Little Falls herald., 1913-05-16

.sa. / ''e'tl1elsult|I J Y
ID lis Start
85IH By I OJJISE 4 IORNION q

II
! s# Jean Il Teteraul 1t a II rench Canadian
\ boy was born with Il III a "a bition not
1 Hasu;i TO these OF i rench ID escent iii the
Il Dominion. He decided to leave thesiit.
! tie patch# Of ground his, father worked
t|$TNith Ra gjyi eWss to en- tering a more exait
ed Ca reer vi 4. II,,1lt what ;iconld the boy
LIDO ?E He mad but iiEtle education and
was only fifteen years old. True, be
was big and strong for his age, but
what is plysicaI strength 81 the " orld' IS
1 battle! Intellect even iii h puny bod Y
is often its superior, II 3sFS i III
I The sTeterault farm was near the
railroad. and u lean would have liked
some position With the company, but
| he could not SO much as secure that
Ecf brakeman on q gravel train. HI Be-
sides the conductors and others en-
/ aployed. by the road tod MIN that even
Igif he found employment as railroad
man lie ,gould grow gray in the sery-
| ice With but n 5llleage' salary. III. SFi
1.-THE railroad ran through d cut near
the Teter;nlt farm, and on the knoll
I5throH@h when it passed was a walnut
tree. One October day lean. taking a
| bag, Went to the tree. climbed it and
began 70 81; ;thel nuts. He had nearly
filled his bag When he heard voices
appvOaching and several men came
and stood under the tree. talking with
one another. lean kept quiet and lis
tened From Wha e. the men said be
gathered that they We're intending to
stop q tgail due in a short time and
robithe express ear ts .5E
a man who was evidently in charge
assigned the positions. One was TO so
in the direction from. which the train
was expected and flag it, so that it
would come to a halt in the cut. An
other was to tackle the engineer and
kill him If necessary; another was to
look out for the conductor, while the
leader was to rob the express car.
Z Jean, if the men had gone far enough
away from the tree to permit him,
would have descended and run through
wood that ski.ted the track ahead
Of the man who was to flag the train
and given a warning. There was a
bend in the road that would have rem
dered this quite easy. But the: men
did not go away. and When the train
Wasi heard in the distance all put on
masks and got their weapons in readi-
Aness for q fight. .s k.
When the train came to stop the
express car was directly beneath the
tree in which jean Wsis lodged: He
saw man call on the engineer and
fireman to coale ont ct the cab. and
the order was obeycd. They We're
marched toward the rear of the train,
where they could not. get back into
the engine, The leader Of the gang
was endeavoring to get into the rear
door Of the express car. which had
been locked. Jean noticed that there
was not a person between this robber
and the locomotive. 1t occurred to him
that be might scramble down to the.
locomotive, get aboard and pull the
train on. But this would probably
avail nothing. Ii he could first un
couple the express car SO as to leave
the passenger cars be might carry the
robber. away from his ulporte:s.
The scheme Was Fascinating. lean
drew three or four l,;:..s :)ieathS. a
resolution W:ia forming WITHIN hin-a
resolution which might mean his
death. 'li!nrc S;is 10 tiI:.e to lose,
The chief rssh|,ni' WAS s.;s!!islg to one
Of his men i'll the rear 10 u, INTO the
wood and get piece OF timber With
which to batter down the door OF the
express car Some Of the passengers
had thrust their heads out of the car
windows. They would see him run
down to the train. bllt the robbers
were occupied. ) +. III.
Dropping from the tree. he rolled
down the declivity. crawled under the
express car and wriggled on his stOm-
ach to the rear end. The old fashioned
coupling was then still in use. ana
Jean watching his opportunity when
the rObber above him was engaged.
reached up and removed the pin Then.
scuttling rapidly under the car to its
1 frSnt end he climbed up to the plat
form and over the rear end Of the
tender. .. III " 5.f e 1: II #fsI
r Jean. having lived beside the railroad
all his life. had picked UP some knowl-
edge about how to run locomotive.
He at least knew how to start and
how to stop one. He opened the throt-
tie rather suddenly. and the locomotive
and express car started with a jerk
The robber on the rear end OF the
car. finding himself moving away from
the rest Of the train and his compant-
Ions. was puzzled to know what to do.
While he was hesitating he looked
down on the ground TO note the speed
and thought he could jump of and get
to- the engine. He tried 1t and succeed
ed, but had just caught the rail to
swing himself up Il hen ~ blow from
an iron poker caused him to release his
hold, and be dropped to the ground. 81
Owing to his condition and the speed
the engine had acquired he did not not
think it best to try again. 81 Jean d had
the express car WITH the treasure in IL