CHAPTER XL
A HERO IN SPITE OF HIMSELF
Passion sent Mallory into the unequal fight with two armed anddesperate outlaws. But reason had planned the way. He had beenstudying the robber all the time, as if the villain were a war-map,studying his gestures, his way of turning, and how he held therevolver. He had noted that the man, as he frisked the passengers, didnot keep his finger on the trigger, but on the guard.
Marjorie's little battle threw the desperado off his balance a trifle;as he recovered, Mallory struck him, and swept him on over against theback of a seat. At the same instant, Mallory's right hand went likelightning to the trigger guard, and gripped the fingers in a vise ofsteel, while he drove the man's elbow back against his side. Mallory'sleft hand meanwhile flung around his enemy's neck, and gave him aspinning fall that sent his left hand out for balance. It fell acrossthe back of the seat, and Mallory pinioned it with elbow and kneebefore it could escape.
All in the same crowded moment, his left knuckles jolted the man'schin in air, and so bewildered him that his muscles relaxed enoughfor Mallory's right fingers to squirm their way to the trigger, andaim the gun at the other robber, and finally to get entire control ofit.
The thing had happened in such a flash that the second outlaw couldhardly believe his eyes. The shriek of the astounded passengers, andthe grunt of Mallory's prisoner, as he crashed backward, woke him tothe need for action. He caught his other gun from its holster, andmade ready for a double volley, but there was nothing to aim at.Mallory was crouched in the seat, and almost perfectly covered by ahuman shield.
Still, from force of habit and foolhardy pluck, Bill aimed atMallory's right eyebrow, just abaft Jake's right ear, and shouted hisold motto:
"Hands up! you!"
"Hands up yourself!" answered Mallory, and his victim, shuddering atthe fierce look in his comrade's eyes, gasped: "For God's sake, don'tshoot, Bill!"
Even then the fellow stood his ground, and debated the issue, tillMallory threw such ringing determination into one last: "Hands up, orby God, I'll fire!" that he caved in, lifted his fingers from thetriggers, turned the guns up, and slowly raised both hands above hishead.
A profound "Ah!" of relief soughed through the car, and Mallory, stillkeeping his eye on Bill, got down cautiously from the seat. Themoment he released Jake's left hand, it darted to the holster wherehis second gun was waiting. But before he could clutch the butt of it,Mallory jabbed the muzzle of his own revolver in the man's back, andgrowled: "Put 'em up!" And the robber's left hand joined the right inair, while Mallory's left hand lifted the revolver, and tookpossession of it.
Mallory stood for a moment, breathing hard and a little incredulous athis own swift, sweet triumph. Then he made an effort to speak as ifthis sort of thing were quite common with him, as if he overpowered apair of outlaws every morning before breakfast, but his voice crackedas he said, in a drawing-room tone:
"Dr. Temple, would you mind relieving that man of those guns?"
Dr. Temple was so set up by this distinction that he answered: "Not bya----"
"Walter!" Mrs. Temple checked him, before he could utter the beautifulword, and Dr. Temple looked at her almost reproachfully, as he sighed:"Golly, I should like to swear just once more."
Then he reached up and disarmed the man who had taken his wallet andhis wife's keepsakes. But the doctor was not half so happy over therecovery of his property as over the unbelievable luxury of findinghimself taking two revolvers away from a masked train-robber.
American children breathe in this desperado romance with theirearliest traditions, and Dr. Temple felt all his boyhood zest surgeback with a boy's tremendous rapture in a deed of derring-do. And nownothing could check his swagger, as he said to Mallory:
"What shall we do with these dam-ned sinners?"
He felt like apologizing for the clerical relapse into a pulpitism,but Mallory answered briskly: "We'd better take them into the smokingroom. They scare the ladies. But first, will the conductor take thosebags and distribute the contents to their rightful owners?"
The conductor was proud to act as lieutenant to this Lieutenant, andhe quickly relieved the robbers of their loot-kits.
Mallory smiled. "Don't give anybody my things," and then he jabbed hisrobber with one of the revolvers, and commanded: "Forward, march!"
The little triumphal procession moved off, with Bill in the lead,followed by Dr. Temple, looking like a whole field battery, followedby Jake, followed by Mallory, followed by the porter and as many ofthe other passengers as could crowd into the smoking room.
The rest went after those opulent feed-bags.