jed hopkins, at the head of his men, hastened away from the station toward the offices of the company. there were several things he wanted cleared up before starting in pursuit of the robbers. in the first place, what had happened to the wagon which was to have come after the chest; and, in the second place, what had become of the man he had sent out to look for it?

the latter question was quickly answered. as they passed through a little locust grove just beyond the station, jed’s alert ear caught a stifled cry or gurgle to the left of the road, and without pausing an instant, he started toward it. the others followed, and a moment later, they found jed’s companion bound to a tree and gagged as allan had been.

his adventures were soon told. he had started along the road leading to the mine, expecting every moment to meet the wagon coming for the chest. just as he reached the grove, he heard wheels approaching, and stopped, intending to hail it, but ? 293 ? before he could open his mouth, some one threw a heavy cloak or sack over his head from behind and pulled it tight, while some one else tripped him up and sat on him. his hands were tied, the gag forced into his mouth, and he was led to the tree and securely fastened. then to his astonishment, he heard the wagon stop, and the men on it exchange greetings with his captors. the latter then clambered aboard and the wagon continued on toward the station.

“was it the company’s wagon?” asked jed.

“i couldn’t swear to it,” answered the other, chafing his wrists to start the circulation, “but it sounded mighty much like it.”

“well, we must find out,” said jed, and hurried forward.

as they neared the company’s office, they became aware of a dull pounding, as of some one hammering upon iron. it would cease for a moment and then begin again, louder than before. not until they came quite near did any of the posse guess what it was; and it was jed who guessed first.

“there’s somebody shut up in th’ office,” he said. “i’ll bet th’ robbers did it! well, they’re clever ones fer sure!”

and this conjecture proved to be correct, as jed found after a few moments’ shouted conversation with the prisoners. the first thing to be done was to get them out, but this was not so easy as might appear, for, as has already been stated, the little ? 294 ? building had been built to withstand a siege; it was lined with steel, the windows were heavily barred and the door was armoured. one of the prisoners explained that the door had been locked on them from the outside, but the key was not in the lock.

“they probably throwed it away arter they locked th’ door,” said jed. “but we can’t find it in th’ dark. th’ only thing t’ do is t’ break a couple o’ bars out o’ one o’ th’ winders, an’ make a hole big enough fer ’em t’ squeeze through.”

and, after twenty minutes’ hard work, this was accomplished.

there were four prisoners, one of whom was the paymaster and another the mine superintendent, and after they had crowded through the opening, they told the story of their capture.

the horses had been hitched to the wagon in the company’s stable, and it had then been driven to the homes of the superintendent and paymaster, picked them up, as the custom was, and then turned back toward the company’s office to get the two guards who awaited it there and who were to accompany it to and from the station. the guards were there, and the superintendent had unlocked the door, and led the way in to get the guns with which the guards were always armed. he had left the door open and the key in the lock, as he expected to go out again immediately. it was at that moment that the door was slammed shut and the key turned. ? 295 ? those within the office had seen no one, nor heard any noise until the door closed.

“but what was your driver doin’ all that time?” asked jed. “why didn’t he give the alarm? did they git him, too?”

“i don’t know. probably they did. i don’t see how else his silence can be explained.”

“you didn’t hear any struggle?”

“no; still they might have silenced him with one blow.”

“mighty hard to do,” said jed, reflectively, “with him up there on th’ wagon-seat.”

“we’ll know in the morning,” remarked the superintendent. “we’ll probably find his body hid around here somewhere.”

“well, we haven’t got time t’ look fer him now,” said jed. “how many hosses kin we hev?”

“we’ve got six in the stable yet.”

“let’s have ’em out,” and while they were being saddled and brought up, jed picked out four of the men whom he knew to accompany him and his partner in the mounted pursuit of the robbers. one of them crowded through the hole in the window and passed out arms and ammunition. the remainder of the posse was dismissed, and returned slowly toward their homes, not without considerable grumbling that their services had been so lightly regarded.

at the end of ten minutes, jed and his five companions were mounted and away. they were soon ? 296 ? back at the station, which was now only a smouldering mass of ruins, so quickly had the flames been able to consume the flimsy frame structure.

“where’s that kid?” asked jed. “i didn’t suppose he’d keep us waitin’.”

“something’s th’ matter over there,” said one of the men, and pointed to a little group which had gathered at one side of the track.

jed swung off his horse and hastened to investigate. he found that it had gathered about allan west, who lay unconscious, his pale face looking positively ghastly under the flickering light of the gasoline torch, which hung from the pole above him.

“what’s th’ matter with him?” asked jed. “he told me he wasn’t hurt.”

“he’s hurt in the side,” answered the surgeon, who was bending above the boy. “i think there’s a couple of ribs broken. he never mentioned the injury when i dressed his other wounds. is there a hospital at coalville?”

“hospital?” jed grunted, derisively. “well, i should say not!”

“number nine’s due in about ten minutes,” said the operator. “you can fix up some sort of bed in the baggage-car and take him back to wadsworth.”

“that’ll do,” agreed the surgeon, and bent again above the boy.

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jed stood watching him for a moment, shifting uneasily from one foot to the other.

“think he’s very bad, doctor?” he asked, at last.

