[Verse 1]
To your hands I give you
Aboard from Hawaii
The ship they call Northern Lights
A fugitive, one of three highway man
Who stopped the Pixley train at night
About 8 PM, 22 February
We force seven thousand in gold
Two were killed in the melee
A fireman of the train
And a passenger from Modesto
The leader was an insurance agent, this I know
The third man set for remote islands near the equator

[Verse 2]
When he found the ship
Would not put in there
There's a reason to believe he set her on fire
When our bomb exploded
Buckshot unloaded
We three made off in dire
To the Right Honorable
American council
To the Hawaiian king
I swear before notary
To make a clean breast
Of the whole thing
In hope of salvation
For surely I'll be found before port
Before postal authorities can act
I surrender myself unto the reward
[Verse 3]
Since I was taken
From the Napa asylum
And put on a whaler for my own good
I told the captain
Not to let me ashore
Except under guard
If no faith is placed
In this letter
You're letting a brigand free
The passenger coaches
Were not molested
Violence, I can't see