He was rapidly approaching the summit, when he made a discovery which sent a thrill of horror through his frame.
Not a hundred yards ahead lay on the right hand rail a huge bowlder!
That the bush-raiders had put it there to wreck the train he had no doubt.
Just then the train gave a sharp lurch, and the reports of firearms pealed above the din of the moving train.
Instantly the bell cord was pulled vigorously three or four times.
Plum Plucky was in trouble.
Chapter XVI
The Attack on the Train
The firing from the rear increased, but Jack had enough to attend to without giving it a second thought.
Out from the depths of the forest overhanging the track ahead had sprung a score or more of armed men.
Expecting the terrible collision they had planned, they had leaped upon the track in front of the oncoming train, flourishing their weapons and uttering wild yells of triumph.
It was a moment to Jack North which meant all to him. To stop the train was to throw it into the hands of his enemies; to keep on was like rushing into the very jaws of destruction. The commotion still raging at the rear of the train, the exulting fiends in the pathway ahead, and not less the silent but ominous bowlder on the gleaming track foretold the end, let him act as he might.
With that unerring precision of gaze which never failed him, Jack saw that the stone lay at such a place and in such a position that the engine would not strike it squarely, but sidewise, as it swept around the curve. To make it more favorable the obstruction, as has been said, lay on the right, or outside rail.
Had it been on the opposite one all would have been changed to a terrible certainty.
There was no cowcatcher in front, similar to those seen on the engines in this country, but there was a heavy iron fender in its stead, which presented a square defense. This bar would strike the rock below midweight, and in such an oblique manner that he believed the barrier would be hurled from the track without derailing the engine.
Jack understood that he was taking a fearful risk, but with all these favoring circ.u.mstances it could not be more disastrous than to stop and to fall easy victims to the bush-raiders and their allies.
These thoughts flashed through his mind and he resolved to keep on at all hazards. Thus he let on all the steam in reserve and stood grimly at his post.
The engine obeyed like a living creature. It gave a mighty plunge forward and dashed upon the ponderous barrier disputing its advance.
The suspense was of brief duration, but Jack"s thoughts flew fast and far.
He realized that if the engine failed to clear the track it would be all over with him in a moment.
He was thinking of Jenny when the shock came with a force which fairly lifted the heavy engine! A crash and another shock threw him face downward on the floor of the cab.
He felt that the crisis had been pa.s.sed and the train was still rushing on. Furious yells--yells that made the wildwoods ring with their intonations--filed his ears, and a volley of bullets whistled around his head.
He looked up and saw the trees rushing past him at a terrific speed.
A backward glance showed him some of the outlaws beside the track, while others were scattered on both side of the rails, where the engine had flung them in heaps.
At the bottom of the valley lay the big bowlder, which had been dislodged and hurled into the depths.
The front of the engine showed the marks of its fearful blow, and he began to realize more fully the awful risk he had taken.
The firing from the rear car had ceased, and wondering what had become of Plum Plucky, he pulled the bell cord once.
A prompt response was given by two violent jerks on the rope, when he knew that Plum was alive and on the train.
He did not have long to wait before he heard some one crawling over the tender, and a moment later his fireman dropped beside him.
"Golly, Jack!" exclaimed Plum, "wasn"t that a squeezer?"
"What have you done?" asked Jack.
"We"ve got "em!" beginning to execute a dance on the footboard.
"What do you mean? Have you lost your senses?"
"I mean we"ve got the traitors as tight as a squirrel in a box-trap. Some of "em jumped off and were killed, but we"ve got the most of "em, and Pedro is holding "em there fast."
The train had slowed so the two could talk as they continued on.
"I don"t understand you, Plum," said Jack, ready to believe almost anything after what he had pa.s.sed through.
"Well, yeou see I just played a Yankee trick on "em. Just as I had got back to Pedro, and before I could tell him what to do, some of the men come out of the car, and I see they were going to uncouple it just as you had told me to! By that I knew some trick was up, and before they could tell what had struck "em I pushed the sinners back into the car and shut the door. No sooner had I done that than I covered "em with my gun and asked Pedro to help me. In the midst of it there came that awful chuck, when I thought for a minute we"d all gone together. But it was soon over, and Perdo is standing guard over our prisoners. As I said some of "em jumped off, but I guess they won"t jump ag"in. Do yeou s"pose the trouble is over?"
At first Jack could scarcely believe the other"s story, but he saw that his excited companion was in earnest.
"It was a fearful moment, Plum, and we should be thankful that we came out alive. I think we have learned the raiders a lesson they won"t forget. It will be best to try and get your prisoners to Resaca."
It would not do to stop the train or even check its speed, as the prisoners would be sure to take advantage of the situation. Thus Jack was obliged to keep a sharp lookout and crowd the old engine on as fast as he could with any degree of safety.
No further adventure befalling them, Jack and Plum at last had the satisfaction of reaching Resaca. Never was there greater surprise in town than when this train came into the station and the true situation became known.
Officers were called to take charge of the prisoners in the car, but as nothing could be proved against them, except what Jack and Plum stated, and as their evidence was immediately discredited, the whole party went free, vowing vengeance against their captors.
Jack saw that, on account of their being foreigners, they had really lost favor by the capture, and he was glad to get clear so easily. After this they ran a week without interference, not a solitary bush-raider having been seen. Evidently the survivors had learned a lesson not to be quickly forgotten.
Of course our hero and Plum received a few praises for their success in getting the train through as they had, but it was evident to both that they could not get full credit for whatever they might do. In fact it was difficult for them to get acknowledgment for doing an ordinary duty.
This was due to the fact that they were foreigners and looked upon with suspicion, no matter what they did.
Jack was not therefore much surprised when one day, as he was stepping upon his engine at St. Resa, to have a bright-b.u.t.toned official stop him and motion for another man to take charge of the locomotive.
This new arrival was a Peruvian, and the boy engineer was not long in learning that he was willing to work for twelve pistoles a month. Though smarting under this unfair treatment, Jack offered no objections as he stepped aside. The war with Chili was a.s.suming more alarming proportions, and he foresaw that troublesome times were near at hand.
Plum Plucky, upon finding that he was going to have a new master, jumped down from the cab, exclaiming: