further.
The fire rendered the air stifling.
Timberlake and Tim were disgusted at this turn of affairs, for both hadbeen confidant of capturing the outlaws.
"If it hadn't ben for ther escape of Wood Hite," growled the old sailor,"we'd aheerd yer signal in ther town, an' reached yer wi' ther Terrorafore them lubbers got away."
"Regrets are useless now, Tim."
"O' course. But it allers makes a feller mad ter think he didn't do sichan' sich a thing at ther time he wuz doin' anything wot don't pan outjist as he'd like it ter."
"Perhaps we can head them off yet."
"If thar's a livin' show, Jack'll get it, When I wuz in ther navy we wasonce asallin' up ther Red Sea, when an Arabian dhow collided with us,an' busted a hole in ther side o' ther Wabash below ther water line;then ther willain coolly sailed away without ever excusin' himself.
"We could astood ther damage, but his indifference about ther injury hedone ter us riled us all up. Seein' as he didn't care a blame, ourskipper sent ther friggte aflyin' arter him. Waal, sir, ther cusscracked on sail an' fled. Arter him we tacked, detarmined ter punishther swab fer his imperdence. It wuz a long stern chase wot lasted tenhours. But we finally overhauled him---"
"Why didn't your frigate sink if she had a hole stove into her below thewater liner."
Tim gave a slight start.
He had entirely overlooked this point.
Pondering a moment, he took a chew of tobacco, and replied:
"I guess ther hole wuzn't smashed all ther way through."
"Don't you know whether it was or not?"
"No; how could I go below ter look at sich a time?"
"You ought to know best."
"Waal, let it pass an' I'll go on."
"No, you won't go on."
"Why not, sir?"
"Because I won't stay here and listen to you."
"Say, sheriff d'yer mean ter insinuate as I'm a liar?"
"Oh, no. I'm too frank to insinuate what I know to be a fact, I say itright out, openly and plainly," laughed Timberlake.
Tim eyed him with a mystified look.
He did not know whether to accept this reply as a direct insult or totake it as a belief in his veracity.
"Wot d'yer mean?" he asked.
"Simply this--you are the most outrageous old liar I ever came incontact with!" replied Timberlake.
"Oh!" cried Tim, in horror. "Listen ter him! You wait till I finish thisere yarn, an' see if I'm tellin' ther truth."
"I'm afraid I won't live long enough to wait until you finish thatstory," dryly answered the sheriff. "It would be too long a wait on mypart, and---"
But Fritz interrupted him just there by shouting:
"Dere dey go--dere dey go!"
Timberlake opened the front door.
"Who--the bandits?" he asked eagerly.
"Yah."
"Where are they?"
"Dey go among dem rocks."
The stage had by this time run around the fire.
The James Boys must have curved their course toward the very directionto which the Terror was running, for Fritz had suddenly caught view ofthem.
They were heading for the rocks at the base of a rugged range of hillsdirectly ahead of the electric stage.
Jack noticed a number of gorges, gulches and canyons splitting thetowering hills and cliffs ahead, and observed that the bandits wereheading for one of them.
He pointed this out to his companions.
"They don't see us yet!" he exclaimed, "but they will the moment theyglance back this way!"
"I think I know where they are going," said Timberlake.
"Where?' asked Jack.
"Into Dead Man's Gulch."
"What would bring them there?"
"A huge cave, where the James Boys sometimes retreat."
"Can we reach it with this stage?"
"Yes. But once they get in they could hold us at bay."
"We will see about that when we run them to cover!"
In single file the bandits rode into the dark gulch, and when it hadswallowed up the last one Jack pulled over the lever and sent the Terrorahead at full speed.
She made rapid headway to the gulch and soon reached it.
"Where is the cave situated?" asked Jack.
"Opposite that big bowlder, on the left hand side," the sheriff replied."You'd better put on your armor."
"I shall," Jack replied, as he stopped the Terror, "and you all hadbetter arm yourselves, and prepare for trouble."
Their preparation, were hastily made.
As soon as everything was in readiness Jack alone went outside andassumed control of the wheel.
His friends ranged themselves at the windows.
All were well armed and ready for any danger.
In the course of a few minutes the Terror ran up to the big boulder andpaused there.
Jack saw a mass of creeping vines that grew up the side of the wall,covering a dark aperture.
This was probably the cavern entrance.
He had scarcely noticed it when there sounded the sharp spiteful crackof a rifle behind the vines.
Ping! came a bullet.
It struck Jack squarely over the heart.
His breast plate flattened it and it fell harmless.
"A sentrys shot!" he muttered. "The villains know we are here now andthe siege will soon begin."
CHAPTER XIX.THE BANDIT'S LAST SHOT.
"Timberlake, I think I can run the Terror into that cave."
"Look out you don't get her jammed in the entrance."
"Oh, I can clear the rocks on each side easily enough."
"Go ahead then."
Jack let the stage advance slowly.
A volley of rifle shots poured out of the cavern entrance.
The bullets did no harm, however, and the Terror continued on.
Reaching the opening she glided in, the hubs of her wheels grazing therocks on each side, so close did she run.
Another volley met her.
It was lucky Jack had on his armor.
Had he not been so protected be might have perished.
Shot after shot struck him, and bullet after bullet hit the stage.
On she advanced unhesitatingly, though into a short gloomy passage, andthen Jack turned on the search-light.
The dazzling glare gushed into an enormous cavern in which, the JamesBoys had ridden upon their horses.
At the sides there were ledges and galleries, above the roof was domed,and from the main cave numerous passages branched off in variousdirections.
Near one of these passages stood Siroc with Jesse James astride of hisback, the bandit clutching a rifle.
The rest of the men were grouped behind him.
"Hulloa!" he shouted at Jack.
"Jesse James, I demand your surrender!" cried the inventor.
"Why should I?" demanded the bandit.
"Because you can't get away from here alive."
"That's all you know about it. There are plenty exits."
"Will you give in?"
"I want to compromise."
"That I'll never do!"
"I've got a great inducement---"
"You can make none to me."
"Come here, and you'll see."
A suspicion of treachery flashed over Jack's mind.
He turned to his companions, and said in low tones:
"We want him dead or alive. Fire at him!"
Before Jack's friends could obey, a grating sound was heard above theTerror, and the inventor glanced upward.
A cry of alarm escaped his lips.
Several of the bandits had gone up on the gallery above the Terror, andwere pushing over a huge rock that rested there.
Just as Jack looked up it fell.
The rock must have weighed a ton.
It came down directly toward the roof of the Terror.
Jack gave the starting lever a sudden jerk, and the stage suddenlydarted ahead.
She was too l
ate to escape injury, though.
With a sickening crush the rock struck the rear end of the roof,crushing it like an egg shell, and going down on the platform, itcarried it and the steps away.
A howl of joy escaped the James Boys.
They thought the terror was destroyed.
It was lucky Jack's friends were in the front room.
Although the machine was badly damaged, she was not crippled so shecould not work.
The machinery had escaped injury, as Jack had caused her to run aheadjust in the nick of time.
"Give it to them, boys!" panted Jack.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The three shots struck the men in the gallery.
Not