Produced by Richard Halsey
JACK WRIGHT AND HIS ELECTRIC STAGE;OR,Leagued Against the James Boys.
By "NONAME,"Author of "Jack Wright and His Electric Battery Diver," etc., etc.
CHAPTER I.THE BANDIT KING.
As the 11:30 A. M. express train from New York was speeding toward thefisher village of Wrightstown, one of the passengers went out on therear platform of the last car and intently gazed back along the rails.
He was a compactly built man, with rather rough clothing on, and thesoft felt hat on his head shaded a bearded face, which denoted a daring,reckless disposition.
A half smothered oath escaped his lips as he caught view of a locomotivechasing the train he was on, for he distinctly saw a man in the cab whomhe recognized as one of his worst enemies.
"Sheriff Timberlake!" he growled between his clenched teeth, as a darkscowl mantled his brow. "Curse him! he is hot after us now, and if heoverhauls this train he may give us no end of trouble."
"The skunk has followed us all the way from Missouri, and after we sawthe sights of New York, and gave him the slip, he must have discoveredthat we started for home in this train. Now he has evidently hired thatlocomotive to chase and capture us. I'll go in and tell the boys. Wemust keep out of his reach."
His anxiety was caused by observing that the pursuing locomotive wasslowly but surely gaining on the train.
Opening the door, he passed into the car.
It was occupied by four men, who were part of a gang of outlaws whom hecommanded, for the bearded man was the notorious bandit king, JesseJames.
The men who were with him were known as Jim Cummins, Wood Hite, ClellMiller and Frank James--a brother of Jesse.
Sitting in a bunch, they were quietly laughing and talking over theirexperience in New York, when the chief hurried in with a look of supremedisgust upon his face.
The moment the rest glanced up at him and saw it, they knew somethingout of the ordinary had happened.
"What's the matter, Jesse?" demanded Jim Cummins.
"You look as if you'd seen a ghost!" laughed Frank, jocularly.
"What sent you out on the rear platform!" asked Wood Hite.
"Timberlake is after us," said Jesse, with a steely glitter in his eyes.
"Thunder!" roared Clell Miller.
With one accord the quartet pulled revolvers from their pockets, boundedto their feet and sprang into the aisle.
A grim smile passed over the face of Jesse James for a moment, and as itfaded sway, he made as impatient gesture and said:
"He is on a locomotive that is chasing us."
"Sure!" asked Cummins, with a dubious look.
"I saw him in the caboose."
"Can he overtake us?" asked Frank.
"Eventually; but we mustn't let him."
"How can we prevent it?" queried Miller.
"By jumping off at the next curve and hiding."
"Good!" exclaimed Wood Hite, "Where's the curve?"
"Just before we reach Wrightstown."
"Let's get ready for it then," suggested Frank.
"All right," assented the bandit king; "but be careful that no onedetects us. To avoid being seen we must leave by the rear platform."
As he said this he thrust his head out the open window, and peeringahead, he studied the roadbed.
Satisfied with his scrutiny; he said to his companions:
"There's the curve about a mile ahead."
"Well?" demanded Cummins.
"The train is bound to slacken speed when it goes around. A mass oftimber, bushes and rocks abutt into the curve. It will hide ourmovements from the sheriff's view. We can easily hide there."
Stationing themselves near the rear door, they waited.
In a few minutes the cars reached the curve and went around.
As the last car turned they dashed out upon the rear platform, and oneafter another they sprang to the ground.
Then they plunged late the bushes.
Gathering speed again, the express train ran away without them, and afew minutes afterward a locomotive came flying along in pursuit of itwith an engineer, a stoker and the sheriff in the cab.
The bandits glared from their coverts at Timberlake like so many wildbeasts as he sped by, ignorant of the trick they played upon him, andnearly all of them gripped their pistols with a burning desire to fireat him.
It would have been too rash to do that.
In fact Jesse observed their anxiety, and hissed in warning tones:
"Don't drop him!"
In a moment more the locomotive was gone.
The outlaws emerged from their places of concealment.
"How long before Timberlake will discover our ruse?" asked Frank.
"If the train goes on, not for an hour yet," replied Jesse, as he cast aswift glance around. "But we are in a sorry plight now."
"How do you mean?"
"You know we all lost every dollar we had, playing faro in the city. Howare we going to ride back to Missouri without a cent? It's my opinionthat we'll have to do some work about Wrightstown to get ahead. The lastdollar I had went for the purchase of tickets to Missouri, which we gavethe conductor."
The gang looked very glum.
"What sort of a place is Wrightstown?" asked Cummins, finally.
"I've heard that it's a fisher village. A young fellow named Jack Wrightlives there. He's an inventor of electric machines for flying throughthe air, navigating under water, and running over the land. Everybodyhas heard of him. He has the reputation of being one of the richest boysin the country. By means of his famous inventions he has made a barrelof money."
"Then he's our game," said Frank, decisively.
"Yes," assented Jesse. "He's about the only one from whom we couldexpect to make a rich haul. I hope he's at home. I've got a plan in viewnow by means of which I can bunco him out of several thousands ofdollars, if we can operate the game before the Wrightstown Bank closes."
"What are you going to do?" eagerly asked Miller.
"I'll show you when I try the trick. It's a very smooth game, and if I'mclever enough I'll succeed. Come on to the village, and see if we canoperate it. We've got to have money. If we can't get it by means of theplan in view, I'm going to lay out the first man I meet, and go throughhim."
The rest chuckled at this remark.
Going to the village, they found it to be a thriving place at the headof a beautiful bay on the Atlantic sea coast.
There was a bank on the main street, and when it was located, Jesse saidto Frank:
"In nearly all banks there is a desk or table, for the benefit ofdepositors, on which are pens, ink, deposit slips, and blank checks. Yougo into the bank, and pocket several of the checks. There's an oldhostelry down there near the bay called the Sea Spider House. We willregister there, and you'll find us in the bar room."
Frank James nodded, and in a moment his compact and wiry body was goingrapidly down the street.
Although Frank was a desperate, fearless ruffian, he had a pleasantface, keen gray eyes, a light mustache, and a most quiet air andunassuming manner.
No one would have suspected him of being a bandit, and as he was afairly good talker, full of grit and coolness, and best suited for thework in hand, Jesse trusted him implicitly.
The outlaws registered at the hostelry with as much sang froid as iftheir pockets were lined with gold.
They patronized the bar liberally, had the drinks charged to theiraccount, and ordered a fine luncheon.
Frank soon returned.
He had the blank checks.
Handing them to Jesse he said in low tones:
"No trouble at all. The clerks paid no attention to me."
/>
"They'll soon have reason to remember us," grimly answered Jesse.
Telling his companions to remain there until he returned, he left thehotel, asked a pedestrian the way to Jack Wright's house, and havingreceived the desired information, made his way there.
It proved to be a magnificent mansion, standing in the midst of ahandsome garden which sloped down to a creek.
There was a fine big workshop standing at the foot of the garden, uponthe bank of this creek, in which the young inventor constructed themachines that made him world renowned.
Jesse James boldly ascended the piazza, rang the bell, and an old sailorwith a sandy beard, a glass eye and a wooden leg, answered it.
His name was Tim Topstay, and he lived with the inventor and not onlyaided him to build his inventions, but always went with Jack on theadventurous
Jack Wright and His Electric Stage; Page 1
