Andrews set his lips firmly together like a man who determines to fight to
the last.

George made his way back to the cab. "Will we have time to burn the
bridge?" he asked.

"We must wait and see," answered the leader, as he once more left the
engine and finally reached the despoiled baggage car. He said something to
Jenks; then he returned to the cab.

"What are you going to do?" anxiously asked the boy. He could hear the
shrill whistle of the pursuing locomotive. "Com-ing! Com-ing!" it seemed
to say to his overwrought imagination.

Andrews made no answer to George; instead he shouted a command to the
engineer: "Reverse your engine, and move backwards at full speed!"

The engineer, without asking any questions, did as he was told. Jenks ran
through to the second car and contrived, after some delay caused by the
roughness of the motion, to uncouple it from the third. This last car was
now entirely loose from the train, and would have been left behind had it
not been that the engine had already begun to go back. Faster and faster
moved "The General" to the rear.

"Go forward again," finally ordered Andrews. The engine slowly came to a
standstill, and then plunged forward once more. Now George could see the
meaning of this manoeuvre. The third car, being uncoupled, went running
back towards the enemy's tender. Andrews hoped to effect a collision.

But the engineer of the pursuing locomotive was evidently ready for such
an emergency. He reversed his engine, and was soon running backwards. When
the baggage car struck the tender no harm was done; the shock must have
been very slight. In another minute the enemy's engine was puffing onward
again in the wake of the fugitives, while the car was being pushed along
in front of the tender.

"That didn't work very well," said Andrews, placidly. "Let's try them
again."

Once more "The General" was reversed. This time the second car was
uncoupled and sent flying back. "The General" was now hauling only the
tender and the one baggage car in which the majority of the members of the
party were confined. The second attempt, however, met with no better
result than the first: the enemy pursued the same tactics as before;
reversing the locomotive, and avoiding a serious collision. It now started
anew on the pursuit, pushing the two unattached cars ahead of it,
apparently little hampered as to speed by the incumbrance. And now,
unfortunately enough, the bridge was in plain view,