d that no bones were broken. Then from a medicine chest he took
several bottles. In a tall glass, such as druggists use for mixing
prescriptions, he put several liquids, and stirred the whole together.
Then he moistened a little cotton in the preparation, and placed the
white stuff under the noses of the lads, holding it in place with
cloths. He had about completed this when a knock was heard at the door.

"Who is there?" he cried, starting up in alarm.

"Mr. Washington Jackson Alexander White," was the answer.

"Give the countersign!" demanded the old man, sternly, making no move to
undo the bolts that held the door tight.

"De North Pole, an' long may it stand!" was the rather odd reply.

"Right! Enter!" said the professor, opening the door to give admittance
to the colored man.

"Did you find any more victims of the wreck?" asked the old man.

"No, sah; Mr. Perfessor Amos Henderson, I did not," answered Washington.

"Just plain Professor will do," said Amos Henderson, quietly. "You
needn't give my full name every time."

"All right, Perfessor," went on the colored man. "I didn't find no mo'
pussons entangled in the distribution of debris. Dere was a lot ob
railroad men dere, but dey wasn't hurted. Dey was lookin' fer two boys
what was ridin' on de train when it went kersmash."

"I hope you didn't say anything about these lads, Washington."

"Not one single disjointed word, Perfessor. Dis chile knows when to
persecute de essence ob quietude an' silence."

"There you go again! How many times have I told you not to try and use
big words, Washington? Use simple language. I take it you mean there
were no others injured in the wreck?"

"Perzackly."

"It is a miracle how these boys escaped instant death," the old man went
on.

"I reckon as how it were owin' to de fack dat dey struck in a bank ob
soft sand dat concussioned de fall," explained Washington.

"You mean the soft sand saved them?"

"Dat's de correctness ob it."

"I think you are right," the old man continued, as he fastened the door
securely. "The shock of the sudden stopping of the runaway train, as it
reached the end of the siding and crashed into the bank, probably threw
the lads up in the air, and they came down in the sliding sand where we
found them. Otherwise they would surely have been killed. As it is they
have had severe shocks."

"Are dey goin' to die, Perfessor?"

"I hope not, Washington, but I must see to them."

Amos Henders