"Here!" exclaimed Jed suddenly, as the chums were about to go and purchase their tickets, and he held out a black object to Bart.
"What is it?" inquired the lad.
"That black, lucky stone I picked up when the horse stumbled. Take it along. It will keep you from having an accident, Bart." The youth was about to refuse, but not wishing to hurt Jed"s feelings he put the rock in his pocket.
A little later the train pulled in, and, getting aboard, the four chums waved a farewell to Jed, who could be observed standing up in his sled, making some queer signs, evidently with the idea of bringing more good luck.
"Well, we"re off at last," remarked Ned, as the train gathered speed, "and some of Jed"s signs seem to be coming true."
"How do you make that out?" asked Frank.
"It"s going to clear," replied Ned, with a look at the sky. "I shan"t mind snow, after we"ve got our camp established, but it"s no fun to set up tents in a storm, so I"m glad it"s going to clear. Jed"s signs are all right."
It was a ride of several hours to Cannistota, and the boys beguiled the time as best they could. About noon, when the train was pa.s.sing through a lonely mountainous region, where the woods were as dense as if they had never been cut, Frank remarked:
"Well, what do you say to lunch? It"s about time," for they had brought along a goodly supply of food, as they could get no meals on the train.
"I"m with you," announced Bart, as he reached up to the rack over the seats for the baskets. He was standing on his tip-toes, for the rack was high, and was just taking down one of the small hampers, when there came a sudden crash, followed by a ripping, tearing sound, and before Bart knew what had happened he was deposited in a heap on top of Fenn, who, in turn, was mixed up with Frank and Ned.
Bart lay stunned for a few seconds and then, as he picked himself up, and the other lads regained their feet, they saw that every pa.s.senger in the car had been hurled from his or her seat.
"What happened?" cried Bart.
At the same moment from the car in which were the four chums, as well as from the other coaches, there arose the shrill screams of women, and the crying of children. The train had rolled on for a few feet, after the crash, but had come to a sudden stop.
"An accident!" cried Fenn. "The train"s wrecked! Come on, let"s get out," and he scrambled to his feet and started for the door as the conductor and a brakeman ran through the car toward the engine.
CHAPTER XI
PUTTING UP THE TENTS
After the first paralyzing shock of the crash the pa.s.sengers seemed to come to their senses. Women who had been screaming ceased, and children stopped their frightened crying. Men began to gather themselves together, to crawl out from under seats where the sudden stop had thrown them, and prepared to leave the car.
"What"s the matter, conductor?" called Bart to that official, as he was hurrying out of the car.
"Don"t know--yet," was the answer flung back over his shoulder.
"We"ll go see," spoke Ned. "Anyhow, our car"s not smashed; that"s one good thing."
"No, and it doesn"t seem to have left the track," observed Frank. "Maybe we only hit an obstruction."
By this time the four chums were out of their car, and they were followed by a number of men pa.s.sengers. From other cars a like stream was pouring.
One glance sufficed to show that whatever the wreck was, it was not a terrible one, for there were no telescoped coaches, and, in fact, none seemed to have left the rails, while as for the engine that, too, seemed to be in its usual place at the head of the coaches. The crowd was moving toward the forward end, and thither Bart and his companions went.
Matters were becoming quiet, and it was evident that no one was seriously hurt.
The boys found quite a throng around the engine, and they could now see that the cab, on one side, was splintered, and that the forward end of the coach next to the engine, which was the baggage car, was also damaged.
"What"s the matter? What happened?" scores of voices asked the railroad men, who, including the fireman and engineer, were examining the locomotive.
"Driving rod broke," explained the conductor. "It threshed around like a flail, and smashed the cab, on the fireman"s side of the engine. Luckily he was putting on coal, or he"d been killed. Then the engineer threw on the emergency brake, and the front end of the baggage car crumpled up.
Luckily it"s no worse. Has any one heard of any persons being hurt?" the conductor asked the crowd.
"I guess bruises and cuts from broken windows will be about the extent of the injuries, conductor," replied a fat man. "But how long are we likely to be delayed here? I have an important engagement in Vailton to-day."
"We"ll have to wait until we can telegraph for another engine," replied the railroad man. "It will take several hours, I"m afraid."
There were some expressions of dismay, but, in general, the crowd was thankful that it was no worse. The engineer and fireman were busy trying to get the bent driving rod loose from where it had jammed up somewhere in the interior of the locomotive.
"Let"s go back in our car, and look after our things," proposed Bart.
"We can"t do any good here, and it"s cold," for they had rushed out without their overcoats. The other pa.s.sengers were returning to their coaches by this time, leaving the problem of moving the train with the railroad men.
The four chums had been in their seats but a short time, having found their possessions somewhat scattered, but safe, when a brakeman came hurrying in. He hastened to the gla.s.s-fronted toolbox, fastened near the ceiling in the center of the car.
"I"ve got to get out that sledge-hammer, axe and saw," he explained to a woman, who was sitting in the seat under the case. "May I ask you to move, madam?" She did so, and then the brakeman was in a quandary, for it was necessary to break the gla.s.s in order to get at the tools. The trainman looked about helplessly, for he had not been on the road long.
Bart saw his difficulty.
"Here, I"ll break the gla.s.s," volunteered the lad. "Stand back," Bart produced the black, lucky stone which Jed had given him, and threw it through the gla.s.s front.
There was a crashing, splintering sound, and the gla.s.s was in fragments.
The brakeman could get at the tools, which he quickly did, hurrying out with them.
"Well, that lucky stone came in handy, after all," remarked Ned.
"It sure did," agreed Bart, "though he could have used the end of a flag stick just as well, if he had thought of it."
While the engineer, firemen, and some of the brakemen worked over the disabled engine, another trainman walked back to the nearest telegraph office to summon a relief engine. Meanwhile the pa.s.sengers waited with what patience they could.
"Well, suppose we eat now," proposed Bart.
"Good!" exclaimed Frank. "Pa.s.s out the sandwiches," which Bart proceeded to do.
In the seat across the aisle from the boys was a little girl. Hungrily she eyed the food as it came out of the baskets, and, in a voice that could be heard from one end of the car to the other, she piped out:
"Mamma, I"m hungry. Why didn"t we bring some lunch?"
"Hush, dear," said the child"s mother. "We will soon be at our station, and we can get something to eat."
"Not very likely to be there soon, ma"am," observed the fat man, who was in a hurry. "By Jove, I wish I"d thought to bring a snack. I will, next time I travel on this road."
"But, mamma, I"m awful hungry," insisted the child, as she gazed eagerly at the chums who were munching away in great enjoyment.
"Hush!" begged the mother, but the child repeated her request for something to eat.
"Here," spoke Bart, suddenly, and pa.s.sed over a chicken sandwich to the little girl. "Will you let her take it?" he asked the mother.