dashed in, threw from the hand-car its
collection of tools, placed the light upon it, ran it out, and swung it
onto the rails.

"Do you hear them?" asked Alex as he threw off his coat. The foreman
dropped to his knees and placed his ear to the rails, listened a moment,
and sprang to his feet. "Yes, they're coming! Come on!

"Run her a ways first." They pushed the car ahead, quickly had it on the
run, and springing aboard, seized the handles, and one on either side,
began pumping up and down with all their strength.

As they neared the station the door opened and Saunders ran to the
edge of the platform. "The wire came O K and I just heard Z pass
Thirty-three," he shouted, "but couldn't make them hear me. He reported
the superintendent's--"

They whirled by, and the rest was lost.

"Did you catch it?" shouted Alex above the roar of the car.

"I think he meant," shouted the foreman as he swung up and down,
"superintendent's car ... attached to the Accommodation ... heard he was
coming ... makes it bad.... We need every minute ... and Old Jerry ...
the engineer ... 'll be breaking his neck ... to bring her ... through on
time!

"Do you hear ... runaways yet?"

"No."

[Illustration: THEY WHIRLED BY, AND THE REST WAS LOST.]

On they rushed through the darkness, bobbing up and down like
jumping-jacks, the little car rumbling and screeching, and bounding
forward like a live thing.

The terrific and unaccustomed strain began to tell on Alex. Perspiration
broke out on his forehead, his muscles began to burn, and his breath to
shorten.

"How much farther ... to the grade?" he panted.

"Here it is now. Six hundred yards to the top."

As they felt the resistance of the incline Alex began to weaken and gasp
for breath. Grimly, however, he clenched his teeth, and fought on; and at
last the section-man suddenly ceased working, and announced "Here we are.
Let up." With a gasp of relief Alex dropped to a sitting position on the
side of the car.

"There it comes," said the foreman a moment after, and listening Alex
heard a sound as of distant thunder.

"How long before they'll be here?"

"Five minutes, perhaps. And now," said the section-boss, "just how are we
going to work this thing?"

"Well, when we boarded the engine at Bixton," explained Alex, getting his
breath, "we simply waited at the head of a grade until it was within
about two hundred yards of us, then lit out just as hard as we could go,
and as she bu