uld soon be at hand, hastened by the
clouds overhead.

"But the snow will make it light enough to see, I guess," reasoned Joe.
"I hope I can keep to the road. It wouldn't be much of a joke to get
Reggie and Mabel out of the train, into the comfortable sled, and then
lose them on the way home."

Quickly explaining to his mother and sister his plan of going for the
two friends in the stalled train, Joe hastily put up some sandwiches,
while Clara made coffee and poured it into the vacuum bottle.

"Perhaps you'd better bring them here, Joe, instead of taking them to
the hotel," suggested his mother. "Mabel will be wet and cold, perhaps,
and I could make her more comfortable here than she would be at the
hotel. We have room enough."

"She can share my room," proposed Clara.

"That's good of you," and Joe flashed a grateful look at his sister. "I
hope you will like Mabel," he added, softly.

"I guess I will; if you do," laughed Clara.

"Well, I sure do," and Joe smiled.

Then, with a big scarf to wrap about his neck, and carrying the basket
of food and coffee, Joe set out for the livery stable, to start to the
rescue.

CHAPTER III

AN UPSET

"Here you are, Joe. Best team in the stable. I could have hired 'em out
twice over since you went; but I wouldn't do it. Other folks have got
the scare, too, about friends on the stalled train," and the livery boss
handed Joe the reins of a pair of prancing horses, hitched to a light,
but strong cutter.

"Thanks, Mr. Blasser," said Joe. "I'll take good care of 'em."

"And hold 'em in a bit at the start," advised the man. "They haven't
been out for a couple of days, and they're a bit frisky. But they'll
calm down after a while."

With a jingle of bells, and a scattering of the snow from their hoofs,
the horses leaped forward when Joe gave them their heads, and down the
whitened street they trotted, on the way to Deep Rock Cut.

This was a place where the railroad went through a rocky defile, about a
mile long. It had been the scene of more than one wreck, for there was
a dangerous curve in it, and in the Winter it was a source of worry to
the railroad men, for the snow piled high in it when there was a storm
of more than usual severity. In the Summer a nearby river sometimes rose
above its banks, and filled the cut with water, washing out the track.

Altogether Deep Rock Cut was a cause of much anxiety to the railroad
management, but it was not practical to run