had gone.

Then rapidly Max selected two pairs of rails, one pair on the up-line
and one on the down-line, and the dozen great spanners were quickly at
work. Certain of the nuts of the rails and of some of the chairs were
carefully loosened a little, and everything was made ready to shift one
end of each rail as soon as the signal should be given. Then the men
withdrew once more to the obscurity of the bushes.

Having satisfied himself that everything was in readiness, Max settled
himself to watch the trains as they passed, and to seize upon the
essential moment. Trains were now running less frequently than at every
hour in the twenty-four, and in the comparative silence he could tell
when a train was approaching while it was yet some miles away. It was
his intention to await the almost simultaneous approach of two trains
from opposite directions, and in steady patience he waited.

His men did not know the full extent of his plans and were impatient to
see the result of their--to them--successful labours. They could not
understand this halt, and grumbled under their breath at the strange
hesitancy of their young leader. But everything had gone so well under
his guidance that none of them dared to express his discontent aloud,
and Max was left to put the finishing touch upon his plans in peace.

Suddenly his ear caught the sounds he had been awaiting.

"Forward!" he commanded in an undertone in two languages.

The men sprang quickly on to the lines and wrestled with the nuts and
bolts with all their might. In a very short space of time the rails were
loose at one end and the chairs removed. Then Max gave the word for all
four rails to be levered inwards, towards the centre of the track, until
the loose ends were a foot out of line with the other rails.

The chairs were then roughly refixed at the extreme ends of the
sleepers, and the bent rails bolted as firmly as possible in their new
positions. While this was being done the four rails next the gaps were
unbolted and entirely removed. When all was done there was a break 40
feet long in each track, and the pair of rails on the side from which
the trains were approaching had been bent inwards, and now pointed
towards the corresponding pair on the other track, thus:--

[Illustration]

For the first time the men now understood the whole significance of the
work they were doing. They had known enough of their young leader's
plans to expect much, but now they expecte