A Bag of Grain and Dynamite

By John J. Law

It was a bright and sunny morning in 1874, when a Union Pacific passenger train chugged along towards Oklahoma territory. One of the passengers was Taylor Gunther. Gunther had a rather perilous line of work as a bounty hunter. The job itself was quite stressful and often brought with it many complications. It was one of these complications that weighed heavily on Gunther as he sat in his chair on the train.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.C. Hulsey Books
• Release date: Mar 24, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224831395

Book preview

Chapter One

The Dynamite (Part One)

It was a bright and sunny morning in 1874, when a Union Pacific passenger train chugged along towards Oklahoma territory. One of the passengers was Taylor Gunther. Gunther had a rather perilous line of work as a bounty hunter. The job itself was quite stressful and often brought with it many complications. It was one of these complications that weighed heavily on Gunther as he sat in his chair on the train.

Dang it. Shouldn't have shot that deputy out in Kansas, but what could I do? The man left me no choice. Now, I'm a wanted man. And it would be quite pointless to try and explain to any Pinkerton or other bounty hunters after me that he was corrupt and running his little town to the ground. Nope, they wouldn't care about the finer details of the story. Not that I would blame them. I'd probably be after me too, if I were in their shoes. With times being they are, collecting the bounty is the most important thing.

Gunther was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice the three suspicious passengers that had sat close to him in his car. None of the other passengers noticed them either, but if Gunther wasn't so preoccupied with his thoughts, he might have noticed their suspicious demeanor. He was, after all, a bounty hunter and his instincts should have been better. No matter how sharp his instincts were, there was no way he could be prepared for what happened next. None of the passengers could be ready for it.

Outside, the train and along the tracks, a silent figure checked the ground. No one in the train noticed as the elusive figure made sure that the device lying next to the tracks was set and good. If any of the train's operators could only see what he was doing, they might have stopped the train right then and there. But they did not.

When the mysterious figure was certain it was all well, he lit the fuse of the dynamite on the ground. The fuse was already lit and the spark burning through it, when the mysterious figure made a mad dash as far from the tracks as possible.

It was only a few seconds after the unknown figure had placed the dynamite on the ground that it happened. The dynamite exploded with enough force to blow up the tracks ahead of the train, disfiguring it in some parts, and cracking it on others.

Now there was no way for the operators, or anyone inside the train not to notice what had happened.

The tracks' been blown up! Stop the train! Stop the train! one of the operators said frantically.

The train had already gained a steady pace before the tracks had been blown up. Now, the operator had to make a sudden and abrupt halt. He promptly pulled on the brake lever and the large locomotive screeched to