“If you want my money, come and get it!” growled the miner already referred to.
“I say the same,” added the farmer.
“I will stand no nonsense,” said Stephen Dike.
“It’s hard luck,” grumbled the miner, “to give up all my hard earnings.”
“Give up your money, and grumble afterward,” rejoined Dike.
The miner thrust his hand into his pocket, and then, in an excited voice, exclaimed suddenly, as he peered out of the coach, “Ha, friends! there is help approaching. See!” And he pointed, with outstretched finger, beyond Stephen Dike.
The road agent, taken by surprise, turned quickly. The step was fatal to him. The miner, who had pulled a revolver from his pocket, fired without an instant’s delay, and Stephen Dike fell backward, instantly killed. The miner’s bullet had penetrated his temple. So unexpected was the assault that the road agent had not even time to discharge his own pistols. They fell upon the ground from his nerveless hands, and one of them accidentally went off, but did no harm.
The Road Agent meets his Match.
“My cousin is avenged!” exclaimed the miner grimly.