Golden Days for Boys and Girls, Vol. XII, Jan. 3, 1891 | Page 8

worst desperado in that lawless country,
and knowing we had a lot of the yellow ore on board, I knew the
outlaw was after it.
"The conductor cut our stop short, but before I could get under way the
outlaws were upon us. From their sounds one would have thought all
the fiends from the lower world had been let loose.
"The boys fought like tigers, and it was a wild scene for a few minutes.

My fireman--a plucky little fellow he was, too--was snatched from my
very side, and with a volley of shot whistling about my head, I was
pulled from the cab.
"The wheels had begun to revolve and the train was moving on.
Struggling desperately with my captors, I succeeded in breaking from
them and sprang back upon the engine. Three or four of the outlaws
followed me, and among them was Gerardo himself, whom I knew by
sight.
"He was a tall, stalwart fellow, with burning black eyes, and a
countenance that would have been handsome, had it not been for a long
scar under his right jaw. It looked like a sabre-wound, and quite spoiled
the beauty of that side of the face.
"Well, knowing it was life or death with me, I pitched one after another
of those fellows off the cab, until only Gerardo was left. It surprises me
now that I could have done it; but a man never knows his strength until
put to the test. Then, you see, being on my own footing gave me an
advantage, while some of them, losing their hold on the moving engine,
fell off without any assistance of mine.
"I grappled with Gerardo, just as he was boarding the cab and before he
could establish his position, I hurled him, heels over head, down the
side of the track. At the same moment, however, I heard a sharp report
and felt a stinging sensation in my right arm, where the outlaw's bullet
had struck me.
"The firing had nearly ceased at the rear of the train, and feeling that in
another minute we should be safe, I sprang to the lever and threw the
valve wide open. With snorts and shrieks of defiance to our enemies,
the old engine obeyed me, soon gaining a rate of speed which I knew
would out-distance the baffled outlaws, whose yells I could still hear
above the thunder of the train.
"As my excitement abated my arm began to pain me fearfully, and I
found the member disabled for further use. My fireman gone, my
situation was critical, and I was wondering how the rest of the boys had

fared when I heard some one behind me.
"Half expecting to meet one of the outlaws, I turned, and was glad to
see one of the brakemen, who had come to my assistance.
"'We have repulsed them, but they are following us,' he said, in reply to
my anxious questions.
"'Well, let them follow,' I answered, 'if they think they can overtake my
Bonny Bess. Give her more fuel, Ned. You will have to be my--'
"I did not finish my sentence, for at that moment, as we shot around a
curve, great tongues of fire leaped from the track ahead of us. It was a
bridge in a blaze of flame, and in the light of the burning structure I
saw a dozen of Gerardo's band waiting our coming.
"We were going at lightning-like speed, and we were within twenty
rods of the fire when I discovered it, so I had no time to hesitate upon
my course of action. Quick as a flash I realized the trap Gerardo had
laid--our situation. To stop was to throw ourselves into the hands of his
followers, which meant death. The bridge was still standing. It might
hold us to cross over. There was at least a chance. To stop was
hopeless.
"All this seemed to come to me at one thought. I would keep on. Bonny
Bess was doing her prettiest and I gave her a free bit; that is, in our
parlance, 'linked her up.' My left hand was on the lever and my gaze
was fixed on the burning bridge, which hung, a network of fire, over
the glowing river, thirty feet below.
"I heard the shouts of the amazed outlaws above the roar of the train,
and then I felt the bridge quiver and tremble beneath me, as we were
borne over its swaying spans, amid a cloud of ashes, smoke and cinders,
which fairly blinded me.
"The blazing girders overhead sent out their forked tongues of fire, and
from the timbers below leaped up the sheets of flame until we were
enveloped in the fiery shroud. Blinded, stifled for a moment, I then felt

the cool night air