Little Snap the Postboy; Or, Working for Uncle Sam

by George Waldo Browne

In the brief glance he had obtained of the disappearing mail pouch, he had also seen that it had been snatched from its resting place by a pole, with a hook attached at the end, in the hands of a man concealed behind the bowlder.

Then a movement among the rocks on the side of the mountain told him that the audacious thief was making off with his booty.

Without stopping to count the cost of the hopelessness of pursuit, the postboy rose in his seat to an upright position, when he found he could grasp a clump of stunted bushes growing on the side of the ledge and high enough to enable him to gain the summit of the rock.

The next moment he climbed upward with the agility of a cat, reaching the side of the bowlder in season to see the robber fleeing around another, somewhat higher on the mountainside.

He was armed, but before he could bring his weapon to bear upon the escaping man, the other had disappeared behind another pile of rocks.

Evidently he had not discovered the fact that he was pursued, and being careful only to keep his body from sight of the road, he ascended higher with what celerity he was capable of exercising.

Little Snap followed with swifter and lighter steps, carrying in his right hand his heavy revolver for instant use. Confident that there had been but one doing the robbery, he advanced with the firm determination to have that mail pouch back in his possession, unless the fugitive was smarter than he.

Up, up, climbed the robber, watching the road intently, and stopping every few steps to see why he had not aroused some outcry by his bold theft. Evidently he was bothered to understand what the silence meant, for he soon crept behind a sheltering bowlder, where he crouched in waiting for several minutes, peering cautiously out from his retreat.

During this time Little Snap lay flat on one of the jagged shelves of rock jutting out on the mountain, his body concealed by a bunch of bushes.

The other was out of his sight, but knowing his position, the postboy held his weapon in readiness to cover him the moment he should move. He felt certain he had an advantage over his enemy which would result in his success.