waiting for the rider whom he was to relieve.
There was a clatter of hoofs, and a horseman dashed up and flung him
the saddlebags. Will threw them upon the waiting pony, vaulted into the
saddle, and was off like the wind.

The first relay station was reached on time, and Will changed with
hardly a second's loss of time, while the panting, reeking animal he had
ridden was left to the care of the stock-tender. This was repeated at
the end of the second fifteen miles, and the last station was reached a
few minutes ahead of time. The return trip was made in good order, and
then Will wrote to us of his new position, and told us that he was in
love with the life.

CHAPTER IX. -- WILL AS PONY EXPRESS RIDER.

AFTER being pounded against a saddle three dashes daily for three
months, to the tune of fifteen miles an hour, Will began to feel a
little loose in his joints, and weary withal, but he was determined
to "stick it out." Besides the daily pounding, the track of the Pony
Express rider was strewn with perils. A wayfarer through that wild
land was more likely to run across outlaws and Indians than to pass
unmolested, and as it was known that packages of value were frequently
dispatched by the Pony Express line, the route was punctuated by
ambuscades.

Will had an eye out every trip for a hold-up, but three months went by
before he added that novelty to his other experiences. One day, as he
flew around a bend in a narrow pass, he confronted a huge revolver in
the grasp of a man who manifestly meant business, and whose salutation
was:

"Halt! Throw up your hands!"

Most people do, and Will's hands were raised reluctantly. The highwayman
advanced, saying, not unkindly:

"I don't want to hurt you, boy, but I do want them bags."

Money packages were in the saddlebags, and Will was minded to save them
if he could, so, as the outlaw reached for the booty, Will touched the
pony with his foot, and the upshot was satisfactory to an unexpected
degree. The plunge upset the robber, and as the pony swept over him he
got a vicious blow from one hoof. Will wheeled for a revolver duel, but
the foe was prostrate, stunned, and bleeding at the head. Will disarmed
the fellow, and pinioned his arms behind him, and then tied up his
broken head. Will surmised that the prisoner must have a horse hidden
hard by, and a bit of a search disclosed it. When he returned with the
animal, its owner had opened his eyes and was beginning to remembe