Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1905-08-19
CHAPTER XXI.

| questions uttered in three or TOUR ulHer-
ent languages, amid general bewilder-
ment
Faruskiar. Ghangir and the four Mon
gols were the first to jump off the cars.
They are out on the line, kandijar in one
hand revolver in the other. No doubt
an attack has been organized to pillage
the train.
The rails have been taken up for about
hundred yards, and the engine, after
humping over the sleepers, has come to
a standstill in a sand hill
"What! The railroad not finished
and they sold me through ticket from
Tifis to Pekinl And l came by this
Transasiatc to save nine days in my
trip round the worldr' shouted the voice
of the irascibe baron.
''The baron is mistaken" said Popof.
'the railway is completed, and if n hun
dred yards of rails have been lifted here,
It has been with some criminal inten-
ton"
ITO stop the train I exclaim.
And steal the treasure they are send
ing to Pekinr' says Caterna.
There is no doubt of that" says
Popof. BE ready to repulse an attack"
at is Ki-Tsang and his gang that we
have to do with 2" | ask.
Ki-Tsang The name spread among
the passengers and caused inexpressible
terror.
The major said to me in low voice
why Ki-Tsang? Why not my lord
Faruskiar?'
'He-the manager of the Transasi
atic?'
"If 1t is true that the company had to
take several of these robber chiefs into
its confidence to assure the safety of the
trains"
81 will never believe that, ma jor'
"As you please. Monsieur Bombarnac.
Bnt assuredly Faruskiar knew that this
pretended mortuary van contained mill
lens"
Come, major, this is no time for jok-
ing"
No. it was the time for defending and
defending ones self courageously. The
Chinese officer has placed his men around
the treasure van. They are twenty in
number, and the rest of the passengers,
not counting the women, amount to thir-
ty. Popof distributes the weapons,
which are carried in case of attack.
Major NOltitz, Caterna, Pan Chao Eph-
rinell, driver and stoker, passengers, Ash
attic and European, all resolve to fight
for the common safety.
On the right of the line, about a hun
dred yards away, stretches deep,
gloomy thicket n sort of jungle, In which
doubtless are hidden the robbers. await
ing the signal to pOunce upon us.
Suddenly there is a burst of shouting
the thcket has given passage to the
gang in ambush-some sixty Mongols
nomads of the Cobb. If these rascals
: beat us. the train will be pillaged the
: treasure of the Son of Heaven will be
stolen, and. what concerns us more in
timately. the passengers will be massa-
! cred without mercy.
And Faruskiar, whom Major Noltitz
so unjustly suspected? | look Mt him.
D His face is no longer the same; his fine
features have become pale his height
has increased, there is lightning in his
e eyes.
The bandits fire voley, and begin
brandishing their arms and shouting.
Faruskiar, pistol in one hand, kandijar in
the other. has rushed on to them. his
eyes cleaning. his lips covered with a
light foam. Ghangr is at his side, fol-
lowed by four Mongols whom he is ex-
, citing by word and gesture.
Major Noltitz and l throw ourselves
: into the midst of our ASSISTANTS. Ca
o tcrna is in front of us, his mouth open
his white teeth ready to bite, his eyes
l. blinking, his revolver fiourishing about
; The actor has given place to the old sail.
Il OF who has reappeared for the occasion
> ''rhese beggars want to board u.s.
Il said he. Forward, forward, for tn,
Il honor of the flag! To port, there fire
= To starboard, there, fire. All together
e fre!'
And 1t was with no property dagger,
2 he was armed, nor dummy pistols loaded
h with inoffensive powder. Mo- revolver
IS in each hand. he was bounding along, fir
y ing right and left, and everywhere
g Pan Chao also exposed himself brave
Is ly, smile on his lips, CALAMITY leading
on the other Chinese passengers. POpo
q and the railway men did their duty
= bravely. Sir Francis Trevellyan, o.
II rrevellyan Hail. took matters very
g coolly, but Ephrinell abandoned himself
e. to true Yankee fury. being no less irri
D. tated at the interruption to his marriag,
than as to the danger run by his forty
e two packages of artificial teeth.
u Faruskiar, my hero-I cannot call hin
anything else-displays extraordinary in
lie trepidty, bearing himself the boldest il
k the struggle, and when he had exhauste,
J. his revolver, using his kandijar like
is man who hud often faced death and new
a er feared it.
Re Already there were a few wounded oil
E. both sides, perhaps a few dead amonl
the passengers. who lay on the line.
ell have had my shoulder grazed by a bullet
lie simple scratch l have hardly noticed
n. The Rev. Nathaniel Morse does not thin
N that his sacred character compels him I
s. cross his arms, and, from the way h
W works, one would not imagine that
g. was the first time he has handled fire
lie arms. Caterna has his hat shot through
n He utters something about thunder an
port hole, and then, taking a most dc
lie liberate aim. shoots stone dead the rufia
re who has taken such a liberty with hi
IL best headgear.
D. For ten minutes or so the battle cor
y. tinues with most alarming alterations
d. The number of wounded on both sides il
ID creases. and the issue is still doubtful
or Faruskiar and Ghangir and the Mongol
IN have been driven back toward the pr'
er cious van, which the Chinese guard hay
lis not left for an instant. But two q
- three Of them have been MORALLY woun'
ed, and their officer has just been kille
er by a bullet in the head. And my her
re does all that the most ardent courag
Of can do for the defense Of the treasul
II. Of the Son Of Heaven.
l am getting uneasy at the prolongi
d. ton Of the combat. Ii will continr
he evidently as long as the chief Of II
a banda tall man with a black beard