“oh, no,” answered the surgeon. “just overdone things, i guess, and fainted from the pain. he’ll be all right, as soon as i can get him to a place where i can fix him up.”

jed heaved a sigh of relief.

“that’s good,” he said. “he’s a plucky kid. i’d hate to see him knock under,” and he strode away to join his men.

in another moment, they were off up the road in the direction taken by the robbers. the latter had a start of over an hour, but that did not worry jed, because he knew they would soon find themselves on the horns of a dilemma. either they must take the chest with them, or leave it behind. if they took it, they could not abandon the wagon, and yet they would scarcely dare to use it after daybreak, for it had the name of the mining company painted on its side. on the other hand, they would not abandon the chest until they had opened it and secured the contents, and jed knew that it would be no easy job to break the chest open. so he rode on at a sharp canter, confident that the fugitives could not escape.

for some miles there were no branches to the road except such as led to houses among the hills a little back from it. so he rode on without drawing ? 298 ? rein, until he came to the place where the road forked. here he found the sheriff and the posse which had set out on foot unable to decide which fork to take and unwilling to divide their forces.

“you wait a minute,” said jed, jumping from his horse, and striking a match, he went a little way up one of the forks and examined the road minutely. “they didn’t come this way,” he announced, at last, and came back and went up the other fork. here he repeated the same performance, lighting match after match. at last he stood erect with a grunt of satisfaction. “all right,” he said. “we’re on th’ trail.”

“how do you know we are?” inquired the sheriff, incredulously.

“no matter,” said jed. “take my word fer it. i didn’t live on th’ plains twenty year fer nothin’. hello! what’s that?”

he was listening intently, but for some moments the duller ears of the other members of the posse could catch no sound. then they heard, far up the road, the clatter of horses’ hoofs and the rattle of wheels. the sound came nearer and nearer, and jed, who was peering through the darkness, suddenly drew his pistol and sprang to the middle of the road.

“halt!” he cried, and the other members of the posse instinctively drew up behind him, their guns ready.

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they could hear the wagon still lumbering toward them.

“halt, or we fire!” cried jed, again, but still the wagon came on, and a gray shape appeared in the darkness ahead.

jed raised his pistol; then, with a sharp exclamation, thrust it back into his belt, sprang forward, and seized the approaching horses by the bridle.

the posse swarmed about the wagon. the sheriff struck a match, and painted on the wagon’s side descried the words:

coalville coal company

“why,” said the sheriff, in bewilderment, “this is th’ rig they run away with!”

“precisely,” agreed jed, coolly. “one of you men hold these horses, will you?”

the sheriff clambered to the seat and struck another match.

“the wagon’s empty,” he announced.

“i thought so,” said jed, mounting beside him. “they took out th’ chest an’ then turned th’ rig loose.”

“and where are they?”

“they’re somewhere ahead openin’ that box. i’ll ride on with my men. you turn th’ wagon around an’ foller with as many as she’ll hold.”

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“all right,” agreed the sheriff, and jed sprang to horse again.

“come on, boys,” he called, and set out up the road at a sharp gallop.

mile after mile they covered, but without finding any sign of the fugitives. at last, jed dismounted and again examined the road.

“we’ve passed ’em,” he announced. “they didn’t git this far. we’ve got ’em now, sure.”

the east was just showing a tinge of gray, as they turned to retrace their steps. jed stopped every now and then to scrutinize the road. at the end of a mile, they met the sheriff and his party in the wagon.

“see anything of ’em?” he asked.

“not a thing,” said jed, “but they’re back there, somewhere. wait a minute,” and he got down and looked at the road again. “by george!” he cried, “they ain’t far off! see, here’s where they turned th’ wagon an’ started her back.” then he looked at the tracks again. “i don’t know, either,” he added. “i don’t believe they turned it at all. look how it ran down in this gully here by the fence—it’s a wonder it didn’t upset. the horses turned toward home themselves.”

“well, and where are the convicts?” asked the sheriff.

“they’re somewhere between here an’ th’ forks o’ th’ road,” said jed. “they can’t git away!”

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but by noon he was forced to confess that their capture was not going to be so easy as he had supposed. practically every foot of the ground on both sides of the road had been beaten over, and yet not a trace of the robbers had been discovered. nay, more than that, search as he might, jed, with all his skill in woodcraft, was not able to discover where they had left the road. that four men, carrying a heavy chest, should have been able to cross the muddy fields which extended on both sides of the road without leaving some mark of their passage seemed absurd, and yet, after going over the ground for the third time, jed was forced to confess himself defeated.

“they’re slick ones—that’s all i kin say,” he remarked, and mounted his horse and started back to coalville.

the sheriff picketed every by-path; through all the neighbourhood the alarm was spread, and men were on the alert. acting under instructions from the state authorities, the sheriffs of adjoining counties set a guard on every road by which coalville could possibly be approached, and every one who could not give a satisfactory account of himself and who resembled in the least degree any one of the four convicts, was placed under arrest. the police of every city, the constables of every township, nay, the dwellers in every house, were on the lookout for the fugitives. it seemed impossible that they could escape through the meshes of a net so ? 302 ? closely drawn. yet two days passed, and they had not been heard from. they had disappeared as completely as though the earth had opened and swallowed them.