The tiny puff of
smoke developed to a deeper, louder note. The station-agent took his
place on the track.
Now the train bulked big, the engine wavering slightly to the
unevenness of the road bed. The flag of the station-agent moved. Kate
closed her eyes and set her teeth. There was a rumbling and puffing
and a mighty grinding--a shout somewhere--the rattle of a score of
pistol shots--she opened her eyes to see the train rolling to a stop
on the siding directly before her.
Kilduff and Shorty Rhinehart, crouching against the grade, were
splintering the windows one by one with nicely placed shots. The
baggage-cars were farther up the siding than Silent calculated. He and
Haines now ran towards the head of the train.
The fireman and engineer jumped from their cab, holding their arms
stiffly above their heads; and Haines approached with poised revolver
to make them flood the fire box. In this way the train would be
delayed for some time and before it could send out the alarm the
bandits would be far from pursuit. Haines had already reached the
locomotive and Silent was running towards the first baggage-car when
the door of that car slid open and at the entrance appeared two men
with rifles at their shoulders.
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