AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Howdy! I am The Mayor of Ninjago City, and from my name you can tell that I mainly write for the fandom of Ninjago, a Lego cartoon series.
However, earlier this month I shared a decades-old fanfic based on The Wild Wild West, a TV series from 50 years ago. I watched the show as a preteen girl in the 1970s (it must have been in syndication by then) and I LOVED it, so I wrote my own fan fiction involving the main characters, Secret Service agents James West and Artemus Gordon. (Back then I didn't know it was called fan fiction! XD)
For my Ninjago fandom readers who are not familiar with The Wild Wild West, it was a series about two Secret Service agents working for U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant in the nineteenth century. They lived in a fancy train car. Actor Robert Conrad played agent James West, who used his fighting skills to defeat villains and used his suave charm to disarm the lady villains. Actor Ross Martin played agent Artemus Gordon, a theatrical type who used disguises in the quest to overcome the evil guys.
I called my fanfic The Night of the Stolen Gold. Unfortunately, when I went to post it to FFN, I discovered I lost the last few pages. But I remembered that I had once sent a typed copy of my story to actor Ross Martin. In the 1970s, he starred in a stage play not far from my home in the Chicago area, and I sent it to him at the local theater. I was so THRILLED when he AUTOGRAPHED it and sent it back to me!
I'm happy to report that I FOUND THE AUTOGRAPH! :D :D :D
But to my surprise, the manuscript was ANOTHER story I wrote about Jim and Artie! I'd forgotten about it. I had called it The Night Before Christmas.
Upon re-reading The Night Before Christmas, I laughed heartily at my preteen concept of how a U.S. Mint operated. But I am sharing it anyway with you all. Please enjoy!
And enjoy this story's cover image...Ross Martin's autograph!
One chilly Christmas Eve in the 1870s around 8:00, Mrs. Harriett Brewster and Julie Carver walked in the entrance of the Denver Mint. Mrs. Brewster's husband owned the Mint and Julie was his assistant. But tonight Mr. Brewster was at a convention in Washington so Mrs. Brewster took charge, and Julie went with her on a walk around the building. They wanted to check if everything was all before when they closed for Christmas vacation. As they were going past the pressing room, Jesse Smith, the janitor, stopped them.
"Hello, Mrs. Brewster. Hello, Julie," he said.
Mrs. Brewster replied, "Hello, Jesse," with her nose up in the air.
Julie smiled. "Hello," she said.
Then each went their way.
Then the women approached the cellar door. Julie opened it and Mrs. Brewster led the way down the stairs. The dollar bills were piled in stacks at the far end of the cellar.
"Come, dear. Let us place the bills nearer the door," said Mrs. Brewster. But she only said this because she wanted to lock Julie down here, for Mrs. Brewster was very envious of Julie's beauty. So when Julie was intent on doing her work, Mrs. Brewster carried out her plan. She sneaked quietly up the stairs and locked the door.
Julie didn't hear Mrs. Brewster leave until she heard the click of the lock. "I shouldn't have come down here," she thought angrily. She realized there was probably no one in the building. What would become of her?
Meanwhile, James West and Artemus Gordon walked in the Mint. Jim and Artie also wanted to see if everything was all right, for they had heard there was a counterfeiter around the Mint, and so they came to explore. They met Jesse and asked him if he had seen or heard of any counterfeiter.
As they were chatting, Mrs. Brewster hurried past. "Speaking of Mrs. B," Jesse said, "her husband's assistant, Julie Carver, and I are getting married."
"Congratulations!" Jim and Artie exclaimed as they shook Jesse's hand warmly.
Meanwhile, as Julie was angrily thinking bad thoughts about Mrs. Brewster, she smelled a funny odor. Then she heard a clanking noise. Suddenly part of the floor gave way near her!
Some men with handkerchiefs over their noses came up through a tunnel. They were wearing handkerchiefs because the odor was harmful, she noticed. But it was too late. She blacked out and was carried back down the tunnel.
