“That the guns are to be brought in to-night. He has sent out a guard to bring them in safely to him. If he gets them, our game is up, me son, and you can bet your last nickle on that.”
“If he gets them! Is there a chance for us?”
“Glory be! there is. You see, he doesn’t know that we know what he has done. For that reason he sent out only a guard of forty men. If he sent more we would suspect what he was doing, ye see. That is the way the old fox reasoned. But forty—they were able to slip out of the city on last night’s train in civilian’s clothes and their arms in a couple of coffins.”
“Why didn’t he send a couple of hundred men openly, and at the same time arrest you all?”
“That doesn’t suit his book at all. For one thing, he probably doesn’t know all of us, and he doesn’t want to bag half of us and throw the rest into immediate rebellion. It’s his play not to force the issue until after the election, Bucky. He controls all the election machinery and will have himself declared reëlected, the old scamp, notwithstanding that he’s the most unpopular man in the State. To precipitate trouble now would be just foolishness, he argues. So he’ll just capture our arms, and after the election give me and my friends quiet hell. Nothing public, you know—just unfortunate assassinations that he will regret exceedingly, me bye. But I have never yit been assassinated, and, on principle, I object to being trated so. It’s very destructive to a man’s future usefulness.”
“And so?” laughed the ranger.
“And so we’ve arranged to take a few lads up the line and have a train hold-up. I’m the robber-in-chief. Would ye like to be second in command of the lawless ruffians, me son?”
Bucky met his twinkling eye gaily. “Mr. O’Connor is debarred from taking part in such an outrageous affair by international etiquette, but he knows a gypsy lad would be right glad to join, I reckon.”
“Bully for him. If you’ll kindly have him here I’ll come around and collect him this evening at eight-thirty sharp.”
“I hope you’ll provide a pleasant entertainment for him.”