The Kendrick gazette. [volume] (Kendrick, Idaho) 1892-1968, 1905-08-18

"Quickv' said the major. "Out of the
trainy'
CHAPTER XXI.
In moment the passengers, more or
less bruised and alarmed, were out on
the track. Nothing but complaints and
questions uttered in three or four differ
ent languages amid general bewilder-
ment.
Faruskiar, Changer 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
a hundred yards, and the engine, after
humping over the sleepers, has come to
standstill In sand hill.
"What! The railroad not finished
and they sold me a through ticket from
Tifis to Pekin! And 1 came by this
Transasiatic to save nine days In my
trip round the world!' shouted the voice
of the irascible baron.
''The baron Is mistaken" said Popof,
"the railway Is completed, and If a hun
dred yards Of rails have been lifted here,
it has been with some criminal inten-
ton"
''To stop the train!' exclaim.
"And steal the treasure they are send
ing to Pekinw says Caterna.
'"There is no doubt of that" says
| Popof. "Be ready to repulse an attack"
ut is Ki-Tsang and his gang that we
| have to do with p l ask.
Ki-Tsang! The name spread among
| the passengers and caused inexpressible
| terror.
The major said to me in a low voice,
"Why Ki-Tsang? Why not my lord
Faruskiar?"
"He-the manager of the Transasi-
atic?'
| "If it Is true that the company had to
take several of these robber chiefs into
its confidence to assure the safety of the
trains"
| II will never believe that, major"
Gas you please, Monsieur Bombarnac.
But assuredly Faruskiar knew that this
pretended mortuary van contained mill
IONS"
"Come, major, this is no time for Jok
ing"
No, 1t 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.
A.
dred yards away, stretches a deep,
gloomy thicket, sort of jungle, in which
} doubtless are hidden the robbers, await
) ing the signal to pounce upon us.
. Suddenly there is burst of shouting,
the thicket 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
J stolen, and, what concerns us more in.
titnately, the passengers will be massa
cred without mercy.
D., And Faruskiar, whom Major Noltit,
> so unjustly suspected? look at him
His face is no longer the same; his fine
, features have become pale, his height
t has increased, there is lightning in his
eyes.
|, The bandits fire volley, and begir
bl.andishing their arms and shouting
Faruskiar, pistol in one hand, kandijar il
: the other, has rushed on to them, hi
4 eyes cleaning, his lips covered with
s light foam. Changer is at his side, fol
y lowed by four Mongols whom he is ex
: citing by word and gesture.
s Major Noltitz and I throw ourselves
into the midst of our assailants. Ca
n | T.. l. l.
= lis white teeth ready to bite, his eye
# blinking, his revolver fourishing about
g The actor has given place to the old sail
}. ,r who has reappeared for the occasion
!, ""rhese beggars want to board us,
k said he. Forward, forward, for tn
e honor of the flag! To port, there, fire
b To starboard, there, frel All together
fret
e And 1t was with no property dagger
k he was armed, nor dummy pistols loade,
Is In each hand, he was bounding along, fiji
a ing right and left, and everywhere.
e Pan Chao also exposed himself brave
, ly, smile on his lips, CALAMITY leadin
on the other Chinese passengers. Popo
Ell and the railway men did their dut
e bravely. Sir Francis Trevellyan, O
n, Trevellyan Hall, took matters yer
n coolly, but Ephrinell abandoned himsel
8. to true Yankee fury, being no less irr
W tated at the interruption to his marriag
e, than as to the danger run by his forty
te two packages Of artificial teeth.
D. Faruskiar, my hero-I cannot call hir
anything else-displays extraordinary il
lie trepidity, bearing himself the boldest /
re the struggle, and when he had exhauste
l. his revolver, using his kandijar like
p man who had often faced death and ne,
y. er feared 1t.
d, Already there were few wounded o
I'd both sides, perhaps a few dead amAn
Or the passengers. who lay on the line
or