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It's a cold afternoon on January 15, 1874. A stagecoach driver grips the reins and guides his horses along a route from Malvern

to Hot Springs, Arkansas.

It's a long 20-mile journey, and so far it's been uneventful.

The driver is grateful for that, and so are his passengers. One of them is a man named

G.R. Crump, a former Confederate soldier. The U.S. Civil War between the North and South has been

over for nearly a decade. But now the country faces another crisis,

an economic depression. Hundreds of banks have closed and countless Americans are out of work.

So Crump is grateful to be employed at all, working as a representative of a cigar and tobacco

company. Most of the other passengers are asleep, but Crump's eyes are wide open. He knows trips like

these are dangerous, and he won't rest easy till he reaches his destination. Just then, the driver

pulls up on the reins, and the coach comes to a sudden stop. Crump nearly falls out of his

seat as the rest of his passengers wake with a start. There's a commotion outside.

When Crump lifts the window curtain to have a look, a bandit points a revolver in his face.

The highwayman wears a long blue coat, with his hat pulled down low over his eyes and his face

covered with a handkerchief. The masked man orders Crump and the other passengers to get out of the

coach with their hands in the air. When Crump steps outside, there are four more bandits waiting.

They order the passengers to hand over all their valuables. Crump's hands tremble as he gives

him his wallet and watch. The bandits then rummaged through the interior of the coach, where they find a package

...