ing noiselessly from the pistols, and bursting with terrific force
when they struck.

A roar went up from the bandits.

"Jesse!" yelled one of the men.

The bandit king gazed at the three daring fellows in surprise.

Raising his pistol, he aimed and fired at Jack, there sounded a metallic
click as the ball struck the aluminum suit, and then the inventor
uttered a mocking laugh.

"Here's your bullet back, Jesse James!" he cried.

Then he fired a shot at the bandit.

CHAPTER IX.
A CLEVER RUSE.

The bullet from Jack's pneumatic pistol struck Jesse James, and a hoarse
yell of pain escaped the bandit king.

He reeled back and would have fallen, had not Oll Shepard caught him in
his arms.

"I'm wounded!" he gasped.

"Who are they?" hissed Shepard.

"Jack Wright. I recognize his voice."

"There's only three of them."

"But they are firing bomb-shells."

"We'll bring them down!"

He yelled to the gang, and over a score of rifles and pistols were aimed
at Jack, the Dutchman, and the sailor.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang! rattled the shots.

A hail of leaden pellets struck the trio.

But their suits shed the bullets as if they were rain drops, and they
continued to pour a deadly fire into the outlaws.

Every time a bullet burst it either scattered and injured many or else
it lodged in a solitary man and blew a big piece out of him.

It was impossible to withstand such fire.

The worst of it was their bullets failed to injure the three.

As man after man was getting wounded Jesse gasped:

"By heavens, we'll have to retreat!"

"This is awful, and only three of them too!" groaned Bill Chadwell.

"To horse!" roared Jesse.

He had recovered from the shock of the shot he got and the whole gang
made a rush for the bushes firing back at Jack and his friends as they
went.

By this time the train crew recovered from their panic, and those of the
passengers who had weapons drew them and began firing out the windows.

The bandits broke into a run.

"That settles them!" cried Jack. "They see that they can't hurt us,
while we stand an excellent chance of killing them."

"Chase 'em! They've got Timberlake yet," said Tim.

The outlaws' horses were concealed among the shrubbery, and they mounted
and sped away through the railroad cut.

Jack and his friends ran after them.

The inventor now saw the sheriff.

One of the outlaws held him on a horse.

Jack aimed at the animal and fired a shot.

True to i