Later Jesse began to worry. It was 90 minutes later after he had last seen Julie, and he had been cleaning the lobby and the pressing room all this time. Artie and Jim had not shown up, either.
They probably went home, Jesse thought as he scrubbed the floor. Julie could have gone home, too. But she always leaves at the lobby exit. Maybe she's in the cellar.
Jesse tried to open the cellar door. Why is it locked? Jim or Artie must have locked it. Julie might be in the pressing room. Jesse went to look there.
Meanwhile, Jim and Artie were both checking the second floor. Suddenly, Jim remembered he hadn't checked the pressing room. He had checked the melting room and the vault, but not the pressing room.
Jim went back downstairs. On the way to the pressing room, he stopped by the cellar door. It was locked. Possibly Artie did it, he thought. Then Jim walked to the pressing area.
In the meantime, Mrs. Brewster gave orders to her men in the third floor room of an old house near the Mint. Her first order was to kidnap Julie. The second order was to kill Jim. She knew he was a Secret Service agent. And he could be suspicious of her. Mrs. Brewster also told her men to be careful or else they would be caught counterfeiting. She counterfeited because then the banks would be broke and soon the country would be so poor that she could take over the land and rule it.
Jim had just finished looking at the pressing room. He walked out.
One of Mrs. Brewster's men, the strongest, sneaked quickly but quietly behind Jim and shoved a gun into his back. "OK, mister, get back into the room," he snarled.
Slowly Jim obeyed without a word. As soon as they got in the door, Jim started to fight. The man did not mind. He simply caught Jim and gave him a whiff of harmful gas. Jim fell unconscious.
The next thing Jim knew, someone splashed cold water on his face. It was the strong man. Jim tried to get up but could not, for he was bound hand and foot on a conveyor belt.
Jim tried to yell but was gagged. The big man turned on the pressing machine and left.
Behind Jim, pistons pounded as the conveyor belt rolled toward them. Jim lost not a minute in getting out his special shoe knife, as the pistons were getting closer and closer.
Up on the second floor, Artie was startled when he heard the noise of the machine. No machines should be running at 10:30 at night, he realized. He listened for the machine to be turned off by Jim. But the steady thump-thump kept going. Artie ran down the stairs. What happened to Jim? He would have turned off the machine by now, he wondered. Artie dashed downstairs faster.
When Artemus finally arrived in the doorway of the pressing room, Jim was busy untying his foot ropes. The pistons banged away.
"What happened?" Artie asked anxiously.
As Jim turned off the machine, he said, "You missed all the fun. Someone tried to kill me. I think it was the counterfeiter. Let's examine the facts and we'll know who's the counterfeiter."
He continued. "One, it couldn't be Brewster because he's at the convention. Two, it's someone who doesn't have a lot of experience killing people because you came down before the pistons got me. Three, it had to be someone in here tonight, for they seem to know what we're doing here."
"But, Jim, it could be Mrs. Brewster, or Jesse, or that man who tried to kill you, or Julie Carver - any one of them!" Artie pointed out.
"Aha!" Jim exclaimed. "Let's not forget that the counterfeiter knows money and...wait! Remember how Mrs. Brewster rushed past us earlier this evening and didn't even say hello? Maybe she's the culprit because I've known her to be a very sociable person."
"By golly, Jim, I think you're right!" Artie agreed.
A yell startled them. "That sounds like Jesse!" Jim declared. "And he's going down the coin chute! Let's get over there fast!" To the back of the building they ran.
All was quiet when they got there, but wheel tracks could be seen in the snow.
Jim spied something on the ground. "A hundred dollar bill," he said softly. "So they took the money, too."
The Secret Service men followed the tracks till they came to the old house with three floors. All was dark except one light on the third floor.
"I'll go get the sheriff," Artie offered. "You watch the light."
Soon Artemus came back with a grumpy Sheriff Briggs and 18 men.
"I'll have you know," the sheriff said, "that ya better not have our Chris'mis Eve wasted." The other men mumbled in agreement.
"Don't worry," Jim assured him. Then he divided everyone into two groups except himself, for he was going to climb up to the third floor window to surprise the crooks.
