Daily inter mountain., 1900-12-21


Near the top of the hill he refused to
walk another foot, saying he had paid
his fare and proposed to ride. He
seemed a little annoyed too, when, in re-
sponse to a question as to when l in
tended to return to England. / told him
l was a newspaper reporter living in
Butte and that he had evidently mis-
taken me for Chadbourne, the missing
passenger, who lived in London. Board
ing the coach again we proceeded slowly
up the grade while, with every foot of
increased elevation, the scenic pano-
rama below unfolded more and more
wondrous beauty. In the distance, to
the right could be seen the entire Boul-
der valley dotted with ranches and
crossed by lines of timber along the
water courses. Vast herds of grazing
cattle and sheep were scattered here
and there at irregular distances apart
and at our feet lay the beautiful village
Of Boulder, it's white buildings shining
in the sun, while far to-the south, to
paraphrase the poet:
Hills peeped DER hills Il.
And Alps on Alps arose.
THE ATTACK.
Halt" suddenly rang out harsh
voice as two men with masks over the
lower part Of their faces sprang from be-
hind trees at the roadside just as we
reached the summit. In a moment one
of them was at the head of the near
leader one hand grasping the bride
while the other held Colts revolver
pointed at the driver, who suddenly
pulled up. The fellows confederate,
similarly armed, leaped to the fore wheel
Of the coach and pointing his gun in
fooa sat stcrnN see ,:>y,
and you too,'' he added to Williams.
had always been taught not to waste
time, and having nothing else to do at.
that moment I made a quick descent,
the stranger in the meantime keeping his
weapon as close to my face as possible.
1t was the first time I had ever looked
into a six shooter that meant business
and must confess that it appeared much
| larger than I had ever supposed. The
barrel seemed at least three feet long
and 1 hastily judged it's diameter to be
fully eight inches at the muzzle. The
! bullets were plainly visible in the other
chambers and bore a strong family re-
semblance to base balls, though 1 may
have been a trifle embarrassed and
formed an exaggerated notion of the
, armory which confronted me.
'Stand over there and hold up your
| hands or you'll get a dose" was the
| next remark of our modern Claude
Duval; "and you, too,' he said to Will
iams with an angry scowl and strict
| impartialty Get in line
| We knew what that meant and
promptly executed the manuever. "Now
you get down. said Mr.. Duval to the
driver. land stand in line or you are
dead man." The driver was really not
dead man, but was in no mood to
argue the point. and joined Williams and
me with commendable alacrfty as the
| fellow at the head of the horses also
| had bead on him. Williams showed
no alarm but I was conscious of shiver-
ing slightly, probably on account of the
| coolness of the robbers and the increased
| altitude combined. However 1 resolved
to remain there and catch cold rather
| than disturb the harmony of the occa-
sion.
"Now," said Mr.. Duval in very famil-
| lar and somewhat peremptory tones, con-
sidering our short acquaintance, "get out
of that coach one at a time and keep
your hands out straight of We'll fill you
| full of holes.''
This language was addressed to the
distinguished Thespian Mr.. Foy, and his
oriental fellow traveller in the coach
who came forth as directed.
Now get in line. quick and never
| mind the women" said Duval. "And re-
I member hands up and keep 'em up"
Foy looked bad. 1 had seen him act.
and felt amply avenged. He is not tall
man and unless he carries his arms done
up in a knot they are no longer than
those of other average sized men. Yet
| when the highwaymen thundered at him
to hold up his hands they began an
aerial ascent that was a physiological
| III; Z, -
India rubber he could not have put his
hands up higher. They went up first
by inches, then by feet, then by yards.
To me they seemed to go almost to the
tops of the highest trees. and it is GER
| tain that he even stretched his fingers
out of joint. He was determined to
leave Duval and Co. nothing to complain
of. No man ever put up his hands so
high before within my experience. and I
have seen some remarkable hands put
UP.
| ruE STY Sun0rrD ApnTr~rHrn