I observed that and I saw Newcomb masked and on his horse with the sleeves rolled up on his raincoat, his rifle barrel propped on the open platform between the express and baggage cars. I walked my horse along mostly dark passenger cars and to the empty caboose. In order to demonstrate to God and man what a young tough I was, I broke the glass tail lamp with the butt of my pistol and flame tore away from the wick. When I bent I could see the legs of Pierce’s and Broadwell’s horses. I saw a man walk out on a center coach platform lighting a cigarette. I raised my rifle high over my head and nodded at Newcomb and both of us fired warning shots, as did Broadwell and Pierce, so that it sounded like iron doors banging shut in a house of many rooms. The cigarette dropped off the man’s lip as he jumped back inside the coach. There were yells and screams about holdups and the train being robbed. The lights went out in all the cars. Faces disappeared from the windows. Steam leaked out from under the wheels.

Powers walked out of the darkness like a railroad inspector and he used the handrail as he climbed to the fenced platform of the express car. He tried the handle, then kicked the front door four times with the heel of his boot. “This is a robbery! Open up!”

The messenger said, “Not gonna and you can’t make me. Every door here is padlocked.”

Powers fired three shots through the porch roof overhead. Strips of tar roof flapped up on top of the car.

The messenger said, “You can shoot till doomsday and I ain’t gonna open this door.”

“Well, I’ve got some encouragement here in the form of dynamite. Says on the label it’ll blow you into the middle of next week.”

Bob and Doolin had pushed the engineer and stoker back to the express car by then. Both of the crewmen wore bib overalls and striped caps but the stoker was shirtless and he smelled worse than sparrows burned dead in a chimney. Doolin had the hammer of his pistol cocked and poked down the front of the engineer’s overalls and he spoke into his ear like a lover. “Tell your money escort to please, please do what we say or I’ll blow your sex life to smithereens.”