Part 24 (2/2)

”Jim!” she called, her voice rising to a high treble, ”Jim, man, it's the sheriff!”

And then, looking like some wild creature which had been summoned out of the dark places of the earth, Jim himself appeared, running down the side of the mountain, stooping low like a hunted animal. The sweat poured from his face; his clothes were torn in ribbons and his hands were cut and bleeding.

”You see, I didn't break my word,” he said; ”but it ain't likely I'll escape now. I'm too tired. I've been runnin' for half the night.”

Minnie was sobbing bitterly.

”Cousin Helen, couldn't we--” began Billie.

”But, my dear, how can we? What shall we do, Mr. Moore?”

”We couldn't hide him in the car. Besides, if they caught him, it would get you into no end of trouble,” answered Daniel.

”He could have saved himself if it hadn't been for us,” said Nancy reproachfully.

”We could disguise him in Billie's polo coat with a veil and goggles,”

suggested Mary suddenly.

Don't blame these good people for what they now proceeded to do.

Certainly it was the wildest, most reckless and dangerous adventure ever engaged in by six sensible, well-brought-up people, and two of them at least old enough to know better. Remember only that their sympathies were very much engaged, and that every cent stolen from the limited express was to be returned. While the hors.e.m.e.n were hidden behind a wall of rock, Jim's ident.i.ty was changed. He became a female of uncertain age in a polo coat, an automobile bonnet, goggles and a chiffon veil, which concealed his countenance. And sitting between Miss Campbell and Daniel Moore on the back seat he resembled any other motorist on a long trip.

They moved slowly down into the valley, and the hors.e.m.e.n as they pa.s.sed lifted their black felt hats with quite a gallant air to Miss Campbell and her party.

And so Jim was s.n.a.t.c.hed from the clutches of the law. As he will not appear again in this story it will probably interest you to know what became of this highly romantic, daring individual. After turning over to the railroad by a secret agent-none other than Daniel Moore himself-a most remarkable letter, printed below (which you no doubt have seen, since it was published broadcast in every paper in the country) and returning every penny of the money taken that day from the pa.s.sengers, Jim disappeared from the world as a public character. Taking his real name, Jim Dolan, he became a private citizen, and at this very moment Jim and Minnie Dolan are tenants of one of Miss Campbell's beautiful farms in the vicinity of West Haven. They have two children and are useful members of society.

And all because a lady asked a common thief to eat supper with her and treated him as a guest.

Here is Jim's letter to the railroad company, written in a large, sprawling handwriting:

”To Whom It May Concern-and chiefly the Union Pacific Railroad Company: The undersigned was once Jim Bowles, train robber. I am a reformed man from this day. I ain't got religion exactly, but the world is a better place than I thought it was. I made a mistake.

There are some mighty nice people in it, after all. I herewith return moneys took; henceforth from now on forever more, amen, I lead a new life, so help me G.o.d! There are two kinds of repentant sinners. The ones that pray all day for forgiveness and forgets to work, and them that works so hard they haven't got no time to pray.

I'm the last kind. I'm going to work. Amen!

”(signed) Jim Bowles-that was.”

CHAPTER XVII.-SALT LAKE CITY.

Imagine a lovely valley, green and fertile, encircled by a great chain of mountains. Glistening to the westward, like a gem on its bosom, is a beautiful lake, and from the very heart of the valley rises the city itself. It nestles at the foot of a vast granite temple, which towers above the homes of the citizens like a great, gray mountain.

”Perhaps the Land of Canaan looked like this to the Israelites,”

exclaimed Mary Price, as the Comet paused on the steep road in order to give our pilgrims their first glimpse of the old Mormon city. For the last thirty-six hours they had been surfeited with magnificent scenery.

”Snow-capped mountains and canons and waterfalls are getting to be just everyday affairs,” wrote Billie to her father, still in distant Russia.

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