"No, thank you."
"Then, good night."
"Good night," answered Phil.
Teddy did not yet fully understand what his companion"s plan might be. Billy, on the contrary, understood it fully.
"You beat anything I ever came across," Conley remarked in Phil"s car as the two were standing at the side of the track in front of Number Three.
"Wait! Don"t throw any flowers at me too soon. We have not done it yet. I understand there is a short up-grade about seven miles below here. If we get stalled on that we will be in a fine fix and likely to get smashed into ourselves. It looks to me like a storm. What do you think?"
"I think yes--thunderstorm. I saw the lightning a moment ago."
"Good! I hope it storms. It will be a good cover to get away under."
"Slippery rails will be bad for our business, though,"
warned Billy.
"We shall have to take the chance."
They had not long to wait after that. Day soon dawned but the skies were dark and forbidding. As soon as it was light enough to see well, Phil began to make preparations for his unique trip.
"Now what are you going to do?" demanded Teddy.
"My dear boy, we are going to try to coast all the way to Marion.
We may land in the ditch or we may get stalled, but I am not going to lie here and waste nearly a day. Let the other fellows spend the time here if they wish. I reckon they will be surprised in the morning, when they wake up and find Car Three has dropped off the map."
Teddy uttered a long whistle of surprise.
"Don"t you ever find fault with me again for doing a trick like I played."
"What trick was that?" questioned Billy.
"Never mind. That"s my secret. It isn"t any of your affair,"
grumbled Teddy.
"Teddy, you get on the back platform. Keep your hand on the brake wheel every second of the time. Keep your ears open.
When I jerk once sharply on the bell rope set the brakes tight.
If I jerk it twice, just apply them a little to steady the car."
"Pull the bell rope? Huh! There isn"t any bell."
"I know that, but you can hear the rope slap the top of the platform roof when I pull it. Now, get back there. Don"t call out to me, but attend to your business. I"ll pull the cord when I am ready for you to release the brake. We must get away from here in a hurry."
Teddy hopped from the platform and ran to the rear, where he awaited the signal.
Phil"s plan was a daring one. For twenty-five miles the road fell away at a sharp downgrade of sixty feet to the mile and in some places even greater. In one spot, as has already been stated, there was a sharp up-grade for a short distance.
It was Phil"s purpose to coast the twenty-five miles in order to reach the next stand in time for the day"s work. It was a risky undertaking. Besides the danger of a possible collision with an extra sent over the road, there was the added danger of the car getting beyond their control and toppling over into a ditch.
The Circus Boy had weighed all these chances well before starting on his undertaking.
"I guess we will be moving now," he said, giving the bell cord a pull, then throwing off the brake, Teddy performing the same service at the other end of the car.
Car Number Three did not start at once.
Phil and Billy jumped up and down on the platform in excitement.
"She"s moving," exulted Phil. "We"re off."
A faint "yee--ow!" from the rear platform was evidence that Teddy Tucker also had discovered this fact.
"That boy!" grumbled Phil.
At first the show car moved slowly; then little by little it began to gather headway. Rattling over switches, past lines of box cars, on past rows of houses that backed up against the railroad"s right of way, they rumbled. A few moments later Car Three shot out into the open country at a lively rate of speed.
CHAPTER XX
ON A WILDCAT RUN
"This is great!" cried Billy.
Phil Forrest, however, was keeping his eyes steadily on the shining rails ahead. All at once the storm broke.
The lightning seemed to rend the heavens before them.
Then the rain came down in a deluge.
So heavy was the rainfall that the young pilot could see only a few car lengths ahead of him. Instinctively he tightened the brakes slightly. The car was swaying giddily, not having a train with it to steady it.
"We ought to be near that grade the section man told us about,"
said Conley.
"Yes; I was just thinking of that. I guess I had better let her out, so we shall be sure to make it."
Phil threw off the brake wheel and Car Three shot ahead like a great projectile, rocking from side to side, moving at such high speed that the joints in the rails gave off a steady purring sound under the wheels.
The wildcat car struck the grade with a lurch and a bang, climbing it at a tremendous pace.
The two men on the front platform were compelled to hold on with their full strength, in order to keep from being hurled into the ditch beside the track.
"I hope Teddy is all right," shouted Phil.
Billy leaned out over the side looking back. Teddy, who was also leaning out, peering ahead regardless of the driving rain, waved a hand at him.
"Yes; you can"t hurt _that_ boy--"
Just then the car plunged over the crest of the hill and went thundering away down the steep grade.