The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1905-08-05
CHAPTER XXI.

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CHAPTER XXI.
In a 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
O. hundred yards, and the engine, after
humping over the sleepers, has come. to
a standstill In sand hill
WHAT The railroad not finished
end they sold me q through ticket from
Tihls to PekinI And I came by this
Transasiatic to save nine days in my
trip round the worldr' shouted the voice
of the irascible baron.
'1The baron IL mistaken" said Popof,
"the railway is completed, and IL a hun
dred yards Of rails have been lifted here,
1t has been with some criminal inten-
ton"
ITO stop the trainw 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"
1T is Ki-Tsang and his gang that we
have to do with p 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
FaruskiarT"
"He-the manager Of the Transasi-
alter"
"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 assuredIy 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.
On the right of the line, about a hun
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 a burst Of shouting
the thicket has given passage to the
gang III 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? I look at him.
His face Ia no longer the same; his fine
features have become pale, his height
has increased, there Is lightning in his
eyes.
The bandits Are a volley, 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
linht foam. Ghangir is at his side, fol-
lowed by four Mongols whom he is ex-
citing by word and gesture.
Major Noltitz and I throw ourselves
into the midst of our assailantS. Ca
terna is in front Of us, his mouth open,
his white teeth ready to bite, his eyes
blinking, his revolver Aourishing about.
The actor has given place to the old sail
or who has reappeared for the occasion.
'These beggars want 70 board us,
said he. Forward, forward, for the
honor Of the flag! To port, there, fire!
To starboard, there, fire! All together
frer'
And it was with no property daggers
he was armed, nor dummy pistols loaded
with inoffensive powder. Mol A revolver
| in each hand, he was bounding along, mr.
ing right and left, and everywhere.
Pan Chao also exposed himself brave
ly, a smile on his lips, CALAMITY leading
on the other Chinese passengers. Popot
and the railway men did their duty
bravely. Sir Francis Trevellyan, OF
Trsvellyan Hall, took matters very
coolly, but EphrInell abandoned himself
to true Yankee fury, being no less irri-
tated at the interruption to his marriage
than as to the danger run by his forty
tive packages Of artificial teeth. 1917
Faruskiar, my hero-I cannot call him
anything else-displays extraordinary In
trepidity, bearing himself the boldest in
the struggle, and when he had exhausted
his revolver, using his kandijar like a
man who had often faced death and new
er feared It.
Already there were few wounded on
18th perhaps few dead among