The Bottineau courant., 1912-09-06
ITS your opinion then that we'd best

o. 4 ( 3si
Il "Of course since we can't rum
Wedgewcod broke in impatiently:f
Well, / consider 1t dastardiy out
iage. I'll not submit to it. I'm
subject OF His Majesty the
You're a subject of His Majesty
the Man Behind the Cum" said Mall
lory.
Il shall protest. none the less
Wedgewood insisted
Mallory grinned little. "Have You
any last message to send home to
your mother?"
Wedgewood was q trihe chilled at
this. "D-don't talk of such things" he
said.
And by this time the train.robbers
had hastily worked their way through
the other passengers, and reached tho
frantic inhabitants OF the sleeper.
"Snowdrop."
Hands up! Higher!! Hands up!"
With true sense of the dramatic.
the robbers sent ahead of them the
most hair-raising yells. They arrived
simultaneously at each end Of the
aisle, and with few short sharp COM
mands, Strengthened the disorderlyl
rabble into a beautiful line, with all
palms aloft and all eyes wide and
wild.
One robber drove ahead of him the
conductor and the other drove In Mr..
Manning, whom he had found trying
to crawl between the shelves of the
linen-closet. st
The marauders were apparently
cattlemen. from their general get-up.
Their hats were pulled low, and just
beneath their eyes they had drawn
big black silk handkerchiefs, tied be.
hind the ears and hanging to the
breast. fiG ft
Over their shoulders they had slung
the feed-bags of their horses, to serve
as receptacles for their swag Their
shirts were chalky with alkali dust.
Their legs were encased In heavy
chaparejos, and they carried each Q
pair of well-used Colts revolvers that
looked as big as artillery.
. When the passengers had showed
and jostled into line, one of the men
jabbed the conductor in the back with
the muzzle of his gun, and snarled:
"Now speak your little piece, like
learned 1t to you."
The conductor, like an awkward
schoolboy, grinned sheepishly, and
spoke, his hands In the air the while:
Ladies and gents, these here par
ties In the black tides says they want
everybody to hold his or her hands
as high as possible till you git per-
mission to lower 'em; they advise you
not to resist, because they hate the
sight of blood, but prefer it to argu-
ment."
The impatient robbers, themselves
the prey of fearful anxietles, broke In.
barking like pair of coyotes in q
jumble of commands: "Now, line up
with your backs that way. and no
back talk These guns shoot awful
easy. And remember, as each party
is finished with, they are to turn
round and keep their hands up, on
penalty of gittin' 'em shot on. Line
up! Hands up! Give over there!"
Mrs. Jimmie Wellington took her
time about moving into position, and
her deliberation brought a howl OF
wrath from the robber: Get into that
lime, you!"
! Mrs. Wellington whirled on him:
f'How dare you, you brute?" And sha
turned up her nose at the gum
/! The anxious conductor intervened:
Better obey, madame; he's an ugly
lad"
Il don't mind being robbed" said
Mrs. Jimmie, "but I won't endure
rudeness"
The robber shook his head in de.
spa1r, and he tried to wither her with
sarcasm: "Pardong, mamselly, would
you be 50 kind and oondescendin' as
to step into that there car before {
blow your husbands golblame head
off,"
This brought her to terms. She
,hastened to her place, but put out q
restraining hand on Jimmie, who need
!ed no, restraint Certainly, to save
my dear husband. Don't strike him.
Jimmie!" It
Then each man stuck one revolver
into It's convenient holster, and, GOV.
ering the passengers with the other.
proceeded to frisk away valuables
with q speed and agility that would
have looked prettier II those impa.
tient-looking muzzles had not pointed
here, there and everywhere with such
venomous threats.
And so they worked from each ent
Of the car toward the middle. Their
hands ran swiftly over bodies with q
loathsome familiarity that could only
be resented, not revenged. Their
hands dived into pockets, and up
sleeves, and into women's hair, every.
where that jewel or bill might be.
secreted. And always rough growI
or q swing Of the revolver silence0
any protest.
Their heinous fingers had hardly
begun to ply, when the solemn still
ness was broken by chuckls ana
low boot Of laughter, darkey's unctu.
ous! laughter. At such a place It was