r the train began to move.

'"What is that fool Ed doing?" he shouted, rising to his feet.

'At that minute Ed came in, pistol in each hand, and his face ablaze.

'"Here, you cursed thief!" he cried, "I didn't come with you to rob a
train!"

'"Get outside, you fool!" roared Colonel Jim, "get outside and stop
this train. Jack has got his leg broke. Don't come another step
towards me, or I'll kill you!"

'But Ed, he walked right on, Colonel Jim backing, then there was a
shot that rang like cannon fire in the closed car, and Ed fell forward
on his face. Colonel Jim turned him over, and I saw he had been hit
square in the middle of the forehead. The train was now going at good
speed, and we were already miles away from where our horses were tied.
I never heard a man swear like Colonel Jim. He went through the
pockets of Ed, and took a bundle of papers that was inside his coat,
and this he stuffed away in his own clothes. Then he turned to me, and
his voice was like a lamb.

'"Jack, old man," he said, "I can't help you. They're going to nab
you, but not for murder. The expressman there will be your witness. It
isn't murder anyhow on my part, but self-defence. You saw he was
coming at me when I warned him to keep away."

'All this he said in a loud voice, for the expressman to hear, then he
bent over to me and whispered:--

'"I'll get the best lawyer I can for you, but I'm afraid they're bound
to convict you, and if they do, I will spend every penny of this money
to get you free. You call yourself Wyoming Ed at the trial. I've taken
all this man's papers so that he can't be identified. And don't you
worry if you're sentenced, for remember I'll be working night and day
for you, and if money can get you out, you'll be got out, because
these papers will help me to get the cash required. Ed's folks are
rich in England, so they'll fork over to get you out if you pretend to
be him." With that he bade me good-bye and jumped off the train.
There, gentlemen, that's the whole story just as it happened, and
that's why I thought it was Colonel Jim had sent you to get me free.'

There was not the slightest doubt in my mind that the convict had told
the exact truth, and that night, at nine o'clock, he identified Major
Renn as the former Colonel Jim Baxter. Sanderson placed us in a
gallery where we could see, but could not hear. The old man seemed
determined that we should not know where we were, and took every
precaution to keep