signs certainly had some meaning.
Perhaps it was a signal to the nearest watch to pull up the rails in
front of the approaching train? With his teeth set and his hand on the
throttle, Forster stood in his engine while the fireman kept shoveling
coals into the furnace.

"Forster," said Dick suddenly, "what's that in front of us? Heavens,
it's burning!"

"The bridges are burning, Fighting Dick!"

"That's just what I thought, the damned yellow monkeys! Never mind,
we'll have to go on. Do you think you can get the engine across?"

"The bridges will hold us all right. It would take half a day to burn
the wood through and we'll be there in ten minutes."

Now fluttering little flames could be seen running along the rails and
licking the blood-red beams of the long wooden bridges, giant monuments
of American extravagance in the use of wood. Clouds of smoke crept
towards the train, hiding the rails from view, and soon the engine
rolled into a veritable sea of flames and smoke. Forster screamed to
his companion: "They've poured petroleum over the wood."

"We'll have to get across," answered Fighting Dick, "even if we all burn
to death."

Biting smoke and the burning breath of the fiery sea almost suffocated
the two men. The air was quivering with heat, and all clearly defined
lines disappeared as the angry flames now arose on both sides.

"Press hard against the front," screamed Forster; "that's the only way
to get a little air, otherwise we'll suffocate."

The high-pressure steam of the speeding locomotive hissed out of all the
valves, shaking the mighty steel frame with all its force; the heat of
the flames cracked the windows, and wherever the hand sought support,
pieces of skin were left on the red-hot spots. A few shots were fired
from the outside.

"One minute more," yelled Forster, "and we'll be over."

Fighting Dick collapsed under the influence of the poisonous gases and
fainted away on the floor of the cab. And now the flames grew smaller
and smaller and gradually became hidden in clouds of smoke.

"Hurrah!" cried Forster; "there's a clear stretch ahead of us!" Then he
leaned out of the cab-window to look at the train behind him and saw
that the last two cars were in flames. He blew the whistle as a signal
that the last car was to be uncoupled and left where it was, for he had
just noticed a man standing near the track, swinging his bicycle lamp
high above his head.

"Perhaps they'll be able to unload t