“I don’t see what this has got to do with the bandits, though,” now said the detective, who was getting a little anxious to find out what all this was leading to.

“I was afraid it wouldn’t interest you much,” replied the driver; “but you’ll soon see the point to my story and what this young girl had to do with it.”

“I beg your pardon,” said Manning, “I am interested in it, only I was anxious to hear where the bandits came in.  Let’s take a little drop of brandy, and I promise you I won’t interrupt you again until you have finished.”

Here he handed the flask over to the old man, who took it with the remark that it “looked for all the world like the one carried by the old ranchman,” and after a hearty pull at it, passed it back again, and resumed his story.

“As the darkness increased, the old ranchman, who it seemed had heard of the recent robberies, began to grow a little nervous, although he didn’t appear to be a dern bit scared.  He looked carefully to the condition of his pistols, and also advised me to have mine handy in case of need; nothin’ would satisfy him but I had to get mine out of the box, and after he had looked them all over, they were laid on the seat between us.  Not content with this, he warned the inside passengers that there was danger to be apprehended, and that there were bandits on the road.  He urged them to have their weapons in readiness, so that in case the robbers did come, we could give them a red-hot reception.  The people inside caught the old man’s spirit, and they all resolved that if an attack did come they would meet it like men.  To tell the truth, I didn’t fear any danger, and I thought the old man was excitin’ everybody without cause; but I didn’t say anything, cause it wouldn’t do any harm anyhow, even if we were not molested.

“However, I had reckoned without my host, for just as we reached this place, and were a-turnin’ around this bend in the road, two men sprang out from the bushes and grabbed the lead horses by the bits.  Two more jumped out on one side of the coach, and two more on the other, while one man stepped up to me and demanded me to come down.  Of course the coach was stopped, and just as the robber spoke to me, the old man reached over in front of me and fired.  The robber fell at once without a sound.  Barton then fired at the man at the horse’s head nearest him, and brought him down.  These shots were both fired as quick as a flash, but his aim had been unerring.  ‘Duck down, Davy, duck down,’ he cried to me as he swung himself from the coach, and a volley of bullets passed over our heads.

[Illustration:  “The old man reached over in front of me and fired.”]

“I followed his example, and in a hurry, too, and escaped unhurt.  Just then we heard two reports from the passengers inside, and in less time that it has taken me to tell it the scrimmage was over and the robbers who were unhurt had fled, leaving three of their number on the ground, two of them seriously wounded, and the other one as dead as a post, with a bullet hole plum through his forehead.