The Argosy, Vol. XXV, No. 1 — page 69: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

SULLIVAN JONES’ BOARDERS. 69 ‘ when the boat strikes, jump out. I will go over the Falls, and take you in from below. ”’ Prior made a motion of assent. No thought of trickery entered his head. With a clever stroke Charlie carried the boat directly across where the current split, and in an instant it grated heavily on the rocks. Prior and Mort- lock made the jump safely, and the boat, freed of their weight, swung into the current on the right. With a dizzy whirl it plunged into the seething abyss of foam and spray, and shot over the Falls. It struck fair and square below, and as the short, choppy waves smacked it on the sides, Charlie rose to his feet, and then like a flash dived overboard. He rose gasping for breath and clutched the bow of the boat. A moment of silent suspense, and then crack, crack, crack, the bullets pattered about him whilea terrible cry of rage burst from the baffled robbers on the rock. He was out of danger in an instant, borne on by the fierce current, and in a few moments he grounded on a grass bar. It was short work to turn the boat and empty it, and then with eager ex- citement he pulled for shore. “At Rockville he luckily caught the night inail, and just as they were bringing Paymaster Darrel and his assistants into the village on stretchers, he rushed among them dripping wet and breathless. A dozen boats started for the Falls, and two hours later they came back with the robbers and the bag of money. Unable to swim, they were as se- cure on the rocks as they would have been in prison, and without resistance they surrendered. No one in Dauphin slept that night, and when Sunday morning dawned, a ceaseless crowd flocked to the old tavern to shake hands with the brave boys who had caused the capture of the robbers, while overhead in old Jones’ best room the injured men came slowly back to life and consciousness. The robbers had thrown the car from the track by means of a big stone, hurling the riders into the creek below, where they lay stunned and in shal- low water. ‘Then seizing the money and dragging the uninjured truck to the rails, they actually rode down to the edge of the village, thus getting ahead of Tom’s signal, The confederate who brought the false news of the landslide, and thus cleared the coast for the robbers, was never discovered. Mr. Prior and Mr. Mortlock were promptly convicted and sent to the penitentiary, and Tom Lurgan and Charlie Rogers received a present from the railroad company that will enable them to spend their future vacations where they please. : Mr. Sullivan Jones still smokes his pipe on the tavern porch, and is always willing to relate the whole story to the chance traveler who puts up at his inn. ‘Yes, indeed,’’ he invariably adds at the close, ‘‘ appearances is a mighty deceitful thing, an’ not to be relied on at all. “ Why, sir, you never seen in your life two more perfect seemin’ gentlemen than them same Mr. Prior and Mr. Mortlock, an’ yet, sir, they was bad to the core.’’ William Murray Graydon. (S@ Conniclool<