Frank reluctantly pulled out the sapphire necklace from his pocket and handed it to Chris.
"Did you receive it?" Sheriff Henry asked.
"Yes, I did," Chris said gratefully.
"Very well, Frank, you may leave."
Frank hunched over, backing out of the carriage a few meters, then quickly ran fifty meters away, raising his rifle to aim at the carriage exit.
"Wait, Jesse, let the lady who just took back the sapphire necklace come out. I'm worried you'll retaliate against her."
"Impossible, we had an agreement."
"That's because Frank previously concealed valuables. Trust me, my guarantee is more reliable than you imagine, otherwise your brothers would absolutely not escape today. After you escape, you might want to inquire about Sheriff Henry's reputation in Denver; then you'll know how lucky your brothers are today."
Jesse pondered for a moment; he didn't think Sheriff Henry was exaggerating much.
After all, only one enemy had appeared so far, and his and the Younger Brothers' gang was either completely annihilated or close to it, otherwise there would have been some movement.
Moreover, Frank hadn't fired a shot after escaping, indicating that there might truly be only Sheriff Henry as an enemy!
Although Jesse couldn't understand how such an absurd thing could happen, Frank could now cover for him, and only the dozen or so seconds after escaping the carriage would be relatively dangerous.
"Remember your promise, Henry," Jesse motioned for Chris to leave.
Chris, overjoyed, ran out of the vestibule and rushed towards Sheriff Henry, who also motioned her to stand aside.
"Excellent, Jesse, I see your sincerity. This is good; letting others go is letting yourself go. You may leave."
Jesse crouched low, pointing his pistol at the weeping Mark—the only hostage left—and slowly retreated. Once at the carriage door, he quickly pushed it open and fled.
Sheriff Henry immediately turned and ran to his side of the carriage exit, but he did not shoot the Jesse Brothers, letting them run down the hillside and escape on horseback.
The main reason was that if he killed them there, Sheriff Henry was worried he might have a conflict with the local police over the ten thousand us dollar bounty.
After all, the bounties on the fallen bandits might already be considerable by now.
The American police in those days were extremely corrupt; the so-called "Gilded Age" was actually what modern people call the "Black Gold Age."
Moreover, Sheriff Henry believed his sacrifice would be rewarded.
As for the two brothers coming to seek revenge, Sheriff Henry was more than happy—that was ten thousand us dollar automatically delivered to his doorstep.
Furthermore, Sheriff Henry believed that after today, the two would surely flee like stray dogs; they had robbed and kidnapped a large number of gentlemen and ladies today, and the forces behind them would not let them off.
Sheriff Henry returned to the last compartment and gave instructions one by one.
"The Jesse Brothers have all escaped; you are safe. You two gentlemen, get off the train and ride to the front of the train to cut the bindings of the three drivers and engineers, then have them check the tracks ahead for any abnormalities."
"You two gentlemen, please ride a mile behind this carriage and use a brightly colored cloth to intercept any train that might arrive."
"Everyone else should also pick up their valuables and go to the side of the train tracks, in case of any unforeseen circumstances. I need to check the other carriages for any remaining bandits."
"If your belongings were stolen and are in these two bags, please come and retrieve them yourselves."
"Unfortunately, the guards in the guard carriage were all shot dead by the bandits with machine guns."
The four young gentlemen immediately acted as Sheriff Henry instructed.
Sheriff Henry picked up the six bodies that had been thrown in here, one by one, along with the bodies of the Younger Brothers, and threw them to the side of the railway. At the same time, he also collected the Younger Brothers' money bags into his space.
Then he walked through the guard carriage back to his original carriage, while pinning his Sheriff's badge to his chest and hanging a gun belt below his skill Flying Dagger, inserting two revolvers.
Tom had bravely peered his head into the window, which was about 20 centimeters high, to watch the battle when Sheriff Henry was exchanging fire with the bandits.
Although he couldn't see Sheriff Henry's figure, he saw the bandits falling like harvested straw, which excited him immensely—he had stumbled upon a huge news story!
Conrad also later peered through a window to watch the battle.
At first, both thought that Pete's story was full of exaggeration, but now they realized that Pete's language was too pale and powerless, far from conveying even a tenth of Sheriff Henry's mighty and heroic presence!
At this moment, both stared fervently at Sheriff Henry with eyes that seemed to gaze upon a deity.
Sheriff Henry arranged things one by one as well.
"The bandits should all be dead by my hand; everyone is safe."
"Just in case, everyone should take their valuables and wait on the tracks outside. I've already sent people to check the tracks."
"Pete, you hold Becky. I still need to check the carriages ahead for any remaining bandits."
After Sheriff Henry finished speaking, he picked up the three bandit corpses at this carriage entrance, carried them out of the carriage, then collected their money bags and threw them by the roadside.
Then he turned and walked straight forward to the link with the previous carriage, and loudly asked: "I am Sheriff Henry. The bandits outside have all been killed by me. Are there any bandits inside?"
A middle-aged man with a full beard peered out, saw that it was indeed Sheriff Henry, who was like a flying general just now, and breathed a sigh of relief, speaking with a respectful tone: "No, there were three more bandits who also jumped off the train just now and were killed by you."
"Very good. Just in case, have everyone take their valuables and get off the train. If anyone had their belongings stolen, they can claim them at the bandit corpses. I've already sent someone to check the train tracks ahead."
"Alright, Sheriff Henry." The bearded head retracted.
Sheriff Henry jumped off the train, collected the money bags of the three fallen bandits here, then walked to the next carriage, collected the money bags of the six fallen bandits, and then repeated the same questions and instructions.
Soon, the passengers from these two carriages also got off the train, each politely retrieving their stolen belongings and standing by the tracks.
A moment later, eight train guards from the ordinary carriages also jumped off the train, cautiously approaching with rifles in hand.
Sheriff Henry showed them his Sheriff's badge and loudly said: "I am Sheriff Henry. The bandits have all been killed by me. Do any of you know the police department in a nearby city or town?"
The eight officers had previously heard the frantic machine gun sounds, and later the torrential gunfire.
Now, hearing the gunfire completely cease and seeing so many distinguished guests from the Pullman carriages standing on the tracks, they dared to come out and investigate the situation.
As they slowly approached, they also discovered bodies everywhere, as well as the machine gun on the hillside and scattered bodies, and at the same time saw Sheriff Henry's badge.
While disbelieving, they also finally felt relieved.
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