Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1912-10-18

i
Marjorie's expense. Everybody felt q
good-natured grudge against her fol-
being such a mystery. The car was
ringing with hilarity, when the por
ter came stumbling in and paused al
the door, with eyes all white, hands
waving frantically, and lips fiappins
like flannel, in vain effort to speak
The passengers stopped laughing al
Marjorie, to laugh at the porter. Ash.
ton sang out:
What's the matter with you, por
ter? Are you trying to crow?"
Everybody roared at this, till the
porter finally managed to articulate:
T-t-t-train rob-rob-robbers!"
Silence shut down as If the whole
crowd had been smitten with paraly.
sis. From somewhere outside and
ahead came pop-popping as of fire.
crackers. Everybody thought, RE
volvers!" The reports were mingled
with barbaric yells that turned the
marrow in every bone to snow.
These regions are full of historic
terror. All along the Nevada route
the conductor. the brakemen and old
travellers had pointed out scene after
scene where the Indians had slaked
the thirst of the arid land with white
mans blood. Ashton. who had trav.
eled this way many times, had made
himself fascinatingly horrifying the
evening before and ruined several
breakfasts that morning in the dining.
car, by RECALLING the passengers with
stories Of pioneer ordeals, men and
women massacred in burning wagons.
or dragged away to fiendish cruelty
and obscene torture, staked out supine
on burning wastes with eyelids cut
on, bound down within reach Of rat
tlesnakes. subjected to every misery
that human deviltry could devise.
Ashton had brought his fellow pas.
sengers to a state of ecstatic excit.
ability, and, like many a recounter OF
burglar stories at night, had tuned
his own nerves to high tension.
The violent stopping of the train,
the heart-shaktng yelIs and shots out.
side, found the passengers already apt
to respond without delay to the ap-
peals of fright. After the first hush
OF dread, came the reaction to panic.
Each passenger showed his own
panic in his own way. Ashton whirled
round and round, like a horse with
the blind staggers, then bolted down
the aisle, knocking aside men and
women. He climbed on seat, pulled
down an upper berth, and, scrambling
Into 1t, tried to shut 1t on himself.
Mrs. Whitcomb was so frightened that
she assailed Ashton with fury and
Selling his feet. dragged him back in.
to the aisle, and beat him with her
fists, demanding that he protect her
and save her. for sammy's sake.
Mrs. Fosdick, rushing out of her
stateroom and not finding her lus-
cious-eyed husband, laid hold Of Jim.
mile Wellington and ordered him to
60 to the rescue Of her spouse. Mrs.
Wellington tore her hands loose, cry
Ing: Let him go, madam. He has
wife of his own to defend"
Jimmie was trying to pour out dy-
ing messages, and only sputtering, for.
getting that he had put his watch in
his mouth to hide 1t, though its chain
was still attached to his waistcoat.
Anne Cattle, who had read much
about Chinese atrocities to mission
aries, gave herself up to death, yet re-
joiced greatly that she had provided
q timely man to lean on and should
not have to enter Paradise spinster.
providing she could manage to con.
vert Ira in the next few seconds. be-
fore 1t was everlastingly too late. She
was begging her first heather to join
her in gospel hymn. But Ira was
roaring curses like pirate captain In
q hurricane, and swearing that the
villains should not rob him OF his
bride.
Mrs. Temple wrung her twitching
hands and tried to drag her husband
to his knees, crying:
"Oh, Walter, Walter, won't you
please say a prayer?-a good strong
prayer?"
But the preacher was so confused
that he answered: What's the use of
prayer in an emergency like this?"
'Walter!" she shrieked.
I'm on my va-vacation, you know"
he stammered.
Marjorie was trying at the same
time to compel Mallory to crawl under
q seat and to find a place to hide
Snoozleums. whom she was warning
not to say word. Snoozleums. lin.
derstanding only that his mistress
was in some distress, refused to stay
in his basket and kept Offering his
services and his attentions.
Suddenly Marjorie realized that
Kathleen was trying to faint in Mai
lory's arms, and forgot everything else
In determined effort to prevent her.
After the first blood-sweat of abject
fright had begun to cool, the passen.
gers came to realize that the invaders
were not after. lives, but loot. Then
came panic of miserly effort to con.
ceal treasure.
Kathleen, finding herself banished
from Mallory's protection, ran to Mrs.
Whitcomb, who had given Ashton up
as q hopeless task.
"What shall we do, oh, what, oh
what shall we do, dear Mrs. yelling.
ton?' she cried.
Don't you dare call me Mrs. Well
ington!" Mrs. Whitcomb screamed:
then she began to flutter. But we'd