Before they could get into the car, three strange-looking apparitions came dashing down the track.
They were Jack, Tim and Fritz, in their metal suits.
Losing not an instant, they opened fire upon the bandits, their bullets flying noiselessly from the pistols, and bursting with terrific force when they struck.
A roar went up from the bandits.
"Jesse!" yelled one of the men.
The bandit king gazed at the three daring fellows in surprise.
Raising his pistol, he aimed and fired at Jack, there sounded a metallic click as the ball struck the aluminum suit, and then the inventor uttered a mocking laugh.
"Here"s your bullet back, Jesse James!" he cried.
Then he fired a shot at the bandit.
CHAPTER IX.
A CLEVER RUSE.
The bullet from Jack"s pneumatic pistol struck Jesse James, and a hoa.r.s.e yell of pain escaped the bandit king.
He reeled back and would have fallen, had not Oll Shepard caught him in his arms.
"I"m wounded!" he gasped.
"Who are they?" hissed Shepard.
"Jack Wright. I recognize his voice."
"There"s only three of them."
"But they are firing bomb-sh.e.l.ls."
"We"ll bring them down!"
He yelled to the gang, and over a score of rifles and pistols were aimed at Jack, the Dutchman, and the sailor.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang! rattled the shots.
A hail of leaden pellets struck the trio.
But their suits shed the bullets as if they were rain drops, and they continued to pour a deadly fire into the outlaws.
Every time a bullet burst it either scattered and injured many or else it lodged in a solitary man and blew a big piece out of him.
It was impossible to withstand such fire.
The worst of it was their bullets failed to injure the three.
As man after man was getting wounded Jesse gasped:
"By heavens, we"ll have to retreat!"
"This is awful, and only three of them too!" groaned Bill Chadwell.
"To horse!" roared Jesse.
He had recovered from the shock of the shot he got and the whole gang made a rush for the bushes firing back at Jack and his friends as they went.
By this time the train crew recovered from their panic, and those of the pa.s.sengers who had weapons drew them and began firing out the windows.
The bandits broke into a run.
"That settles them!" cried Jack. "They see that they can"t hurt us, while we stand an excellent chance of killing them."
"Chase "em! They"ve got Timberlake yet," said Tim.
The outlaws" horses were concealed among the shrubbery, and they mounted and sped away through the railroad cut.
Jack and his friends ran after them.
The inventor now saw the sheriff.
One of the outlaws held him on a horse.
Jack aimed at the animal and fired a shot.
True to its mark sped the bullet, a wild neigh of agony escaped the animal, and it bounded high in the air and fell dead, the two riders being thrown to the ground.
The bandit was stunned.
But the sheriff, although pounded and bruised, escaped fatal injury and retained his senses.
"I"ve saved him!" said Jack.
"Bully fer you, my lad!"
"I vill catch dot oudlaw!"
While Jack was cutting Timberlake"s bonds and ungagging him, Tim and Fritz secured the bandit.
"Well," said the sheriff, when he was free, "this is luck."