"Careful now," yelled Fuller, as the two box-cars came closer together. "Easy—easy!" The cars met gently. He slid the crow-bar into the hole and held it while the fireman hammered the top over.
"Now run back slowly—an inch at a time," ordered Fuller.
The engineer opened the throttle, and the Texas crept away, taking up the slack in the couplings. The left wheel followed back along the groove its flange had cut in the tie. Fuller watched it breathlessly. There came a clash of metal as the wheel slipped down from the tie and struck the track. For a second the flange rode on the rail, then settled into position, forcing the right wheel up.
Fuller yelled in triumph, kicked the tie off the track, and jumped for the ladder. The steam hissed as the Texas was thrown into reverse again. They swept out of the shed, pushing the two cars.
The bent rail which Andrews had left as a snag in the track would have wrecked Fuller if the Texas had been traveling forward instead of backward. As it was, the cars cleared it. The snag caught on the low cow-catcher of the engine and gave the train a mighty jerk. They were past it before they knew what had happened. In fact, Fuller did not know until later, for he had not seen the snag ahead of them, and he could see nothing as he looked back.
He motioned Murphy ahead. "What was that?" he asked.
"Don't know. Something on the track. Thought the engine was going off for a second."
"They'll probably stop at Green's for wood," said Fuller. "Keep the whistle going."
Murphy hurried back over the swaying cars. An instant later the whistle was screaming out its warning to the keeper of the wood yard at Green's Station.
Fuller's arms went up again, and he was on the ground removing ties.