Artie and his men broke into the house but stayed on the bottom floor. Sheriff Briggs and his group stayed just outside the door. As for Jim, he threw a rope, with a hook on one end, up to the third floor window sill. The hook caught the sill and held tight. Jim gave a heave and started to climb. The others hoped he would be safe.
As James reached the sill. the light went out! He moved very cautiously. First, he tried to pry open the window with a knife, but he did not succeed. So Jim took his gun and broke the glass. In the next second he quickly moved inside. Then someone turned on the light.
On one side of this small room stood a small printing press, similar to the one they used in the Mint. There were Julie and Jesse, tied and gagged on the floor. They looked glad to see him. Mrs. Brewster and her men, five in all, were also there, including the man who harassed Jim earlier. They were holding guns and getting ready to shoot him.
"Too bad, Mr. West. Your meddling was a big mistake," Mrs. Brewster said.
Suddenly Jim remembered a whistle signal that only he and Artie knew and used. One long toot meant the person doing the signaling needed help. Before anyone could stop him, Jim let out a long, ear-splitting sound.
One man came and snatched the whistle, but it was too late for them. Artie heard it and signaled for everyone to come upstairs. It only took a minute to get up to the third floor.
Before the evildoers knew it, the 20 lawmen surrounded them.
"Too bad, Mrs. Brewster. Your counterfeiting was a big mistake," Jim said as they arrested the six criminals.
The agents returned to their train home with Julie and Jesse. As Artie opened the door of the caboose, he remarked, "If somebody gave me a comfortable place, I would fall asleep immediately."
"Speaking of sleep," Julie said, "I'll take a nap." She went into the back room.
Some of the caboose furnishings consisted of a green couch with two soft cushions on each end. In front of the couch stood a coffee table. On the far end of the room was a small kitchen, the dining table, a grandfather clock, and a fireplace. There was a back room where the agents slept. For emergencies, there was a back door and some extra rifles.
Artie, who was the chef, proceeded to make a late supper while Jim and Jesse talked.
A minute later, the grandfather clock started to chime the hour of midnight. A greeting of "Merry Christmas" was exchanged among the men. They heard the engine blow its whistle to add to the celebration.
Soon there was a rap on the door. "Special delivery!" a man's voice called.
"What could the surprise be?" Jesse wondered as Jim ran to open the door.
Alas, the surprise was bad, Jim found out. When he opened the door, a man socked him in the jaw. The punch made Jim stagger backward onto the couch.
The man made his way into the caboose, followed by two other men. They forced Jim, Jesse, and Artie on the sofa. One of the men held a gun over them. The others ransacked the place. What they noticed a few minutes later was the back room. Nobody was in it, and let me tell you why:
Julie was awake when they broke in the caboose. She was scared. There was the back door for her to escape through. But she couldn't leave the others in danger. What could she use to scare the offenders? There were the rifles. She could surprise them. Quickly she worked out a plan. Then she took a rifle and exited out the back door.
Julie sneaked to the front door of the caboose. She waited until the men were half asleep, which took a pretty long time. Then she burst open the door with the rifle, yelling, "Watch out or I'll shoot!"
The robbers paused a moment to look at her, being startled. Jim took this moment to pounce upon one of the kidnappers, while Artie and Jesse did the same. Soon the three had the others under control. The prisoners were delivered to the jail.
Finally Artie started to make dinner again, Julie went to take her nap, and everything was perfect one more.
A few minutes later, Artie discovered he needed a little wine for his recipe. He started for the cabinet next to the front door. Unfortunately, along the way he tripped on the leg of the coffee table and fell head first into one of the pillows and fell asleep.
"Artie? Artie! What are you doing on the couch?" Jim asked.
Just then, Artie let out a loud snore.
Jesse and Jim started laughing. Julie came out into the main room and had a laugh with them. They just put a quilt over Artie, finished the dinner, and ate it themselves. It had been an exciting Christmas Eve, one they would never forget.
****The End****