cking cough. "Fighting isn't my fort."

"Waal, I guess you'll pull a trigger if you saw a gang of masked bandits
trying to bore a hole in your head."

"I fancy I would."

"That's settled then. Now you see my stage?"

"Yes, and a queer one she is!" commented Sandy.

"She is bullet proof. I propose that as she is safer than your
ramshackle old wooden affair, all hands get inside of her, and let me
carry you through."

"But what about my horses?" asked Sandy.

"Hitch them on to this vehicle. Throw those rubbers over my stage to
hide her outline. You can also put your lamps on here and drive for us.
That will draw the bandits from cover. My friends are all armed and
ready to fire the moment they show their noses."

Every one but the lady liked the plan.

She, of course, was averse to fighting of any kind.

As there was no way out of their dilemma, and Jack's offer gave promise
of protecting them from robbery and, perhaps, death, every-one got into
the Terror.

The lamps and horses were transferred.

"You can leave the stage here," said Jack to Sandy.

"No one will molest it until you return for it to-morrow."

"Are you pretty sure about them there James Boys?"

"Decidedly, or I wouldn't have troubled myself to do this for you,"
replied Jack.

"Well, it would do no harm, even if we are disappointed about meeting
them," said the old driver.

They had been obliged to tie the traces to the Terror, but there was no
pull on them as Sandy had only to keep his horses trotting while Jack
made the machine run itself.

Owing to the gloom of the night, the rubbers on the body of the Terror,
the horses, lamps and driver any one would have imagined it was the
regular old stage coach.

The people inside talked in low tones and every man aboard held his
weapon ready for use.

Down pattered the rain drops with a monotonous sound, and the hoofs of
the four horses splashed up the muddy water from the puddles in the road
and beat on the hard ground with the regularity of clockwork.

They rattled along in this manner for quarter of an hour and ran from
the regular road into a dark canyon.

Here the walls towered up hundreds of feet.

It was a very gloomy place.

"We must be pretty near the ledge road now, ain't we?" Jack asked.

"Yes; in five minutes this 'ere canyon will swing us out on it," replied
Sandy. "That's where we're to look for them, ain't it?"

"Yes--if not sooner---"

"Hark! D'you hear that?"