Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-05-14
CHAPTER I.
The Party on Special No. 21S.

1ne vi opcClai Iso. ~Ao.
Anyone who hopes to find in what is
here written a work of literature had bet
ter lay 1t aside unread. At Yale i should
have got the sack in rhetoric and English
composition, let alone other studies. had 1t
not been for the fact that l. played half
back on the team, and so the professors
marked me away up above where l ought
to have ranked. That was twelve years
ago, but my life since / received my parch-
ment has hardly been of kind to improve
me in either style or grammar. 1t is true
that one woman tells me 1 write well, and
my directors never find fault with my COM
positions; but 1 know that she likes my
letters because. whatever else they may say
to her they always say in some form,
love YOU" while my board approve my an
nual reports because thus far l have been
able to end each with II recommend the
declaration of a dividend OF - per cent
from the earnings OF the current year.
/ should therefore prefer to reserve my
writings for such friendly critics, IL IL dlu
not seem necessary to make pubic piaiii
statement concerning an affair over whicn
there appears to be much CONFUSION.
have heard in the last five years not less
than twenty renderings of what Is COM
monty called THE great *. d A. train ROB-
bery''-some so twisted and distorted that
but for the intermediate versions l should
never have recognized them as attempts
. to narrate the series of events In whlch
played a somewhat prominent part. have
read or been told that, unassisted, the
pseudo hero captured dozen desperadoes;
that he was One of the road agents HIM
self; that he saved from lynchlng only
by the timely arrival of cavalry; that the
action of the United States government IN
rescuing him from the civil authorities was
n most high-handed interference with state
rights: that he received his reward from q
grateful railroad by being promoted; that
Axsalx 1C
lany-but bother, It's my business TO tell
what really occurred, and not what the
world chooses to invent And II any man
thinks he would have done otherwise IN my
position. l can only say that he is bet
ter or a worse man than Dick Gordon.
Primarily it was foot ball which shaped
my end. Owing to my skill In the game,
took post graduate at the Shef1ed Seem
tific School, that the team might have my
services for an extra two years. That led
to my knowing a little about mechanical
engineering and when 1 iett Inc quao
= for good l went into the Alton railroad
shops. 1t wasn't long before L was fore
man of a section; next became DIVISION
superintendent, and after l had stuck to
that for a time L was appointed super1n-
tendent of the Kansas Il Arizona railroad.
a line extending from Trinidad. in Kansas.
to The Needles, in Arizona, tapping the
Missouri Western system at the first place,
and the Great Southern at the other. With
both lines we had important traffic agree
ments, as we'll as the closest relations,
which sometimes were little difficult. as
the two roads were anything but friendly,
and we had directors of each on the X. d
A. board, in which they fought like cats.
Indeed, 1t could only be a question of time
when one would Gust the other and then
absorb my road. My headquarters were at
Albuquerque, in New Mexico, and it was
there. in October 1870, that l received the
communication which was the beginning of
all that followed.
This initial factor was letter from the
president of the Missouri Western, telling
me that their first vice president, Mr.. Cul-
len (who was also a director of my road),
was coming out to attend the annual cleo
tion of the K. & A, which, under our
charter had to be held in Ash
Forks, Arizona. second paragraph
told me that Mr.. Cullen's family
accompanied him. and that they all wished
to visit the Grand Canon of the Colorado
on their way Finally the president wrote
that the party Travelled in his own private
car, and asked me to make myself generally
useful to them. Having become quite
hardened to just such demands, at the prop
er date / ordered my superintendent car
on No. ., and the next morning 1t was
dropped off at Trinidad.
The moment No. arrived / climbed into
the presidents special. that was the last car
on the train, and introduced myself to Mr..
Cullen, whom, though an official or my
road, had never met He seemed surprised
at my presence. but greeted me very pleas
antly as soon as l explained that the Mis-
souri, Western Office had asked me to do
. what I'cOuld for him. and that l was there
for that purpose. His party were about to
sit down to breakfast, and he asked me TO
join them we passed into the dining
room at the forward end of the car, where
Twas introduced to My son. Lord Rallies,
and Captain Ackland." The son was
was n junior copy of his father, tall and
fine looking, but in place of the frank and
easy manner of his sire, he was so very
English that most people would have sworn
falsely as to his native land. Lord Rallies
a little VplI-bItlt chan half
English as Albert Cullen, quick in manner
and thought being in this the opposite OF
his brother. Captain Ackland, who was
heavy enough to rock ballast a roadbed.
Both brothers gave me the impression of
being gentlemen, and both were decidedly
good looking.
After the introductions. Mr.. Cullen said he
would not wait, and his remark called my
attention to the fact that there was
more place at the table than there were
people assembled. had barely noted this,
when my host said, Here's the truant,"
and, turning, l faced lady who had just
entered Mr. Cullen said, "Madge, let me
introduce Mr.. Gordon to you" My bow
was made TO a girl of about twenty, with
light brown hair. the bluest of eyes, fresh
skin, and fine figure. dressed so nattily as
TO be TO me. after my four years of west
ern life sight for tired eyes. She greeted
me pleasantly, made neat little apology
for having kept US waiting, and then we all
sat down.
1t was a very jolly breakfast table, Mr.,
Cullen and his son being capital takers,
and Lord Rallies a good third, while Miss
Cullen was quick and clever enough to
match the three Before the meal was over
] came TO the conclusion that Lord Rallies
was i'm love with Miss Cullen, for he kept
making low asides to her. and from the fact
that she allowed them, and indeed respond
ed. 1 drew the conclusion that he was
lucky beggar. feeling, l confess. a little
pang that a title was going to win such
nice American girl
one Of the first subjects spoken OF was
train robbery, and Miss Cullen, like most
fasteners, seemed to take n great interest
in IL, and had any quantity of questions to
ask me.
1--WE left all my jewelry behind. except
my watch" she said. land that hide every
night SO | really hope We'll be held up, 1t
would be such an adventure"
There isn't any chance of it, Miss Gull
len" | told her. land If We were, you prob
ably wouldn't even know that II was hap
pening. but would sleep right through it,
wouldn't they try TO get our money and
our watches?' she demanded.
/ told her no. and explained that the ex
press and mail cars were the only ones to
which the road agents paid any attention
She wanted to know the way IL was DONE
so / described to her how sometimes the
train was tagged by danger signal. and
when Il slowed down the runner found
himself covered by armed men; or how a
gang would board the train, one by one, at
way stations, and then. when the time came