine
and the train came to a halt. The
wheels had scarcely ceased to ~revolve,
when the front door of the smoker was
thrown open with a bang, and the COM
mand rang through the car like the
crackNof a whip:
Everybody put 'em up! Quick!'
"a tall, raw-boned man, with a stray
Cling red mustache, stood in the door
calmly waving his gun from side to
side with the characteristic movement
of an expert g~un-fanner. He looked
business all over. l decided instant
ly-Fd put my hands up before I'd done
any deciding. however-that he wasn't
any amateur, and that he was going
to get all that was coming to him. 1
couldn't help but notice that the dys-
peptic-looking little man in front Of
me threw up his hands with the rest.
although he did a bit of fumbling with
his right hand before it went up in
the air.
Seem that my podner's busy
keepin' tab on tn loco-driver,' said the
raw-boned bandit-he didn't wear any
mask, and there was a certain d~evilish
twinkle in his eye as he spoke-.P1l jes'
ask you gentlemen to spring what
you've got on with one hand at a time.
as l pass along, and I'll Go the rest
"He wore a hickory bag, suspended
by a string around his neck, in front OF
him-a bag similar to those worn by
carpenters or fathers for holding nails
and he just reached out his left hand
and dropped wallets, watches and
chains and loose rolls into the bag as
he passed along. None of the vic
tins had a chance to hold out anything
on him, for he was one of the eagle-eyed
species, and he seemed to see all hands
in the car at once. He walked sideways
down the aisle SO as to make sure that
he wouldn't be plunked from behind
after passing along. He was a scientist
in his business, all right, was that raw
boned man, and he didn't miss a trick.
Every man up forward un~questionably
passed over his belongings to be
dropped into that roomy bag. The
little man with the Bostonese accent sc
amused me, with his hands sticking uF
there as rigid as poles, that l almost
forgot to worry about what I vas 60
ing to lose when it came my turn. He
had gone as white as a sheet, and he
looked more CHASTITY as the raw-boned
robber approached him. Finally it came
his turn. The robber looked him over
with a half grin.
"'Sorry. my saweG-off friend the
robber started to say. when puff. the
right hand of the dyspeptic-looking
little man opened with a cat-like rapid
ity and the robber got a f~ist-full of red
pepper square in the eyes! He let out
a howl, and the little man dropped to
the floor like a flash. So did 1, for that
matter.
"The robber yelled like a mao man.
lowered his gun hand and CROPPED
around with it, and half a second later
he was butted in the stomach with all
the force the little man from New Eng
land had in his head. That doubled
the robber up, and a minute later We
were ali on top of him at once.
You will try to appropriate what
doesn't belong to you, hey. dog-gone
you!' the dyspeptic-looking little man
muttered, standing owe the blinded
bandit. who was almost insane with
pain. We bound him securely, did what
we could to alleviate his pain, and put
a guard over him. The robber who
was holding up the engineer. hearing
the agonized shouts of his partner,
concluded that there was nothing do
ing, and. firing a few bluff shots, scam
pered off the tender into the darkness.
We took the raw-boned bandit t o Trim
i6ad. where he was tried, as I after
ward learned. and got 90 years. And
that's n time l got fooled up a whole
lot in a Observation-Disclosures Star.
Floating Chips.
No truth was ever converted into q