ou were right about the Indians being in the
cotton-woods last night."

"I knew I was right," exclaimed Baggs, nodding rapidly and brusquely.
"Next time you'll take a railroad man's word, I guess. Where are
they?" he added, looking apprehensively around. "What have they
done?"

"They have stolen your engine," answered Scott calmly. He pointed to
the river bed. Baggs stared; then running along the bank he looked
up-stream and down and came back sputtering.

"Why--what--how--what in time! Where's the engine?"

"Indians," remarked Scott sententiously, looking wisely down upon the
sphinx-like quicksand. "Indians, Dan. They must have loaded the engine
on their ponies during the night--did you hear anything?" he demanded,
turning to Bucks. Bucks shook his head. "I thought I did," continued
Scott. "Thought I heard something--what's that?"

Baggs jumped. All were ready to be startled at anything--for even
Scott, in spite of his irony, had been as much astounded as any one at
the first sight of the empty bed of sand. It was enough to make any
one feel queerish. The noise they heard was the distant rumble of the
wrecking-train.

In the east the sun was bursting over the sand-hills into a clear sky.
Bucks ran to the station to report the train and the disappearance of
the engine. When he had done this he ran back to the bridge. The
wrecking-train had pulled up near at hand and the greater part of the
men, congregated in curious groups on the bridge, were talking
excitedly and watching several men down on the sand, who with spades
were digging vigorously about the spot which Baggs and Delaroo
indicated as the place where the engine had fallen. Others from time
to time joined them, as they scraped out wells and trenches in the
moist sand. These filled with water almost as rapidly as they were
opened.

Urged by their foreman, a dozen additional men joined the toilers.
They dug in lines and in circles, singly and in squads, broadening
their field of prospecting as the laughter and jeers of their
companions watching from the bridge spurred them to further toil. But
not the most diligent of their efforts brought to light a single
trace of the missing engine.

The wrecking crew was mystified. Many refused to believe the engine
had ever fallen off the bridge. But there was the broken track! They
could not escape the evidence of their eyes, even if they did scoff at
the united testimony of the two men that had been on the engine