30 WITH GUN AND GUIDE 



signal of four blasts of the locomotive whistle which I 

 was to ask the engineer to blow on nearing the water 

 tank coming back. Then they were to show them- 

 selves and we were to agree upon plans for the capture 

 of the outlaws. 



In carrying out this plan the train was successfully 

 boarded ; an hour and a half afterward I landed in the 

 town, found my way to the court-house and swore out a 

 warrant. There were three constables in the town; 

 two of them pleaded other important business, and de- 

 clined to go with me. The third, a veteran of the 

 Civil War, a small wiry " cuss," said that he was glad 

 to have a chance to arrest that bunch, because he had 

 a record of them which showed them to be " villains of 

 the deepest dye." He took a revolver, a large sheath 

 knife, and five pairs of handcuffs (" an extra pair, you 

 see, if they should be needed," he said), and then we 

 went to the superintendent of the railroad for the 

 needed permits to flag and to ride on the trains. These 

 having been procured, we had something to eat and then 

 waited around the depot until a train was ready to start, 

 for this town was a division point on the railroad. 



We rode on the engine. The train was a heavy one 

 and the grade so steep that it was necessary to have a 

 " pusher " engine part of the way. In due time the 

 water-tank was reached, the four blasts from the 

 engine brought my companions to our side, and the 

 final plans were laid. 



