He looked at her and smiled.
“Well, you are all right!” he exclaimed thankfully. “Dick told me the truth.”
“But you—you?”
“Oh, it’s nothing but a scratch. Don’t worry about me.”
“I am so glad, Hal—so glad!” she sobbed joyfully. “Isn’t it just marvelous we escaped?”
“It’s a wonder every one on the train wasn’t killed.”
It was, indeed, a wonder. Still, among them all, the fireman was the only one who lost his life. The engineer escaped with scarcely a scratch. The expressman had a broken leg, and others were injured, yet none very seriously. The marvelous escape of so many from such a terrible disaster caused no end of newspaper comment and wonderment.
There was plenty of excitement at Fardale when news of the catastrophe reached that place. A special train had been made up and sent to the relief of the victims, and this train took the Fardale passengers back to town some three hours behind time.
As it drew up at the station, those on board looked out on a vast crowd packed on the platform and banked back beyond it, until swallowed by the darkness. It seemed that, besides the academy boys, every man, woman, and child in the village was there.
When the train stopped Dick Merriwell was almost the first person to appear on the platform of the car. At sight of him a wild roar of joy went up from the cadets. The lights fell on their upturned faces, and he saw them fling their hands into the air as they hoarsely shouted his name. It gave him an indescribable thrill.