Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-02-18
most Of them quIvering as from an

most Of them qulverlng as from ah
Arkansas chill.
Presently Cranston herded the pas
sengers In from the forward coaches.
With them were most Of the train
crew.
"We're cutting off the express car
and going forward to 'Dobe Wells with
It. There we can blow open the safe
uninterrupted" Bad Bill explained.
i"You sherd ION the passengers here
from the outside till you hear two,
shots, then hump yourself forward and
hop on the express cur" :,
Fine! Curly was to stand out there
in the moonlight and let anybody in
the car that had the nerve pepper
away at him. If they did not attend
to the Job of riddling him. his false
friends would do it while he was run
ming forward to. get aboard. Nothing
could have been simpler-if he had not
happened to have had inside informa.
tIon Of their intent.
He had to think quickly, for the
plans Of him and his friends had been
deranged. They had reckoned on the ex-
press car being rifled on the spot. This
would have given Cullison time to
reach the scene of action. Now they
would be too late. Unless Curly could
stop 1t, the holdup would so through
according to the program of Soapy
and not Of his enemies.
The decision Of Flandrau was In
Simultaneous. He. slid down beside the
track into the long grass. Whipping
up one. Of his guns, he fred. As If IN
answer to the 3rst shot his revolver
cracked twice. simultaneously, he let
out a cry of pain, wrlggled back for n
dozen yards through the grass, and
crossed the track in the darkness. AS
he crouched down close to the wheels
of the sleeper some one came running
back on the other side.
"What's up, Sam? You hlt?" he could
hear Blackwell whisper.
No answer came. The paroled con.
vict was standing close to the car for
fear of being hit himself and he dared
not move.
"Sam," he called again; then, Hes
sure got his"
That was all Curly wanted to know.
Softly he padded forward, Keeping as
low as he could till he reached the
empty sleepers. A brakeman was just
uncouplIng the express car when Curly
dIyed underneath and nestled close to
the trucks:
From where he lay. he could almost
have reached out and touched Soapy
standing by the car.
"What about the kid?" Stone asked
Blackwell as the latter came up.
"They got him. Didn't you hear him
yelp?"
"Yes, but did they put him out Of
business? See his body?"
Blackwell had no intention Of going
back into the fire zone and making
sure. For his part he was satisfied. So
he lied. e..
- "Yep: Blew the top Of his head off,
"Good," Soany nodded. "That's II
receipt in full for Mr.. Luck Culllson."
Before many minutes the engine be'
gan to slow down. The wheels had
hardly stopped moving when Curly
crept out, plowed through the sand, up
the rubble of little hill, and into a
draw where bunch of scrub oaks Of
fered cover. -..
A voice from in front called to him.
Just then the moon appeared from be-
hind drifting clouds.
"Oh, It's you, Sam. Everything all
rlght?"
-'"Rieht as the wheat. We're blow
ing open the safe now" ,Flandrau an
Swered
Moving closer. he saw that his qncs'
toner was the man In charge Of the
horses. Though he knew the voice. he
could not put name to its owner
But this was not the point that FIRST
occupied his mind. There were onl!
four horses for FIVE riders. Curly knew
UU" Llldt ue tlOu tIOl bSclI tHiSl"hEh
Soapy had expected one of his allie:
to stay on the field of battle. had pre-
pared for it from the beginning. The
knowledge Of this froze any "emnr@
the young vaquero might have felt.
He pushed his revolver against thr
teeth of the horse wrangler.
"Don't move, you bantly.les-rf
maverick, or III fill your hide full OF
holes. And If you want to keep OF
living paddock that mouth OF yours"
In spite Of his surprise the MAJ
caught the point at once. He turned
over his weapons without word.
Curly unwound rope from one q
the saddles and dropped loop rnnn'
the neck of his prisoner. The two mcI
mounted and rode out of the draw. TIN
outlaw leading the other two horses
AS soon as they reached the bluff
above Flandrau outlined TIE next sipl
in the program.
"We'll stay here in the tornilla ant
see what happens, my friend. Un'es
you've q fancy to get lead po!sunin,
keep ,stlll.'
"yVho 10 Mexico are you?" the caI'
tured man asked.
'nIi's yolir showdown. Skin off tha