Fred and Lute grasped the guns and crept cautiously out through the back door.

They found the robbers' horses tied on the lee side of the little coal shed just in the rear. Kid cut the halter straps and turned them adrift. But the poor animals huddled back to shelter later and gave the robbers a chance to escape.

However, the bandits were some distance down the track, waiting for the Flyer. The cold was bitter and the storm fiercely raging. The robbers were very impatient, stamping, pacing, and cursing at the delay.

Twenty rods behind the station rose quite a hill densely covered with trees and brush. Lute and the Kid quietly climbed up some distance and secreted themselves in a clump well sheltered from the storm and cold. The position commanded a good view of the station and a long stretch of track. Away down the road they could see gleaming like a spark the fiery danger lantern carried by the bandits.

"We've spoiled their little game," chuckled the Kid.

"All the credit's yours; you're the chap that got us out of the ugly scrape."

Silently the boys waited and watched. Time moved laggardly. They were getting very cold and impatient. The bandits were swearing and restless.

Finally, away up the track was heard the scream of the Flyer. Two minutes later and the great dazzling headlight shot into view. She was coming down at a "fifty-mile pace" to run the gauntlet.

Now the robbers were seen wildly swinging the blood-red signal. Lute and the Kid fairly held their breath. On, on, rushed the iron monster like a demon of vengeance. Past the bandits, past the station, the train dashed with unslackened speed. Out of sight she had whisked in a flash, darting around a curve.

As if in defiance and mockery of the robbers, the engineer gave several sharp toots as he shot past the station. Hardly had the bandits time to realize that their plans were foiled before the flyer had passed. Recovering from their sur

prise, in bitter anger they discharged a few random shots at the retreating train.

Through the darkness and howling tempest then came angry shouts and fiendish oaths. The red lantern was seen flying towards the station. The robbers were rushing for vengeanceand their horses.

In a moment Fred and Lute saw the office all aglow with lamp light. Demoniacal yells and louder curses rose when the robbers discovered the escape of the boys. Evidently the bandits guessed why the flyer had not responded to the signals, for, seizing chairs they smashed the table and instruments, leaving the office a complete wreck.

Mounting their horses they rode swiftly and silently away to the north and were quickly swallowed up in the black tempest.

Nor did they escape any too soon. Scarcely had they disappeared before an engine and car came plunging down from Homestake. The bandits would not have wished to held up this little train, for it contained some twenty-five resolute fellows armed to the teeth.

When the section boss at Homestake heard of the hold-up at the Spur he quickly collected an armed crowd of railroad employes and closely followed the flyer down the track. His hope of catching the robbers proved vain, for they had just fled before the men reached the spur. Pursuit in the darkness and storm was then useless. Before daylight a foot of snow had fallen thus obliterating all traces of the bandits. Nothing more was heard or seen of them.

finds vent in printed matter. This constitutes the "literature suitable for college men," which it is the purpose of the new society to distribute. It will be interesting to look at a few samples of this literature, of which these disciples aspire to become collegiate apostles. It ranges from violence to inanity, and of its making there seems no end.

Few persons outside the circles of avowed socialism are aware of the zeal and ingenuity exerted to multiply the productions of its pens and presses. The International Socialist Review, the most pretentious periodical of the movement in this country, is published monthly by a co-operative house. The same house publishes much other Socialist literature, including a series of more than forty booklets. The house is in debt, and each issue of its International Review contains an appeal for stock subscriptions, together with an acknowledgment of subscriptions received. Some of the names in the list are of well-known persons, who, as have been the friends of Mr. Higginson, may be surprised to learn to what end their subscriptions are devoted. One of the recent appeals reads:

America is ripe for Socialism.

Wheth

er genuine international Socialism is to come at once to the front, or whether we are to have a long and painful siege of opportunism, depends largely on the amount and the kind of Socialist literature circulated in the near future, and this again depends to a very considerable extent on the financial position of this publishing house. Comrade, rests with you to say whether the growth of our work shall be rapid or slow.

it

A few extracts from the literature provided by this co-operative house will suffice to indicate its character, which the Intercollegiate Socialist Society would consider "suitable for college men." The editor of the International Review, in the course of an address to the Socialist convention held in Chicago last June, to form an organization to fight the American Federation of Labor, said:

The proletariat of America stands ready to grasp any weapon, the ballot, the strike, the boycott and the bullet, if .necessary.

The cheers that greeted this outburst encouraged him to add:

This is the beginning of the greatest battle in history.

The following are some excerpts from issues of the International Review:

The Socialist movement differs from trades unionism in this, that per se it has nothing whatever to do with anything short of the revolutionary solution of the labor or industrial problem.

The only hope of an adequate representation of the Socialist movement in the field of journalism is the establishment of a Socialist press, frankly revolutionary.

While Tolstoi would have peace even at the price of liberty, Socialists prefer war for freedom to the peace of slavery.

The socialist tinder now on hand needs only some violent clash of classes to strike the spark to ignite it, and with the ruling classes ready to fan the flame, we have all the elements essention to a Social conflagration.

The coming revolution will be much less of a sudden uprising against the authorities than a long drawn out civil

war.

All indications point to the probability that American Socialism will be the champion who will batter down the walls of capitalism.

The Socialist party of America stands in the most intelligently revolutionary and uncompromising position of any Socialist party in the world.

Three interesting epochs in the history of the world are the English revolution of the 17th century, the French revolution of the 18th century, and the approaching World Revolution of the 20th century. The third will see the final overthrow of the autocratic, aristocratic and plutocratic forces of govern

ment.

