"Here comes the conductor."
"I'll speak to him about it. Come down."
"Can't. It's against the rules for me to leave the caboose."
The conductor and several brakemen had alighted and now came running toward the outlaw to learn the news.
As they drew near Jesse dropped his lantern.
That was the signal for his men to emerge, and to the alarm and astonishment of the train crew, the gang of masked men rushed from the shrubbery toward them.
Jim Cummins and Wood Hite clambered into the cab.
There the plucky engineer and fireman had armed themselves with a monkey wrench and a crowbar.
They attacked the two bandits as they climbed into the cab, dealing them such terrible blows that they were knocked down.
Just as the engineer seized the throttle valve to start the cars, Dick Little and Hobbs Kerry rushed up, and aiming their revolvers at the driver and stoker, the former yelled: