The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1917-01-27

girl as SIpBSN loOlDdIi payer lllEhl
weakly HI himself agai, the op.
posing line. and the sheer impact Of
his weight sent them both SPRAYING
several yards up the trail which Dor
dered the ravine. Even as EnOCh
Golden and Captain Bracket rushed
to lay hands on Margery's supposed
assailant the flying mass of rock thun-
dered across the space where they all
had been standing but the second be
fore and sweeping every obstacle out
of its path. went crashing and rever-
berating into the depths of the yawn-
ing chasm far below.
1t was the hardy police officer, in
ured 10 the shock and tumult of con-
let by the experience of many years, /
who first recovered his self-possessiOn
and noted a one-eyed man stealthily
making his way out of a deep and
cayernOus fiSsure In some nearby
rocks. Over one shoulder this villain
Ous-faced prOwler bore a burlap sack
which gave out a clanking sound as
he felt his way step by step along
the rough trail.
The captain made up in valor what |
he lacked in discretion, and, Juggling
out his heavy service revolver. he
rushed after that skulking gangster.
loudly calling on him to surrender in
the name of the law. But One-Lamp
Louie had no apparent intention Of
sUrrendering either himself or the
coveted bag of loot to that wrathful
guardian OF public morals. Instead,
he cOoHy dropped to one knee and
lived IN to his reputation of being
the handjcst gunman in Legar's hard
shooting gang by sending a bullet neat
ly drilled through the police captains
shoulder.
But he did not know as he lodged !
| his way among the shadowy tree |
! trunks that a youthful figure armed |
with heavy police revolver, a reso- |
! lute-faCed girl and an elderly white |
| haired man were rapidly closing in |
| on him. As he broke from cover and |
started up the railroad embankmcnt |
he ripped out a hasty oath as he saw
| his pursUeTs emerging from the woods |
| a short distance below him. At the !
| same moment they saw that sinister
| figure with the burlap sack and came
| toward him on the run.
One-Lamp Louie instantly reached |
| the conclusion that it was safer to
run than to fight, and he pounded up
the ties with rapid strides.
Fifty yards up the track the gang
! ster saw a battered old switching en-
| CINE standing by a dripping water
| tank. He leaped aboard and opened
the throttle.
AS the self-constituted posse came
| tc a baiIled stop close by the water
tank they saw an eyilly grinning fig.
uTe leaning out from the cab of the
fast receding engine a figure whose
hand waved knocking signal of fare
well in true railroad style.
A few feet distant from the water
tank was a small, boXlike shanty con-
tanning the levers manipulating va
| riouS switches. In front of this shanty
stood distraught engineer. volubly
cursng the bold depredator who had
robbed him of his iron charge. Sud
denly a new look of CONSERVATION
flashed into his eyes and he turned
in a frenzy of excitement to his grimy.
faced assistant
We've got to throw that devil off
the main line. Gus" he shouted as he
dived into the boxlike structure. The
Overland is due any second. They'll
crash together head on"
Almost as he spoke the last words
he damned over one of the shining
levers with all his strength At that
moment came a long-drawn screech-
ing whistle. accompanied by the grind.
ing sound of hastily applied airbrakes.
| Down the level stretch Of track the
Onlookers, gripped in an agony OF sus-
pense, saw the heavy Overland ex-
press rushing at top speed straight for
the numbering freight engine. The in.
| tervening space between those speed
ing iron-clad monsters lcssened with
| every second.
With set faces the little group by
the water tank steeled themselves for
that seemingly inevitable crash of col
lision. But at that crucial instant the
! outlaw engine swerved with inCredt
BILE swiftness and shot off into tho
long siding, just as the express thun.
dered past with it's dozen coaches OF
human freight.
Like a crazy Malay running amuck
tho engine, with the desperate at its
throttle, tore down the siding toward
a startled group of laborers who had
been ripping out defective rail. Amid
a babble of warning shouts the engine
struck that deadly gap, and bereft of
its steel guides. plowed wildly for
short distance along the ties, and then,
enveloped in a swirling cloud of steam,
plunged headlong over the steep en-
bankment Under that shapeless mass
of twisted metal which had once been
a staid old switching engine the white
faced pursuers Of One-Lamp Louie
found the crushed and lifeless form Of
the unregenerate gunman huddled
across a burlap sack OF stolen plato
With a gesture of distress Margery
Golden turned away from that repul-
siye, death-stilled figure.
please take me home" She said