14 Phileas and Passepartout

CHAPTER 14 Phileas and Passepartout Meet Outlaws and Bandits on the Railroad The train took them past Fort Saunders and across the Cheyenne Pass to the Evans Pass. Here Phileas and Passepartout rode at the

highest elevation since starting their incredible journey around the world. The train kept moving. It went through the territories of Wyoming and Colorado, and into Nebraska. As the train drove on, the four passengers passed the time playing cards. Just as the train was making its way toward Omaha, there was a loud crash. The train stopped dead on the tracks. Each of the passengers in the car looked outside, but they couldn't see anything. Then, suddenly, the train started moving again. "Now what on earth could have happened?" Passepartout asked. He looked over to Phileas and said, "I'm on my way, monsieur." Passepartout stepped out of the car and walked toward the front of the train. A number of other men had come out of their cars as well, including Colonel Proctor. They

could hear loud noises coming from one side of the train. Then people started screaming. Back in the car, Aouda turned very pale. She heard the shouts and the noise from outside. "What do you think it is?" she asked. Detective Fix replied, "I'll bet outlaws have attacked the train!" Phileas calmly put his cards down. "If that is the case, we might have a fight on our hands!" He saw the shocked look on Aouda's face and said, "But let's hope it does not come to that," he said. "Aouda, you must stay here and keep safe. Lock that door and don't let anyone in!" As it turned out, a gang of close to one hundred men had attacked the train. Many of them had jumped on board while the train was still moving! They were armed with guns and wore handkerchiefs over their faces. They had taken over the engine car and knocked the engineer out cold. Moving from

car to car, they were taking whatever they could from the poor travelers. The train drove faster and faster with no engineer to control it. If it wasn't stopped, the train would most certainly crash. When Passepartout discovered what was going on, he and Colonel Proctor raced back to help fight. Many of the men on board were already battling with the bandits. Passepartout dove right in, punching and kicking, and using all of his acrobatic abilities. Colonel Proctor had a very strong punch and knocked a few of the bandits out with his bare hands! In the fray, amid arms and fists flying, Passepartout noticed three bandits ganging up on the poor conductor. As the conductor fell to the ground, he shouted, "Unless the train is stopped at Fort Kearney, we will all surely die! The train will crash! The train will crash!"

By this time, Phileas had joined the fight. In fact, he was right beside the conductor. He punched a wayward bandit on the nose and said, "It shall be stopped then!" He started to rush toward the front of the train, but Passepartout stopped him. "Stay, sir! I will go." Phileas did not have time to stop him. Another bandit jumped on his back and started to pull him down. Passepartout slipped out of the car and crawled under the moving train. Using his experience as an acrobat, he held onto chains, pulled himself along by the brakes, and crept from one car to the next until he reached the engine. Working as hard as he could, Passepartout managed to pull the safety chain from the engine car. He watched as the engine pulled away from the rest of the train and then worked the brakes as best as he could. Finally

the rest of the train came to a stop right in front of the Fort Kearney station. The engine car rode off into the distance by itself. The soldiers from the fort had heard the commotion and were ready to fight the bandits. But when the band of rascally men saw the soldiers lined up with their guns ready to fire, they abandoned the train. They jumped back on their horses and sped off. Once they determined that it was safe, Aouda, Phileas, and Fix got off the train and stood on the platform. "Where is Passepartout?" Aouda cried. "He's not here!" Phileas tried to comfort her, but he knew what she and Fix were thinking— Passepartout had been taken by the bandits! Aouda started to weep. If his butler was a prisoner of the outlaws, Phileas had to save him. There was no other choice. "Don't worry, Aouda," he said. "I will find