Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1924-06-19
CHAPTER v
A Bad Break for pinsdaIe.


In dark room at the back Of a Chi
nese washhouse several men sat in
silence, waiting. Then the Mongolian
stationed outside the door raised a
sing-song voice and was answered
briefly in Chinese. The group in the
room Strengthened to attention. Some
one crossed the room and drew the in
side bolt. The door opened, but even
had there been light the inmates of
the room would have beheld figure so
heavily muf1ied as to defy recognition.
AS 1t was, no man could see his neigh
Dor.
"Who comes?" softly demanded the
man who had admitted the other men.
"The one who always comes last.
Number One"
1--WE are ready for your talk" an
nounced the first speaker, returning to
| his chair.
"How are you known asked Mum
Der One.
''The one who always comes first to
the meeting place. Number Two"
"Whom have you admitted?'
''Three, Four and Six"
"Five?"
Unreliable tonight. Drink"
Unreliable this night from drink, he
will be unreliable on other and more
| important nights" said Number One.
"He should be dropped from the rolls
even as we have threatened to drop
him twice before this. He might send
us all to the moose. How do you voter"
There was slight pause, then in Sc
quence the different voices called out:
ssTWo."
"Three."
-Four"
"Six."
"One. 1t is unanimous. How shall
| 1t be best done? He must have no
chance TO talk"
IF it can be left for me, Number
Two, to arrange"
''It is left for you to arrange within
forty-eight hours" ruled Number One.
"Now let us finish quickly. None of US
| is satisfied with the results Only if
teen thousand taken from the stages
within the last six weeks. Passengers
have been warned at Cheyenne and Sid
ney to bring but little money in on
their persons. The horse-ranch, even,
| is better paying. There Is but one Job
| in the hills that is worth while-one of
the treasure-coaches. One coach cap
tured means at least two hundred thou
sand dollars, perhaps two hundred and
| fifty thousand. And the time soon
comes when it will be useless to try for
such a prize"
''Then let's get the next one to go
out. It's been held over and will carry
full load" eagerly said Number Two.
First, we've got to have more men"
croaked harsh voice. 1--WE amt strong
enough to handle twelve guards and
get away with the bullion"
Number Three, you speak only a
half truth" corrected the leader. I'VE
have enough men. It's too late to take
In new hands. But we can't handle
dozen until we plan to place our men
to the best advantage. Then 1t will be
simple. We must have at least two of
our men among the guards, thus cut
ting their number down to ten
1.-TWO of the regular guards will get
through just before the coach makes
the trip. Two of our men must at once
ask for jobs as guards. The time will
be too short for the management to
hesitate. Number Three will be one of
the men. Number Four shall be the
other man. In brief the. plan is this:
4 ~ lyvn
Number Three must ride ahead with
the advance guard Number -Four
must be one of the eight riding beside
the coach. When Number Three gets
opposite our ambush he should be out
of sight of the coach, as the ambush
will be beyond bend in the road. He
will strike his man down. We In am
bush will pull the fellow out of the
road and take care Of his horse. Num-
Der Three will ride back bit and sig
nal for one of the coach guards to join
him. If more than one rides up, all
the better This guard, or guards,
must be disposed Of quietly as was the
first. We in ambush will help, using
the moose If possible. Their horses
IuuSC uoL NC 1AASnlOA0u dAu must NC Sc
cured In the woods. At the very least
we will have cut down the number of
guards TO eight, with but seven by the
coach, one of these being Number
-Four. Number Three will wait oppo-
site the ambush until the coach comes
up. He and Number Four will take
the six guards by surprise, covering
them with four six-guns. We In am
bush will instantly take hand and
secure the six. Three and Four will
then gallop back to meet the two rear
guards and take them by surprise. 1
already have q safe cache for the bull