s place? It would be worth doing just to
catch sight of Soapy's face when he took the mask off after the robbers
had been captured.

"What's the use?" Davis protested. "It's an unnecessary risk. They might
shoot you in place of Sam."

"I'll look out for myself. Don't worry about that. Before the time for
getting rid of Sam comes Mr. Soapy and his bunch will be prisoners."

They argued it out, but Curly was set and could not be moved. He dressed
in young Cullison's clothes and with Maloney took the express at 9:57.
Davis remained to guard Sam.

Curly's watch showed 10:17 when the wheels began to grind from the setting
of the air brakes. He was in the last sleeper, Dick in the day coach near
the front. They had agreed that Dick was to drop off as soon as the train
slowed down enough to make it safe, whereas Curly would go on and play
Sam's part until the proper time.

The train almost slid to a halt from the pressure of the hard-jammed
brakes. A volley of shots rang out. Curly slipped the mask over his face
and rose with a revolver in each hand. He had been sitting at the end of
the car, so that nobody noticed him until his voice rang out with a crisp
order.

"Hands up! Don't anybody move!"

An earthquake shock could not have alarmed the passengers more. The color
was washed completely from the faces of most of them.

"Reach for the roof. Come, punch a hole in the sky!" To do it thoroughly,
Curly flung a couple of shots through the ceiling. That was enough. Hands
went up without any argument, most of them quivering as from an Arkansas
chill.

Presently Cranston herded the passengers in from the forward coaches. With
them were most of the train crew. The front door of the car was locked so
that they could not easily get out.

"We're cutting off the express car and going forward to 'Dobe Wells with
it. There we can blow open the safe uninterrupted," Bad Bill explained.
"You ride herd on the passengers here from the outside till you hear two
shots, then hump yourself forward and hop on the express car."

Fine! Curly was to stand out there in the moonlight and let anybody in the
car that had the nerve pepper away at him. If they did not attend to the
job of riddling him, his false friends would do it while he was running
forward to get aboard. Nothing could have been simpler--if he had not
happened to have had inside information of their intent.

He had to think quickly, for the plans of him and his friends had