There is no Socialism that is not Revolutionary Socialism. This is a Revolutionary Ideal to be attained by a Revolutionary Class, preaching a Revolutionary Propaganda, through the agency of a Revolutionary party, and by which the workers are to secure the general ownership of the means of production and distribution for all the people.

Interspersed through some of the other literature distributed by publishers of the International Review are such gems as the following:

From Ferdinand Lasalle: The revolutionary method, terrible as are the drawbacks with which it is accompanied, has in spite of them the one advantage of attaining speedily and energetically a practical result.

The Rev. T. McGrady, of Kentucky: The assassin of Humbert is an angel of innocence compared with those who elect Bryan or McKinley.

From Eugene V. Debs: The day of crisis is drawing near and Socialists are doing all in their power to prepare the people for it.

From the Communist Manifesto: The Communists everywhere support every revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order.

The Communists openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the aforesaid overthrow of existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at the Communistic revolution.

When the reader has ceased trembling at these fulminations, it will be a diversion to turn to the other extreme of grand and lofty tumbling.

The most

turn to all who will buy stock, and makes this delicious argument:

What better can a Socialist do than to invest his money in a Socialist magazine that is paying a profit. Every dollar invested in a capital concern helps perpetuate capitalism. Every dollar invested in Wilshire's Magazine_helps_to kill capitalism.

The editor makes, of course, the quantity of his circulation the basis of the advertising rates, which are to furnish the sinews of war against capitalism. As a highly finished "nerve proposition," this may be said to merit a medal. "Kindly give me your gun and I will use it to blow off your head" would be a parallel proposition.

This extraordinary phase of a Socialist

freakish of Socialistic publications, which would possibly add to the gaiety of the moments of relaxation in Socialist classrooms, is Wilshire's Magazine. This periodical attempts to increase its circulation through making its subscription price ten cents a year, twenty-five cents for three years. This low price, its editor frankly explains, is only possible through receipts from advertisers, and its advertisements are, of course, solicited from the abhored capitalists. a recent issue, the editor publishes a page advertisement of his own headed: "Have you money to Invest? cent. and Socialism." He announces that the advertising receipts will be such as to promise this highly capitalistic re

In

17 per

business policy leads to some amusing and embarrassing complications, One of the advertising supporters of this organ of Socialism is the president of the Citizens' Industrial Association of America, an organization formed to destroy trade unionism. As socialism also plans to destroy the movement of organized labor, there is a natural alliance between the two in their common hatred of a force of industrial conservatism and progress. Just how the president of the Citizens' Industrial Association squares his avowed detestation of Socialism with his support of a Socialist publication is not clear, unless it be the result of their common enmity to organized labor. But

this alliance places the editor of Wilshire's in a ludicrous position, whence his efforts to extricate himself form one of the most amusing exhibits in the Socialist performance.

In order to sow the seeds of Socialism among the unions, this editor seeks subscribers among their members. Some of these subscribers complained at his publication of the advertisements of a foe to labor unions. The editor thus explains:

I replied to the complaints that it must be taken for granted that all our advertisers are advertising with us to make money out of our subscribers, and not to subsidize Wilshire's in order to advance Socialism. If I should attempt to look into the politics of our advertisers and only insert their advertisements upon the result of such investigations, I would probably find that every one was dead against socialism, and, therefore, would be compelled to either stop the publication of Wilshire's altogether or run it at a very heavy loss, for it can only be published at the present price by running the advertisements of capitalists, who are logically naturally averse to Socialism.

Everybody should know that Mr. Post is the most violent opponent of trade unionism in the United States, so there is no danger of any one buying his goods under any misapprehension of his politics. Therefore, when we run his advertisement in this journal, no one can make a mistake in the matter. However, as before stated, we must have the money of capitalist advertisers in order to run this journal at the present price of 10c. per year. The question to decide is whether it is better to advertise capitalist goods and propagate Socialism or refrain from such advertising and give little or no propaganda, remembering always that the people of the United States are mostly bound to buy goods made by capitalists because nobody else can make them. We ourselves think it would be foolish to stop the publication of this journal for any such silly sentimentality.

Another Socialist writer whose essays its advocates would spread before college students is Clarence S. Darrow, himself one of the signers of the call for the Intercollegiate Socialist Society. He teaches:

To violate law is often the highest, most sacred duty, that can devolve upon the citizen.

Some of you people are perhaps plying the profession which is called burglary. * * * It always requires experience and education for this profession, and people who fit themselves for it are no more to blame than I am for being a lawyer.

All prosecutions are malicious, and all judgments are meted out in anger and hatred. Our own judges are constantly showing this.

Such statements as these are in accordance with the broad assertion by George Bernard Shaw, a Socialist author whose works the new society would present to collegiate students, in one of his plays that the convicted criminal, when listening in court to his sentence, may regard the judge as guilty as himself. The same play, Mr. Shaw himself defiantly states, "contains an explicit attack on marriage as the most licentious of human institutions."

The ingenious mind of youth might leap to the conclusion that it is the mission of juvenile chivalry to save society from the slavery of wrongful statutes by constituting itself a generic John Brown. Similarly, the clever flippancy of a Shaw might pervert a callow mind into indiscriminate disrespect for the entire judicial system; or his wanton attack upon the domestic unit of civilized society, revolting though it be, might shake the faith of youth in the sanctity of the home and impugn the divine command to "honor thy father and thy mother."

The keynote of most Socialist literature is that of despair. It leaps from individual cases of social wrong to general denunciation of the entire social system, and advances revolution as the only remedy. The evil and impractical theories favored by the Intercollegiate Socialist Society may appropriately be relegated to the shelves sought only by explorers into the esoteric curiosities of literature or the imaginative ingenuities of the fourth dimension.