The Newark journal., 1909-03-05

He was awakened suddenly from
his nap by a snort from the leaders,
followed by the crisp command:
Hands up"
jim rubbe y his eyes stupidity and
stared ahead rough the cloud of dust.
The wheel mules were bumped up in
their breeching, with the rest of the
team backed in against them con-
fusedly. The leaders were kicking and
squealing. Again the voice said
sharply:
Hands up" And as the dust
cleared away, man with double
barreled shotgun at his shoulder grad
ually took shape at the side of the
road
"Dey's up, dey's up! Put down de
gun, TO de Lords sake! Deys up!'
Two dark brown palms were raised
skyward The man lowered the gun
and looked searchingly into the ebony
face
The man was tall and roughly
dressed and his features were masked
by a thick, matted black beard that
covered the face almost to the points
of the cheek bones. Another man,
shorter than the first, swarthy like an
indian, and hideous from the loss of
! an eye, emerged from behind the lead
ers' heads and the two held a wills
pered consultation jim sat on the
high seat with appraised hands watch
ing them covertly. his small eyes still
| blinking The men conversed for
/ few moments and then the one with
.I,e- gun 5..asaeed and propt,ed up his
| foot on the spokes of the forewheel.
Look here-you," he said savagely,
his fingers playing with the trigger of
the weapon that lay across his knee.
kin you drive this here outfit over
| fuckers Cut in the dark?'
Jim looked down at the shotgun
and then at the one 2yed man, whose
single orb glared al him ominously
from under the dirty remnant of
/ Mexican sombrero.
4 amt gone an train desc we're
mules 70 nothin',' was the enigmati-
cal reply The man below made
gesture of satisfaction
well, that's what we want Let's
come to business. We've got a schoon-
er at Goodalls old landing, bout ten
miles above Moss. Thip here load OF
quicksilver Is worth bout ten thou
sand dollars to us an were goin' to
have it. Now, there1l be five hundred
dollars in yer pocket if you haul it
safe TO the landing. You git yer mon
~ when we git the stuff aboard
Stand in on this deal an you kin go
back an tell 'em you wuz held up, or
any old thing. Well be on the way to
Mexico-we won't care. If you won't
stand in-well-"
He patted the stock of the gun sig
lifcantly and glanced at his com
panion, whose yisage distorted itself
into a horrible grin. Jim took off his
nat and nerYously mopped his head
With a red bandana handkerchief.
We'll. what d you say? Are you
soin' to stand in an make the five
hundred, er are We goin' to throw yer
corpse under the bridge an take the
cam ourselves?" He impatiently
jerked his thumb toward a little
stream crossing the road a hundred
yards ahead
ZEE Miss Fannie an Miss Jennie
goes ober de cut, ole Jim goes too"
He paused moment and looked at
the two men expressively. Il reckon
de five hundred bucks doan' grow on
many oh de trees roun' yere, SO ole
Jim's goin to make hay fer shore
while de sun shines"
He smiled broadly, and in spite of
the mixed metaphor involved the two
| seemed to understand him perfectly.
That's the business" affirmed the
man with the gun. 1--WE don't want
to have no shootin' or nothin' like
| that in this job Do we, Joe?'
| Again the horrible grimaee spread
/ over the face of the man with one eye.
He shook his head by way of answer.
clambered into Little Betsy and
| stretched out at full length on the
sacks of grain The other man fol-
lowed and seated himself on the pile
of hay, the shotgun resting across his