s the robber spoke to me, the old man
reached over in front of me and fired. The robber fell at once
without a sound. Barton then fired at the man at the horse's head
nearest him, and brought him down. These shots were both fired as quick
as a flash, but his aim had been unerring. 'Duck down, Davy, duck down,'
he cried to me as he swung himself from the coach, and a volley of
bullets passed over our heads.

[Illustration: "The old man reached over in front of me and fired."]

"I followed his example, and in a hurry, too, and escaped unhurt. Just
then we heard two reports from the passengers inside, and in less time
that it has taken me to tell it the scrimmage was over and the robbers
who were unhurt had fled, leaving three of their number on the ground,
two of them seriously wounded, and the other one as dead as a post, with
a bullet hole plum through his forehead.

"As soon as they could the passengers clambered out of the coach, and by
the aid of our lanterns, we found the robbers as I have just told you.
We all congratulated ourselves on our fortunate escape, and the old man
was warmly commended for his forethought and for the gallant service he
had rendered.

"I saw the old man did not seem disposed to say much, but I also noticed
a look of grim satisfaction on his face as he looked down at the dead
bandit. He then looked anxiously toward the coach, and seemed relieved
to find that his daughter still remained inside.

"We bound up as well as we could the wounds of the other two, and lifted
them to the top of the coach. When it came to the dead one, some of the
passengers were in favor of lettin' him lie where he was, but others
objected and wanted to take him along with us, as we did not have far to
go."

"While we were discussin' the question, the young woman, who had got out
of the coach while we were talkin', and without her father observin'
her, caught sight of the bandit's face, as he lay on his back in the
snow, and with a wild scream of anguish, she pushed the men aside and
flung herself upon the lifeless body. Her sobs were terrible to hear,
and many a strong man turned away to hide the tears that came to their
eyes in spite of them. Her father approached her and tried to draw her
away, but all to no use, until at length her strength gave out, and she
fainted dead away.

"You see," continued the driver, "that dead man was her lover. He had
been engaged in the business of robbin' stage coaches for a